6:11
“But you, man of God, flee from all this...” Notice the very direct way in which Paul speaks to Timothy. There is to be no messing about with these false teachings, and notice that these false teachings were not doctrinal in the sense that the Galatian controversy was, but to do with wrong heart attitudes. Prosperity gospel teaching is dangerous and it is nonsense, we should have nothing to do with it. We should also guard our hearts carefully and be on the lookout for any hint of greed that might be in us. But this is not just negative advice in the sense of “do not”, we need the positive side as well. We are to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. We must never become so obsessed with avoiding wrong attitudes or teachings that we forget to focus on the right attitudes and teachings.
6:12
Resisting these things, and countering them as a leader would be costly, and Timothy would feel vulnerable. So Paul encourages him. He is to fight the good fight. There is a battle to be fought daily. “Take hold of the eternal life ...” Eternal life is not just something that happens after we die, it starts now. To be sure, when Christ comes back we will be transformed beyond belief, but we are to begin to lay hold of eternal life now. It is not just a matter of life without end, it is the nature of that life as well. So we are to seek to live it as much as we can right now.
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