Our Solemn Charge
1 Timothy 6:11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing, 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. (NKJV)

Paul is closing his letter to Timothy on the subject of false teaching in the church. In the previous passage he called out the false teachers as being motivated by the love of money.

In this passage Paul is exhorting Timothy to not be like the false teachers. The passage consists of four exhortations (vv. 11-12) and a solemn charge (vv. 13-16).

Paul begins by writing “But you, O man of God” (v.11a). In contrast to the false teachers, Paul addresses Timothy as a man of God.

This is someone who is a loyal servant of God. It is someone who is personally obedient to God and involved in service to God.

The false teachers were neither. They were not obedient to the word of God, instead preaching a false gospel. They did not serve God, but instead were servants of Satan.

Next, Paul gives us the first of his four exhortations. He writes “flee these things” (v. 11b).  So, the first exhortation is to “flee”.

Timothy, and all Christians, should “flee” from the teachings of false teachers. Our reaction to assaults from Satan should always be to flee. We should always be moving away from the things of Satan and towards the things of God.

Paul continues “and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness” (v. 11c). The second exhortation is to “pursue”. We are to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness.

The first three (righteousness, godliness, and faith), Paul directly addressed in this letter. He wrote of righteousness, having to do with holding to Christian conduct. He wrote of godliness, having to do with becoming Christlike. And He wrote of faith, not straying from the faith. The last three (love, patience, and gentleness) are fruit of the Spirit which every Christian is given, but needs to appropriate into their behavior.

Next Paul gives us his third exhortation. He writes “Fight the good fight of faith” (v. 12a).

So, the third exhortation is to “fight”. We are to fight the good fight of the faith”. The metaphor for “fight” in this context is that of an athletic contest, not a war.

Paul previously used this metaphor in this letter calling for us to train, as an athlete, in order to become godly. Just as we should train to be godly, we should then fight to win the contest. The contest is to remain faithful, to hear the words “Well done my good and faithful servant”.

Next, Paul writes “lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (v. 12b). So, the fourth exhortation is to “lay hold” (v. 12b).

We are to lay hold of the eternal life to which we were called, and which we followed with our confession of Jesus Christ as our Savior. To lay hold means to persevere in the faith to the end.

After giving us four exhortations, Paul gives us his charge. He writes “I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate” (v. 13). The solemn charge is given in the sight of God, God the Father, and Christ Jesus.

Next, Paul identifies the charge. He writes “14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing,15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen” (vv. 14-16).

Our charge, or commandment, is to “keep this commandment” until Christ returns to rule the earth (vv. 14-16). “This commandment” refers to the subject of the entire letter. It is a commandment to stay true to the true Gospel, and not be swayed by false teaching.

The four exhortations provide a means of doing so. When we “flee” the things of Satan, “pursue” God, “fight” the good fight, and “lay hold” of our eternal life we will stay true to the true Gospel.

The false teachings are still out there, influencing the world against Christ. So, we must show the true Gospel to the world.

We must “flee” Satan and “pursue” Godliness.  We must run away from Satan, and towards God.

We must “fight” against Satan, and his false teachers, revealing to the world the deception of the false teachers. We must share with the world the reward for following the true Gospel, eternal life in Heaven.

And we must “lay hold”, persevere, in all of it. This is what we are called to do. This is our solemn charge.

Art Toombs Ministries 

Online Bible Commentary