3If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
Paul is probably not referring specifically to his teaching on slaves and masters, but to his whole lesson on the truth as presented in this letter. The charge is bold, and if it were not inspired would be considered rather audacious. If anyone teaches anything different from what Paul has taught, whether explicitly contradictory or simply not matching up with the sense of Paul’s teaching, that person is “conceited and understands nothing.” If Paul were speaking on his own authority, his words would only carry weight corresponding to his personal ability for argumentation. But he writes as “an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior…” (1 Tim. 1:1). He is not just flinging political mud but conveying unalterable truth.
Anyone who knowingly contradicts the apostles’ instructions places himself above the authorized teaching of God! To put one’s own teaching above God’s is, on the one hand, the ultimate conceit, and on the other hand, completely ignorant, for it means one does not comprehend the seriousness of doing so. We are reminded of how Satan questioned God’s statements to Eve and led her to embrace his “teaching” above that of God: “Indeed, has God said . . . ‘[Y]ou will die?’. . . You surely will not die!” (Gen. 3:1, 4).
Have you ever noticed that some people, as Paul writes, have a “morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words”? Paul could very well have written that today! They love a debate, causing controversy and strife, all the while thinking themselves to be godly. They and they alone have the spiritual inside scoop. In the political realm, there is a saying that it is easy to be a leader of the opposition; that is because criticizing, questioning, opposing, and finding supposed holes in others’ arguments can keep people off balance, but it takes no great skill. And it takes no conviction!
To embrace truth and stand firm in the face of constant assaults takes strength, courage, and conviction. Paul warns Timothy to see opposition to the truth for what it is: the result of depraved minds that hinder the Lord’s work and produce nothing good but the false teacher’s own false sense of benefit.
Lord, I am convicted about standing firm for the truth in the face of opposition.
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