1 Timothy 6:20-21: Final Warning
2021-11-27
Guarding Your Calling
The phrase “O Timothy” is an exclamation. What follows is an important final warning: “keep that which is committed to thy trust.” “To keep” has the connotation of guarding. He must guard his position because there is always a Korah out there that wants to take it. Jude 1:10-11 talks about various false prophets: works salvation-Cain, covetous Balaam, and the rebel Korah (Core). Korah was disobedient and wanted to have the preeminence like Moses and Aaron seemed to have (Numbers 16).
Avoiding Profane and Vain Babblings
How does Timothy guard his ministry from infiltrating false prophets? By “avoiding profane and vain babblings.” “Profane” has the connotations of being heathen-like. Strong’s numbering related it to “crossing a doorway,” which tells me these people are crossing a line, a phrase we use commonly. These are things that go beyond what is appropriate.
“Vain babblings” are just a bunch of things that do not make sense. Ever run into someone who is religious, has some understanding in the Bible, but they go on talking about a bunch of stuff that does not make sense? This issue is such a problem that Paul warns Timothy about this again in the second letter (2 Timothy 2:15-18). Here Paul explains this and gives an example.
Profane and vain babblings lead to ungodliness, and then they eat away at the health of the church. Canker is “gangrene.” The two men here believed that the resurrection already happened. This clearly is babbling; the physical resurrection is something that has not happened yet. There may be a play on words here. In the resurrection, the dead are raised, never to see corruption again. However, these men introduce a new spiritual corruption into the church. The result is that many had faith that was overthrown. Avoiding all of this and teaching correct doctrine will keep the church from deception and destruction.
Avoiding Science Falsely So Called
The other thing Timothy is to avoid is “oppositions of science falsely so called.” There is so much that could be said about this verse today! Many will object to the word “science” and say that it should be “knowledge.” Frankly, it does not matter which word you use. All the fake science that is out there today is considered knowledge, and therefore it is false knowledge. Don’t get bogged down with these people that complain about this.
The chief modern item we think of as such science is evolution. People make “oppositions” to the faith with this particular “science falsely so called” today. They will also make fun of our belief in the creation, six literal 24-hour days, the Garden of Eden, the “magic” tree, the “talking snake,” and such arguments. If you were to hear this for the first time, it could sound quite absurd if you have taught something else your whole life.
However, think of the other side. Those people believe a speck smaller than a grain of sand at some time in the distant past exploded into everything that constitutes the universe today. Think of the massive galaxies filled with stars, planets, and moons. All of that was stuffed into a tiny speck. It then proceeded to explode, and all these galaxies, stars, planets, and moons formed. At some point later, one of those planets was just the right distance from the sun so that life spawned from nothing. Lifeless molecules “decided” (?) to morph themselves into living creatures. After endless millennia, some of these lifeforms crawled out of primordial ooze, and eventually, evolved into every living thing we see today, including people. None of this can be reproduced and observed, as is required to be called “science.” But here we are. Doesn’t this sound just as absurd?
However the world began, it is always going to sound absurd, because the event only happened once, it cannot be reproduced, and there is no way for us to go back in time and observe it.
The danger is that those “professing have erred concerning the faith” (1 Timothy 6:21), just like Hymenaeus and Philetus, can destroy others’ faith. This may not be the case for everyone. There are Christians out there that believe in evolution. Many of your apologists believe in some form of theistic evolution. Many Christians with a scientific background compromise here. The brainwashing in schools is fierce. The world will make you feel stupid if you do not believe in the magic speck and the crawling-out-of-the-ooze narrative.
However, on the other hand, many reject Christianity because of this science falsely so called. As often said by Answers in Genesis and others, death before Adam changes death as a punishment for sin to something that is a normal part of the universe. This neutralizes the purpose of Christ’s coming. There is a motive for the teaching of evolution, and this is it.
Grace Be with Thee
Paul closed with “Grace be with thee. Amen.” With all the potentials for evil to destroy the church, Timothy is going to need that grace! Anything we do needs the grace of God. Like Gideon’s army of 300 versus 32,000, the odds from a human perspective are devastating. However, with the Lord, all things are possible.