1 Timothy 6:20 – Guard the teaching

O Timothy, that which is committed to you, guard, turning aside from the profane prattlings and antipathies of falsely named ‘knowledge’.

The end of this personal letter begins as a cry from the heart. “O Timothy…!” Very personal but also emotional and urgent. In 2 Tim. 1:2 Paul calls Timothy “my beloved child” which characterizes the close relationship between the two. Paul had ‘begotten’ him through the Gospel and then also took him along on his travels and intensively taught him everything he had personally learned from Christ. That is what was entrusted to Timothy (compare 2Tim.1:12,14). As carefully as Paul had passed this on to him, Timothy would also guard that teaching carefully.

This letter (1:3) began with the call that Timothy would tolerate no other doctrine than what Paul had taught. This theme runs like a common thread throughout the letter and Paul also concludes with it passionately. Timothy would guard the teaching entrusted to him, which already suggests that undermining dangers threatened. In doing so, he had to show himself averse to dissenting lines of thought, which are here called “profane prattlings and antipathies”. The words undoubtedly seemed impressive, but in terms of content they mean nothing. They are at odds with the teaching entrusted to Timothy. That education is the touchstone – then, and today no less!

Delen: