টীকা বর্তমানে শুধুমাত্র ইংরেজিতে উপলব্ধ। বাংলা অনুবাদ চলছে।
1 Timothy 6 — Godliness With Contentment Is Great Gain
Paul addresses servants, then warns against those who suppose gain is godliness. Godliness with contentment is great gain; we brought nothing into the world and can carry nothing out. The love of money is the root of all evil. Timothy, a man of God, is to flee these things and follow righteousness, fighting the good fight of faith. The rich are charged not to trust in wealth but to be rich in good works. Paul closes: keep the deposit entrusted to you.
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”
— 1 Timothy 6:6-7
- v.1-2 Servants and masters
- v.3-10 The love of money
- v.11-16 Fight the good fight; the charge
- v.17-21 A charge to the rich; keep the deposit
The reason for contentment — the radical temporariness of possessions. We arrived with nothing; we will leave with nothing. Everything held in between is on loan, not owned.
Job 1:21 — Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The shroud has no pockets. Seen against the bookends of birth and death, the frantic accumulation of things loses its grip.
Often misquoted as "money is the root of all evil." Paul says the love of money — not money itself but the craving for it — is a root of all kinds of evil. The heart's attachment, not the metal, is the danger.
Pierced themselves through with many sorrows. The love of money does not deliver the happiness it promises; it wounds. Those who chase it wander from the faith and impale themselves on griefs of their own making.
Fight the good fight of faith. The Christian life is a contest requiring effort and endurance. The faith is something to be fought for and held, not drifted through.
Lay hold on eternal life. Take firm grip on the life you have been given and called to. The same Paul who taught salvation by grace also urges vigorous, active perseverance. Grace does not make us passive; it makes us fight.
A charge to the wealthy — not to repent of being rich, but to guard against two dangers: pride (highminded) and misplaced trust (trust in uncertain riches). Riches are uncertain; God is living and sure.
Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. God is not against enjoyment of His gifts; He gives them richly. The issue is not having wealth but trusting it. The rich are to set their hope on the Giver, not the gifts.
Test your contentment with verse 7: you came with nothing and will leave with nothing. Everything you are anxious about keeping or desperate to acquire is something you will one day set down for good. This is not a reason to despise provision — God gives richly to enjoy — but it is the cure for the love of money that pierces people with sorrows. Hold your possessions loosely, your God tightly, and you will have found the great gain of godliness with contentment.
Paul charges Timothy in the sight of Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession (v.13) — Christ Himself is the pattern of the good confession Timothy is to keep. The fight of faith, the laying hold of eternal life, the keeping of the deposit — all are sustained by the One who will appear in His own time, the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords (v.15). Against the fleeting uncertainty of riches, Christ stands as the eternal King in whom alone hope is secure.
A correction of the false teachers who thought gain is godliness (v.5) — who used religion as a means to profit. Paul reverses it: godliness with contentment is the true gain. The treasure is not money added to godliness, but a contented heart.
Contentment is the multiplier. Godliness without contentment can still grasp and crave; godliness with contentment is rich already, needing nothing more. The contented godly person possesses the only wealth that satisfies.