“In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you to keep this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will bring this about in his own time” (1Timothy 6:13-15a, CSB).
The apostle Paul had written that Timothy was his true son in the faith (1:2). He was the son of a Greek, whose mother was a Jewish Christian (Acts 16:1). I assume that Timothy’s earthly father never put his faith in Jesus Christ even though his wife and mother-in-law had (2 Tim. 1:5), at least the Scriptures never mention that he did; although I hope he did. Timothy had been part of Paul’s missionary team and was with him when he preached at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-22). Paul included Timothy’s name as a co-sender in many of his correspondences to some of the churches. Both correspondences, First and Second Timothy, are considered Pastoral Letters because they deal with pastoral care to the churches of God. The letter to Titus is another Pastoral Epistle. It is believed that Timothy was martyred in AD 97, beaten to death because he spoke out against the worship of the goddess Artemis.[1]
Before I comment on the passage above, I will first give a quick overview of what Paul had written to Timothy in his first correspondence: Timothy was to command false teachers in the Ephesian church to cease teaching their false doctrines (1:3; 6:3) which came from what they were studying, about myths – fables – and genealogies, et cetera; these false teachers seemed to be obsessed with who in the church was a descendant of Israel, and maybe they were students of Jewish mysticism—esoterism, Gnosticism (1:4; 4:3, 7). Being that they were obsessed with being teachers of Judaic law (1:7a), they may have been associated with the group known as the Judaizers (Gal. 2:14)—Judaizers were a faction of Jewish believers that taught once a Gentile puts faith in Yeshua, he must then get circumcised and follow the Law of Moses. Paul also gave Timothy instructions on what should be incorporated into their prayer requests (2:1-4), and how to conduct worship in their meetings (2:8-15), and basic rules for leadership (3:1-13). The apostle had written these instructions so that those who believe in Jesus Christ would know how to behave in God’s church, in the household of God (3:14-15).
Paul had also written to Timothy something important that the Spirit of God had revealed to him: That in the ὕστερος καιροῖς (transliteration: ýsteros kairoís) later times, meaning the final generation of the church-age, there will be people that have been granted the grace of God and as a result put their faith in Jesus Christ who eventually fall away from the faith because they have become attentive to and delight themselves in the schemes and teachings of demons—they follow deceiving spirits rather than the Holy Spirit and do not even know it, they cannot discern the difference (4:1). The phrase, they fall away, in Greek is ἀποστήσονταί (transliteration: apostísontaí), which literally means, they apostatize. They completely abandon and reject Jesus Christ and his word, they are apostates. Many of the English versions of this Scripture say that “some will depart, or, abandon the faith” (look at your version of the Bible). But the Online Greek Bible[2] translated into English reads, “those of the faith will fall away” (ἀποστήσονταί τινες τῆς πίστεως – transliteration: apostísontaí tines tís písteos). It literally means the tenets (doctrine or teaching) of faith are apostatized (renounced or rejected). The Online Greek Bible does not say one way or the other if the apostates are few or many, just that there will be a falling away from faith in Christ and his word in the final generation of the church—the English term, some, when used as a pronoun can mean an undefined amount of people, or it can mean a small amount of people, this may be why many English Bibles did not commit themselves by predicting either a few or many apostates. The apostle Paul was instructed by the Holy Spirit to write Timothy being he was the overseer of the Ephesian church, and prophecy that in the later times of the church-age there would be a falling away in the church of God. The teachings that some in the church will be drawn to in the later times will come out of the mouths of false apostles, false prophets, false pastors, and false teachers (4:2; 2 Tim. 4:3-4). Paul warned Timothy to watch closely how he lives and what he teaches to the church of God, to basically stay on the true path, because if he does, he will make safe his salvation and the salvation of those who hear what he teaches (4:16).
Paul then said to show respect to one another especially older men (5:1-3). Widows are to use wisdom and to not take advantage of the church because she has lost her husband to death, a widow’s family should provide for her (5:1-16). The elders who take their calling seriously, and do a good job, are worthy of double honor (respect and payment), especially those who are diligent workers at preaching and teaching, because the Scriptures say the worker is worthy of financial pay (5:17-18; Deut. 25:4). If an elder is accused of something then there must be two to three witnesses to back up the accusation, and if he is found guilty then he must be rebuked in front of the congregation so that others will see the consequence of sinning as a leader (5:19-20). Many other things he wrote also, that I have not recorded, but nonetheless, Timothy was to keep the instructions the apostle gave him without showing favoritism, as Paul entrusted Timothy before the Father and Son, and the angels that minister to the church, to care for the church without showing special treatment to one over the other (5:21).
Paul instructed Timothy to flee from the idea that being devout and upright before God is a way to become wealthy, because the root of all evil things is φιλαργυρία, (transliteration: filargyría) avarice (6:11a, 5b-10). According to Google’s English dictionary, provided by Oxford Languages, avarice is defined as “extreme greed for wealth or material gain.” Avarice is greed, one of the transgressions that will keep a saint from sharing an inheritance in the kingdom of God and of Christ (Eph. 5:3-5). Greedy people will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:10). Could this mean, that the saint that persists in practicing greed will be passed over once the rapture of the church occurs, and be left to enter the Tribulation Period? The apostle encourages, but at the same time, warns the young elder of the Ephesian church to follow godliness, righteousness, love, patience, faith, and gentleness (6:11b). He must fight for his faith in Christ, and receive the eternal life that he was called to by God; Timothy confessed faith in Jesus Christ before many witnesses (6:12; 1:18-19; 2 Tim. 4:7; 1 Cor. 9:25-26; Heb. 3:14).
The apostle commanded his spiritual son, while God looked on from his throne in heaven as did Jesus Christ from the right hand of his Father (6:13), to keep the previous command (6:11-12) without fault or failure (6:14a). Timothy was to keep following godliness, righteousness, love, patience, faith, and gentleness, and to keep fighting for his faith in Christ, never giving up, so that in the end he receives the eternal life that he was called to. He was commanded to live this way without fault or failure until the Lord Jesus appears, the rapture of the church (6:14b). Paul tells Timothy that God will rapture the church in his own time, as he determines (6:15a). Although the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ has allowed seeking believers to know the generation (season) the rapture will occur, which will then initiate the seven-year Tribulation, he in his wisdom has not revealed the day and hour this glorious event will occur (Matt. 24:36-44). Believers that know the generation the rapture will occur is because it is prophesied: The generation that witnessed the rebirth of Israel (Matt. 24:32-34; Mk. 13:28-30; Lk. 21:29-32) in 1948, will also witness the redemption of the remnant Jews at the second appearance/coming of Israel’s Messiah (Matt. 24:29-31; Rev. 19:11-14), and the rapture of the church will occur at least seven years before the Jewish remnant receives their salvation (Dan. 9:24), because Scripture reveals it is a pre-Tribulation rapture. The rapture of the body of Christ will happen before the seventieth-week of Israel/seven-year Tribulation Period even begins, which in Scripture is referred to as the time of God’s wrath or the hour of trial (Isa. 13:9-13; 34, 8; Jer. 30:5-7, 23-24; Dan. 8:19; 11:36; Zeph. 1:14-19; 3:8; Lk. 21:23; Eph. 5:6; 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 6:16-17). A promise from Jesus Christ is that the individual Christian will not suffer his wrath if the believer keeps God’s word and does not deny the name of Jesus (Rev. 3:8, 10)[3]—in other words, they will not be passed over thereby entering the Tribulation Period with all the hypocrites and unbelievers (Matt. 24:45-51; Lk. 12:42-46). God will rescue the body of Christ from the time of wrath as they wait for the rapture to occur (1 Thess. 1:10), because he has not appointed the new creation to suffer his wrath but rather receive salvation (eternal) through the power of Jesus (1 Thess. 5:9-10)— “He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen” (6:15b-16, CSB).
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[2] The Online Greek Bible
[3] The letters to the seven churches were initially
intended for the churches under the apostle John’s care in the last part of the
First Century. But each church also represents the words of Jesus Christ to the
believers throughout the church-age—warnings, encouragements, et cetera.
