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| 1 Timothy 4:8 |
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.
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Let us begin with the Barclay Commentary for
verses 6-10
ADVICE TO A SERVANT OF CHRIST
1 Timothy 4:6–10
If you lay these things before the brothers, you
will be a fine servant of Jesus Christ, if you feed
your life on the words of faith, and the fine
teaching of which you have been a student and a
follower. Refuse to have anything to do with
irreligious stories like the tales old women tell to
children. Train yourself towards the goal of true
godliness. The training of the body has only a
limited value; but training in godliness has a
universal value for mankind, because it has the
promise of life in this present age, and life in the
age to come. This is a saying which deserves to be
accepted by all. The reason why we toil and struggle
so hard is that we have set our hopes on the living
God, who is the Saviour of all men, and especially
of those who believe.
THIS passage is closely packed with practical
advice, not only for Timothy but for any servant of
the Church who is charged with the duty of work and
leadership.
(1) It tells us how to instruct others. The word
used for laying these things (hupotithesthai) before
the brothers is significant. It does not mean to
issue orders but rather to advise, to suggest. It is
a gentle, humble and modest word. It means that
teachers must never dogmatically and belligerently
lay down the law. It means that they must act rather
as if they were reminding people of what they
already knew or suggesting to them, not that they
should learn from them, but that they should
discover from their own hearts what is right.
Guidance given in gentleness will always be more
effective than bullying instructions laid down with
force. It is possible to lead people when they will
refuse to be driven.
(2) It tells us how to face the task of teaching.
Timothy is told that he must feed his life on the
words of faith. No one can give out without taking
in. Those who teach must be continually learning. It
is the reverse of the truth that when people become
teachers they cease to be learners; each day they
must come to know Jesus Christ better before they
can bring him to others.
(3) It tells us what to avoid. Timothy is to avoid
pointlesstales like those which old women tell to
children. It is easy to get lost in side issues and
to get entangled in things which are at best
embellishments. It is on the great central truths
that people must constantly feed their minds and
nourish their faith.
(4) It tells us what to seek. Timothy is told that,
as athletes train their bodies, so Christians must
train their souls. It is not that bodily fitness is
despised; the Christian faith believes that the body
is the temple of the Holy Spirit. But Paul is
pleading for a sense of proportion. Physical
training is good, and even essential; but its use is
limited. It develops only part of an individual, and
it produces only results which last for a short
time, for the body passes away. Training in
godliness develops the whole person in body, mind
and spirit, and its results affect not only time but
eternity as well. Christians are not athletes of the
gymnasium, they are the athletes of God. The
greatest of the Greeks recognized this. The Athenian
orator Isocrates wrote: ‘No ascetic ought to train
his body as a king ought to train his soul.’ ‘Train
yourself by submitting willingly to toils, so that
when they come on you unwillingly you will be able
to endure them.’
(5) It shows us the basis of the whole matter. No
one has ever claimed that the Christian life is an
easy way; but its goal is God. It is because life is
lived in the presence of God and ends in his still
nearer presence that Christians are willing to
struggle so hard. The greatness of the goal makes
the toil worth while.
~Barclay Commentary
Let us compare the verse in a few different
versions/translations.
The King James again:
1 Timothy 4:8
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.
New Living Translation
reads:
"Physical training is good, but training for
godliness is much better, promising benefits in this
life and in the life to come."
Weymouth New Testament
reads:
Train yourself in godliness. Exercise for the body
is not useless, but godliness is useful in every
respect, possessing, as it does, the promise of Life
now and of the Life which is soon coming.
Aramaic Bible in Plain
English has:
For exercise of the body profits a little for this
time, but righteousness profits in everything, and
it has the promise of life for this time and of the
future.
Now to the commentaries for the King James...
For bodily exercise profiteth
little - Margin, “for a little time.” The
Greek will admit of either interpretation, and what
is here affirmed is true in either sense. The bodily
exercise to which the apostle refers is of little
advantage compared with that piety which he
recommended Timothy to cultivate, and whatever
advantage could be derived from it, would be but of
short duration. “Bodily exercise” here refers,
doubtless, to the mortifications of the body by
abstinence which the ancient devotees, and
particularly the Essenes, made so important as a
part of their religion. The apostle does not mean to
say that bodily exercise is in itself improper, or
that no advantage can be derived from it in the
preservation of health, but he refers to it solely
as a means of religion; as supposed to promote
holiness of heart and of life. By these bodily
austerities it was supposed that the corrupt
passions would be subdued, the wanderings of an
unholy fancy lettered down [overcome,
lessened], and the soul brought into
conformity to God. In opposition to this
supposition, the apostle has here stated a great
principle which experience has shown to be
universally correct, that such austerities do little
to promote holiness, but much to promote
superstition. There must be a deeper work on the
soul than any which can be accomplished by the mere
mortification of the body; see the notes on
Colossians 2:23, and compare 1 Corinthians 9:25-27.
Quoted verses
Colossians 2:23
Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will
worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body;
not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
The New Living Translation
has this as:
These rules may seem wise because they require
strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe
bodily discipline. But they provide no help in
conquering a person's evil desires.
The International Standard
Version has the verse as:
These things have the appearance of wisdom in
promoting self-made religion, humility, and harsh
treatment of the body, but they have no value
against self-indulgence.
1 Corinthians 9:25-27
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is
temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a
corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight
I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into
subjection: lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
But godliness - Piety
or religion.
Is profitable unto all things
- In every respect. There is not an interest of man,
in reference to this life, or to the life to come,
which it would not promote. It is favorable to
health of body, by promoting temperance, industry,
and frugality; to clearness and vigor of intellect,
by giving just views of truth, and of the relative
value of objects; to peace of conscience, by leading
to the faithful performance of duty; to prosperity
in business, by making a man sober, honest, prudent,
and industrious; to a good name, by leading a man to
pursue such a course of life as shall deserve it;
and to comfort in trial, calmness in death, and
immortal [eternal,
everlasting] peace beyond the grave.
Religion injures no one. It does not destroy health;
it does not enfeeble the intellect; it does not
disturb the conscience; it does not pander to raging
and consuming passions; it does not diminish the
honor of a good name; it furnishes no subject of
bitter reflection on a bed of death.
It makes no one the poorer; it prompts to no crime;
it engenders no disease. If a man should do that
which would most certainly make him happy, he would
be decidedly and conscientiously religious; and
though piety promises no earthly possessions
directly as its reward, and secures no immunity from
sickness, bereavement, and death, yet there is
nothing which so certainly secures a steady growth
of prosperity in a community as the virtues which it
engenders and sustains, and there is nothing else
that will certainly meet the ills to which man is
subject. I have no doubt that it is the real
conviction of every man, that if he ever becomes
certainly “happy,” he will be a Christian; and I
presume that it is the honest belief of every one
that the true and consistent Christian is the most
happy of people. And yet, with this conviction,
people seek everything else rather than religion,
and in the pursuit of baubles, which they know
cannot confer happiness, they defer religion - the
only certain source of happiness at any time - to
the last period of life, or reject it altogether.
Note: 1
Corinthians 2:14 comes into play here as we all know
that one must be called to baptism, repentance and
the receiving of the Holy Spirit to be a true
Christian.
Having promise of the life
that now is - That is, it furnishes the
promise of whatever is really necessary for us in
this life. The promises of the Scriptures on this
subject are abundant, and there is probably not a
lack of our nature for which there might not be
found a specific promise in the Bible; compare Psalm
23:1; Psalm 84:11; Philippians 4:19. Religion
promises us needful food and raiment, Matthew
6:25-33; Isaiah 33:16; comfort in affliction,
Deuteronomy 33:27; Job 5:19; Psalm 46:1-11; Hebrews
13:5; support in old age and death, Isaiah 46:4;
Psalm 23:4; compare Isaiah 43:2; and a good
reputation, an honored name when we are dead; Psalm
37:1-6. There is nothing which man really “needs” in
this life, which is not promised by religion [God];
and if the inquiry were made, it would be surprising
to many, even with our imperfect religion [speaking
to our current level of spiritual maturity],
how literally these promises are fulfilled. David,
near the close of a long life, was able to bear this
remarkable testimony on this subject: “I have been
young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the
righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread;”
Psalm 37:25. And now, of the beggars that come to
our doors, to how few of them can we give a cup of
cold water, feeling that we are giving it to a
disciple! How rare is it that a true Christian
becomes a beggar! Of the inmates of our alms-houses
[charity or formerly, a
poorhouse], how very few give any
evidence that they have religion! They have been
brought there by vice [immoral
conduct, sin, depravity, defect, shortcoming,
imperfection or generally going against the ways of
God], not by religion. True piety sends
none to the alms-house; it would have saved the
great mass of those who are there from ever needing
the [constant, organized,
institutional] charity of their
fellow-men.
Quoted verses:
For promises of the Bible:
Psalm 23:1
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalm 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will
give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly.
Philippians 4:19
But my God shall supply all your need according to
his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
For promises us needful
food and raiment:
Matthew 6:25-33
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for
your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall
drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat, and the body than
raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not,
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet
your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much
better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit
unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the
lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,
neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all
his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the
field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into
the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of
little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we
eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall
we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles
seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added
unto you.
Isaiah 33:16
He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall
be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him;
his waters shall be sure.
For comfort in affliction:
Deuteronomy 33:27
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are
the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the
enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.
Job 5:19
Which doeth great things and unsearchable;
marvellous things without number:
Psalm 46:1-11
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be
removed, and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
though the mountains shake with the swelling
thereof. Selah.
4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be
moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he
uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is
our refuge. Selah.
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, what
desolations he hath made in the earth.
9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth;
he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in
sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be
exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the
earth.
11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is
our refuge. Selah.
Hebrews 13:5
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and
be content with such things as ye have: for he hath
said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
For support in old age and
death:
Isaiah 46:4
And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar
hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will
bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
Psalm 23:4
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Isaiah 43:2
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with
thee; and through the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire,
thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame
kindle upon thee.
For a good reputation, an
honored name when we are dead:
Psalm 37:1-6
1 A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because of
evildoers, neither be thou envious against the
workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
and wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou
dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall
give thee the desires of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him;
and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the
light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
For David's words regarding
the righteous, "...nor his seed begging bread":
Psalm 37:25
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging
bread.
And of that which is to come
- Eternal life. And it is the only thing that
“promises” such a life. Infidelity makes no
“promise” of future happiness. Its business is to
take away all the comforts which religion gives, and
to leave people to go to a dark eternity [eternal
death] with no promise or hope of eternal
joy. Vice “promises” pleasures in the present life,
but only to disappoint its votaries [those
practicing self-made religion, mortification of the
body and/or abstinence] here [present
life]; it makes no promise of happiness
in the future world. There is nothing that furnishes
any certain “promises” of happiness hereafter, in
this world or the next, but religion. God makes no
promise of such happiness to beauty, birth, or
blood; to the possession of honors or wealth; to
great attainments in science and learning, or to the
graces of external accomplishment. All these,
whatever flattering hopes of happiness they may hold
out here, have no assurance of future eternal bliss.
It is not by such things that God graduates the
rewards of [the Kingdom],
and it is only “piety” or “true religion” that
furnishes any assurance of happiness in the world to
come. ~Barnes Notes
I want to look at, compare and make sure you all
understand the relationship between the profit or
benefit of "bodily exercise" and the profit or
benefit of godliness.
Bodily Exercise:
We see from the commentaries that we are speaking to
two distinct and separate classes of bodily
exercise:
1] Exercise of the body, which is good and has a
Godly purpose but does not compare to Godliness,
which is a different kind of exercise.
2] Mortification and abstinence of the physical body
as part of a self-made religion; a false religion.
This second aspect is clearly not supported by
scripture.
Wesley's Notes has "bodily exercise" as
something that increases the physical health and
strength of the body. Our own doctrinal
statements speak to the need for and benefits of
bodily exercise. It is sanctified. That
is, God gave purpose to it when done in proper
balance and with knowledge, understanding and wisdom
[action].
Godliness:
The commentaries and biblical word study books all
agree on the meaning here. It is stating that
by comparison to Bodily Exercise, Godliness is more
comprehensive to the life of the firstfruit or
anyone in the Salvation Process. It is a
different kind of exercise and something that
increases the spiritual health and strength of the
physical, as well as the spiritual mind, heart, body
and soul.
The People's New Testament has for Godliness:
"Godliness is profitable in all things. Godly
training makes men happier, more prosperous, more
healthy here and now, and in addition it prepares
them for the life to come in the Kingdom of God [slight
editing by myself here]."
This People's New Testament commentary goes on to
say, "The Greeks gave great attention to bodily
training. At Ephesus, where Timothy was, may still
be seen the remains of the stadium where the
athletes displayed their skill. Let Christians
display the same assiduity [as·si·du·i·ty] in
training for godliness."
"Assiduity" means "constant or close application or
effort; diligence [fervency,
zeal and perseverance]. Both Bodily
Exercise in this physical life and Godliness are
sanctified by God. Both have purpose.
Indeed, physical exercise is a living metaphor of
the exercise of Godliness which, as the commentaries
above state, touch on virtually every aspect of our
lives; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
Example of this concept:
Diets are to the body what mortification and
abstinence of the physical body is to those of the
self-made religious types. Diets have little
value. Some say diets do not work. I
agree. Diets treat the symptoms and not the
cause. Better is bringing the body into
confirmation of purpose or sanctification. It
has now been proven that bringing bodily organs,
bones, fluids and tissues back into sanctified
balance that brings true physical health, well-being
and happiness. It is the same spiritually.
Godliness is the exercise of bringing everything in
one's life within the bounds of their purpose and
sanctification.
This is the lesson of 1 Timothy 4:8
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