Laying these things before the brethren, thou wilt be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which thou hast fully followed up.
Paul has just warned Timothy about seducing spirits and the teaching they spread. Now he turns to the worker's own task. Timothy is to lay these things before the believers, and to be fed by the same truth he serves out. (Older translations read "nourished up in the words of faith." That is the wording these writers use.)
Timothy is to remind the believers of truth they already know. That work is not second-rate.
These things had been taught faithfully before. But reminding the brothers of them is work that must always occupy the servant of God. Timothy was not told to busy himself with teaching new things. He was to go over what was already known, again and again, and present it as the ever fresh ministry of the Spirit of God — food the soul badly needs.
Error and true service aim at opposite targets.
The seducing spirits, of which the Holy Spirit speaks, sought to exalt man with a sense of religious importance and sanctity. The true servant seeks to exalt Christ by ministering the truth.
The verse names what the servant lives on: "the words of the faith." That rules other sources out.
To go on well in Christ's service, one must be trained or nourished in the words of the faith. To give out, one must take in. But the right material is not the science or literature of men. It is the "words of the faith." Timothy had already followed that good teaching closely, and it supplies the material for the right service of Christ, who rejects the wisdom of this age. The words of the faith are always beyond the age and above it.
The verse ties good service to a well-fed soul. That also explains how error spreads.
By doing this he would be a good minister of Christ Jesus. His own soul would be not only instructed but nourished, and so made fit to nourish others. Men do not listen to seducing spirits because their minds lack knowledge. They listen because their souls are not fed and satisfied with the pure truth of God.
This gives a test for any teaching.
In all teaching there must be something that meets the need of the soul, so that it may also bear the fruit it is meant to bear.
The verse ends with teaching Timothy had "followed." Holding the truth and living it out are two different things.
To be a good servant of Jesus Christ it is not enough to know the truth and hold the truth. We need to be nourished by the truth, and to follow the truth up fully in practice. Our own souls must be fed if we are to feed others. And we must feed not simply on the words of teachers, however true they are, but "with the words of the faith." These bring us "the good teaching" of Christianity. Follow it up, and it will have a practical effect on our lives, keeping us from the evils of the last days.
How far a servant has come is not measured by output. One writer measures it by food: "how far a person has grown matches the nourishment digested in his own soul" (Leslie M. Grant).
- Fed — to give out, you must first take in. The servant's food is the words of the faith, not the wisdom of the age.
- Digested — knowing and holding the truth is not enough. Truth followed up in practice has a real effect on life and keeps us from the evils of the last days.
- Served — much of good service is repetition. Not new things, but known things given out as ever fresh food for the soul.
- Guarded — people fall for seducing spirits because their souls go unfed by the pure truth of God, not because their minds lack knowledge.
- Grown — a servant grows in proportion to what he has digested. Teaching that never meets the soul's need never bears fruit.
But profane and old wives' fables avoid, but exercise thyself unto piety;
Paul has just described the good servant of Christ, fed on the words of the faith. Now he names the opposite — a kind of religious talk Timothy must walk away from — and the training he must take up instead.
The writers below quote an older translation: "refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness." Where they say "piety," the ESV says "godliness."
Start with the word "myths." It does not mean today what it means here:
In the New Testament the English word does not carry the meaning it often carries today: a made-up incident told to teach some moral truth. Its sense is rather myths, false stories, which in one passage are called "profane and old wives' fables."
Why not treat such stories as harmless extras alongside the truth?
People may claim these things are only extra material added to the truth of Christianity. But if it is not Christianity, then it in no way supplements Christianity: it must be refused. "Profane" is simply secular, as distinct from what is sacred, and in fact in contrast to it. We must keep it distinct: it cannot add one single bit to the truth of God. Such fables may sound very flattering, as though they confirmed the truth. But this is one of Satan's most cunning methods. If he can persuade Christians to accept such things, the door is open to any untruth, and the truth itself is soon pushed out.
Where do such stories come from? One writer traces them to the human mind reaching past what God has revealed.
We have an all-sufficient revelation of God. The human mind speculates and pushes into things unseen, following the theories, imaginations and traditions of men. Such things only lead away from godliness. They lead from foolish questionings into what is profane. A believer has no business to investigate Spiritism or Theosophy, or to occupy his mind with things not made known in the Word of God. We must avoid these things and refuse to have anything to do with them. Otherwise we step onto the enemy's ground and lay ourselves open to his attacks.
The word Paul uses for "have nothing to do with" turns up in several other places, and one writer compares them all.
Now paraitou is said of shunning old wives' fables (1 Tim. 4:7), younger widows, foolish and uninstructed questions, as well as a heretic in another passage. In no case does it mean excommunication — putting someone out of the church. It means simply avoiding things or persons alike.
Godliness can sound like a call to look religious. It means close to the opposite.
Piety is confidence in the known and living God. That confidence leads the believer to walk in the holy fear of God in all the circumstances of life. It recognises and honours God, and is therefore the very opposite of sanctimoniousness that seeks to exalt self.
Paul's word for training is borrowed. One writer shows where it comes from.
Here, as in 1 Corinthians 9, the picture of "exercise" seems to come from the public games and the training they needed, so familiar to the Greek mind. Timothy was to be in constant training… Piety is spiritual exercise. It demands the same constant watchfulness, the same holy self-restraint, the same complete subjection to the revealed will of God, that training for the games demanded: staying away from every relaxing habit, and daily practice with the goal in view.
Another writer names what the fables feed, and what daily training reaches instead.
Timothy was told to refuse these fables, which only feed the old sinful nature, and to exercise himself instead to godliness. The Christian needs daily spiritual exercise to be in a healthy state of soul. He must train his members to godliness. He should direct his eyes, ears, mind, tongue, heart, hands and feet in the way of godliness, and exercise them in it daily.
The warning lands hardest on people who are already working for God.
Our great "exercise" should be to walk in piety. We may put service first, but there is always the grave danger of being active in service while neglecting personal piety… Like the believers at Corinth, we may at times be very active in service and boast in our gifts. And like them we may be very unspiritual, because we do not exercise ourselves to piety.
- Refuse — the myths are false stories, and "profane" means secular. What sits outside the sacred adds nothing to it, so you decline it rather than debate it.
- Refuse quietly — Paul's word means avoiding, not putting anyone out. You step away from the talk instead of putting the talker on trial.
- Replace — refusing leaves a gap, and piety fills it. Piety is confidence in the living God that honours Him, not religion that exalts self.
- Rehearse — the picture is an athlete in constant training. Eyes, ears, mind, tongue, hands and feet get their exercise daily.
- Remember — busy servants can be active in service and unspiritual at the same time. Personal training comes first.