How to Live in God’s House, Part 9
In our message, GUARD WHAT HAS BEEN COMMITTED TO YOU (1 Tim. 6:17-21), we finished our series in the book of First Timothy.
After praising God for who He is in the light of His return (1 Tim. 6:15-16), the Holy Spirit again focuses on how Christians should handle material possessions (1 Tim. 6:6-8, 17f). Christians “who are rich” in this present time should not be proud (1 Tim. 6:17a). People generally tend to NOT think of themselves as rich materially, but the truth is, when compared to much of the rest of the world, we as Christians in the Untied States have greater material possessions than most other people on the planet, so this verse has application to us. Two incorrect attitudes, the Bible says here, can mislead a believer who is rich materially: #1 the idea greater monetary value shows greater personal value; and #2 that material possessions guarantee power and security (1 Tim. 6:17). The Lord corrects both here stating rich Christians should not be “haughty” or arrogant thinking material things they possess are deserved. All that we have is a gift from God (including our ability to earn and even enjoy wealth, Eccl. 5:19; James 1:16-17, etc.). And all such material possessions are transient and “uncertain” (1 Tim. 6:7, 17). We are not “to set [our] hope on riches” or to trust in them as they are “unreliable” (1 Tim. 6:17 NET; Prov. 23:5, etc.). Instead, we are to set our hope on “the living God” that we have been saved by (1 Tim. 6:17; Eph.2:8-9; 1 Tim. 3:15; 4:10, etc.). This is, in part, because He is the One “who gives us richly all [of the material] things” we possess (1 Tim. 6:17). All the good things we have and even our ability to enjoy them are from the Lord, and we are just stewards of His riches (1 Cor. 4:1-2; James 1:17; Eccl. 5:19, etc.). We are “to enjoy” these blessings from Him, because God has given them to us, the Word says, “for our enjoyment” (1 Tim. 6:17b NET). When we use things His way, in accordance with the Bible, it glorifies the Lord (1 Tim. 6:16b). A second reason we are given material wealth is “to do good [and] be rich in good works” (1 Tim. 6:18a NLT; Eph. 2:10; Gal. 6:10, etc.). When we are “generous to those in need [and] ready to share with others” it also glorifies the Lord and will store “up for [ourselves] a good foundation for the time to come” having treasure in heaven (1 Tim. 6:19b NLT; Rom. 8:18; Matt. 6:19-21; Luke 12:33-34; 1 Cor. 3:13-14, etc.). This is laying “hold of what is truly life,”- experiencing Jesus/eternal life today in a sanctification sense (1 John 5:20-21; Luke 18:24-30; 1 Tim 4:16; 12; 19b NET, etc.).
The Holy Spirit then concludes the book of First Timothy urging us to GUARD WHAT HAS BEEN COMMITTED TO US (1 Tim. 6:20b, caps my emphasis). We are to keep the deposit of truth- to guard it in our lives. This, of course, refers to “mystery of godliness”- the gospel we profess and declare to the lost, both in word and deed (1 Tim. 3:16; 6:12; Acts 1:8, etc.) as well to the Bible as a whole- (i.e. “the truth”) which “the church [is]… the pillar and ground of” (1 Tim. 3:15). The Lord has given each of us “good things” we are called to protect and/or use for His namesake and glory (1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; John 10:10, etc.). To do this we are to “avoid” two forms of learning which can obscure the gospel witness in our lives: #1 “profane and idle babblings” and #2 “contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge” (1 Tim. 6:20b). “Profane” means godless and encompasses a disregard for holy things and “idle babblings” can be translated empty chatter or words (1 Tim. 1:4-7, etc.). Any advice that leads to us disregarding the truth of the Bible (Rom. 12:1-2, etc.) is to be avoided (1 Tim. 6:20b). Another thing to keep away from are “contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge” where ‘knowledge’ is the Greek word gnosis where we get the term ‘science’ from in English. All wisdom from our culture and world deemed to be true (i.e. so called ‘science’) that is in opposition to the Bible we are to “turn away from” because believing and following such human ideas can lead a person to “stray… from the faith” as was the case with Hymenaeus and Alexander in the Ephesian church (1 Tim. 6:21a NET; 1 Tim. 6:18-20, etc.) We are then reminded, (the “you” is plural here) that all Christians are saved by God’s unmerited, undeserved grace and are heaven-bound (1 Tim. 6:21b). The Lord will never ever let any of His children “perish” (John 3:7, 16; Matt. 18:20; Heb. 13:5; Rom. 8:31-39; Eph. 1:13-14; 2:8-9; 4:30, etc.). *For more information on this message from the Bible please see SBFC’s August 24, 2025 message above.