<p>6:4 <i>He is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words</i>- This is the warning of chapter 1 repeated now at the end of this first letter. Those who 'know nothing' are those of 1:7: &quot;They neither understand what they say, nor what they confidently affirm&quot;. They did of course know something theoretically, for they were teachers. But in real spiritual essence, they knew nothing. They were &quot;bereft of the truth&quot; (:5), which is Jesus and the great, real salvation in Him. All else is insignificant. The obsession with disputing and arguing about words frankly sounds like elements of many small time Protestant groups in their neo-Judaism. And the fruit of that attitude is the same- envy, strife and division. &quot;Obsessed&quot; translates a word meaning 'to be sick', in the sense of vomiting. That is what all the disputes and arguments amount to- vomit. The only time Paul uses the term 'arguments over words' again is in 2 Tim. 2:14, where Timothy is told that he must still stamp out this attitude. I have mentioned several times that the Lord's assessment of the church at Ephesus in Rev. 2 is such that we can conclude Timothy's charge was carried out successfully by him; for they are then commended for not having false teaching. But the way Paul has to repeat these charges about not allowing false teachers suggests that this was not so easily achieved; in the gap between the two letters, Timothy had not made total progress. His final success is therefore the more noteworthy and commendable.</p><p><i>From which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions</i>- We see here the importance of having a good teaching ministry. The congregation become this way according to the kind of teaching they are receiving.</p>