1st Week of March 2012 Adult Sunday School Lesson

1 Timothy Chapter 6

Paul starts out with an idea that is a little bit foreign to us in this country. There hasn't been slavery in this for almost 150 years. So the ideas of servants and slaves is not something we deal with on a daily basis. The idea I believe he is saying there, is that that servants still owe their masters a service as long as the laws of that land are not calling on them to perform immoral acts. You can make the argument that the fact their are unpaid servants is immoral, but Paul was calling for God to be uplifted so that someone couldn't call Christianity false because of the actions of the Christian. This problem we are all too familiar with especially today. It is the Christian that give Christianity a bad name, not Christ.

He continues to let Timothy know that anyone who teaches contrary to the doctrine that Timothy was taught in puffed up and full of themselves and not considering God and his word and message. He reminds Timothy to stay away from such people, and this advice is well advised for the modern Christian as well.

Should a Christian strive for money, glory and the things of this world? Of course not, because it will all pass away and is gone almost as soon as it appears. All this earth will pass away, but the labor we put forth for the Lord will endure forever. One of the most famous and misquoted verses is the 10th verse. It is the 'love' of money that is the root of all evil. A good Christian can use money for the good of his fellow man, but it is not required that a Christian have money in order for God to use it or him. He owns the cattle of a thousands hills, we don't have to be rich to serve him.

What are the good things that a Christian should always have in his heart and on his mind? Righteousness, faith, love, godliness, patience, meekness, those are the ideals of a God fearing Christian. When we are saved, and confession is made with the mouth, this is done before witnesses, just as our savior was falsely accused before many witnesses and died for our sins in the same.This is done openly and not in secret, so endure in the calling of our salvation to go forward in the Gospel message.

Our hope is in an almighty God, a righteous and blameless that is the only one that can purge us of our sins. The advice that Paul gives Timothy in the final verses is a not only sound but a call to all Christians to live a victorious life in Jesus Christ.