Faith Must Be Rooted In Truth, God’s Truth

3 Whoever teaches false doctrine and doesn't agree with the accurate words of our Lord Jesus Christ and godly teachings 4 is a conceited person. He shows that he doesn't understand anything. Rather, he has an unhealthy desire to argue and quarrel about words. This produces jealousy, rivalry, cursing, suspicion, 5 and conflict between people whose corrupt minds have been robbed of the truth. They think that a godly life is a way to make a profit. 6 A godly life brings huge profits to people who are content with what they have. 7 We didn't bring anything into the world, and we can't take anything out of it. 8 As long as we have food and clothes, we should be satisfied. 9 But people who want to get rich keep falling into temptation. They are trapped by many stupid and harmful desires which drown them in destruction and ruin. 10 Certainly, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people who have set their hearts on getting rich have wandered away from the Christian faith and have caused themselves a lot of grief. 11 But you, man of God, must avoid these things. Pursue what God approves of: a godly life, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the Christian faith. Take hold of everlasting life to which you were called and about which you made a good testimony in front of many witnesses. ~ 1 Timothy 6:3-12 (God’s Word Translation)

Have you ever met someone who cannot have a discussion without becoming angry? Have you ever met someone who cannot leave a subject alone until you either agree with them or walk away? Have you ever been in a learning situation where you know that the teacher is not teaching you truth? These are the kinds of situations and people in which Paul is warning Timothy about here. We must compare everything we hear and everything we read to what God’s Word says. If we do not we can quickly begin to believe falsely. There are people in this world that deliberately will lead us astray. They are conceited and puffed up with self-importance and will do anything to keep you enlisted for their cause. We see the results of this, look around and see if you cannot see the jealousy in people, the rivalry between gangs and factions. You cannot walk down the street or through a mall anymore without hearing all sorts of foul language and cursing. Suspicion is running rampant, people say one thing and mean another, leaving everyone seeking ulterior motives. Conflicts are commonplace these days, just turn on a cable news channel and watch them argue. Look at the conflicts in this country between races, over seas at the different conflicts not just among people but nations as well. What is the cause of all this? Paul states it clearly here, “people whose corrupt minds have been fobbed of the truth.” What truth? The truth that only comes for Jesus Christ our Lord!

Paul says that people believe that a godly life is a way to make a profit, but if we are truly attempting to live a godly life as laid out by Christ Jesus we will have huge profits. These profits are only available to those who are content with what they have. Famous line here, “we brought nothing into the world and we will take nothing out.” What is important? We have food, we have cloths, and we have God’s Word, what more do we need? If we live our lives for fleshly things, for worldly desires then we are living in our temptations and are trapped in our senseless and annihilatory covetousness that will suffocate us in our collapse and extermination. Another famous line, “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Some say is money that is the root of evil however Paul clarifies that, it is the love of money that brings condemnation on people. Paul says that some, (I would say many, many), people have allowed the love of money to take them on a path that is in total contradiction to Christ. Leaving their faith far behind seeking dreams that are just that, dreams. Seeking lives that they can only realize in Christ, causing nothing but broken lives, broken dreams, broken hearts and a life full of grief and loss.

A strong warning to those of us who call ourselves people of God, we must avoid these pitfalls and pursue what we know God approves of. A godly life, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness, we must fight the good fight for the Christian faith. If we do these things we are proclaiming our faith in a mighty might way that no one can deny. We can and must take hold of the everlasting life that has been given to us at a huge cost, a life that we have been called too. A life that will be a testimony like the one left us by those who came before us, a testimony to many witnesses in a time that needs it the most. Amen. <><