1 Timothy 6.3-4a-Paul Describes The Actions And Attitude Of The False Teachers
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday September 20, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 6:3-4a-Paul Describes The Actions And Attitude Of The False Teachers
Lesson # 125
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 5:22.
In 1 Timothy 6:3-5, Paul issues a final indictment of those teaching false doctrine whether they are the Judaizers or those pastors following their legalistic teaching.
In this passage, he describes the actions and attitude of the false teachers and then in 1 Timothy 6:4b-5a, he describes that which their false teaching produces and then in 1 Timothy 6:5b, he presents their motivation for teaching false doctrine.
1 Timothy 6:3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing. (NASB95)
“If anyone advocates a different doctrine” is composed of the conditional particle ei (εἰ) (ee), “if” and this is followed by the nominative feminine singular form of the indefinite pronoun tis (τις) (teece), “any” and then we have the third person singular present active indicative form of the verb heterodidaskaleo (ἑτεροδιδασκαλέω) (eh-ta-roe-dee-dah-ska-leer-owe), “advocate a different doctrine.”
Paul is once again employing the figure of “asyndeton,” which emphasizes the importance of this indictment of the false teachers with regards to the spiritual well-being of the church.
The conditional particle ei introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
The idea behind the first class condition is not “since” but rather, “if-and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that, then...”
Here the protasis is “if and let assume that it is true for the sake argument that someone does teach false doctrine in other words they do not agree with the sound words, namely those which originate from the Lord Jesus Christ specifically the teaching which is for the purpose of godliness.”
The audience would respond that there were in fact those who in Ephesus who did.
The apodasis is “(then) they are conceited and understand nothing.”
The indefinite pronoun tis refers to an unidentified group of individuals in Ephesus who were composed of the Judaizers and apostate pastors.
The verb heterodidaskaleo means “to teach heretical or false doctrines” and speaks of the act of teaching that which is contrary to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and apostolic teaching of Paul.
It describes the content of the teaching of these pastors in Ephesus as fundamentally and essentially different than the Lord Jesus Christ’s and His apostles such as Paul.
It presupposes an accepted standard of teaching in the Christian community throughout the Roman Empire.
“And does not agree with the sounds, those of our Lord Jesus Christ” is composed of the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed by the negative particle me (μή) (me), “not” which is negating the third person singular present passive indicative form of the verb proserchomai (προσέρχομαι) (prose-eff-koe-meh), “does agree with” and this is followed by the dative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb hugiaino (ὑγιαίνω) (ee-yeh-no), “sound” which is modifying the dative masculine plural form of the noun logos (λόγος) (loe-goce), “words” and this is followed by the dative masculine plural form of the definite article ho (ὁ) (owe), “those” and then we have the articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun kurios (κύριος) (ker-dee-oce), “Lord” which is followed by the genitive first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ) (eh-go), “our” and the genitive masculine singular form of the noun Iesous (Ἰησοῦς) (yee-soose), “Jesus” and the genitive masculine singular form of the noun Christos (Χριστός) (cree-stoce), “Christ.”
The conjunction kai is epexegetical meaning that it is introducing an expression that presents Paul’s previous statement from a different perspective and is bringing out the implications of teaching false doctrine.
The verb proserchomai means “to agree with” and its meaning is negated by the negative particle me, which denies any idea of these apostate pastors and the Judaizers agreeing with the sound words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
These two words speak of the rejection of Paul’s apostolic teaching which originated from the Lord Jesus Christ by these apostate pastors and the Judaizers who they were following.
The verb hugiaino means “to be sound” and is used to describe Paul’s apostolic teaching which originated from the Lord Jesus Christ, and stood in direct contrast to the false doctrine taught by certain unidentified pastors in Ephesus and the Judaizers.
The noun logos refers to the content of what Paul taught in his gospel, which is indicated by the fact that Paul is contrasting the content of his teaching with that of the false teaching of the apostate pastors in Ephesus which originated with the Judaizers.
The noun kurios denotes the authority of Jesus Christ indicating that Paul’s apostolic teaching is based upon the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, which stands in stark contrast to the false teaching of the apostate pastors in Ephesus whose teaching originated with the Judaizers.
The noun kurios is a genitive of source indicating that Paul’s sound doctrinal teaching “originated from” the Lord Jesus Christ.
This stands in stark contrast with those teaching false doctrine, which originated from the kingdom of darkness.
“And with the doctrine conforming to godliness” is composed of the kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed by the preposition kata (κατά) (kah-tah), “conforming to” and then we have the accusative feminine singular form of the noun eusebeia (εὐσέβεια) (ef-sev-ee-ah), “godliness” and this is followed by the articular dative feminine singular form of the noun didaskalia (διδασκαλία) (thee-thask-ah-lee-ah), “the doctrine.”
The conjunction kai is epexegetical meaning that it presents a different description of Paul’s apostolic teaching.
The noun didaskalia is used in an objective sense and means “doctrine, teaching” and is referring to the content of Paul’s apostolic teaching.
The noun eusebeia refers to proper Christian attitude and conduct that is produced by the Holy Spirit as a result of exercising faith in the Word of God resulting in obedience to the Word of God and constitutes worshipping God.
It means that the Christian is conforming their attitude and conduct to the will of the Father as a result of faith in the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God resulting in obedience to the Father’s will, which constitutes worshipping God.
Eusebeia is the result of appropriating by faith the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God that the Christian is in union with Christ identified with Him in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session.
This results in obedience to the commands and prohibitions in the Word of God that are inspired by the Spirit.
It also results in godly conduct that honors the Father and reflects His perfect norms and standards.
Also, it manifests the character of Christ in the life of the believer as well as the omnipotence of God in that exercising faith in the Spirit’s teaching that one is in union with Christ and identified with Him appropriates the omnipotence of God.
The noun eusebeia is the object of the preposition kata, which functions as a marker of purpose indicating that Paul’s apostolic teaching which originated with the Lord Jesus Christ was “for the purpose of” godliness or producing godliness in believers.
“He is conceited and understands nothing” is composed of the third person singular perfect passive indicative form of the verb tuphoo (τυφόω) (tee-foe-owe), “he is conceited” and this is followed by the accusative neuter singular form of the adjective medeis (μηδείς) (mee-theese), “nothing” which is followed by nominative masculine singular present passive participle form of the verb epistamai (ἐπίσταμαι) (ehpee-stah-meh), “understands.”
The verb tuphoo means “to be arrogant” and is used to describe those apostate pastors in Ephesus who were teaching false doctrine rather than Paul’s apostolic teaching.
The emphatic negative adjective medeis functions as a substantive and means “absolutely nothing” and refers to will or plan of God for the believer.
By rejecting Paul’s apostolic teaching in favor of teaching false doctrine which originates from the Judaizers and ultimately the kingdom of darkness and Satan, these apostate pastors in Ephesus had absolutely no knowledge of God’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through Paul’s gospel.
This is indicated by the fact that those teaching false doctrine are claiming they know God’s will.
They claim to know God’s will but yet they don’t because they have rejected the means by which God has made known His will for the lives of His children, namely, the gospel which Paul proclaimed throughout the Roman Empire.
The verb epistamai means “to understand” and speaks of an intellectual comprehension of God’s will, which is based upon faith in the gospel, or in other words, Paul’s apostolic teaching.
The participle form of the verb is a result participle indicating that “as a result of” being arrogant, these apostate teachers understood absolutely nothing about the plan of God.
In other words, it indicates that these apostate pastors who were teaching false doctrine were in a state of ignorance as a result of their arrogance.