The Journal of Biblical Accuracy

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1 Timothy 6:10-16: the love of money

In 1 Timothy 6:10 we find a further example of people who wandered away from the faith: those who loved money.

1 Timothy 6:10
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."

"Wandered away" is the Greek word "apeplanithisan" and it means "to be led astray, to be seduced". People who have wandered away, were once walking on the right path but then, because of a deception they followed through, they were led astray, they wandered away. As Paul says, the people he is speaking about here "wandered away from the faith", which consequently means that they were once in it.

The deceitfulness of riches will cause those deceived by it to wander away from the faith. Using the parable of the vine in John 15, this is equal to wandering away from the vine. In turn this will make them unfruitful – third category of the parable of the sower – as there is no way to bear fruit without abiding in the vine1. Finally, if there is no true repentance and return, the end will be removal from the vine and classification of these "branches" with what will be burned (John 15:2, 6).

Concerning the love of money, it is obvious that it is a lethal enemy to the faith; it is a faith killer of the first degree. God does provide material blessings for the covering of our needs, but wanting to become rich, wanting to be "blessed" with riches is not something we should do. Instead here is what we should do:

Hebrews 13:5-6
"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

Are we doing this? Are we content with what we have? Is our life free from the love of money or we are running after riches? Let us think and make any adjustments needed.

 


Footnotes

1. In any case, the deceitfulness of riches is mentioned explicitly in the parable of the sower as a thorn and a cause of unfruitfulness.

 

Next section: On God as a blessing machine. Is He really something like this?

 

Author: Anastasios Kioulachoglou