Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom wenstrom

1. Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.org

2. Thursday September 29, 20111 Timothy: 1 Timothy 6:8-We Are To Be Content With The Essentials Of LifeLesson # 130

3. Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 6:3.

4. The apostle Paul in verse 8 teaches that the Christian must be content with possessing the essentials of life.

5. 1 Timothy 6:3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness,

6. 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions

7. 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

8. 6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.

9. 7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. (NASB95)

10. This verse is composed of the nominative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb echo (ἒχω) (eh-ho), “if we have” and this is followed by the post-positive conjunction de (δέ) (theh), “but” and then we have accusative feminine plural form of the noun diatrophe (διατροφή) (theeah-troephee), “food”

11. and then we have the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed the accusative neuter plural form of the noun skepasma (σκέπασμα) (skemp-ahsmah), “covering” and then we have the dative neuter plural form of the immediate demonstrative pronoun (οὗτος) (oo-toce), “these things” and then we have the first person plural future passive indicative form of the verb arkeo (ἀρκέω) (are-kehowe), “with…we shall be content.”

12. The conjunction de is introducing a statement that stands in contrast with Paul’s previous statement in verse 7, in which he presents the basis for his statement in verse 6, which taught that godliness, combined with contentment, is a means of superior gain.

13. In verse 7, he taught that we all enter this world without possessions and we will also leave this world in the same way.

14. Now here in verse 8, he teaches that the Christian should be content with possessing only that which is essential to sustain human existence on earth.

15. Therefore, the conjunction de is marking a contrast between entering and leaving this world with no possessions with that of being content with possessing the essentials that sustain human existence on earth.

16. So the contrast is between the idea of possessing nothing when we enter and leave this world with the fact that we do need to possess the essentials to sustain our lives on earth.

17. Though we enter and leave this world with no possessions, we still need to possess some things in life that will sustain us on earth.

18. The verb echo means “to be in a particular condition or state of possessing” a particular object(s), which are identified by the nouns diatrophe, “food” and skepasma, “covering.”

19. This indicates the Christian should be content with possessing food and clothing, i.e. that which is essential to sustain human existence on earth.

20. It denotes that the Christian should be content with possessing the necessities of life.

21. The English translations all translate the verb echo in 1 Timothy 6:8 as a conditional participle which implies a condition on which the fulfillment of the idea indicated by the main verb depends.

22. However, this is incorrect.

23. The reason being is that by interpreting the verb this way, it teaches the possibility that God will not provide the Christian the necessities of life.

24. This contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture, which promises that God will provide the believer with the essentials of life (Psalm 37:25; 145:13-16).

25. In His sermon on the mount discourse, the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to not be anxious about the necessities of life because the Father knows they need them and if the Father feeds the birds and the clothes the flowers, He will surely provide for them food and clothing (Matthew 6:25-34).

26. The Lord provided the Exodus generation food in the desert by providing manna (Exodus 16).

27. Though God makes this promise to provide food and clothing for His people, there are times that the believer’s faith might be tested by Him by withholding the necessities of life for a period of time.

28. This was the case with the apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 11:26-27; Philippians 4:10-13).

29. There are times that the Lord will not provide the necessities of life when disciplining a nation for its evil.

30. This has been demonstrated in history not only with the Lord’s dealings with the Gentiles throughout history but also with the nation of Israel which has been disciplined by the Lord numerous times throughout her history because of her disobedience and idolatry.

31. Another reason why echo should not be translated as a conditional participle is that Paul is speaking to the church at Ephesus through of course his delegate, Timothy and this church was in fact wealthy.

32. This is indicated by a three passages in First Timothy that clearly imply this.

33. The first is found in 1 Timothy 2:9.

34. This command clearly implies that there were Christian women in Ephesus who were wealthy since it is addressed to Christian women in Ephesus and only those women who were wealthy could afford to adorn themselves with extravagant hairstyles as well as with gold and pearls and extravagantly expensive clothing.

35. This command would not apply to a Christian woman who was poor or even middle class.

36. The second passage is 1 Timothy 6:3-16.

37. In this passage, Paul addressed the issue of widows.

38. In this passage, we noted that he was attempting to relieve the financial burden placed upon the church because of unqualified widows being on the list.

39. The fact that the church was in fact supporting these widows implies clearly that the Ephesian church was wealthy since a poor church could do no such thing or even a church with moderate wealth.

40. The final passage is 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

41. In this passage, Paul commands the rich in the Ephesian Christian community to perform good works that benefit the body of Christ.

42. Furthermore, echo should be not translated as a conditional participle because Hebrews 13:5 commands believer to be content because of God’s promise to provide for them the essentials of life.

43. Hebrews 13:5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU.” (NASB95)

44. Therefore, because the believer is commanded to be content with what he has because God promises to provide for them, it is unlikely that Paul is telling the Ephesian church and Timothy that we will be content, if we possess food and clothing.

45. It is unlikely therefore that he is attaching a condition to contentment.

46. Rather it is more likely that he is commanding the wealthy Ephesian Christian community to be content “because” God has provided them with the necessities of life.

47. Therefore, in 1 Timothy 6:8, the verb echo is not a conditional participle but rather it is a causal participle, which indicates the cause or reason or basis of the action of the main verb, which in our passage is arkeo, “with…we shall be content.”

48. The causal participle normally precedes the verb it modifies.

49. Here echo precedes arkeo.

50. As a causal participle, echo is answering the question as to “why?” the Ephesian Christian community should be content with the necessities of life.