1 Timothy 6:3–5 - Discerning a True Teacher
Over the last several years, there’s been an explosion of podcasts, YouTube channels, and social media accounts claiming to have uncovered what everyone else has missed. Whether the subject is politics, health, finance, or current events, these people claim to be among the special few who “really know what's going on.”
But at the heart, this is an old temptation.
Satan did something similar in the garden of Eden. He claimed to have the true knowledge. And the world has been drawn to this trick ever since. Even in the church today, we're naturally attracted to those who suggest that they have a missing key to spiritual growth, a method that will finally unlock success, or a practice that will take you beyond ordinary Christianity.
Paul tells us that this is precisely why we need discernment from God. A teacher may be interesting, persuasive, or even successful in worldly terms, but does their message subtly shift the focus away from the Lord?
We're attracted to teachings that subtly move our attention from what He has done to what we need to do. Teachers in error don't always deny Christ outright. Often, they simply distract from the way Christ has promised to work. And when the focus is not Him and His finished work, when – even if unintentionally – teachers are man-centered rather than Christ-centered – their pride and lack of understanding will be evident to the discerning.
He hasn’t left us to search for hidden knowledge or a better method. Instead, He has plainly revealed how He gathers and matures His church: through His Word and ordinances, and by His Spirit. And so our minds must be trained on that message of all the fullness of who our Lord Jesus Christ is and the great sufficiency of all He has done.
Notice how Paul uses such formal language to refer to our Savior. Christ with His salvation holds all the fulfillments of God’s promises. And His person and work is the engine that drives every part of our salvation and sanctification.
Paul was aware that teachers in error were relocating the engine for change – moving it from Christ to ideas, methods, practices, and endless discussions. Today, teachers in error abound, both inside and outside of churches, doing the same.
So we must be able to recognize the characteristics of a true teacher? True teachers direct our dependence to the Savior, not to self and encourage the desires of the Spirit, not the flesh.
As 1 Timothy draws to a close, Paul returns to his first subject: those who teach a different doctrine. You’ll notice as we finish 1 Timothy in the coming weeks that Paul contrasts these erring teachers with the kind of teacher that Timothy is called to be. And this re-emphasizes the role of the elders’ voices in the congregation.
The men who step into the Lord’s pulpit must speak the Lord’s words.
Look at verse [3] “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,” then we have problems. Notice Paul takes the time to state “our Lord Jesus Christ.”
He is Lord: the Master and Possessor who bought us and to whom we belong.
He is Christ: the anointed Messiah who bore the wrath of God for us and brought us into the family of God.
And He is Jesus: the Savior who loved us and rescued us from our sins.
It’s not by coincidence that Paul precedes these glorious titles with a simple personal pronoun: our. Our Lord. Our Christ. Our Jesus.
The message in view here is that which was spoken by Jesus and His apostles. In 2 Peter 1, the apostle Peter says this about our Lord Jesus Christ: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
Peter articulates the Christ-centeredness of our faith and life. Elsewhere, Paul communicates who central the person and work of Jesus are. He says Christ is our life and to live is Christ.
Any situation we face should be faced with the awareness of the effect of Him and His redemptive work on the situation. What does “Christ who is your life” mean for your current circumstances – for what you should believe, say, do, think or desire? We must start with Him, continue with Him, and arrive still with Him. These teachers erred in regard to either His person or work or both.
Just because teaching is packaged as Christianity doesn’t ensure that the teacher is directing others to Christ in agreement with “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness.”
What drives true heart transformation in the believer?
A teacher may focus on radical honesty about who you truly are, using Scripture to proclaim that change within occurs through things like our efforts for vulnerability, safe community, and relational authenticity.
Another teacher may focus on radical obedience, using Scripture to proclaim that change within occurs through things like our efforts for bold action, stepping out on faith, and risk-taking.
This can be confusing for believers because none of those things sound wrong. You may hear conservative or progressive teachers deliver messages like these. But here’s what they may have in common: do they reverse the direction of causality for change?
Whether knowingly or not, are they moving the place of confidence? Are they relocating the source of change? Our honesty and obedience are not causal; they are consequential. In other words, they are the result, not the cause of heart change within us.
Application of biblical principles is good. Authentic relationships are good. But they are the cart, not the horse. In Ephesians 2, the apostle Paul writes, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
This built on what John records in John 15, where Christ says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, it is he that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Our fully divine and fully human Lord Jesus Christ, and His life, death, and resurrection brought us into real spiritual union with Him.
This is the over-arching, under-girding, all-encompassing reality of the Christian faith! “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him!” Christ is our life and to live is Christ!
You see, true teachers direct our dependence to the Savior, not to self. We should not confuse the cause of our transformation with the evidence of it. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, who by His Spirit and through His ordained means, transforms His people, and He produces authentic faith, repentance, obedience, confession, and love. Any teacher can claim to be “Christ-centered,” but do they direct your dependence to the true and living Christ of the Scriptures or somewhere else? To Christ, or back to yourself?
Now these next verses continue Paul’s thought. Actually they continue the sentence. With teachers in error, not only is their content offbase. To some degree, so is their character. Look at how Paul describes such a teacher, verse [4] he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.”
There’s both a pride and an ignorance. These teachers are proud because they feel smart or insightful. They feel right. They may have some results that boost their ego. And yet, they’re way off. They don’t recognize their man-centeredness. They can’t seem to detect their own errors.
They either misunderstand “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,” or they’ve rejected them in some way. They may be unintentionally sidetracked or deliberately deceptive. But the results are the same: they’ve departed from “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness.”
Let me say a word about this “godliness.” This is reverence towards God, and the teaching which Christ uses to conform His people to His own image. Without these, look at the additional description of such a teacher: “He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions.” This teacher loves to argue, loves to debate, and promotes division.
Now, of course there is a time and place for debate. But in these cases, the motivation to argue is not that the love of God may abound. It’s not the love of Christ that compels them. There’s an ungodly tone that feigns wisdom and insight. Questions and speculations are exalted, not what Jude calls “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”
This doesn’t mean that we don’t allow questions or discussions in the church. Answering questions is a lot of what I do. We discuss the Scriptures openly in various forums. I’m glad to discuss any subject with you. But in and through Christ we have the fullness of revelation. We have all we need for life and godliness.
If you spend time on social media, you may notice something. The posts that generate the most engagement are rarely the most helpful. Rather, they're the most controversial. The algorithms reward outrage.
Paul warned Timothy about teachers who operate the same way. They cultivate controversy because controversy gains attention. True teachers, however, seek the spiritual good of Christ's people though faithful teaching and shepherding is normally quieter and less sensational.
Look at what else these erring teachers produce, verse [5] “constant friction.” There’s always an enemy to go after, someone to be against and suspicious of. And granted, the church has enemies. We speak against falsehood. I’m speaking against something right now, in accordance with how Paul did.
But Paul is describing something different. It takes place, see the verse, “among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.” When the motive isn’t the glory and treasuring of Christ Himself, it has to be something else.
If we are not truly Christ-focused, then we are inevitably and unavoidably self-focused. And if you think about the problem with you, or the problem with someone else, it always boils down to that.
Perhaps some of you like theater. You like plays and musicals. Those are fun. I saw a Broadway play for the first time this year. It’s fascinating how talented and skilled the actors are.
In any play or musical, a key feature is the spotlight, which is operated by a stagehand. A good stagehand keeps the spotlight on the actor. A good stagehand would never turn the spotlight on himself! If he does that, he’s forgotten why he's there.
In a similar way, a true teacher keeps the spotlight where life is: on the Lord Jesus Christ. A teacher in error eventually turns it on himself.
And “self” is a key concept here. There is, of course, a new self that Paul describes in Ephesians and Colossians. He urges us to “put on the new self.” But Paul and the other apostles are clear that remaining sin is still a factor for believers. We’re no longer slaves to the sinful nature, but we are affected by it. And the self in “self-centered” or “self-focused” is the remaining sinful self.
This is the struggle between the old and the new that Paul describes in Galatians 5, where he writes, “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” A teacher in error will appeal to the sinful nature – to remaining sin – in some way.
Such a teacher may appeal to your preference for self-reliance. Or they may appeal to your pride. Or they may appeal to our love of wealth or sensuality or immorality. But these are all fleshly, sinful desires.
True teachers encourage the desires of the Spirit, not the flesh.
True teachers encourage love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When the glories of Christ are proclaimed from anywhere in the OT or NT, when the aim is to raise high the name of Christ and show from God’s Word how His “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,” the true teacher fans the flame of true faith with the goal of true godliness.
Isn’t it interesting that Christ Himself was a teacher? He was and continues to be the truest of true teachers. And it is ultimately Him who directs our dependence to Himself and encourages the desires of the Spirit.
He’s not just a teacher who lived long ago. He still lives. Each day, He continues to teach His people. Will you learn from Him? In Colossians 3, Paul writes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.” Listen to the logical progression there: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.”Guide each other to Him with “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness.”
Christ Himself teaches us.He fills us, and shapes our minds, and directs our dependence, and stirs the desires of the Spirit, and we then teach and admonish one another. Christ hasn’t left His church searching for secret methods or hidden insights. He teaches us every Lord’s Day through Word, sacrament, and prayer. And every other day of the week, He stands ready to speak and to listen.
Will you learn from Him?
As we go to His table now, He continues to do those things. As a good and true teacher, Christ established this table for us. His good teaching moves our attention again to who He is and what He’s done.
There’s nothing more to reveal. Nothing is hidden. Let me close with Hebrews 1: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Will you learn from Him? Let’s bow together in prayer.
But at the heart, this is an old temptation.
Satan did something similar in the garden of Eden. He claimed to have the true knowledge. And the world has been drawn to this trick ever since. Even in the church today, we're naturally attracted to those who suggest that they have a missing key to spiritual growth, a method that will finally unlock success, or a practice that will take you beyond ordinary Christianity.
Paul tells us that this is precisely why we need discernment from God. A teacher may be interesting, persuasive, or even successful in worldly terms, but does their message subtly shift the focus away from the Lord?
We're attracted to teachings that subtly move our attention from what He has done to what we need to do. Teachers in error don't always deny Christ outright. Often, they simply distract from the way Christ has promised to work. And when the focus is not Him and His finished work, when – even if unintentionally – teachers are man-centered rather than Christ-centered – their pride and lack of understanding will be evident to the discerning.
He hasn’t left us to search for hidden knowledge or a better method. Instead, He has plainly revealed how He gathers and matures His church: through His Word and ordinances, and by His Spirit. And so our minds must be trained on that message of all the fullness of who our Lord Jesus Christ is and the great sufficiency of all He has done.
Notice how Paul uses such formal language to refer to our Savior. Christ with His salvation holds all the fulfillments of God’s promises. And His person and work is the engine that drives every part of our salvation and sanctification.
Paul was aware that teachers in error were relocating the engine for change – moving it from Christ to ideas, methods, practices, and endless discussions. Today, teachers in error abound, both inside and outside of churches, doing the same.
So we must be able to recognize the characteristics of a true teacher? True teachers direct our dependence to the Savior, not to self and encourage the desires of the Spirit, not the flesh.
As 1 Timothy draws to a close, Paul returns to his first subject: those who teach a different doctrine. You’ll notice as we finish 1 Timothy in the coming weeks that Paul contrasts these erring teachers with the kind of teacher that Timothy is called to be. And this re-emphasizes the role of the elders’ voices in the congregation.
The men who step into the Lord’s pulpit must speak the Lord’s words.
Look at verse [3] “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,” then we have problems. Notice Paul takes the time to state “our Lord Jesus Christ.”
He is Lord: the Master and Possessor who bought us and to whom we belong.
He is Christ: the anointed Messiah who bore the wrath of God for us and brought us into the family of God.
And He is Jesus: the Savior who loved us and rescued us from our sins.
It’s not by coincidence that Paul precedes these glorious titles with a simple personal pronoun: our. Our Lord. Our Christ. Our Jesus.
The message in view here is that which was spoken by Jesus and His apostles. In 2 Peter 1, the apostle Peter says this about our Lord Jesus Christ: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
Peter articulates the Christ-centeredness of our faith and life. Elsewhere, Paul communicates who central the person and work of Jesus are. He says Christ is our life and to live is Christ.
Any situation we face should be faced with the awareness of the effect of Him and His redemptive work on the situation. What does “Christ who is your life” mean for your current circumstances – for what you should believe, say, do, think or desire? We must start with Him, continue with Him, and arrive still with Him. These teachers erred in regard to either His person or work or both.
Just because teaching is packaged as Christianity doesn’t ensure that the teacher is directing others to Christ in agreement with “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness.”
What drives true heart transformation in the believer?
A teacher may focus on radical honesty about who you truly are, using Scripture to proclaim that change within occurs through things like our efforts for vulnerability, safe community, and relational authenticity.
Another teacher may focus on radical obedience, using Scripture to proclaim that change within occurs through things like our efforts for bold action, stepping out on faith, and risk-taking.
This can be confusing for believers because none of those things sound wrong. You may hear conservative or progressive teachers deliver messages like these. But here’s what they may have in common: do they reverse the direction of causality for change?
Whether knowingly or not, are they moving the place of confidence? Are they relocating the source of change? Our honesty and obedience are not causal; they are consequential. In other words, they are the result, not the cause of heart change within us.
Application of biblical principles is good. Authentic relationships are good. But they are the cart, not the horse. In Ephesians 2, the apostle Paul writes, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
This built on what John records in John 15, where Christ says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, it is he that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Our fully divine and fully human Lord Jesus Christ, and His life, death, and resurrection brought us into real spiritual union with Him.
This is the over-arching, under-girding, all-encompassing reality of the Christian faith! “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him!” Christ is our life and to live is Christ!
You see, true teachers direct our dependence to the Savior, not to self. We should not confuse the cause of our transformation with the evidence of it. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, who by His Spirit and through His ordained means, transforms His people, and He produces authentic faith, repentance, obedience, confession, and love. Any teacher can claim to be “Christ-centered,” but do they direct your dependence to the true and living Christ of the Scriptures or somewhere else? To Christ, or back to yourself?
Now these next verses continue Paul’s thought. Actually they continue the sentence. With teachers in error, not only is their content offbase. To some degree, so is their character. Look at how Paul describes such a teacher, verse [4] he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.”
There’s both a pride and an ignorance. These teachers are proud because they feel smart or insightful. They feel right. They may have some results that boost their ego. And yet, they’re way off. They don’t recognize their man-centeredness. They can’t seem to detect their own errors.
They either misunderstand “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,” or they’ve rejected them in some way. They may be unintentionally sidetracked or deliberately deceptive. But the results are the same: they’ve departed from “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness.”
Let me say a word about this “godliness.” This is reverence towards God, and the teaching which Christ uses to conform His people to His own image. Without these, look at the additional description of such a teacher: “He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions.” This teacher loves to argue, loves to debate, and promotes division.
Now, of course there is a time and place for debate. But in these cases, the motivation to argue is not that the love of God may abound. It’s not the love of Christ that compels them. There’s an ungodly tone that feigns wisdom and insight. Questions and speculations are exalted, not what Jude calls “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”
This doesn’t mean that we don’t allow questions or discussions in the church. Answering questions is a lot of what I do. We discuss the Scriptures openly in various forums. I’m glad to discuss any subject with you. But in and through Christ we have the fullness of revelation. We have all we need for life and godliness.
If you spend time on social media, you may notice something. The posts that generate the most engagement are rarely the most helpful. Rather, they're the most controversial. The algorithms reward outrage.
Paul warned Timothy about teachers who operate the same way. They cultivate controversy because controversy gains attention. True teachers, however, seek the spiritual good of Christ's people though faithful teaching and shepherding is normally quieter and less sensational.
Look at what else these erring teachers produce, verse [5] “constant friction.” There’s always an enemy to go after, someone to be against and suspicious of. And granted, the church has enemies. We speak against falsehood. I’m speaking against something right now, in accordance with how Paul did.
But Paul is describing something different. It takes place, see the verse, “among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.” When the motive isn’t the glory and treasuring of Christ Himself, it has to be something else.
If we are not truly Christ-focused, then we are inevitably and unavoidably self-focused. And if you think about the problem with you, or the problem with someone else, it always boils down to that.
Perhaps some of you like theater. You like plays and musicals. Those are fun. I saw a Broadway play for the first time this year. It’s fascinating how talented and skilled the actors are.
In any play or musical, a key feature is the spotlight, which is operated by a stagehand. A good stagehand keeps the spotlight on the actor. A good stagehand would never turn the spotlight on himself! If he does that, he’s forgotten why he's there.
In a similar way, a true teacher keeps the spotlight where life is: on the Lord Jesus Christ. A teacher in error eventually turns it on himself.
And “self” is a key concept here. There is, of course, a new self that Paul describes in Ephesians and Colossians. He urges us to “put on the new self.” But Paul and the other apostles are clear that remaining sin is still a factor for believers. We’re no longer slaves to the sinful nature, but we are affected by it. And the self in “self-centered” or “self-focused” is the remaining sinful self.
This is the struggle between the old and the new that Paul describes in Galatians 5, where he writes, “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” A teacher in error will appeal to the sinful nature – to remaining sin – in some way.
Such a teacher may appeal to your preference for self-reliance. Or they may appeal to your pride. Or they may appeal to our love of wealth or sensuality or immorality. But these are all fleshly, sinful desires.
True teachers encourage the desires of the Spirit, not the flesh.
True teachers encourage love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When the glories of Christ are proclaimed from anywhere in the OT or NT, when the aim is to raise high the name of Christ and show from God’s Word how His “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,” the true teacher fans the flame of true faith with the goal of true godliness.
Isn’t it interesting that Christ Himself was a teacher? He was and continues to be the truest of true teachers. And it is ultimately Him who directs our dependence to Himself and encourages the desires of the Spirit.
He’s not just a teacher who lived long ago. He still lives. Each day, He continues to teach His people. Will you learn from Him? In Colossians 3, Paul writes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.” Listen to the logical progression there: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.”Guide each other to Him with “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness.”
Christ Himself teaches us.He fills us, and shapes our minds, and directs our dependence, and stirs the desires of the Spirit, and we then teach and admonish one another. Christ hasn’t left His church searching for secret methods or hidden insights. He teaches us every Lord’s Day through Word, sacrament, and prayer. And every other day of the week, He stands ready to speak and to listen.
Will you learn from Him?
As we go to His table now, He continues to do those things. As a good and true teacher, Christ established this table for us. His good teaching moves our attention again to who He is and what He’s done.
There’s nothing more to reveal. Nothing is hidden. Let me close with Hebrews 1: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Will you learn from Him? Let’s bow together in prayer.
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