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.
for bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but piety is profitable for everything, having promise of life, of the present one, and of that to come.
Paul has just told Timothy to train himself for godliness, and here he weighs that training against training of the body. One gain is small and short; the other covers everything and lasts beyond this life.
The word for training comes from the world of athletes.
Here, as in 1 Corinthians 9, the picture of "exercise" seems to come from the public games and the training they required. Greek readers knew those games well. Timothy was to be in constant training... Piety is spiritual exercise. It demands the same constant watchfulness, the same holy self-control, the same full submission to the revealed will of God, that training for the games demanded of an athlete. He had to give up every habit that softened him and to practise daily with the goal in view. How small that goal was! How much greater is this one!
The difference lies in what the exercise works on.
This is an inward exercise that goes on in the heart, the mind and the conscience. It is not muscular exercise, the exercise of your legs and arms and lungs, which "is of some value." Training yourself for godliness is another kind of exercise. It affects the heart, the conscience and the mind.
The word can also be rendered "piety," and it is a word this letter keeps returning to.
The truth of godliness (or, by the better translation, "piety") has a very prominent place in this first letter to Timothy. The New Testament uses the word sixteen times, and nine of them come in this letter... Piety is confidence in the known and living God. That confidence leads the believer to walk in the holy fear of God in every circumstance of life. It recognises and honours God, and is therefore the very opposite of a false show of holiness that seeks to exalt self.
The lesser training still has real value, though only for a time.
Bodily exercise, we grant, does profit for a little while. Its value is temporary, so it is not to be ignored. But godliness has both present and eternal value. It benefits this life beyond measure, and it has in it a character that reaps eternal results. How well worth cultivating!
The verse guards two ditches at once, and the guard is the aim of the heart.
There is always the danger of going to extremes in regard to our bodies, and some would give so much attention to the body that divine things are neglected. Things are to be kept in divine perspective... There is no danger of the body being wilfully neglected if we seek after true piety, nor will we give the body undue attention if the will and glory of God are before us.
The first half of the promise reaches into ordinary daily provision, not only into spiritual comfort.
For a believer, this earth is a land of promise, though it is not the main land promised. God has not promised him heaven and then left him to the wide world to provide for his own needs. He has not told His people to live by faith for their souls and to live by their wits for their bodies. No; He who has promised to give him "grace and glory," has also said, "No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11). God provides their food here, as well as their inheritance later.
Nothing that godliness forms in a believer now is lost.
Godliness has its present rewards in spiritual growth, spiritual joy, and in the knowledge that we are living for God's will and pleasure. And what divine exercise forms in us of Christ now will be seen in the display of the world to come.
Godliness is of value in every way, so busy service can never take its place.
We may put service first; but there is always a grave danger of being active in service while neglecting personal piety. The good servant will exercise himself to piety that he may be "useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work." We may, at times, like the Corinthian saints, be very active in service and boast in our gifts, and like them be very unspiritual through not exercising ourselves to piety.
- Train. The verse borrows the athlete's word. Godliness is not a mood that arrives; you train for it, with the daily seriousness an athlete gives his body.
- Aim. The training is godly because of what it aims at: confidence in the living God, walking in His fear, honouring Him. It is the opposite of a holiness put on for show.
- Little. Bodily training does have value, so it is not to be ignored; but its profit stops at this life.
- All. Godliness is of value in every way — including bread and daily provision now, since God did not promise heaven and then leave His people to provide for themselves.
- Both. One training carries a promise for two worlds. It rewards this life, and what Christ forms in us now will be on display in the world to come.
The word [is] faithful and worthy of all acceptation;
Paul breaks off his instructions to Timothy to mark one statement as certain. Older translations call it a faithful saying, and readers have long asked which saying he means — the promise about godliness in the verse before, or the words about the living God in the verse after.
The phrase is not a one-off. One writer counts where it falls in these letters.
So what does the stamp claim? One reference work traces the root of the word.
In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, this word comes from the same root as "faith." It means being true to yourself, to your own nature, to any promise you give, and to any trust placed in you... The words of the gospel are faithful too: God keeps every promise attached to them (1 Tim. 1:15; 1 Tim. 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:11; Titus 3:8; Rev. 21:5).
Commentators differ on whether the stamp points back or forward. One takes it to seal the praise of godliness in the verse before, and ranks that as high as Paul's word about why Christ came.
In 1 Tim. 4:7-10 Paul sounds out the praises of godliness. It has promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come, and so it is profitable for all things. This is declared to be a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, as much as the saying that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
Another reads it forward, so that the labour and the hope belong to the certified word.
Faithful is this word and worthy of all acceptation. Even the labour and struggle that come from hope in a living God grow out of faith in One who preserves all men, and above all those who believe.
One writer takes the words "worthy of all acceptation" in two senses, and both hold.
I always feel inclined to interpret that in two ways. First, it is worthy of the most wholehearted and absolute acceptance — not a ninety-nine per cent acceptance, but a one hundred per cent acceptance. It is just as true in this sense too: it is worthy of everybody's acceptance.
Paul does not stamp a comfortable idea. The next sentence speaks of hard work and insult.
The Apostle presses home the importance of this training in godliness by stating, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation." It was because of his godliness that the Apostle can say, "For this we labour and suffer reproach." We may be willing to work hard and stand out before men, working to win applause or to exalt self. But if godliness is behind our labour, it is bound to mean labour and reproach.
One writer explains which side of God's work stands behind the hope here.
As I see it, this is not about Christ's work in saving the lost who believe. The apostle is speaking of the living God Himself — of God in His character as preserver of men, as Job also speaks (Job 7:20). God's providential care and government are before us, and nothing escapes His notice. So He clothes the plants of the field and feeds the birds of heaven, which do not sow or reap or gather into barns.
The same writer names the mistake this care guards against.
No Christian could forget for a moment the infinite privilege of eternal life and redemption, of heavenly hope and everlasting glory. But with these unseen and eternal things before him, he might overlook God's constant daily and special care in the ordinary matters of this life. That would be his own great loss, and it would dishonour the Lord. This verse (10), and the context before it, would guard the soul against such an error.
- Faithful. The word means true to one's promise. God keeps every promise attached to a saying He marks "faithful."
- Stamped. Paul uses this formula three times in this letter, and only twice — at 1:15 and here — does he add "worthy of all acceptation."
- Full and wide. Paul asks for total acceptance, not partial. And the saying is for everybody, not for a select few.
- Costly. The stamp certifies godliness. Godliness behind our labour brings reproach, not applause.
- Guarded. Hope in the living God holds the labour up. His daily care over His own never stops, however great their eternal hope.