1 Timothy is somewhat unusual in its ending. It lacks the usual benediction and final greeting that Paul typically puts in his letter. Instead, 1 Timothy is all business right up to the very end, and concludes with a final charge to Timothy.

You can see it in 1 Timothy 6:20-21:

Paul finishes off his letter to Timothy with a final charge, the third such charge he has given (1:18-19, 6:13-16). It might be the fourth charge, if you see 4:6-10 as a charge.

Paul has given Timothy many explicit instructions in this brief letter, but almost every one of them centers around the false teachers and their influence in the Ephesian church. That factor even is seen in Paul’s concluding remarks and final charge.

This final charge comes in two parts.

Guard what has been entrusted to your care

The verb “guard” is literally “keep the deposit.” This is a very high and sacred obligation in ancient society. The idea here is being entrusted with some special possession or property while the owner is away. This is an extremely binding duty. Paul concludes his letter to Timothy by placing him under such a trust.

But what exactly has Timothy been entrusted with? Many think that Paul is speaking of the teachings of Christ and the message of salvation. While that certainly qualifies as a “deposit,” it reads too much into Paul’s words. That charge makes more sense from reading 2 Timothy, but not Paul’s first letter. In keeping with the context of the entire letter, it is much more likely that Timothy’s charge is to, resist the false teachers (1:3-7), maintaining a pure life (4:11-13, 5:22-23, 6:11-12), and faithfully proclaiming the truth (4:12-14, 6:2b).

This also makes sense because of the next part of Paul’s charge to Timothy.

Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge

Again, Paul is referring to the false teachers. Timothy is not to engage in pointless arguing with them, debating things that have no point.

Some have argued that Paul is battling Gnosticism here, but that can’t be the case, since the heresy of Gnosticism hasn’t risen yet, and won’t until after Paul’s time. However, Paul has already had to deal with people who opposed his gospel in the name of wisdom and knowledge (1 Corinthians 1:10-4:21, 8:1-13; Colossians 2:1-10). This more than adequately explains Paul’s language here.

The unfortunate tragedy is that the false teachers Timothy is dealing with have wandered from the faith. They have missed the mark in regard to their faith, and have gone astray. That is ultimately the reason for Paul’s letter.

Paul concludes the letter with a rather abrupt “Grace be with you.” And there he ends it. As with Galatians, the distress that he has to address keeps his letter on target and to the point. These letters are all business. The plural “you” indicates that Paul intends Timothy to read his letter to the church at Ephesus, sharing his instructions. This is one case where the NIV2011 gets it right, translating it “Grace be with you all.”

The KJV adds the word “amen.” This isn’t in any of the earliest manuscripts, and was probably added by a scribe to indicate that the letter ends, since Paul’s conclusion is so abrupt.

And so, the letter ends. Paul is gone. He has sent his trusted colleague to address the situation, and writes this letter to give clear instruction on how to address the mess. In doing so, Timothy is guard himself, ensuring that he isn’t led astray by the false teachers in the church, and to remove their influence. Almost everything in this letter addresses this primary issue.

How do you guard what has been entrusted to your care? Have you ever applied this idea from Timothy to your own personal life? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.