1 Timothy 6:9–12

In contrast with godly contentment there is the restlessness of those who desire to be rich. Wealth has its snares, as the Apostle shows a little later. But what ruins the soul is not necessarily the possession of wealth; it is the "desire to be rich." Others have pointed out that this word "desire" includes the idea of purpose. The danger is this. Instead of being content to earn his living, the believer may set himself with "purpose" of heart to be rich. So riches become the object, instead of the Lord.

Do you want to be rich? You will fall into a pit. This is the point. It is not that there is any harm in money, but in the love of it.

What does such a desire betray? Discontent with the calling God has given; distrust of His will, goodness, and wisdom in the way He deals with each of us… Child of God, where is your treasure? Is it Christ in heaven? If so, you are happy! If it is wealth or distinction, the Lord warns, There also will be your heart. Many hold a fond notion that flatly contradicts Christ: that while the life is swallowed up in the struggle for riches, the heart is not there at all but stays true to Him. What could be more false, or more deceiving!

To fall into temptation is quite different from being tempted. Being tempted is hard; but blessed is the one who endures temptation… Christ suffered while He was tempted. He did not give in to the pleasure of the moment and then lie down afterwards in useless sorrow.

"A snare" goes further still than temptation. It pictures the deceived soul caught in the enemy's net, and only the grace and power of the Lord can free him.

Further, the desire for riches does not come alone. It is the parent of "many senseless and harmful desires." It feeds vanity. It breeds pride. It serves selfishness. It suggests and promotes ambition, and so may be the means of corrupting others.

The way is sad and evil, and the end is wretched beyond words… Of course this describes "men," not "saints." But some of the most terrible examples are people who once took that place, and were perhaps recognized without question among those who confessed Christ… "Destruction" is the general word for their ruin; "perdition" is sharper and more dreadful still. Part of the snare and folly is to lean on the Lord's name, as if wearing it must shield a person from the harm that unbelief brings — the unbelief that treats His word lightly and lets self-will run loose.

This is the association God makes — what in His mind is bound up with the commonest of all desires, the desire to be rich! And His path of escape is this: having food and clothing, let us be content with that.

The love of money is declared to be the root of every kind of evil. It is not that every bit of evil in the world comes from the love of money. Rather, the love of money is a root, and on various occasions every kind of evil springs from it.

The language of men betrays their mammon-worship. They think of money, and the love of it, as a root of "goods." God calls it a root of "evils." And not just possible evils but real ones — the evils that exist, subtle or important, of the flesh and of the mind. So the Lord had warned the disciples about the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things creeping in.

Philarguria (from philos and arguros) literally means "love of money." It is the miser's sin, and a person may indulge it while professing religion. So Luke 16:14 applies the word to the Pharisees, and 2 Timothy 3:2 applies it to people who had a form of godliness but denied its power. This love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Those who go after it are liable to wander away from the faith, and to pierce themselves through with many sorrows.

The love of money is such a deadly root of evils that its seductive pull away from the faith stands first among the dangers that follow. This may help to explain the strong language of Ephesians 5:5, where Scripture calls a covetous person an idolater, and of Colossians 3:5, which declares covetousness to be idolatry. Granted, the word used there goes beyond the love of money spoken of here. Still, the love of money is at least part of that unsatisfied greed, which becomes an absorbing idolatrous passion that shuts out true homage to the true God.

The eager pursuit of money tends to pierce those devoted to it through with many pangs. In that case it is hard to avoid deceit here and pretence there, hard words and ways to one person and soft ones to another. It is hard to avoid taking selfish advantage of people and things and times, with no thought of heart or circumstances, and still less of Christ before God. Success inflicts the many pangs as well as failure. In fact the most successful have their disappointments as a rule, and all the sharper ones.

The covetousness of Achan, the desire to enrich himself with the spoil of Jericho, not only brought destruction on himself, but humiliation and trouble on Israel. The love of money led Judas to betray the Son of God, and brought Balaam to the King of Moab to advise him how to overcome God's people.

On riches, two classes appear: those who are not rich but wish to be (verses 9–12), and those who are rich already (verses 17–19)… Money is not evil in itself. But the love of it is a root from which every evil may spring. The Apostle had seen some people whose covetousness led them away from the faith. They pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Anyone who would be a man of God must flee these things. He must follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. And there is great need of such men.

The desire to be rich was the path of snares and temptation, of foolish and hurtful lusts. Timothy was to flee these things, as a man of God. This is always the thought here. He was in the world on God's behalf. He represented Him in his part of the work. So he was to follow after something other than earthly riches. He was to follow the character of a man of God: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. These were the things which, in a man, presented God to the world and glorified Him.

"Man of God" is a phrase that occurs often, from the five books of Moses right through the history books of the Old Testament. It is used again and again of a prophet. It marks him out as a man identified with the interests and character of God in deed and in truth. He can still fail, of course, and then suffer chastening. In the New Testament the phrase appears only in the two letters to Timothy. Here Paul uses it of the man he writes to, to stir him up and warn him. In the second letter it is open to all who, in an evil day, make good in faithful and holy devotedness to God what the title implies.

Paul's words "O man of God" are an urgent and very personal appeal. Urgent, because of the need of the hour; and personal, because of the individual responsibility to meet this need. The Greek word for "man" above is without distinction of sex. It should be the character of men and women who are devoted to the Lord Jesus. They love the great truth of the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15).

It is not enough to avoid evil. There must be the pursuit of good… However others may act, the man of God will seek to walk in a way that fits his relationships to others as brothers and sisters. This is righteousness… The man of God will also pursue faith that has Christ for its Object. And he will pursue love that goes out to his brothers and sisters. That love bears evil and insults with quiet endurance and meekness, instead of impatience and resentment.

Six lovely features hang together like a cluster of fruit. The list begins with righteousness, which always has to be to the front in a world of unrighteousness and sin. It ends with meekness, the very opposite of what we are by nature. Meekness concerns our spirit, as righteousness concerns our acts.

Piety is confidence in the known and living God. That confidence leads the believer to walk in the holy fear of God through all the circumstances of life. It recognises and honours God. So it is the very opposite of a show of holiness that seeks to exalt self.

Confusion was growing. So the apostle gives the moral features which should mark the "man of God." These features would fit him for the conflict with the power of evil that he cannot avoid. No servant of Christ can hold up the standard of the truth unless the truth has first formed him. If he tries, he will only invite a disastrous defeat. In life, as well as in word, he must be a representative of the Master whom he serves.

If we are to be men of God, we must flee what draws the men of this world. We must follow what was seen in Jesus here on earth. All these precious moral features shone in their fulness and perfection in the Son of God.

As the confusion grew, the apostle gives the moral features that should mark the "man of God." These would fit him for his unavoidable conflict with the power of evil. No servant of Christ can hold up the standard of the truth unless the truth has formed him. If he tries, it will only end in disastrous defeat. In life, as well as in word, he must represent the Master whom he serves.

The good fight of faith is contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. That means the truth which had been spread among the saints and received by them. So the faith is the thing believed. But remember: without faith at work in the soul now, this fight could not be won. Otherwise, however earnest the argument, "the faith" might be nothing more than a dead creed.

Meanwhile there was conflict: he must fight the good fight of faith. If anyone represents God in the world, there must be warfare, because the enemy is there. Faith's energy was also needed to lay hold of eternal life among the temptations and difficulties that the "things that are seen" bring.

This life is a personal possession. So the command does not mean obtaining eternal life; that is the gift of God. You must lay hold of it in faith, enter into it and enjoy it. Many have eternal life, but what they need is a practical laying hold of all that it implies and all that goes with it.

We lay hold on eternal life as we realise in our souls that we do not belong to this sphere. Everything for us is tied to the scene we are going to... We realise that the true life is life in fellowship with God. In the Spirit's power we can then use this world without abusing it, walking as Christ walked, who alone fully showed eternal life in this scene of death.

Timothy was to lay hold of eternal life, and let nothing shake his prey loose... The world around him was content to take its portion in this life, and many through the love of it had wandered from the faith (v. 10). But Timothy was to flee this as he pursued eternal life. Faith knew its object from the word of promise; and Timothy was to embrace it at every cost.

Our calling as Christians is a high calling, holy and heavenly. Like Abraham, we are to be pilgrims and strangers while we wait for all that God has promised us. God has not called us to present ease and the enjoyment of the world's pleasures. He has called us to conflict with the powers of darkness, and to the present enjoyment of heavenly things.

But it is hard indeed to keep up a profession contradicted, as far as sight goes, by everything in us and around us... Timothy had confessed a good confession before many witnesses, and he needed reminding of it. And so do we. For we so easily forget that we are what we are in hope.

If the man of God flees from evil, follows good, fights for the faith and lays hold of eternal life, his life will make a good confession before others. He becomes a living witness to the truths that he professes.