Tag Archives: 1 Timothy 5-6

Daily Bible Study

December 14, 2023 Bible Study — If You Fill Your Time Doing Good Deeds, You Won’t Have Time to Sin, Not Even by Accident

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Timothy 5-6.

Paul writes that some sins precede us, while others only become obvious later.  He followed that by writing that good deeds are obvious, and even those which are not obvious cannot remain hidden.  It took me quite awhile to figure out what he was saying by writing this.  After some thought, I came to the conclusion that he meant that some sins are obviously sins, while others allow us to convince ourselves that committing them is not actually a sin.  In contrast, we all know a good deed when we see it, and even if we do good deeds in secret, eventually people will notice.  As for the sinful acts which we convince ourselves are not sins, since good deeds are obvious, we can avoid those sins by only doing those things which we know are good.  Or to put it another way, if we avoid doing anything which is not obviously a good deed, we will not sin by accident.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 14, 2022 Bible Study — Do Not Believe Those Who Preach Godliness As The Path To Wealth

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Timothy 5-6.

Paul again warns Timothy against false teachers towards the end of this letter.  He describes them as being conceited and having an unhealthy interest in controversy.  Rather than pursuing godliness for the sake of goodness, they see godliness as a means to gain wealth.  Paul advises that we should be content with sufficient food and clothing, warning that those who who want to get rich run the risk of falling into traps and temptation.  In particular, Paul points out that the love of money has led many into sins of various sorts.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 14, 2021 Bible Study — Do Not Be Fooled By Those Who Claim Knowledge Which Shows The Gospel Is False

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Timothy 5-6.

Paul instructs Timothy to treat everyone with appropriate respect, those older than himself as his mother or father, those his age or younger as brothers and sisters.  We should take this advice to heart and treat our fellow believers with similar respect.  I wanted to start off with that just as this passage does.  However, the main thing which struck me is Paul'[s final instruction to Timothy in this letter.  Paul finishes his instruction to Timothy by telling him to turn away from godless chatter and from ideas which some falsely call knowledge.  From this we see that even in the early Church there were those who styled themselves intellectuals who sought to deny the Gospel in the name of “{knowledge”, or “science”.  There will always be those who are sure that they know something which proves some aspect of what has always been taught as part of the Gospel is not so.  We should not get caught up in debating what such “{knowledge” says about our faith, instead trust that God has made His will made known and that those who went before us in faith were not fooled by man-made stories.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 14, 2020 Bible Study Guidelines For Caring For Those In Need

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Timothy 5-6

Here Paul gives Timothy instructions for caring for widows.  I am convinced that these instructions can be easily extended to how we as Christians should care for all of those in need.  First, we definitely should care for those who have no one else to care for them who cannot care for themselves.  However, we should ask the relatives of those who cannot care for themselves to care for them before we, as the Church, get involved.  Also, those who are able to care for themselves should do so.  Further, those who we provide care for need to be respectful and kind to others.  If you are one of those who need help, you need to be grateful to those who give you that assistance. Further, while some among us have the gift to care for those who are ungrateful, none of us are obligated to care for those who treat us poorly.   I am tempted to write more here to try to clarify my points, but instead I am going to ask you to read the passage and see how Paul said it.

Daily Bible Study

December 14, 2019 Bible Study — Providing For Those In Need

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Timothy 5-6

Paul gives instructions here regarding the care of widowed believers by the Church which I believe can be our model for helping all who are unable to care for themselves.  Paul begins by saying that the family of the person in need should do all that they can to help them.  He continues by saying that every person should care for their own needs to whatever degree that they are able to do so.  Finally, the Church should care for those whose needs cannot be met by these first two options.  However, Paul puts some conditions on those for whom the Church should provide care.  I believe that the conditions which Paul lists are specific to the situation he was addressing and do not necessarily represent the conditions we should impose today.  That being said, they provide a model for conditioning assistance on the behavior of those receiving assistance.  

Paul recommends against giving assistance to those who are able-bodied because they will then spend their time gossiping and meddling in other people’s business.  Again we can see both that he is referring to a relatively specific situation and offering a model which can be applied more generally.  The assistance Paul is addressing here appears to be monetary and/or food supplies.  We see from that another way to address his concerns would be to provide assistance in the form of a job,  I do not want to go too far down that path.  Believers should aid those who require assistance to meet their needs, but that aid can, and should to some degree, be contingent upon actions by those receiving it.  We must always remember that sometimes material assistance is not in the best interest of those in need.

Daily Bible Study

December 14, 2018 Bible Study — being godly is its own reward

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Timothy 5-6.

Today’s passage contains many short instructions for Timothy, and the Church in general, which do not have a common theme other than that we should act in love and faith. One of the points Paul makes is that we should never listen to an accusation against a Church leader unless it is confirmed by two or three witnesses. This is a rule which we should keep in mind regarding any person, especially those of prominence.

The other instruction which Paul makes here which I want to touch on are his teachings on the connection between godliness and wealth, specifically, that godliness is NOT a method of acquiring wealth. Paul condemns as false teachers those who teach that godliness is the way to acquire wealth. Ultimately, those who are godly for the sake of becoming wealthy are not truly being godly. They are merely putting on the appearance of being godly. The only way to be truly godly is to recognize that godly is a goal in and of itself

Daily Bible Study

December 15, 2017 Bible Study — Fill Our Idle Time With Useful Endeavours

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Timothy 5-6.

    I should have written on this passage yesterday, but I accidentally skipped ahead to 2 Timothy. So, I will study it today. Today’s passage starts with advice to Timothy which would have saved quite a few men today from grief had they followed it. We are instructed to treat those older than ourselves as if they were our parents and those our age and younger as our brothers and sisters. We should treat others with respect and purity. Paul proceeds from there to give Timothy instructions for caring for the elderly. He writes that believers should care for those of their relatives who are no longer able to care for themselves to the best that they are able. The Church should only step in when someone has no relatives who are able to care for themselves. Further, those who are able should seek out useful things to do with their time. We should seek useful things with which to fill our time because that is a positive good, but also because we will otherwise fill our time with activities which will lead us into sin.

    Paul continues with more instructions regarding those who should receive financial support from the Church and other items regarding living a Christian life. Then he warns against those teachers and leaders who teach contrary to Paul’s teachings. Paul warns us that such people have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels. They create friction between people and encourage people to believe that godliness is a path to financial gain. Paul writes that not only is godliness not a guarantee of financial success, but that godliness combined with contentment with out financial status is worth more than any amount of money. No matter how much material wealth we gain in this life none of it will accompany us into the next. If we have food to eat and clothes to wear we have all the financial wealth we should desire. Seeking after wealth is a trap which leads many to sin. The desire for money is the source of many sins. Paul follows this up in his conclusion by warning those who do acquire great wealth to remain humble and not come to believe that their great wealth is evidence of their righteousness.

Daily Bible Study

December 14, 2013 Bible Study — Caring For Widows

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Timothy 5-6.

    Paul gives Timothy instructions about caring for widows. I think that these instructions give us an idea about how we should care for all who are in need. The first step in caring for those in need is that we should care for those in our own family who fall into need to the best of our ability. The second aspect of Paul’s instructions on caring for those in need is that they should do everything in their power to care for themselves. In 2 Thessalonians, Paul said that those who are unwilling to work will not eat. I am a firm believer that we as a Church should seek to provide meaningful work for those who otherwise have difficulty supporting themselves.
    As I read this, Paul is saying that those who have a personal relationship with those in need should coordinate the efforts to provide for their needs, providing from their own resources as much as they are able to do so. We should only turn to the Church as a whole when the needs exceed our ability to care for them ourselves. Another point Paul makes is that those who receive assistance from the Church should, to the best of their ability, demonstrate the characteristics of Christ. If we want the Church to care for us when we are no longer able to care for ourselves we should use our talents to serve others in the Church while we are able.