6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
7 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Here is an admonition that when you hear good teachings, it is best to pass them on. That way you know if you really understood them yourself, and it can encourage other people. If you heard a great homily and run into a friend who wasn’t there, see if you can give them the main points that would be helpful. It will bring you to a deeper understanding of the concepts as well.

Verse seven cautions to go by facts, rather than rumour and hearsay. As an example, Paul uses exercise/sports. Going out walking and keeping your body healthy is important, but doesn’t save your soul. We should work just as hard at our spiritual health because it is even more crucial.

There is a Middle Ages book called Piers Plowman that addresses this idea. In it there are three paths of life presented. Dowell = Do well by working hard at physical exercise and labour. Dobett = Do better by instead studying and working on godliness. Dobest = Do best by combining both and looking after both physical and spiritual aspects.

If this seems too hard, there is a reminder that the most important thing to pay attention to is that our hope is in God, not what we can accomplish on our own.

1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

This is a warning against listening to incorrect doctrines that are preached in the wrong spirit and are meant to deceive and draw us away from the right path. The teachers are led astray as well, and it talks here about the fact their conscience isn’t quite right, which is the reason they can blatantly preach such lies. What sorts of things are they talking about? What should we watch out for?

Forbidding marriage: this does not mean that not getting married is wrong, in fact in other places Paul commends people who voluntarily remain single. This is about forcing people to follow moral teachings that are unscriptural and dogmatic. There is nothing wrong with getting married: you should always have a chose to do so or abstain.

Abstain from meat: again, there is nothing wrong with not eating meat or any other foods. This can be of great benefit to the Christian life. Paul himself fasted upon occasion. What he is mentioning here is the absolute requirement of abstaining. In one translation it says, “require abstinence from foods which God created to be eaten with thanksgiving by those who have come to trust and know the truth”. Basically don’t require silly rules– it is up to the individual person and their relationship with God. And Paul is warning to stay away from people who teach things like that.

14 These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:
15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

After what seemed maybe a bit like a lecture, Paul explains why he was doing such detailed lists of proper behaviour in leaders. He sent it because he himself couldn’t come, and ends with a lovely poem about how God was manifested physically in Christ and raised up in glory to heaven. Verse 16 is very lovely, and is almost like a song, particularly in certain translations.