Wealth Enjoyment: That’s the Point! | Joyful Wealth Management: A Bible Study Discussion Guide

1 Timothy 6:17-18

“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be high-minded or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches but on God, who richly supplies us with all things for enjoyment: to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,”¹⁹

God richly provides all things. This can include wealth. It can include the ability to produce wealth. (Deuteronomy 8:18). But why? What is it for? What is its purpose? This passage gives the answer. God gave it to us for enjoyment. The phrase “for enjoyment” is eis [for] apolausin [enjoyment]. In technical terms,

“The construction eis plus the noun expresses purpose.”²⁰

The purpose is enjoyment.²¹ The reason God richly supplies us with all things, including wealth, is for enjoyment.

Does this surprise you?
How do you feel about this?

The word used for “enjoyment” here is extreme. It’s party-time enjoyment. It’s used only one other time in Scripture:

“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy [apolausin] the temporary pleasures of sin,” (Hebrews 11:24-25).

In Hebrews, this word describes the enjoyment of “the temporary pleasures of sin.” In 1 Timothy, it’s not sinful, but it’s still physical, sensual, material enjoyment.²²

How do you feel about this?
Does this surprise you?

There are only four wealth management options: binge, bury, toil, or enjoy. We can,

BINGE on excess consumption and wild living.

BURY the wealth and die with it.

TOIL ceaselessly to stack up even more.

ENJOY it (by using it to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share).

The point of this passage is “for enjoyment.”²³ Everything before this phrase explains why wealth holders should enjoy their wealth. Everything after it explains how they can do so.

How does choosing to binge with wealth contradict wealth enjoyment?
How does choosing to bury wealth and die with it contradict wealth enjoyment?
How does choosing to toil ceaselessly to stack up even more wealth contradict wealth enjoyment?

Notes and references

This translation modifies the NASB by removing the phrase “. Instruct them”. The excised phrase is italicized in the NASB, indicating that it does not appear in the original text. The omitted period is replaced by a colon, reflecting that this is not two sentences but one continuous sentence where the phrase “for enjoyment” is elucidated by the subsequent list of infinitive phrases. (See a full discussion of this in Chapter 7 of The Biblical Fundraiser in Ancient Words.) The phrase “for enjoyment” replaces “to enjoy” in order to highlight that this is a purpose clause and not an infinitive. The term “high-minded” replaces “conceited” as it is closer to the sense of the original term hypsēlophronein where hypsēlo is high and phronein is mind.
↩
“The construction eis plus the noun expresses purpose … The infinitives thus describe how wealth is to be enjoyed, namely in the ways it is used: first, simply by doing good, … describing the doing of such works as being rich in them, … to be generous and sharing”
[Malherbe, A. J. (2011). Godliness, self-sufficiency, greed, and the enjoyment of wealth 1 Timothy 6:3-19 Part II. Novum Testamentum, 53(1), 73-96. p. 89.]
↩
“The second adjunct indicates that the purpose of God’s bringing about these things is ‘for enjoyment’ (eis apolausin). The preposition eis indicates the intention of the action, which is apolausin, with the noun appearing here and in Hebrews 11:24 and denoting enjoyment or pleasure”. [Porter, S. E. (2023). The Pastoral Epistles: A commentary on the Greek text. Baker Academic. p. 488.]
↩
Professor Linda Belleville explains, “Eis apolausin does not have to do with spiritual enjoyment but instead with material pleasures.” [Belleville, L. (2017). Investments for abundant life. In J. S. Duvall & V. Verbrugge (Eds.), Devotions on the Greek New Testament: 52 Reflections to Inspire and Instruct. Zondervan Academic. p. 110.]
↩
This passage is structured in a poetic form called chiasmus. This is “the use of inverted parallelism of form and/or content which moves toward and away from a strategic central component.” [McCoy, B. (2003). Chiasmus: An important structural device commonly found in Biblical literature. Chafer Theological Seminary Journal, 9(2), 17-34.]
The chiastic structure of the passage is:
A-Riches [Death] 6:7,9-10 …
B-Riches [Now/temporary] 6:17b
C-Riches [Leading to community separation] 6:17c
D-Riches [Tightly grasped as one’s hope] 6:17d
E-Riches [Hidden/disappearing/uncertain] 6:17e
F-Riches [Source/inflow: God’s rich provision to us] 6:17f
G-Riches [Purpose: for enjoyment] 6:17g
F'-Riches [Use/outflow: Our reciprocal provision to others] 6:18a
E'-Riches [Visible/beautiful good works] 6:18b
D'-Riches [Open-handedly shared] 6:18c
C'-Riches [Leading to community connection] 6:18d
B'-Riches [Future/permanent] 6:19a
A'-Riches [Life] 6:19b
↩