10.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• The tenth mark of a mature Christian is that he is focused on the good fight (instead of being contentious).
• Contention is dangerous because it causes people to forget about the gospel.
• Church members can be contentious because of
  - pride;
  - selfish desires; and
  - unhealthy doctrines.
• A mature Christian is a humble servant who trusts in God’s power.
• A mature Christian does not fight for himself. He fights the good fight of the faith.
• The Lord knows those who are his. He will fight for his people.

10.2 – 1 Timothy 3:3←⤒🔗

^3. …not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not contentious, free from the love of money.

© NET Bible

10.3 – 1 Timothy 6:3-5, 11-12 (ESV)←⤒🔗

^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,

^4. he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,

^5. and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

…

^11. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 

^12. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

10.4 The danger of contention←⤒🔗

In this lesson we will look at the third “not” in 1 Timothy 3:3. That is, “not contentious.”

The word “contention” means “fighting and arguing.” If you are contentious, it means that you are someone who likes to fight and argue.

In John 6 we read about a contentious group of people. On the previous day, these people had seen a great miracle. With only five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus had given food to thousands of people–and to them too (John 6:1-13).

But one day later, these people were not eating together anymore. They were fighting! (John 6:52).

Why were these people fighting? It was because of something that Jesus had said. He had told them, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51).\

These people should have rejoiced to hear Jesus’ words. They should have asked Jesus, “Please explain this to us. We want to understand. We want to have the life that you alone can give us.”

But that is not what they did. They started to argue about Jesus’ words. They said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (John 6:52). They disagreed and became angry with each other.

That is the danger of contention. When we fight and argue, we are not thinking about the gospel. We are only trying to win and to get glory for ourselves. We forget all about God’s glory and grace.

10.5 Where does contention come from?←⤒🔗

Contention always causes great damage–especially when it is found in the church of God. This is clear from Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus.

Timothy was a pastor in the church of Ephesus. Titus was a pastor in the church in Crete. In both these churches, there was contention. And the contention was caused by people who pretended to be “mature Christians”!

Why were these people contentious? In Paul’s letters we find three reasons.

1. Pride←↰⤒🔗

These people did not want to listen to the authority of the apostles and other church leaders (Titus 1:9). They wanted to be leaders and teachers themselves (1 Timothy 1:6-7). They thought they had more knowledge than the rest (1 Timothy 6:20). Maybe they thought, “No one can teach me anything. I have the Holy Spirit!” They were spiritually proud.

2. Selfish desires←↰⤒🔗

The contentious people in Ephesus and Crete wanted to be leaders, because they wanted money (1 Timothy 6:5; Titus 1:11). They also wanted power. They liked it when people listened to them rather than listening to the true apostles of Christ (1 Timothy 6:3-4; 2 Timothy 3:6-8).

Selfish desires (such as the desire for money and power) make a person contentious. That is also what James said to the Christians of his time. He asked them, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (James 4:1, NIV).

3. Unhealthy doctrines←↰⤒🔗

Contention and the gospel do not go together. We have learned this from John 6. We also see this in Paul’s letters.

The contentious people in Ephesus were spreading “false teachings” (1 Timothy 6:3). They did not focus on the good, healthy teaching of the gospel. They focused on many other things, such as

• what foods may a Christian eat? (1 Timothy 4:3).
• who of us come from important Jewish families? (1 Timothy 1:4).

When church members stop hearing the gospel, they forget that they are sinners who have been saved by grace. They focus on the things that make them “better” than other church members. Such a church becomes full of “envy, dissension, slanders, evil suspicions, and constant bickering” (1 Timothy 6:4-5a).

Sadly, all these problems can still be seen in churches today. Satan still uses pride, selfish desires, and unhealthy doctrines to bring contention into the church.

10.6 The good fight of the faith←⤒🔗

As God’s people, we are called to fight! But we must not fight for ourselves. We must fight “the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12, ESV). The good fight of the faith is not a fight against people, but against sin and evil. It is fought with “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11, ESV).

A mature Christian fights the good fight, because he sees himself as a servant of God and God’s people. For this reason he does not become involved in contention (2 Timothy 2:22-24). He is humble and he trusts in God’s power, not in his own power or his own arguments.

Because a mature Christian is humble, he is also willing to learn from others. He understands that he first needs to fight against the sin in his own life before he can fight against the sin in other people’s lives (Matthew 7:3-5).

10.7 The Lord knows those who are his←⤒🔗

The good fight of the faith is not an easy fight. Sometimes it can even seem like an impossible fight. There is so much sin and evil in this world (and even in the church!).

While Timothy was working in Ephesus, the problems in the church sometimes made him tired. At times he even became afraid (2 Timothy 1:6-8). But in 2 Timothy 2:19, Paul encourages him with these words: “The Lord knows those who are his.”

Let us always remember this. The Lord knows which people belong to him, and which people do not truly belong to him. The Lord will fight for his people. His people do not need to fight for themselves.