1 Timothy 6 - Introduction

Analysis Of The Chapter

This chapter 1 Timothy 6 embraces the following subjects of counsel and exhortation:

(1) The kind of instruction which was to be given to servants; 1 Timothy 6:1. They were to treat their masters with all proper respect, 1 Timothy 6:1; if their masters were Christians, they were, on that account, to serve them with the more fidelity, 1 Timothy 6:2; and any opposite kind of teaching would tend only to stir up strife and produce dissatisfaction and contention, and could proceed only from a proud and self-confident heart.

(2) The advantage of piety and of a contented mind; 1 Timothy 6:6. The argument for this is, that we brought nothing into the world, and can carry nothing out; that our essential needs here are food and raiment, and that, having enough to make us comfortable, we should be content.

(3) The evils of a desire to be rich 1 Timothy 6:9 - evils seen in the temptations to which it leads; the passions which it fosters, and the danger to religion itself.

(4) An exhortation to Timothy, as a minister of religion, to pursue higher and nobler objects; 1 Timothy 6:11. He was:

(a)To avoid these worldly things; he was.

(b)To pursue nobler objects. He was to follow after righteousness, and to fight the good fight of faith. To do this, he was to be encouraged by the assurance that the Great and only Potentate would, in due time, place the crown on his head.

(5) The duty of those who were rich - for it is supposed that some Christians will be rich - either by inheritance, or by prosperous business; 1 Timothy 6:17. They are:

(a)Not to be proud;

(b)Nor to trust in their riches so as to forget their dependence on God;

(c)To do good with their property; and,

(d)To make their wealth the means of securing eternal life.

(6) A solemn charge to Timothy to observe these things, and not to be turned from them by any of the arguments and objections of pretended science; 1 Timothy 6:20.