Many of us are familiar with the KJV rendering of this proverbial statement, “For the love of money is the root of all evil,” (1 Tim. 6:10). However, many modern translations render this as indefinite “a root” (NKJV, ESV, NASB, CSB, NIV, NRSV). They are trying to give the sense that money is not the root of all evil without exception. While loving money plays a significant role in leading people to do evil, it is not the one and only factor. Is the KJV wrong then in rendering “root” as a definite noun “the root”?

Is there something in the original language to indicate whether this should be “a” or “the”? We could get into the weeds of the Greek. We could note how there is no article before the noun translated “root,” but a rule of Greek grammar called “Colwell’s Canon” indicates that because this is a predicate nominative which precedes the copulative verb it does not include the article. But really all this shows is that in cases such as this, context must determine whether this is “a root” or “the root.”

What is the context? False teachers were a problem in Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:6, 7). Their warped thinking approached godliness as a means of financial gain (1 Tim. 6:5). Paul, however, maintained that godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim. 6:6) if we will be satisfied with simple food and clothing (1 Tim. 6:8). Desiring to be rich, however, has plunged people into ruin and destruction (1 Tim. 6:9). To establish this point, Paul quotes a proverb, “for the love of money is the root of all evil.” Proverbs are usually set in absolute terms even though there are exceptions. We know this in reading the book of Proverbs. A soft answer turns away wrath, but not always without exception (Prov. 15:1). “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Prov. 16:7). However, this was not the case with Jesus. He pleased the Lord (Jn. 8:29), but enemies crucified him (Mk. 15:13). The proverbial explanation in 1 Timothy 6:10 is structured like the words Jesus had for Peter in the garden, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Mt. 26:52). Again, the proverb, though stated in absolute terms, has exceptions. Some soldiers are decommissioned or retire and die of natural causes. Not all who take the sword die by the sword. However, the statement would not be as powerful if Jesus said, “many who take the sword will perish by the sword.” When we understand 1 Timothy 6:10 is a proverb, it makes sense. The question is more an issue of interpretation than translation.

This proverb Paul quotes should make us mindful of greed. Many evils, such as false teaching, are a result of loving money rather than God. Jesus warned of the “deceitfulness of riches” (Mt. 13:22; Mk. 4:19), so a man may think earthly wealth doesn’t affect him when really it does.  However, we recognize there are other spiritual pitfalls than money including the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 Jn. 2:16). Sin is deceitful (Heb. 3:13). We should be on guard against the devil’s schemes (1 Pet. 5:8; Eph. 6:11; 2 Cor. 2:11). If one lure doesn’t work with us, he will use another. Let us not be blind to our spiritual ruin by boasting of one sort of sin we don’t have trouble with to the neglect of another sin that so easily ensnares us (Heb. 12:1; Gal. 6:1).

We were created to seek after God (Acts 17:24-27). However, for generations, those in power in the scientific and educational arenas have had a commitment to Naturalism and sought to remove God from our lives like the description in Romans 1:18-32. As Paul noted the implications of the false doctrine which denied the Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:12-18, we should also think through the implications of Naturalism. If all that exists is material, then God, who is Spirit (Jn. 4:24), must not exist. All of us, then, must be made entirely of matter, and our conduct must then be a result of physical laws and processes without any mind or spirit above the physical. Free will, then, must not exist for every “decision” would really be the outcome of a physical process which, given our brain states, could not have any other result. People, then, are not morally responsible for their acts any more than a rock is responsible for falling down a hillside.

To be free of God and moral responsibility seems attractive for many, but what results is a lack of purpose in life which leads to despair. Arthur Miller, in his play, “After the Fall” noted this in a statement by his seemingly autobiographical character Quentin, “You know, more and more I think that for many years I looked at life like a case at law, a series of proofs. When you’re young you prove how brave you are, or smart; then, what a good lover; then a good father; finally, how wise, or powerful…I think now that my disaster really began when I looked up one day—and the bench was empty. No judge in sight. And all that remained was this endless argument with oneself—this pointless litigation of existence before an empty bench. Which, of course, is another way of saying—despair.”[1] These are not just misguided conclusions of an artist. Naturalism, with its lack of free will, lack of foundation for right and wrong, and lack of an afterlife leads to Nihilism.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon considers what is the ultimate meaning in all that is done “under the sun”; thus, limiting his scope to just this life with no final judgment, he concludes, “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun” (2:11). His only recourse from this despair was realizing man’s duty to God, the judge of good and evil, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecc. 12:13-14).

Naturalism is missing something. It wants to limit reality to only material processes, but then it finds itself at odds with free will. Determinism is the only way to remain consistent with naturalism. But when determinism is realized to be devoid of morality and meaning, consistency demands that one conclude that reality is not limited to natural processes. God must exist. Our lives do have meaning. The Judge of all is at the bench (Rev. 20:12). We will live beyond our physical bodies and give an account before the Lord of what we have done in our bodies (2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27). We must repent and humble ourselves before Him (Acts 17:30, 31).

[1] Arthur Miller. The Portable Arthur Miller. Edited By Christopher Bigsby. New York: Penguin, 1995. P. 262

The Bible clearly teaches baptism saves us (1 Pet. 3:21). The gospel is God’s power to salvation for all (Rom. 1:16). Jesus said when the gospel is preached, those who believe it and are baptized shall be saved (Mk. 16:15, 16). God’s power to save may be accessed by following His instructions. When Naaman was told to wash in the Jordan river to be healed of his leprosy, the power was not in the water of the Jordan river but in God (2 Kgs. 5:10, 14). When Noah and his family were saved by water (1 Pet. 3:20), they were in fact saved by God (2 Pet. 2:4, 5). Water was simply the means God used for salvation in these examples, and it is how God saves people today.

Baptism is God’s operation to cut away sins, forgive, and give spiritual life (Col. 2:11-13). Baptism is a burial of the old man of sin and the resurrection of the new man in Christ (Col. 2:12; Rom. 6:3-7). We are servants of sin until we are buried with Christ in baptism (Rom. 6:6). If not removed, sin results in death (Rom. 6:23). Baptism results in the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). Instead of waiting on the Lord to save us, we should recognize He has provided the way to be saved and be baptized to have our sins washed away (Acts 22:16).

 Baptism is a water birth into the kingdom of God (Jn. 3:5). We become children of God by faith when we put Christ on in baptism (Gal. 3:26, 27). Titus 3:5 refers to baptism when it states God “saved us, by the washing of regeneration.” When a child is born into a family, they are part of the next generation. To regenerate means to bring new life. It is equivalent to being born again (Jn. 3:3, 5).

Several examples in the book of Acts show that baptism is an essential part of coming to Jesus for salvation. Those on Pentecost, who heard Peter preach, wanted to know what to do to be saved from their guilt of crucifying the Lord’s Christ (Acts 2:37). When Peter told them to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), about 3,000 of them did so and were added to the group of saved people, the church (Acts 2:41, 47). When the Samaritans believed the gospel of the kingdom, they were baptized (Acts 8:12). When the Eunuch heard Philip preach Christ, he saw water and asked about being baptized (Acts 8:36). He went down into the water; when he came up, he was rejoicing in his salvation (Acts 8:37-39). Saul believed (Acts 26:18), called Jesus Lord (Acts 22:10; 26:15), and prayed (Acts 9:11), but he still had to have his sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord in baptism (Acts 9:18; 22:16). The jailer at Philippi asked what to do to be saved (Acts 16:30) and was immediately baptized when he believed the message of salvation in the Lord Jesus (Acts 16:31-34).

Baptism places one into Christ (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27). All spiritual blessings are in Christ (Eph. 1:3). There is no hope outside of Christ (Eph. 2:12). If you have not be baptized into Christ, or if you think you were saved before baptism, we plead with you to honestly consider these verses listed in the article. We stand ready to help you understand and be baptized for the salvation of your eternal soul.

John 1:17 states, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” This does not mean there was no grace under the law of Moses, as some conclude. Could one say there was no truth in the law of Moses? Obviously not, but this would be a similar mistreatment of this verse. Note the words “was given” and “came” which show this statement is a contrast between the origin of two systems: the Old Testament and the New. Moses was the representative through whom the old covenant, the law, came (Ex. 24:12; Lev. 26:46; Deut. 5:1,2). Jesus is full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14). He is the author of salvation (Heb. 5:9), who came to bring in a better covenant based upon better promises (Heb. 7:22; 8:6; 12:24). God’s grace is seen under the law of Moses in that He took a stiff-necked people for His inheritance (Ex. 34:9; Deut. 32:9), went in their midst to give them the promised land (Neh. 9:13-15), and forgave their sins (Lev. 4) by ultimately paying for them later in the sacrifice of Jesus (Heb. 9:15).

Just as we should not conclude there was no grace in the Old Testament, we also must not conclude there is no law in the sense of required obedience in this new covenant of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5:9 teaches that Christ is the author of salvation, “to all who obey Him.” Grace and truth are inseparably tied together in Jesus Christ. To know Jesus is to obey Him and walk in truth:

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. (1 John 2:3-6.)

Jesus plainly stated that to call Him Lord, but to refuse to obey His will, results in being lost in the final day (Mt. 7:21-27; Lk. 6:46-49).

The New Testament refers to “the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2), “under law to Christ” (1 Cor. 9:21), and the “law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1, 2). The New Testament is filled with commands, rules of action, and codes of conduct for the Christian.

Why then does Romans 6:14 say, “you are not under law but under grace”? The point is that law-keeping is not the ultimate basis of one’s justified status before God. At its root, salvation results from God’s grace in Jesus Christ (cf. Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:3-7). Yet, the context of Romans 6 is that grace is far from being a license to sin. When properly understood, it motivates one to live to please the Lord, the provider of grace. Christians, as recipients of the grace of Jesus Christ, have had a radical paradigm shift regarding sin. We are dead to sin (Rom. 6:2-11). How could we live any longer in it?

If people like Noah could find grace in the eyes of the Lord (Gen. 6:8) and be saved— before the law of Moses and the gospel came—by following all God commanded (Gen. 6:22; 7:5), then certainly we should want to be saved by obeying the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24) today. We have a tremendous advantage over those in former dispensations in the full revelation of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, which should compel us even more to obey. We can come to Him in faith to be washed in water for the remission of sins and be saved by the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (Acts 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:20, 21).