Charge the Rich
17 Charge those who are rich in this present age that they not be arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy; 18 that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to share; 19 laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life. 20 Timothy, guard that which is committed to you, turning away from the empty chatter and oppositions of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some profess, and thus have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.
The wealthy are not told to stop being wealthy, and the two dangers named are an attitude and a misplaced confidence.
Verse 17 addresses those rich in this present age, and what is striking is what is not said. There is no instruction to divest, and no suggestion that the wealth is itself the offense — which is consistent with the earlier passage, where the danger was the determination to get rich rather than the having 1 Timothy 6:9.
Two things are forbidden. Arrogance — being high-minded, looking down. And hope set on the uncertainty of riches, a phrase that does the arguing: the problem with trusting money is not that it is wicked but that it is unreliable.
The positive is given in the same breath, and it protects the whole passage from asceticism: God richly provides us with everything to enjoy. The letter has already refused a doctrine that forbade what God made 1 Timothy 4:3–4, and it does not now smuggle it back in for the wealthy.
Verses 18 and 19 give the alternative investment in four terms — do good, be rich in good works, ready to share, generous — and then an image that reverses the whole subject: laying up a good foundation for the future. Money is not renounced; it is redirected into something that will still be standing.
Verse 20 closes with the letter's last command, and it is custodial: guard the deposit. Turn away from empty chatter and the contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge — the teachers of chapter 1, named at last for what they claimed.
Then four words of grace, and the letter stops.
settled What this mark means