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1 Timoteo 6

VBL · Chapter 6/6

1Todos los que están sujetos bajo esclavitud deben considerar a sus amos como dignos de respeto, para que el nombre de Dios y las creencias cristianas no sean difamados.

2Los esclavos que tienen amos cristianos no deben irrespetarlos porque son hermanos. Por el contrario, deberían servirles aún mejor, porque los que se están beneficiando de su servicio son hermanos creyentes a quienes deben amar. Enséñales a las personas estas instrucciones, y anímalas a seguirlas.

3Aquellos que enseñan creencias distintas, y no escuchan el buen consejo, especialmente las palabras de nuestro Señor Jesucristo y las verdaderas enseñanzas de Dios,

4son arrogantes y no entienden nada. Ellos están obsesionados con la especulación y los debates filosóficos que solo conducen a celos, discusiones y chismes malintencionados y desconfianza maligna,

5y esas son las discusiones constantes de personas cuyas mentes están completamente corrompidas y que han perdido la verdad, creyendo que pueden sacar provecho financiero de la religión…

6¡Pero conocer y seguir a Dios es tan satisfactorio!

7Pues nosotros no trajimos nada al mundo, y tampoco podemos llevarnos nada.

8Pero si tenemos alimento y vestimenta, entonces tenemos suficiente.

9Aquellos que están determinados para volverse ricos, caen en la trampa de la tentación, siguiendo muchos impulsos necios y destructivos.

10Pues el deseo de ser ricos conduce a muchas clases de malos resultados. Algunos de los que anhelaban esto se han apartado de la verdad, y se han causado daño a sí mismos, experimentando gran dolor.

11Pero tú, como hombre de Dios, debes alejarte de tales cosas. Debes procurar hacer lo recto, practicar la verdadera religión, y confiar en Dios. Que tu objetivo sea amar, ser paciente y manso.

12Pelea la buena batalla confiando en Dios. Aférrate completamente a la vida eterna a la cual fuiste llamado. Esto fue lo que prometiste hacer delante de muchos testigos.

13Mi encargo hacia ti, delante de Dios, el Dador de la vida, y delante de Cristo Jesús, quien dio testimonio de la buena nueva ante Poncio Pilato,

14es que sigas fielmente lo que se te ha enseñado para que estés libre de toda crítica hasta que aparezca nuestro Señor Jesucristo.

15En el momento apropiado Jesús será revelado, el bendito y único Soberano, el Rey de reyes y Señor de señores.

16Él es el único inmortal, y vive en la luz inaccesible. Nadie lo ha visto nunca, ni puede hacerlo. ¡El honor y el poder eterno son suyos! Amén.

17Advierte a los que son ricos en el mundo presente para que no se vuelvan orgullosos. Diles que no pongan su fe en la riqueza que es tan efímera, sino en Dios, quien nos da gratuitamente todo para nuestro deleite.

18Díles que hagan el bien, y que se vuelvan ricos en buenas obras, prestos para compartir lo que tienen, y ser generosos.

19De este modo, acumulan tesoros que les proveerán una base sólida para el futuro, a fin de que puedan aferrarse a la vida verdadera.

20Timoteo, cuida lo que se te ha encomendado. No prestes atención a la habladuría sin sentido y a los argumentos basados en supuesto “conocimiento”.

21Algunos de los que promueven estas ideas se alejaron de su fe en Dios. Que la gracia esté contigo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Paul addresses the relationship between servants and masters, warns against the love of money as the root of many evils, and urges Timothy to fight the good fight of faith. He closes by asking the rich to use their wealth with generosity.

Explanation

The famous teaching that 'the love of money is the root of all evil' does not condemn wealth itself, but the disordered attachment to it, which can lead people away from the faith and cause suffering. Paul contrasts this empty pursuit with true gain: godliness joined with contentment. The final instruction to the rich is not meant to make them feel guilty, but to call them to be generous and not place their trust in uncertain riches. Today's practical application is to seek genuine contentment and to use material resources for good, instead of letting money become the center of life.

Fun facts

  • The complete, original phrase is 'the love of money is the root of all evil' — often misquoted as simply 'money is the root of all evil,' which completely changes the meaning of the original text.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Timoteo 6:1Domestic slavery was a common and legal part of Roman society, present even within Christian churches made up of masters and slaves side by side. Paul asks Christian slaves to treat their masters with respect, chiefly concerned with keeping the Christian faith from gaining a reputation as subversive or disorderly in the eyes of outsiders.
  2. 1 Timoteo 6:2Paul also addresses the case where the master is a Christian: the slave should not treat him with less respect simply because they are “brethren” in the faith — on the contrary, he should serve him even better.
  3. 1 Timoteo 6:3Paul returns to warning about false teachers, calling the standard the “wholesome words” of Jesus, the measure by which any teaching should be judged.
  4. 1 Timoteo 6:4According to Paul, this kind of teacher is proud and understands nothing of the truth, only producing useless disputes that end in envy and strife.
  5. 1 Timoteo 6:5Paul denounces teachers who treated religion as a business, a way of gaining money or status by using the faith as a front. It is this kind of motive that he contrasts right after with the idea that true gain is contentment, not profit.
  6. 1 Timoteo 6:6After speaking of teachers who see religion as a business, Paul gives the right answer: true gain lies in godliness with contentment, not in accumulating.
  7. 1 Timoteo 6:7Paul recalls a simple fact: no one is born with anything, and no one can carry anything out when he dies, a direct way of putting the importance of possessions into perspective.
  8. 1 Timoteo 6:8Paul’s practical conclusion is modest: having food and raiment, that alone should be enough to live content.
  9. 1 Timoteo 6:9Paul describes the desire to be rich as a trap, one that can drag a person into foolish and hurtful lusts, ending in ruin.
  10. 1 Timoteo 6:10It’s common to hear this verse quoted as “money is the root of all evil,” but the original text is more specific: it is “the love of money” — the attachment to it and the obsessive pursuit of it — that Paul points to as the problem, not money itself. He describes this attachment as something that has already led some away from the faith and brought needless sorrow.
  11. 1 Timoteo 6:11Paul calls Timothy a “man of God” and asks him to flee these vices tied to money, pursuing instead righteousness, faith, love, and patience.
  12. 1 Timoteo 6:12Paul reminds Timothy of a public moment when he declared his faith before many witnesses — possibly his baptism or the moment he was commissioned for the ministry. The martial image of fighting “the good fight” adds to this reminder a tone of discipline and ongoing commitment, not a single, closed event.
  13. 1 Timoteo 6:13Paul makes a solemn charge, recalling Jesus himself before Pontius Pilate, when he witnessed a good confession even under judgment, an example of faithfulness under pressure.
  14. 1 Timoteo 6:14Paul asks that Timothy keep this commitment of faith without spot, unrebukeable, until the day Jesus returns, something the letter treats as certain, but with no set date.
  15. 1 Timoteo 6:15Paul describes this return of Jesus as something that will happen only at the right time, determined by God, called here “the King of kings, and Lord of lords.”
  16. 1 Timoteo 6:16This phrase describes God as someone no human being can face or reach directly on his own — not because He hides, but because His nature surpasses the human capacity to see and understand. It is a way of ending the letter by acknowledging the limits of one’s own knowledge before God.
  17. 1 Timoteo 6:17Paul returns to the theme of wealth, now speaking directly to those who are already rich: the request isn’t to give up money, but not to trust in it, and instead to trust in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
  18. 1 Timoteo 6:18Instead of accumulating, Paul expects the rich to use their resources to do good, being rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to share with those in need.
  19. 1 Timoteo 6:19This kind of generosity, Paul says, builds a different kind of security for the future, not in material goods, but in a foundation that leads to eternal life.
  20. 1 Timoteo 6:20“Science” here translates a Greek word meaning knowledge, used by certain groups of the time who boasted of having access to advanced spiritual secrets beyond what the common gospel taught. Paul calls this so-called knowledge falsely so called, closing the letter with the same warning against false teachers that opened the first chapter.
  21. 1 Timoteo 6:21Paul closes the letter with a final warning about those who erred concerning the faith by chasing this false knowledge, and a brief parting blessing.

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