1 Timothy 6:3-5 – Dealing with false teachers and teachings

Since false teachers were proliferating erroneous teachings, Paul felt that Timothy needed to know how to recognize both the teachers as well as their teachings. So in these verses, he gave him some ways of identifying the false teachers as well as their doctrines.

Here we see the features of those teachings. Firstly, the teachings were described as of a different doctrine. This suggests that they were a distortion from the type that the apostle taught and probably a mixture of Jewish legalism and Greek philosophy. Secondly, they did not agree with sound words. The teachings went contrary to those given by the Lord Jesus Christ. Thirdly, they would not be in line with those that lead to godliness.

Verses 4 and 5 reveal how a false teacher could be recognized. Firstly, a false teacher is conceited. He is simply blinded by pride and would openly display his ignorance. Secondly, a false teacher has an unusual craving for controversial questions and loves to quarrel about words. The things that false teachers do would have adverse results in the fellowship. They would bring chaos and confusion. The fellowship would be filled with envy, strife, abusive languages, evil suspicions and even constant friction. In verse 5, we also see a third feature of the false teachers. They are people of depraved mind and deprived of truth. In other words, their minds are corrupted and they are destitute of truth. Verse 5 also reveals one key defective motive of these false teachers. They think that godliness is a means of gain. By “gain,” Paul was referring to their motive of profiteering from the faith. Those false teachers were motivated by a desire to amass material gain.

In our days and age, we also see a proliferation of false teachers and teachings. We must be on guard and discerning. Not only must we not be taken in we must also help to see to it that others are not taken in. So let us be zealous for the truth and be on guard against all false teachings.