Godliness and Contentment

1 Timothy 6:3–10 ESV

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Sound Gospel

1 Timothy 6:3–5 ESV

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

Paul next continues with a call to sound Gospel

Paul repeats this call regularly

in all of his letters

for good reason

Paul has a desire for the Gospel to stay true and pure in form

a desire for the Gospel to not be tainted by the world

tainted by the evil ones ways

Paul does beyond referencing the sound doctrine here though

Paul criticizes the one who does not follow them

Paul gives out some descriptors of those who neglect a proper Gospel

first they are filled up with conceit

they are prideful in their understanding

which means they understand nothing

they do not have true comprehension of the Gospel

they do not have even a basic understanding of scripture

Even deeper Paul gives description as to who they really are

they crave controversy

they have questions that are unprofitable

they also like to fight over words

they will use common Christian beliefs but alter their true meaning slightly

they will deceive

Paul’s goal in this is to understand the enemy

not to criticize and individual

Paul then gives a list of their fruit

with the understanding that godliness is a means of gain

we see this drastically in the world today!!!

Godliness and Contentment

1 Timothy 6:6–8 ESV

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

Next Paul recognizes proper understanding of Godliness

Proper Godliness brings about contentment

which brings about gain

spiritually

recognizing that we brought nothing in and take nothing out is huge

recognizing that our reliance on stuff is a form of idolatry

Paul brings in the recognition of contentment

you see Godliness is devotion to God

Godliness is reliance on God

Godliness is being fulfilled by God

when we take this into consideration our stuff has no where to stand

Godliness means recognizing and seeing the world through His lens

it means being devoted to His plan

it means follow His will no matter the cost

All throughout scripture we see disciples that are extremely poor and low in income

these are the great disciples of Christ

these are the original 12

11 are known to have been martyred for their faith

God’s plan was their contentment

Their desire was to strive to be more righteous in His eyes

to be conformed to the image of the Son of God

From their example we see that godliness most obviously was not a means of physical gain

it was a means of spiritual gain

a means of seeking the king

a means of being at peace with where they were at

willing to do what God desired

if anybody would have gain due to Godliness it would have been the original called

but that is not the will of God

true riches fall in a relationship with the Father!

Harmful Greed

1 Timothy 6:9–10 ESV

9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Next Paul moves to false riches

a form of harmful greed

Paul says those who are not content

those who seek riches

fall into temptation

riches are a trap set by the evil one

riches lead down the wide path of destruction

its a snare that is hard to escape

it leads to senseless and harmful desires

it leads to corruption

it leads to destruction

now we move to a piece of Scripture

money is a root of all kinds of evils

some Bibles might say “the” root of all evils

the craving for gain has led people astray

their are many leaders today that preach a money seeking Gospel

they preach a gospel of gain through Godliness

some have even used the words God owes me

God does not owe you a dime!

he does not owe us anything

in fact we owe Him more than we could ever afford or offer in 10 million lifetimes

Pangs translates to distress or pains