Grace & Truth

By David Anderson

“But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue • righteousness • godliness • faith • love • patience • gentleness.” —1 Timothy 6:11 NKJV

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As Timothy’s spiritual father, Paul wrote two letters to encourage him to persevere in the faith and the work that God had assigned to him. In these letters, Paul made many “charges” to Timothy. But in 1 Timothy 6:11 Paul used, for the first time, the emphatic Greek pronoun for “you.” ¹ This meant it was very important for Timothy² to give careful attention to what Paul was writing, and by extension it becomes important to anyone who would aspire to be a man or woman of God.

The Lord had used Paul to establish the testimony at Ephesus, the place where the apostle’s missionary work reached its climax (Acts 19:10,20). The apostle had tearfully warned the Ephesian church elders about false shepherds who would lead the believers astray after he departed (20:28-31). Hence he left Timothy there to continue the work (1 Tim. 1:3; Acts 20:20,27). In his first letter Paul explained to Timothy how he should confront these false teachers by teaching and demonstrating the truth through proper, godly conduct in the church (3:14-16).

As he ended his letter, Paul became more direct in his exhortations to Timothy: not “you ought” (3:15) but “you must” (6:11), followed by “I urge you” (v.13) and ending with the personal appeal “O Timothy” (v.20). Continuous personal application to godliness was the only way Timothy would succeed in the hostile situation developing at Ephesus. “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (4:16 ESV).

By using “follow” (KJV) in 1 Timothy 6:11 instead of “pursue” (NKJV), Paul’s charge condensed into two main issues: “flee these things” and “follow after” other things.

1. Flee!
“But you, O man of God, flee³ these things.”

I remember a preacher speaking about Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. He said, “There are situations in life where you must run away! That day, Joseph found himself in one of those situations and he fled.” Paul’s instruction to Timothy was like that. You and I are not to confront “these things,” we are to run away as far as possible from them.

In the immediate context “these things” are greed and covetousness with all their attendant evils, of which the love of money is a prime example. Covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5), meaning it replaces God’s supreme place in a believer’s life. The Lord Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Lk. 16:13 ESV). King Money reigns supreme in our world. People are not content with their wages or what they have. They want more money to get more possessions and extend their leisure pursuits. Hence gambling and lotteries are very popular. By contrast, Paul advised Timothy of the great gain in godliness with contentment (1 Tim. 6:6-8).

In the wider context of 1 Timothy 6, “these things” include false teachings, which are contrary to the spiritually healthy teachings of the Lord and His apostles (v.3). These “different doctrines” have the potential to lead believers away from the practice of godliness. They:

• Manifest themselves in rules and regulations which starve believers of the true liberty they have in Christ (4:1-7),
• Are fundamentally evil in origin, and
• Suggest there is financial gain by practicing their kind of godliness (6:5).

Other things Timothy had to flee from were the conceit and the associated evils of self-centered teachers (v.4), the corruption and impurity they bring (v.5), a discontented spirit (vv.6-8) and foolish and harmful lusts (v.9).

In the context of the letter as a whole, “these things” include all of the deceiving and misleading teachings with their accompanying bad practices that the church at Ephesus was being exposed to by the “some.” ⁴ Therefore, “these things” can be defined as any teaching or practice which does not have the pure motive of promoting the stewardship from God that is by faith (1:4). Spiritually healthy teaching always has the objective of producing love that “issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1:5). At first, Timothy had to confront the false teachers and use his God-given authority to charge them not to teach other doctrines (1:3). If they did not heed his injunctions, then he had to “flee” from them. He had to have nothing to do with them; and he was to reject (4:7), refuse (5:11), withdraw from (6:5), avoid (6:20; 2 Tim. 2:16) and purge, or cleanse, himself from (2:21) these teachers. But all the while he was to continue teaching in the things he had learned from Paul (3:14).

2. Follow!
“But thou, O man of God … follow³ righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.” — 1 Timothy 6:11 KJV

Paul knew Timothy was a “man of God” who followed in his spiritual father’s footsteps and was already exhibiting these six practical things. But Timothy had to keep doing so. We too must make them our aim in discipleship. The six things divide into three groups:

• Righteousness and godliness, which are God-ward,
• Faith and love, which are inward, and
• Patience and meekness, which are outward.

Righteousness is living in a right way before God and according to what He requires. It is the character of being right in His sight. An example would be using riches in a correct way (vv.17-19). Righteousness is part of godliness – an attitude of always seeking to live in ways pleasing to God – and applies to the whole manner of a believer’s life. It is having a sense or awareness of God and what is due to Him in all that one thinks and does. Lifestyle must be consistent with one’s profession of faith in God. First Timothy 1:5 shows the elements necessary for the pursuit of godliness:

• A pure heart – my mind and will, or motives, must be tuned to God’s will.
• A good conscience – I must be sensitive so there will be nothing in my life which God would disapprove.
• A sincere faith – there must be nothing hypocritical, or fake, about my faith. I cannot fool God. I must not disguise anything toward others. I must be a genuine Christian.

Faith is belief in God and trust in His Word. To pursue faith means I believe that everything in the Scriptures is God breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). I accept they are inerrant – without a single mistake. Therefore if there is any conflict between the philosophies, or “science,” of men and the Scriptures, I believe God not men. I know that God cannot lie and Scripture is all-sufficient for all aspects of belief and practice.

Love is the other inward power of godliness. To pursue love is to be taken over by the love that God has deluged, or poured, into my heart (Rom. 5:5). This love must also be seen in my life. Paul describes how it acts in 1 Corinthians 13. Jointly, faith and love are the salient, or prominent, features which must dominate a believer’s life (1 Th. 3:6, 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:14, 2:15; 2 Tim. 1:13; Rev. 2:19).

Patience means endurance. Thus, to pursue patience is to keep going despite the trials and circumstances of life – whatever their character. Gentleness means to exhibit a meek disposition, and it is especially necessary when opposing false teachers and distracters (2 Tim. 2:24-25).

3. Fight!
“Fight³ the good fight of the faith.” —1 Timothy 6:12 ESV

Paul’s charge to Timothy continues in verse 12 with another command requiring continuous action. The apostle had warned him about those who would:

• Depart from the faith (4:1),
• Deny the faith by their lifestyle (5:8),
• Stray or wander away from the faith (6:10),
• Swerve and err from the faith (6:21), or
• Be disqualified (“reprobate” in KJV), having corrupt minds (2 Tim. 3:8).

He also advised that the Christian warfare would continue to intensify and worsen, so Timothy must not cease to fight against them (2 Tim. 3:13-14, 4:1-5). Hence Timothy was to follow all of these commandments from Paul until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 6:13-14). Timothy had to keep the faith by laying hold of eternal life (v.12) and by guarding the deposit of truth entrusted to him (v.20, also consider 2 Tim. 1:13-14). The fight also involved withstanding the irreverent babble and contradictions of all falsely called “know-alls” (vv.20-21).

Finally, To All Men And Women Of God
These charges made to Timothy challenge all the people of God who read Paul’s letters. Like Timothy we must continue to stand and live for God and His truth. “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1).

ENDNOTES
1. Other usages of the emphatic pronoun in Paul’s letters to Timothy are found in 2 Timothy 1:18, 2:1,3, 3:10,14, 4:5,15. See The English-Greek Testament by Thomas Newberry.
2. Compare “if anyone” (vv.3-5) and “But those … some” (vv.9-10) with “But you, O man of God” (v.11).
3. Literal translations would read: 1) “keep on fleeing,” 2) “keep on following” and 3) “keep on fighting.” See also 2 Timothy 2:22.
4. In 1 Tim. 1:3,6,19, 4:1, 5:15,24, 6:10,21; 2 Tim. 2:18.

By Milton Jamieson

“But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after • righteousness • godliness • faith • love • patience • meekness.” —1 Timothy 6:11 KJV

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The Charges Given To Timothy
The charge here is not one of indictment, allegation, accusation or blame. Rather it is one of commitment, as if a superior military officer gave an order to a soldier to keep watch over a person, thing or place. He or she would be under obligation to guard it with his life.

There are many other charges that the apostle gave to Timothy, and in some cases these were given so he could charge others also. I just make mention of some of them:

• “As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine” (1:3).
• “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare” (v.18).
• “And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless” (5:7).
• “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality” (v.21).
• “I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession” (6:13).
• “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (v.17).
• “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:1).

The Men Of God
The charge of 1 Timothy 6:11 was given to the only man in the New Testament who was called a “man of God.” In Scripture there are seven named men of God. Each of these men were marked by one or more of the six things mentioned in our verse, though doubtless there were other good features in their lives. We may remind ourselves that the man of God comes on the scene when there is a challenge to the honor and rights of God, at a time of departure and decline.

Consider these men of God and the virtue of Christ which showed most brightly in each of them:

• Moses. “And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death” (Dt. 33:1). One of the features of Christ that radiated ever so brightly in Moses was meekness, the meekness of Jesus Christ.
• Samuel. “And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honourable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we should go” (1 Sam. 9:6). Samuel is known as an honorable and dignified man of God, setting forth the dignity of Christ.
• Shemaiah. “But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from Me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the Lord” (1 Ki. 12:22-24). Shemaiah, the man of God, was clearly a man of peace, setting forth the peace of Jesus Christ.
• Elijah. “And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.” (2 Ki. 1:13). Elijah displayed the righteousness and justice of God.
• Elisha. “And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually” (4:9). Elisha as man of God presented the grace and holiness of Jesus Christ.
• David. “And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded” (2 Chr. 8:14). David as man of God showed the love and forgiveness of God.
• Timothy. “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (1 Tim. 6:11). “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Timothy as man of God gave testimony to the faithfulness of Christ.

Like The Men Of God
Having been made right with God through faith and on the basis of the blood of Jesus Christ, we ought to pursue a life of righteousness for His glory. Godliness is next, bringing in God in all that we say or do. God’s will must be prominent, seeking His will, His honor and His glory. Faith is third, by which we please God and do exploits for Him. After faith is love. Love is the grace, mercy and compassion of Christ in action. Next is patience, expressing the endurance of Christ even in suffering and various kinds of adversity. Finally, meekness is the gentleness and mildness of Christ on display.

Like the men of God we ought to be filled with and display all the moral fullness of Him. B

These excellent things are the expression of eternal life – which itself is the portion of those who believe on the Son of God. The life is ours, as is made so abundantly plain by the apostle John. Yet we are exhorted to lay hold of it, for it is a dependent life – Christ being its Source and Object. We lay hold of it in laying hold by faith in Him and of all those things which find their center in Him. The men of the world lay hold of earthly gain, or of as much of it as they can compress into their fists. We are called to eternal life; and we lay hold of that life by going after all those things of which, from a practical standpoint, it consists. —F. B. Hole (adapted)

By Alfred Bouter

“But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue • righteousness • godliness • faith • love • patience • gentleness.” —1 Timothy 6:11 NKJV

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Our Lord Jesus Christ has been the true “Man of God” on earth and He is so now in heaven. He will always remain the true Man of God because He will never stop being a Man, even though He is also God (Phil. 2:8). While He is absent from this world, all true believers are to represent Him here.

Paul’s instructions were given on behalf of the Lord Jesus and were addressed to Christians – many of whom were literal slaves or bond servants. They knew the master-slave relationship, and therefore Paul applied that association to believers in general: All Christians are bondmen, serving the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition to the prerequisite of being a true, born again believer, we need certain qualities to properly carry out what the Lord wants us to accomplish. These qualities are summarized in the charge Paul gave to Timothy (1 Tim. 6:11).

While the apostle was in prison in Rome for the testimony of our Lord Jesus (Acts 28; Eph. 3:1), he sent his young, timid disciple – but who was devoted to Christ’s interests – as his representative to Ephesus. We don’t know exactly when Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy, but its instructions as to how to behave in the House of God (1 Tim. 3:14-15) are still valid today. Second Timothy suggests to us that, sadly, the majority of Christians in Ephesus did not follow these instructions. However, God’s truths do not change because of failure or rejection. They remain the same, standing fast, firm as a rock in stormy seas.

Even while in a Roman prison, bound ¹ to a soldier (Acts 21:33, 28:20; Eph. 6:20), the apostle Paul represented Christ who is in heaven. Paul learned to introduce the Lord Jesus Christ into all the details of his life. Timothy, in a scene of rejection here on earth, needed to do the same. As believers and disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ we are left here to follow Him in all the details of our lives and to represent our Lord in the same world that crucified Him – even among those who profess Christ yet reject His claims. Timothy represented Paul in an area where the apostle had diligently worked several years earlier with remarkable results for the honor of the Lord in heaven (Acts 19-20).

This younger servant of the Lord was devoted to his tutor – learning much and following faithfully just as Paul followed Christ (see 1 Cor. 11:1). Many Christians are not willing to learn from Paul or to follow him in this world, for they find fault with him or criticize his teaching.² They may not realize this, but by rejecting Paul they also reject the One who sent him – our Lord in the glory.

Challenges Then And Now
Timothy faced many challenges in order to remain a faithful disciple and loyal servant, without compromise, of the Lord Jesus. To stay away from dangers and vices and to pursue what was right, he needed certain positive qualities, as Paul elaborated in detail. Timothy also had to flee from the lust of money.

The apostle mentioned the simplicity of contentment as shown in his own example, which was also valid for slaves (1 Tim. 6:2). This kind of contentment, linked with godliness or piety, was under attack by the enemy (see vv.3-5). By depending on God and introducing Christ into every detail of life, a true man of God or genuine believer will be led into satisfaction and contentment. Those who reject the simplicity of the life of faith and godliness have a different agenda, causing themselves and others to be hurt by lust and the wiles of the enemy, with sad consequences (vv.7-10).

But You … Rely On God
In contrast to the disobedient (4:1-3), Timothy was to face the challenges before him and be different from the people who surrounded him – including the worldly, or carnal, believers and mere professors (1 Tim. 6:11). Likewise, Hebrews 11 lists encouraging examples of believers who truly learned to rely on God. This made them different, for without faith we cannot please God (v.6).

Enoch lived in a godless society that was marked by rebellion, sin and corruption (Gen. 4-6). When he turned 65 he had a son whom he named Methuselah. As far as we know, this son lived to be the oldest man, dying at an age of 969 in the year of Noah’s flood (Gen. 5:27). Scripture specifically says that Enoch – whose name means “instructed” – walked with God day by day until He took him from the earth (vv.22,24). Similarly, the Lord wants to teach us in the school of God to rely on Him until He will come and take us away (1 Th. 4:16-18).

Abraham, although a descendant from the godly Seth (Gen. 11:10-32), was steeped in the idolatry which had started with the Tower of Babel (Gen. 10-11). God called Abraham away from this idol worship (Josh. 24:2-3; Acts 7:2-3) to make him the father of all believers (Rom. 4). This fits with our key verse, “flee these things” (1 Tim. 6:11), in order to be a man³ of God. Despite some failures in Abraham’s life, he was marked by true love of God and therefore was called “the friend of God” (Jas. 2:23). This love motivated Abraham to be different from the people around him, including his nephew Lot who was a believer but fell short in showing his faith. Abraham learned to persistently rely on the God ⁴ who had called him and promised to give to him a son and heir (Gen. 17, 21). As Abraham and Timothy had to learn to rely on God, so we must learn to rely on Him, for the Lord Jesus said, “Without Me you cannot do anything” (Jn. 15:5).

“Pursue Righteousness”
A man of God must flee certain things: lust, sin and idolatry – a study in itself. He or she is marked by practical righteousness by doing what is right and by being in tune with God, who is just. Such a believer actively pursues a path of what is right and just. Of course God desires every believer to live in this way, but a man of God pursues a path of righteousness in the midst of unrighteousness, even in the presence of believers who fail to do so and do not maintain God’s rights.

God is always characterized by what is right – He never can be “un-right” – just as He is light without the possibility of darkness (Jas. 1:17). We are God’s children (v.18), and it is pretty clear what He expects of us. God cannot compromise His divine standards and features. Consider the Lord Jesus: In order to maintain God’s rights – He “loved righteousness and hated wickedness” (Ps. 45:7) – He gave Himself as a sacrifice to be the Substitute for those who had sinned and would never be able to pay their debt or undo their sins. On the basis of what Christ accomplished once and for all, God desires us, all believers, to follow Christ’s example. We are to do what is right in a world opposed to God’s rights.

In the world to come, under the Lord’s perfect rule, God’s rights will be enforced (Ps. 2). But now we live in the period when “grace reigns through righteousness” (Rom. 5:21). Surrounded by all kinds of unrighteousness, God wants Christ’s disciples to follow closely after righteousness, to pursue what is right in moral and practical agreement with Himself who is light and whose children we are.

Godliness, Faith, Love, Patience, Gentleness
Although separated from Paul who was in prison and rejected by many Christians, Timothy was to do seven things. We need to do these things as well, following Paul’s instructions. The first is to flee from certain things, as we already mentioned. Then there are six⁵ things to closely follow or pursue with great zeal: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness. Having pondered points as to righteousness we will briefly consider the remaining qualities that are needed to be a faithful disciple.

• Godliness means the fear of God – the reverential respect because of love. This is “the fear of the Lord” mentioned often in the Old Testament. It implies the quality or ability to introduce God and Christ into the many and varied details of our daily lives, while serving God and others. Contentment is linked to godliness (6:6) and implies that one has learned in daily life that God is sufficient. A believer can rely on Him without fearing defeat or failure because He is faithful (v.8). This is how Paul had learned to rely on the Lord Jesus Christ, who strengthened him in all his circumstances and provided for all his needs – as He does for us (Phil. 4:13,19).
• Faith implies that one puts his trust in God (see Heb. 11), but it also means to be faithful in the calling, position, relationship or task He has given. Timothy needed this faith and faithfulness in Paul’s days, and we are still in need of them today. We need to have faith in God and be faithful so the Lord can rely on us as we rely on Him.
• Love is the opposite of the love of money, which makes money its best friend (v.10) and is truly idolatry. Love represents the new nature God gave to us the moment we believed, when His love was poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit whom He has given us (Rom. 5:5). The new nature needs to be nurtured, and our relationship with God and the family of God must be cultivated through prayer, and reading and obeying Scripture. Paul emphasized this point in his counsel to Timothy knowing that faith and love go together with hope (1 Cor. 13:13).
• Patience literally means the ability to endure, or to go on while being under a burden. For more details, read Romans 5:3-5.
• Gentleness is another quality⁶ we learn from the Lord Jesus (Mt. 11:29) and Paul’s example. It implies an attitude of humility, courtesy and meekness (not weakness).

Paul’s urgent and personal appeal to Timothy⁷ is as urgent today as it was then. May the Lord help us to follow these instructions which He has passed on to us through the apostle Paul, so we will honor His name.

ENDNOTES
1. Probably almost five years later Paul was chained in Rome (2 Tim. 1:16) once again, but under conditions that were much worse than during his first Roman captivity.
2. This is why Paul introduced his instructions with the words “but you,” making a contrast between Timothy and those who opposed Paul’s example and teachings. The same words for the same reason are also found in 2 Timothy 3:10,14, 4:5; and later with respect to Titus (Ti. 2:1), but they are not always translated literally.
3. To avoid misunderstanding, the term “man of God” could be translated “human of God,” and it implies a challenge for all believing men and women, brothers and sisters in Christ, to be exercised and function according to Paul’s instructions. This is never to be done in a boastful way but always as an instrument fit for the Master’s use.
4. Romans 4:16-22 outlines seven points: 1. Abraham believed God, for he put his trust in the One who quickens, or makes alive, the dead (v.17); 2. He did so against hope, facing an impossible situation (v.18); 3. He was not weak in faith, despite his own and Sarah’s physical condition (v.19); 4. He hesitated not at God’s promise (first part of v.20); 5. He was strengthened in his faith (middle of v.20); 6. Abraham gave glory to God, before anything was fulfilled (end of v.20). 7. For he was fully convinced that God was able to fulfill His promises (v.21). How great was Abraham’s faith, and how great is our God!
5. When we list the various instructions Paul gave Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, in addition to his “charge” that we study in this paper, ten points can be counted: the number of responsibility.
6. The root of this word occurs 16 times in the Greek New Testament, found in different words. The word used in 1 Timothy 6:11 is linked to the verb “to suffer,” and it only occurs here. Following Christ’s example of humility implies suffering.
7. His name may be interpreted as “honoring God” or “whom God honors.”