1 Timothy 6

Slavery (v. 1-2)
Paul again instructs slaves to obey their masters.  In fact, if the master is also a believer, then the slave should not show less respect to the master.

Looking back at the Old Testament, where Jewish slavery is more of an indentured servitude, we can infer that this is the model of slavery that Paul has in mind.  But I am not entirely convinced of that.  Paul writes to Timothy, who is in charge of a Gentile church in the Roman empire.  So, if we look at the standards of slavery in that context, this is disturbing.

But again, the greater context of 1 Timothy is to avoid major social discord.


Greed (v. 3-10)
Paul discusses money, in particular, the love of money.  Money itself is not bad, but the love of it is.  In other words, Paul addresses greed.

Paul's advice is to be content.  Contentment with godliness is "great gain".

I think this section has greater application to not just money.  It is easy to see the phenomenon with money, but it really addresses making idols of necessities in life.  There are things that are good in and of themselves (money, health, relationships, job, etc...), but the love of them could lead us to a bad spiritual place.  Paul's advice is to be content.

This section on money comes right after the discussion on slavery.  We can presume the slave-owners are wealthy people, or at least wealthier than the slaves that they own.  Putting these together, here is a command for the slave owners to not their love of money impact them.  I think this would have been read as a command to be nice to their slaves, particularly those that are Christian.

If we look back Jesus' statement that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God, this explains why - the love of money.

Final instructions to Timothy (v. 11-21)
As 1 Timothy winds down, Paul advises Timothy to "fight the good fight of faith".  He also states to advise those who are wealthy to put their trust in God.  Incidentally, this shows that wealth itself is not bad.