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Chapter 6

Slaves.[a] All those who are under the yoke of slavery must regard their masters as worthy of complete respect, so that the name of God and our teaching may not be brought into disrepute. Those whose masters are believers must not despise them because they are brethren. On the contrary, they should serve them more, since those who receive the benefits of their services are believers and beloved brethren.

Final Charge[b]

False Teaching about Wealth. These are the things you should teach and recommend. Whoever teaches something different and does not agree with the wholesome instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the godly teaching

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Timothy 6:1 Paul speaks on more than one occasion of the lot of slaves (see 1 Cor 7:21-24; Gal 3:28; Eph 6:5-9; Col 3:22-25; Tit 2:9-10; Philem 10-17; 1 Pet 2:18-20). What he speaks of here is not about the social institution of the time but about fidelity and relationships within a de facto institution.
  2. 1 Timothy 6:2 The final instruction to Timothy concerns combating false teaching about wealth, fighting the good fight of the faith, and amassing true riches in place of earthly wealth. In order to understand the kind of disastrous teaching we are dealing with here, it suffices to examine the portrait of a false teacher. He is a man who gives in to every snare, chasing after reputation, emotional satisfaction, and money without paying any real attention to the faith. The true teacher, on the other hand, knows how to embrace suffering and live according to the truth. He is a man who professes the faith and fights for it while totally enveloped by the mystery of Christ that is evoked in the beautiful final hymn in 1 Tim 6:14-16.