Self-Sufficiency

A Word in Season: Messages by R.J. Rushdoony on the Faith for All of Life · Jan 10, 2026 · 2m

This episode explains that the common English rendering of “contentment” in 1 Timothy 6:6–8 can mislead modern readers, since the Greek word autarkeia actually means sufficiency or self-sufficiency, not passive acceptance of lack. Paul’s point is not that believers should tell the needy to “be warmed and filled” without help—as James condemns—but that godliness paired with the basic material necessities for independent living constitutes “great gain.” The word for “gain,” porismos, refers to provision, underscoring that Paul rejects any false spirituality that despises material goods…