The big picture
The Book of 1 Timothy closes by putting social inequality, money, endurance, generosity, and doctrine under the same entrusted charge. Enslaved believers are instructed within a real and unequal social order, including when masters share their faith, without turning the passage into either a complete defense or a complete abolition program. False teachers then expose another distortion: they treat godliness as a route to profit. Paul answers with contentment, warning that determination to become rich can end in traps, drowning, wandering, and self-inflicted sorrow. Timothy is told to flee that pattern and pursue righteousness, faith, love, patience, and meekness before God and the coming Christ. Those already rich are redirected toward generous good works. The letter ends where it began, with Timothy guarding what was entrusted to him against impressive-sounding claims that have wandered from the faith.
Central truth
Paul rejects religion pursued for profit, charges Timothy to pursue godliness and guard his trust, and directs wealthy believers away from proud security toward generous good works.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
1 Timothy 6:1: “Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.”
Slow down at the turning point
1 Timothy 6:11: “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”
Keep this word trail visible
good, faith, godliness, Christ, Jesus, Lord
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
1 Timothy 6:1-2
Servants under the yoke
Explain the setting plainly: many in the Ephesian church were slaves in Roman households, and some had masters who were also believers. Paul’s stated concern is that God’s name and the teaching are not blasphemed (compare Titus 2:10). Do not soften the yoke and do not defend it. Read 1:10, where menstealers are condemned, 1 Corinthians 7:21, where Paul urges slaves to take freedom if they can, and Philemon 16. Teach this first because it is the chapter’s opening instruction, and because handling it honestly earns the trust the rest of the chapter needs.
1 Timothy 6:3-5
Teachers who trade in godliness
Explain wholesome words as healthy words, and note that Paul identifies them as “the words of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Then describe the other teacher: proud, knowing nothing, and doting about questions, a sick craving for controversy. List what it breeds: envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings. Explain “supposing that gain is godliness” as treating religion as a way to make money. Teach this second because it sets up the contrast Paul draws next, and because the class will recognize the type in their own world without being told who to name.
1 Timothy 6:6-10
Contentment and the love of money
Read 6:6 as Paul’s answer to 6:5. Explain contentment as sufficiency in God, and read Philippians 4:11-12. Read Job 1:21 beside 6:7. Explain raiment as clothing or covering. Then take 6:9 slowly: “they that will be rich” means those determined to become rich. Explain snare, drown and destruction as the language of a trap and a shipwreck. Read 6:10 exactly and correct the familiar misquotation. Teach this third because it is the heart of the chapter: the danger is not a bank balance but a desire that pierces the one who holds it.
1 Timothy 6:11-16
Flee, follow, fight
Explain man of God as the title given to Moses and the prophets. Show the three verbs: flee the love of money, follow six virtues, and fight the good fight of faith, an athlete’s contest. Explain the good profession before many witnesses as Timothy’s public confession of faith. Then read John 18:36-37 for Christ’s confession before Pilate. Explain the appearing as Christ’s return. Read the doxology of 6:15-16 aloud together. Teach this here because the answer to the love of money is not a technique but a person, the only Potentate, who alone has immortality.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
Rich in good works
Paul now addresses believers who are already rich. Explain highminded as arrogant, and uncertain riches with Proverbs 23:5. Stress the phrase who giveth us richly all things to enjoy: God is generous and his gifts are good, which connects back to 4:3-4. Then name the four verbs of 6:18, and explain communicate as share. Read Matthew 6:19-21 beside the treasure language of 6:19. Teach this after the doxology because the rich are not told to fear money but to trust the living God and become rich in another way.
1 Timothy 6:20-21
Guard what was entrusted
Explain “that which is committed to thy trust” as a deposit placed in someone’s keeping, and read 2 Timothy 1:13-14. Connect it to the gospel “committed to my trust” in 1:11 and the charge of 1:18. Explain profane and vain babblings as empty talk, and science as the older English word for knowledge: some claimed a higher knowledge that contradicted the apostolic teaching. Teach this last because the letter closes where it opened, with teaching that leads away from faith and a man charged to keep what he was given.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
“Money is the root of all evil.”
The verse says “the love of money is the root of all evil” (6:10), and the verse before warns those who “will be rich” (6:9). In the same chapter God “giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (6:17), and the rich are charged, not condemned. Abraham and Job were wealthy and faithful. The danger is a love and a desire, and it can grip someone with very little money as tightly as someone with a great deal.
“The Bible approves of slavery, because Paul told slaves to serve their masters.”
Paul addressed believers inside a system they could not change and gave them a reason to act well within it: “that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed” (6:1). In the same letter he lists menstealers among the lawless (1:10), as the law punished kidnapping (Exodus 21:16). He told slaves to use freedom if they could gain it (1 Corinthians 7:21), and asked Philemon to receive Onesimus as a brother beloved (Philemon 16). Describing a situation is not endorsing it.
“Godliness with contentment is great gain means God makes godly people prosperous.”
That is the teachers’ error, not Paul’s answer. They were “supposing that gain is godliness” (6:5); Paul replies that the gain is godliness with contentment, and defines contentment as having “food and raiment” (6:8). The next verse warns that “they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare” (6:9). The verse is a direct rebuttal of teaching that promises wealth to the faithful.
“Science falsely so called means Christians should distrust science.”
In 1611 science meant knowledge in general. Paul is warning against a claim to superior religious knowledge that set itself in opposition to the apostolic teaching, and led some to err “concerning the faith” (6:21). Honest study of what God made is not in view; Psalm 111:2 says “The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.” Teach the older meaning before anyone draws a conclusion.
Learning objectives
- Identify the enslaved setting behind servants under the yoke.
- Contrast treating religion as gain with godly contentment.
- Distinguish money from the love of money.
- Trace Timothy’s commands to flee, follow, and fight.
- Identify the rich believer’s responsibilities toward others.
- Explain the final charge to guard the entrusted teaching.
Teacher preparation
- Explain that 6:1–2 addresses enslaved people, not merely modern employees; reject any use that justifies ownership or exploitation.
- Clarify raiment as clothing and communicate in 6:18 as share.
- Explain science in 6:20 as knowledge, not specifically modern experimental science.
- Contrast desiring riches in 6:9 with possessing them in 6:17.
- Read Philemon 15–16 beside the language of brothers in 6:2.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Read 6:5–10 and 6:17–20: Paul contrasts contentment with greed, commands generosity among the rich, and tells Timothy to guard his trust.
Scripture-supported
Compare 1:18–19 with 6:11–12, 20–21; the final charge resumes the concern with faithful teaching and living.
Strong inference
Set profitable religion in 6:5 against contentment in 6:6; infer a deliberate reversal of the teachers’ definition of gain.
Possible or traditional reading
Present identification of 6:20’s false knowledge with early Gnostic teaching as a proposal; the chapter itself names no philosophical school or developed system.
Limit
Keep 6:17–19 precise: no wealth threshold is supplied, and generosity must not become a claim that donations purchase salvation.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. Does having a believing master remove the yoke named in the opening verse?
What a good answer contains
No. Paul tells those “under the yoke” to count their masters worthy of honor, “that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed” (6:1). Then: “they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren” (6:2). Shared faith did not dissolve the legal bond, but it changed the relationship inside it. A good answer keeps Paul’s motive, the reputation of God’s name, and sets the passage beside 1:10, where menstealers are among the lawless, and Philemon 16. A weak answer uses the verses to defend slavery or exploitation, or treats them as a plain description of modern employment.
Show teacher guidance
Read 6:1–2: shared belief does not end enslavement. Keep that setting distinct from modern employment and refuse justifications of exploitation.
2. How does Paul turn the teachers’ idea of gain on its head?
What a good answer contains
The teachers were “supposing that gain is godliness” (6:5): religion as a way to profit. Paul turns the sentence around: “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (6:6). The gain is the contentment itself, grounded in the facts that “we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” and that “having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (6:7-8). A good answer notices the profile in 6:4-5, proud and doting about questions. A weak answer promises the godly a higher income, which is the teachers’ own error.
Show teacher guidance
Compare 6:3–6: corrupt teachers identify gain with godliness, but Paul names godliness with contentment as great gain; correct promises of higher income.
3. What exactly is called the root of all evil?
What a good answer contains
“For the love of money is the root of all evil” (6:10). It is the love of money, not money itself, and the verse before names the desire behind it: “they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare” (6:9). Those who coveted it “have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (6:10). A good answer quotes the verse exactly and sees that the danger is wanting to be rich, which can grip the poor as easily as the wealthy. A weak answer repeats the familiar misquotation that money is the root of all evil.
Show teacher guidance
Read the KJV wording in 6:10 alongside 6:7–9: the love of money is named. Do not substitute money itself or overlook the danger of wanting to be rich.
4. What must Timothy flee, pursue, and fight for under his solemn charge?
What a good answer contains
Timothy must flee “these things”, the love of money and its fruit, and “follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (6:11). He must “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life” (6:12). The charge is given before God and “before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession” (6:13), and it runs “until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (6:14). A good answer gives the doxology of 6:15-16, “the King of kings, and Lord of lords”, its full weight. A weak answer reduces the passage to a list of personal goals.
Show teacher guidance
Trace 6:11–16: flee the preceding evils, pursue named virtues, and fight faith’s good fight; retain Christ’s confession before Pilate and the coming appearing.
5. What replaces pride and trust in uncertain riches for believers who already possess wealth?
What a good answer contains
Trust in God and generosity. Timothy is to charge the rich “that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (6:17), and “That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate” (6:18). They lay up “a good foundation against the time to come” (6:19). A good answer notices the words to enjoy: Paul is no ascetic, as 4:3-4 already showed. A weak answer tells the rich to become poor, or makes poverty the automatic mark of faithfulness.
Show teacher guidance
Read 6:17–19: trust the living God, do good, distribute, and share. Do not make poverty an automatic measure of faithfulness.
6. Why does Paul close by contrasting an entrusted deposit with falsely named knowledge?
What a good answer contains
Because the two are rivals. “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called” (6:20). What is committed is the gospel entrusted to Paul (1:11) and passed to Timothy (1:18). The rival is a claim to superior knowledge that sets itself against it, and “some professing have erred concerning the faith” (6:21). A good answer explains science as the older English word for knowledge. A weak answer turns the verse into an attack on honest scientific inquiry, or treats the deposit as a teacher’s private property.
Show teacher guidance
Use 6:20–21: guard what has been committed and avoid claims leading away from faith. Explain the older sense of science rather than attacking honest inquiry.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Compare fictional success statements using 6:6–10; distinguish enough from endless acquisition without requesting income or giving records.
Relationships and community
Design a wealthy household’s response to 6:17–19 including shared resources and good works, not merely a generous public image.
Guard what was entrusted
Evaluate a fictional teacher’s impressive but unsupported claim against 6:20–21 and 1:5; distinguish responsible inquiry from profitable speculation.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
Under the yoke
Read 6:1-2. Take question one and deal briefly with confusion two.
Two kinds of gain
Read 6:3-8. Take question two and confusion three.
The dangerous love
Read 6:9-10 exactly. Take question three and confusion one.
Flee, follow, fight
Read 6:11-16. Take question four and read the doxology aloud together.
Rich in good works
Read 6:17-21. Take questions five and six.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, point to the take-home line, and give thanks for what God has already given.
90 minutes
Under the yoke
Read 6:1-2 with 1:10, 1 Corinthians 7:21 and Philemon 15-16. Take question one and confusion two.
The teachers’ gain
Read 6:3-5. Describe the teacher Paul portrays and begin question two.
Contentment
Read 6:6-8 with Philippians 4:11-13 and Job 1:21. Finish question two and take confusion three.
The love of money
Read 6:9-10. Take question three and confusion one.
Flee, follow, fight
Read 6:11-16 with John 18:36-37. Take question four and read the doxology aloud together.
Rich in good works
Read 6:17-19 with Matthew 6:19-21. Take question five and have each person write down one concrete act of generosity.
Guard the deposit
Read 6:20-21 with 2 Timothy 1:13-14. Take question six and confusion four.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together and pray for contentment and generosity in the church.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Bring an empty bag and read 6:7: we brought nothing into the world and we carry nothing out. Talk about being happy with what God gives and about sharing, and let each child choose a snack or toy to share. Teach 6:15 with a paper crown for the King of kings. Leave out the detail of slavery; if a child asks, say plainly that slavery was wrong and that God cares for people who are treated badly.
Youth
Talk about influencers selling a lifestyle and the desire Paul names in 6:9, wanting to be rich. Ask what contentment would change in their spending and scrolling. Use flee, follow and fight as three verbs for any temptation. If they ask about slavery, answer honestly and let them read 1:10 and Philemon 16 for themselves.
Adults
Give time to 6:1-2, handled honestly and without defending what was wrong. Then talk plainly about money: debt, envy, giving, and contentment. Most adults in a wealthy country are among the rich in this world, so let 6:17-19 address the room directly. Name prosperity teaching and test it against 6:5-10.
One to one
Ask how money is pulling at them: worry, envy, or wanting more. Read 6:6-8 and 6:17-19 together and choose one step, a gift, a budget, or a habit of thanksgiving. If they have been hurt by teaching that promised wealth for faith, read 6:5-6 together and let Paul answer it.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
1 Timothy 6
The passage in brief
Paul tells believing slaves to act so that God’s name is not slandered, and warns against teachers who treat religion as a way to make money. Godliness with contentment is great gain, because we brought nothing into the world and can take nothing out. The love of money is a root of every kind of evil. Timothy must flee it, pursue godliness, and fight the good fight of faith. The rich are to trust God, not riches, and to be generous. Timothy must guard the gospel entrusted to him.
A verse to keep
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
1 Timothy 6:6 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What does Paul call great gain (6:6-8)?
What exactly does 6:10 call the root of all evil?
What does Paul tell the rich to do (6:17-18)?
This week
Give something away this week that you would rather keep, and thank God each day for one thing you already have.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
