14. What does Paul have to say about pride and the love of money in connection with “godly devotion along with self-sufficiency”?

¹⁴ Counsel on “godly devotion along with self-sufficiency” (6:3-21). The man that does not assent to healthful words is puffed up with pride and is mentally diseased over questionings, leading to violent disputes over trifles. On the other hand, “godly devotion along with self-sufficiency” is a means of great gain. One should be content with sustenance and covering. The determination to be rich is a snare leading to destruction, and the love of money is “a root of all sorts of injurious things.” Paul urges Timothy, as a man of God, to flee from these things, to pursue Christian virtues, to fight the fine fight of the faith, and to “get a firm hold on the everlasting life.” (6:6, 10, 12) He must observe the commandment “in a spotless and irreprehensible way” until the manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are rich should “rest their hope, not on uncertain riches, but on God,” in order to get a firm hold on the real life. Paul, in closing, encourages Timothy to guard his doctrinal trust and to turn away from defiling speeches and from “the contradictions of the falsely called ‘knowledge.’”​—6:14, 17, 20.

15. What warning is given against speculations and arguments?

¹⁵ This letter provides a stern warning for those who dabble in vain speculations and philosophical arguments. “Debates about words” are allied to pride and are to be avoided, for Paul tells us that they obstruct Christian growth, furnishing only “questions for research rather than a dispensing of anything by God in connection with faith.” (6:3-6; 1:4) Along with the works of the flesh, these disputings are “in opposition to the healthful teaching according to the glorious good news of the happy God.”​—1:10, 11.