2nd TIMOTHY CHAPTER 2......BE STRONG
“Thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
Whenever we see the word “therefore” it is meant to be a deduction from what has gone before. Timothy will require supernatural strength for what lies before him. In chapter 1 he has been reminded of his spiritual heritage received from his mother and his grandmother and which was furthered by the teaching and example of Paul and his team. Upon his young shoulders are being placed the responsibility to guard and to propagate the precious truth of the gospel and for this he will need strength beyond himself. In this chapter Paul uses seven metaphors to describe the life and service of a minister of God.
1. A steward to transmit the truth of God to others. V.2
2. A soldier involved in a warfare. Vs. 3-4
3. An athlete striving for victory. V.5
4. A farm labourer working hard to produce fruit. V.6
5. A student rightly dividing the word of truth. Vs.15 – 18.
6. A vessel to honour in a great house. V19 - 21
7. A humble servant gentle and meek. V 23 – 26.
We can focus on each of these metaphors in more detail, but the important thing to notice at the outset is that none of this can be done in our own strength. He appeals to Timothy, as his child in the faith, to be strong. He uses the present tense (meaning keep on being strong) and the imperative mood (which means this is mandatory). Paul knows all about the need for this and he knows that all of us must learn it; we cannot live the Christian life, we cannot serve God in our own strength. He uses a very interesting expression “be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.” We might have linked strength to power, Paul links it to grace and that grace which comes from Christ Jesus. This brings before us a very important New Testament principle, that we often would forget, and that is that the power of God, the strength of God, is administered to each and every one of us only through His grace. There are a number of scriptures which link the grace of God with the power of God, which we can cite for now, but they require some study on the part of the reader.
• Acts 6v8
• Romans 1v5
• Romans 5v21
• Romans 6v14
• 1st Corinthians 15 v 9-10
• 2nd Corinthians 12 v 8 – 9
• Hebrews 13v9
A careful look at these scriptures will reveal that the grace of God is a mighty power, a life changing power, a power, which, according to the letter to Romans, is greater than the power of sin. We all know about the power of sin in our lives, we need to get to know the superior power of the grace of God. There are conditions attached to the dispensing of God’s grace to His people, as indicated in the letter of James chapter 4v6 where it says “He giveth more grace wherefore He saith God resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble.” God dispenses His grace, the most powerful force in spiritual life to those of His people who humbly submit themselves to Him. Any pride in ourselves or in our achievements He will resist and He will resist very strongly. Humility is required before the Lord for Him to dispense His grace and we simply cannot serve Him without it. Appropriate humility on our part will ensure abundant strength at all times.
Verses 2-7 Four metaphors of Christian service
1. The steward.......wooing men of like mind... verse 2. They say “a picture tells a thousand words” and bible writers sprinkled their teaching with picture metaphors. There is a single thought prominent in each of them and the predominant thought in stewardship is that of faithfulness, loyalty to the wishes of the master of the house in which they served. Paul wrote to the Corinthians “...it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4v1). Part of the task of the household steward was that he transmit the wishes of the master to those following after, and to those serving under him. He says “And the things that thou hast learned of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.” Here are three generations and beyond to whom the sacred deposit is to be passed on. Paul to Timothy, Timothy to faithful men, faithful men to others also. This is the true and only apostolic succession; the stewardship required here is of the accurate transmission of the truth through all generations. The teaching of the apostles is preserved in the new testament writings and are to be taught at all times. Each generation of Christians is responsible for their own. The teaching is to be the same; that is qualitatively it is to be accurate, and, quantitatively it is to be sufficient (thus the whole counsel of God, and on a regular basis). We fall short in our stewardship if we do not pass down the accurate and abundant teaching of Divine truth. It is to be given to faithful men who shall be able, (not to able men who should be faithful). Faithfulness, not ability, is paramount. Faithful men will teach others also, this is the true measure of stewardship, this will require courage ,and strength, on the part of the teachers.
2. The soldier......warring against a determined enemy.... verses 3-4. The main thought here is endurance, of the type demanded of a soldier involved in warfare. This will involve donning a war mentality, ready to defend against the enemy, and to plunder the spoil for God. We tend ,all of us, to seek a quiet life, but there can be no such relaxation whilst in enemy territory, which we are seeking to take for God. We must prepare for all kinds of obstacles and difficulties in our way. This may lead to denial of even the legitimate things of life, not to become entangled with the affairs of life, the next life is to be our focus and to be pleasing to the one who has called us to serve Him. Scriptures abound with this spiritual warfare in which we are engaged. Our time for rest is not now.
3. The athlete.......winning the prize, the victor’s crown.....verse 5. “..if a man strive for masteries...” this captures exactly the mentality of the athlete who competes to win, who strives for excellence, to obtain the crown. Yet he may lose, because he did not operate within the rules. Thus the main issue here is ethics doing what is right, honest in the sight of God, striving lawfully. There are overriding rules in Christian service which must be observed if we are to be honoured in our work. Everything has to be done for the glory of God, not for my own glory (1st Corinthians 10v31 “..whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God...”); self control in all things is advised in 1st Corinthians 9v25; love must be the motivation in all things according to 1st Corinthians 13v3; in the matter of public exercise in the church, the appeal in 1st Corinthians 14v26 is “...let all things be done unto edifying.”; endurance in trials is enjoined in James 1v12 and this is associated with the crown of life. The imagery of an athlete striving for excellence in his discipline is a graphic picture of what service to the Lord should be, if we consider the mental approach, the physical preparation, the self denial, the raw endurance, and the observance of protocol. We can certainly transfer the physical to the spiritual in a very powerful way. We are to be more than average we are to strive for excellence in the things of God.
4. The husbandman.......working hard to produce the precious fruits.....verse 6. This can be a vinedresser, a farmer, or a farm labourer, anyone who extracts fruit from the ground. The people of God need food and food of quality that will sustain them. Those who bring us food for the body work very hard, but the main thrust of this picture is that the labourer must first be partaker of the fruits; the thought therefore is that of propriety, there is no point giving food to others I am not prepared to take myself. In spiritual terms I must be the living embodiment of my teaching. There is a propensity within us to pass on “unfelt” ministry and it achieves nothing of value. The spiritual teacher must labour hard and long and be in the good of the first fruits to produce food acceptable to all. Essentially we should not be speaking beyond our experience.
He sums up the section with an appeal for meditative contemplation on these metaphors and a prayer for the Lord to give him understanding....verse 7.
Verses 8-14 Suffering and glory- the fourth faithful saying
Paul, now, crowns this challenging and practical teaching by referring to the principle of suffering and glory as illustrated by the supreme example....Jesus Christ. The whole point of this is suffering now and glory to follow, issuing in a fundamental truth of Christianity; denial of self now will be richly compensated in the future and there is no greater example than our blessed Lord. He says “Remember Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, raised from the dead according to my gospel...” The reference to David always carries the idea of the eternal kingdom, but note that before he was crowned he suffered many trials. Jesus Christ born to be King (seed of David), yet suffered greatly before the glory (raised from the dead....went into death, came through death and now lives triumphantly). We are united to Christ in everything and so our pathway to glory will be via a time of suffering now. This is the only time Paul uses the title Jesus Christ in these letters, normally it is Christ Jesus, speaking of a glorified man. Here he is emphasising His humanity, as if to say it was as a real man He suffered these things even to death. In Jesus words “...whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 16v25). The pathway to glory is by way of suffering, and this was true for Christ(verse 8), and true for Paul (verse 9-10), and is true for all of us (verses 11-14). The whole emphasis here is obtaining eternal glory, not to be satisfied with salvation which cannot be earned, but to progress to glory which is most certainly earned....”...that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ with eternal glory.” We are to woo, to war, to win, to work, with all the grace we can receive from above to earn eternal glory. Eternal glory....is that something worth striving for?! He sums it all up in a memorable saying which we can all rely on, and which is to become our watchword
“It is a faithful saying...........
For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him;
If we suffer we shall also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
If we believe not, He abideth faithful, He cannot deny Himself.”
Four couplets, easily remembered, positives and negatives, warnings and encouragements. There is no thought of the unbeliever here, note the “we and us”. There is no loss of salvation suggested rather loss of reward for faithlessness. In the first line all believers are viewed, all died with Him (in salvation), all will live with Him (in glorification). In the second, the thought is that the measure of suffering will be rewarded with commensurate glory (many scriptures bear this out). The third has in view those who deny the path of suffering in their life, they will lose reward and the loss will be permanent. In the last line is the blessed assurance to all that even if we are at times unfaithful, He will remain true to His word, because He cannot deny Himself. No loss of salvation, but possible loss of eternal reward....solemn enough! These are epithets of the Christian faith we do well to carry with us on the journey.
The section closes with Timothy being told to charge his hearers to remember the solid nature of these things and not to be drawn aside with minor and potentially harmful issues.
Verses 15-26 Three metaphors of Christian service
Another three wonderful word pictures which beautifully portray and elevate Christian service. In the first four the emphasis is on personal attitude, in these last three the focus shifts more toward public acumen.
5. A student verses15-19. The word “study” should be properly rendered “be diligent” but it amounts to the same thing, since the context is bible study and bible teaching. The challenge here is strong and far reaching; we are to achieve excellence in the things of God.
• Diligent “Study...” Be diligent “spoudazo” which means to speed up, to give swift attention to; variously translated as “hasten”, “make every effort”, “be eager”
• Prayerful “...shew(present) thyself approved unto God...” Our preparations must be acceptable to God, they must come under Divine scrutiny. We may not always please men, but we must be pleasing to the Lord.
• Honest “...a workman not ashamed...this is toil to the point of exhaustion. This has already been referred to in 1st Timothy 5v17 “...they who labour (toil) in the word and doctrine...” “not ashamed” suggests adhering to a rigorous programme. God’s word is a treasure trove but it requires hard work. The very content of it’s truth is so priceless that if we fail to explore it we ought to be ashamed.
• Accurate “...rightly dividing the word of truth.” Literally “cutting a straight line” or “ploughing a straight furrow”. This is God’s word and we have to get it right; concerning Apollos, it was recorded in Acts 18v25 “...he spoke and taught diligently(accurately) the things of the Lord...”. Not all scripture is to the church or about us, yet it is all profitable for us. More than 80% of the bible is written to the nation of Israel, and we have to recognize that. It takes great application and constant meditation to accurately interpret the word.
• Reverent It is “...the word of truth”. In a world of untruth it is the only truth and must be held as such. He compares this to “...striving about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.”(verse 14). The word for subverting is katastrophe and what is seemingly harmless opinion can have a catastrophic effect on the hearers; he compares it to “...profane and vain babblings..”(verse 16) which only produce ungodliness; he compares it with “...their word will eat like a canker...” (verse 17); the meaning is gangrenous, life threatening, as opposed to wholesome words which are the very essence of these letters. Only the word of truth is healthy for us and we need to hold it in reverence and promote it.
We are given the best incentive to study and promote the word of truth, because we are surrounded by false teachers and teaching. He names two false teachers (Paul is not in the business of gossip); he also names their false doctrine, which was fundamental error in relation to the resurrection; he also states the effect of this teaching “..overthrow the faith of some.” In summary, failure to give attention to the word of truth will risk the subversion of the hearers, will promote more ungodliness, will overthrow the faith of some. He concludes with a statement of perspective on the bedrock of Divine truth in the face of the deviations of men. Verse 19 “Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure...” Against the background of departure, God’s firm foundation (see 1st Timothy 3v15 where the same expression is used of the church) is unmoved. The margin rendering of this is “...the firm foundation of God has stood and stands...” thus the posterity of God’s truth is unaffected by the shifting sands of time, and so it will continue. He refers to it’s seal, it’s guarantee, it’s certainty. There is a Divine side “”The Lord knoweth them that are His” and there is a human side “Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”. Iniquity is “adikia” which is the absence of moral rightness. We are not the arbiters of people’s standing before God, only He knows His own, but we are responsible to live up to our profession, and this applies to us all.
6. Vessels in a great house verses 20-22. He now thinks of the metaphor of a great house, and he applies the picture of a natural great house to the church, which by any standard is great. He has just mentioned the firm foundation of God, which he spoke of in chapter 3 of the 1st epistle and he relates a material great house to the spiritual house the church. In any great house there are different vessels, some which the Master of the house can use, some which he can’t, perhaps due to wear and tear, or malformation, or unsightliness or whatever. The point of the verses is fitness to be used for the benefit of the Master. Indeed the church is a great house..... it is great because of who owns it (house of God 1st Timothy 3v14), great because of the cost of building it (purchased with His own blood Acts 20v28); great because of it’s brilliant design by the greatest architect ever (built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit Ephesians 2v22); great because of it’s importance to the world (pillar and ground of the truth 1st Timothy 3v14. Just as a house contains many vessels for the running of the house so the church contains many members and not all are vessels to honour, not all worthy of the Master’s use, this is just a fact of life and it is true in spiritual life. This is a reminder we are on this earth for His use! Some He can use , some not, some are vessels to honour, some to dishonour. If we are to be used in the great house we need to purge ourselves from the vessels of dishonour. This is far from the ideal of Church unity, but it is a recognition of practical failure. We cannot, in the interest of unity condone evil, whether moral or doctrinal and we have to cleanse ourselves by purging from those who choose to live dishonourably. This does not imply removing from the church, but withdrawing from the company of such individuals who dishonour the Lord, a moral separation, rather than a spacial one. The word for master is sovereign master and in the great house His will is paramount. If we would be used by Him, and be suitable for Him to use in His service, the harsh reality is today, even as Paul saw coming in his day, that we must cleanse ourselves from the potentially defiling influence of some. At the same time we have to recognise potential failure in ourselves; there are things from which we must flee(youthful lusts), and things which we must follow (righteousness, faith, love, and peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart). This is not a recipe for cliques or sectarianism, but a call to purity, we dare not compromise purity for the sake of unity. Such unity is fallacious.
7. Humble servants verses 23-26. Questions will arise, and difficult people will be encountered, but we are to remember whose we are and whom we serve. We are to serve with humility and meekness. The service of God has never been easy, if we take account of the servants through the years, like Moses, Samuel, David and others, and it is no different today and we are called upon to demonstrate Christ-like qualities in our dealings with others. The truth prospers best in peaceful conditions, enshrined in the principle that “..the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”(James 1v20). Again Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 10 v4 “...for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”
• Foolish and unlearned questions .........AVOID! Don’t be drawn into debates, it only leads to strife which is of an ungodly nature.
• You must not strive with people (literally do not war with people), don’t antagonize, you are the slave of the Lord, and must act as He acted, in gentleness, with a mild, kindly, affable approach.
• You must have an aptitude to teach, that is you develop ability to do it effectively.
• You are to be patient; the force of the word is “patient under evil”, that is in the context of slander or false accusation. The Lord was the supreme example of this; “...Who when He was reviled He reviled not again, when He suffered He threatened not...”( 1st Peter 2v22). It is difficult enough to remain patient during times of frustration, let alone when an injustice is being done or said against us. By now we are beginning to understand the need for Divine strength advised in the first verse “Be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus,,,,”
• “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves” It’s a very interesting phrase....they are opposing you, but because they are opposing God’s word they are actually opposing themselves! These have to be instructed (which is the last thing self opinionated people want to hear), in the spirit of meekness (that is not retaliating when opposed). This is a wonderful verse because the possibility is that God will give them space of repentance and full restoration can be made. Such are ensnared by the devil and they are unaware of it. The ministry of restoration is very much the work of the true servant.
“Thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
Whenever we see the word “therefore” it is meant to be a deduction from what has gone before. Timothy will require supernatural strength for what lies before him. In chapter 1 he has been reminded of his spiritual heritage received from his mother and his grandmother and which was furthered by the teaching and example of Paul and his team. Upon his young shoulders are being placed the responsibility to guard and to propagate the precious truth of the gospel and for this he will need strength beyond himself. In this chapter Paul uses seven metaphors to describe the life and service of a minister of God.
1. A steward to transmit the truth of God to others. V.2
2. A soldier involved in a warfare. Vs. 3-4
3. An athlete striving for victory. V.5
4. A farm labourer working hard to produce fruit. V.6
5. A student rightly dividing the word of truth. Vs.15 – 18.
6. A vessel to honour in a great house. V19 - 21
7. A humble servant gentle and meek. V 23 – 26.
We can focus on each of these metaphors in more detail, but the important thing to notice at the outset is that none of this can be done in our own strength. He appeals to Timothy, as his child in the faith, to be strong. He uses the present tense (meaning keep on being strong) and the imperative mood (which means this is mandatory). Paul knows all about the need for this and he knows that all of us must learn it; we cannot live the Christian life, we cannot serve God in our own strength. He uses a very interesting expression “be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.” We might have linked strength to power, Paul links it to grace and that grace which comes from Christ Jesus. This brings before us a very important New Testament principle, that we often would forget, and that is that the power of God, the strength of God, is administered to each and every one of us only through His grace. There are a number of scriptures which link the grace of God with the power of God, which we can cite for now, but they require some study on the part of the reader.
• Acts 6v8
• Romans 1v5
• Romans 5v21
• Romans 6v14
• 1st Corinthians 15 v 9-10
• 2nd Corinthians 12 v 8 – 9
• Hebrews 13v9
A careful look at these scriptures will reveal that the grace of God is a mighty power, a life changing power, a power, which, according to the letter to Romans, is greater than the power of sin. We all know about the power of sin in our lives, we need to get to know the superior power of the grace of God. There are conditions attached to the dispensing of God’s grace to His people, as indicated in the letter of James chapter 4v6 where it says “He giveth more grace wherefore He saith God resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble.” God dispenses His grace, the most powerful force in spiritual life to those of His people who humbly submit themselves to Him. Any pride in ourselves or in our achievements He will resist and He will resist very strongly. Humility is required before the Lord for Him to dispense His grace and we simply cannot serve Him without it. Appropriate humility on our part will ensure abundant strength at all times.
Verses 2-7 Four metaphors of Christian service
1. The steward.......wooing men of like mind... verse 2. They say “a picture tells a thousand words” and bible writers sprinkled their teaching with picture metaphors. There is a single thought prominent in each of them and the predominant thought in stewardship is that of faithfulness, loyalty to the wishes of the master of the house in which they served. Paul wrote to the Corinthians “...it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4v1). Part of the task of the household steward was that he transmit the wishes of the master to those following after, and to those serving under him. He says “And the things that thou hast learned of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.” Here are three generations and beyond to whom the sacred deposit is to be passed on. Paul to Timothy, Timothy to faithful men, faithful men to others also. This is the true and only apostolic succession; the stewardship required here is of the accurate transmission of the truth through all generations. The teaching of the apostles is preserved in the new testament writings and are to be taught at all times. Each generation of Christians is responsible for their own. The teaching is to be the same; that is qualitatively it is to be accurate, and, quantitatively it is to be sufficient (thus the whole counsel of God, and on a regular basis). We fall short in our stewardship if we do not pass down the accurate and abundant teaching of Divine truth. It is to be given to faithful men who shall be able, (not to able men who should be faithful). Faithfulness, not ability, is paramount. Faithful men will teach others also, this is the true measure of stewardship, this will require courage ,and strength, on the part of the teachers.
2. The soldier......warring against a determined enemy.... verses 3-4. The main thought here is endurance, of the type demanded of a soldier involved in warfare. This will involve donning a war mentality, ready to defend against the enemy, and to plunder the spoil for God. We tend ,all of us, to seek a quiet life, but there can be no such relaxation whilst in enemy territory, which we are seeking to take for God. We must prepare for all kinds of obstacles and difficulties in our way. This may lead to denial of even the legitimate things of life, not to become entangled with the affairs of life, the next life is to be our focus and to be pleasing to the one who has called us to serve Him. Scriptures abound with this spiritual warfare in which we are engaged. Our time for rest is not now.
3. The athlete.......winning the prize, the victor’s crown.....verse 5. “..if a man strive for masteries...” this captures exactly the mentality of the athlete who competes to win, who strives for excellence, to obtain the crown. Yet he may lose, because he did not operate within the rules. Thus the main issue here is ethics doing what is right, honest in the sight of God, striving lawfully. There are overriding rules in Christian service which must be observed if we are to be honoured in our work. Everything has to be done for the glory of God, not for my own glory (1st Corinthians 10v31 “..whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God...”); self control in all things is advised in 1st Corinthians 9v25; love must be the motivation in all things according to 1st Corinthians 13v3; in the matter of public exercise in the church, the appeal in 1st Corinthians 14v26 is “...let all things be done unto edifying.”; endurance in trials is enjoined in James 1v12 and this is associated with the crown of life. The imagery of an athlete striving for excellence in his discipline is a graphic picture of what service to the Lord should be, if we consider the mental approach, the physical preparation, the self denial, the raw endurance, and the observance of protocol. We can certainly transfer the physical to the spiritual in a very powerful way. We are to be more than average we are to strive for excellence in the things of God.
4. The husbandman.......working hard to produce the precious fruits.....verse 6. This can be a vinedresser, a farmer, or a farm labourer, anyone who extracts fruit from the ground. The people of God need food and food of quality that will sustain them. Those who bring us food for the body work very hard, but the main thrust of this picture is that the labourer must first be partaker of the fruits; the thought therefore is that of propriety, there is no point giving food to others I am not prepared to take myself. In spiritual terms I must be the living embodiment of my teaching. There is a propensity within us to pass on “unfelt” ministry and it achieves nothing of value. The spiritual teacher must labour hard and long and be in the good of the first fruits to produce food acceptable to all. Essentially we should not be speaking beyond our experience.
He sums up the section with an appeal for meditative contemplation on these metaphors and a prayer for the Lord to give him understanding....verse 7.
Verses 8-14 Suffering and glory- the fourth faithful saying
Paul, now, crowns this challenging and practical teaching by referring to the principle of suffering and glory as illustrated by the supreme example....Jesus Christ. The whole point of this is suffering now and glory to follow, issuing in a fundamental truth of Christianity; denial of self now will be richly compensated in the future and there is no greater example than our blessed Lord. He says “Remember Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, raised from the dead according to my gospel...” The reference to David always carries the idea of the eternal kingdom, but note that before he was crowned he suffered many trials. Jesus Christ born to be King (seed of David), yet suffered greatly before the glory (raised from the dead....went into death, came through death and now lives triumphantly). We are united to Christ in everything and so our pathway to glory will be via a time of suffering now. This is the only time Paul uses the title Jesus Christ in these letters, normally it is Christ Jesus, speaking of a glorified man. Here he is emphasising His humanity, as if to say it was as a real man He suffered these things even to death. In Jesus words “...whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 16v25). The pathway to glory is by way of suffering, and this was true for Christ(verse 8), and true for Paul (verse 9-10), and is true for all of us (verses 11-14). The whole emphasis here is obtaining eternal glory, not to be satisfied with salvation which cannot be earned, but to progress to glory which is most certainly earned....”...that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ with eternal glory.” We are to woo, to war, to win, to work, with all the grace we can receive from above to earn eternal glory. Eternal glory....is that something worth striving for?! He sums it all up in a memorable saying which we can all rely on, and which is to become our watchword
“It is a faithful saying...........
For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him;
If we suffer we shall also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
If we believe not, He abideth faithful, He cannot deny Himself.”
Four couplets, easily remembered, positives and negatives, warnings and encouragements. There is no thought of the unbeliever here, note the “we and us”. There is no loss of salvation suggested rather loss of reward for faithlessness. In the first line all believers are viewed, all died with Him (in salvation), all will live with Him (in glorification). In the second, the thought is that the measure of suffering will be rewarded with commensurate glory (many scriptures bear this out). The third has in view those who deny the path of suffering in their life, they will lose reward and the loss will be permanent. In the last line is the blessed assurance to all that even if we are at times unfaithful, He will remain true to His word, because He cannot deny Himself. No loss of salvation, but possible loss of eternal reward....solemn enough! These are epithets of the Christian faith we do well to carry with us on the journey.
The section closes with Timothy being told to charge his hearers to remember the solid nature of these things and not to be drawn aside with minor and potentially harmful issues.
Verses 15-26 Three metaphors of Christian service
Another three wonderful word pictures which beautifully portray and elevate Christian service. In the first four the emphasis is on personal attitude, in these last three the focus shifts more toward public acumen.
5. A student verses15-19. The word “study” should be properly rendered “be diligent” but it amounts to the same thing, since the context is bible study and bible teaching. The challenge here is strong and far reaching; we are to achieve excellence in the things of God.
• Diligent “Study...” Be diligent “spoudazo” which means to speed up, to give swift attention to; variously translated as “hasten”, “make every effort”, “be eager”
• Prayerful “...shew(present) thyself approved unto God...” Our preparations must be acceptable to God, they must come under Divine scrutiny. We may not always please men, but we must be pleasing to the Lord.
• Honest “...a workman not ashamed...this is toil to the point of exhaustion. This has already been referred to in 1st Timothy 5v17 “...they who labour (toil) in the word and doctrine...” “not ashamed” suggests adhering to a rigorous programme. God’s word is a treasure trove but it requires hard work. The very content of it’s truth is so priceless that if we fail to explore it we ought to be ashamed.
• Accurate “...rightly dividing the word of truth.” Literally “cutting a straight line” or “ploughing a straight furrow”. This is God’s word and we have to get it right; concerning Apollos, it was recorded in Acts 18v25 “...he spoke and taught diligently(accurately) the things of the Lord...”. Not all scripture is to the church or about us, yet it is all profitable for us. More than 80% of the bible is written to the nation of Israel, and we have to recognize that. It takes great application and constant meditation to accurately interpret the word.
• Reverent It is “...the word of truth”. In a world of untruth it is the only truth and must be held as such. He compares this to “...striving about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.”(verse 14). The word for subverting is katastrophe and what is seemingly harmless opinion can have a catastrophic effect on the hearers; he compares it to “...profane and vain babblings..”(verse 16) which only produce ungodliness; he compares it with “...their word will eat like a canker...” (verse 17); the meaning is gangrenous, life threatening, as opposed to wholesome words which are the very essence of these letters. Only the word of truth is healthy for us and we need to hold it in reverence and promote it.
We are given the best incentive to study and promote the word of truth, because we are surrounded by false teachers and teaching. He names two false teachers (Paul is not in the business of gossip); he also names their false doctrine, which was fundamental error in relation to the resurrection; he also states the effect of this teaching “..overthrow the faith of some.” In summary, failure to give attention to the word of truth will risk the subversion of the hearers, will promote more ungodliness, will overthrow the faith of some. He concludes with a statement of perspective on the bedrock of Divine truth in the face of the deviations of men. Verse 19 “Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure...” Against the background of departure, God’s firm foundation (see 1st Timothy 3v15 where the same expression is used of the church) is unmoved. The margin rendering of this is “...the firm foundation of God has stood and stands...” thus the posterity of God’s truth is unaffected by the shifting sands of time, and so it will continue. He refers to it’s seal, it’s guarantee, it’s certainty. There is a Divine side “”The Lord knoweth them that are His” and there is a human side “Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”. Iniquity is “adikia” which is the absence of moral rightness. We are not the arbiters of people’s standing before God, only He knows His own, but we are responsible to live up to our profession, and this applies to us all.
6. Vessels in a great house verses 20-22. He now thinks of the metaphor of a great house, and he applies the picture of a natural great house to the church, which by any standard is great. He has just mentioned the firm foundation of God, which he spoke of in chapter 3 of the 1st epistle and he relates a material great house to the spiritual house the church. In any great house there are different vessels, some which the Master of the house can use, some which he can’t, perhaps due to wear and tear, or malformation, or unsightliness or whatever. The point of the verses is fitness to be used for the benefit of the Master. Indeed the church is a great house..... it is great because of who owns it (house of God 1st Timothy 3v14), great because of the cost of building it (purchased with His own blood Acts 20v28); great because of it’s brilliant design by the greatest architect ever (built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit Ephesians 2v22); great because of it’s importance to the world (pillar and ground of the truth 1st Timothy 3v14. Just as a house contains many vessels for the running of the house so the church contains many members and not all are vessels to honour, not all worthy of the Master’s use, this is just a fact of life and it is true in spiritual life. This is a reminder we are on this earth for His use! Some He can use , some not, some are vessels to honour, some to dishonour. If we are to be used in the great house we need to purge ourselves from the vessels of dishonour. This is far from the ideal of Church unity, but it is a recognition of practical failure. We cannot, in the interest of unity condone evil, whether moral or doctrinal and we have to cleanse ourselves by purging from those who choose to live dishonourably. This does not imply removing from the church, but withdrawing from the company of such individuals who dishonour the Lord, a moral separation, rather than a spacial one. The word for master is sovereign master and in the great house His will is paramount. If we would be used by Him, and be suitable for Him to use in His service, the harsh reality is today, even as Paul saw coming in his day, that we must cleanse ourselves from the potentially defiling influence of some. At the same time we have to recognise potential failure in ourselves; there are things from which we must flee(youthful lusts), and things which we must follow (righteousness, faith, love, and peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart). This is not a recipe for cliques or sectarianism, but a call to purity, we dare not compromise purity for the sake of unity. Such unity is fallacious.
7. Humble servants verses 23-26. Questions will arise, and difficult people will be encountered, but we are to remember whose we are and whom we serve. We are to serve with humility and meekness. The service of God has never been easy, if we take account of the servants through the years, like Moses, Samuel, David and others, and it is no different today and we are called upon to demonstrate Christ-like qualities in our dealings with others. The truth prospers best in peaceful conditions, enshrined in the principle that “..the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”(James 1v20). Again Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 10 v4 “...for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”
• Foolish and unlearned questions .........AVOID! Don’t be drawn into debates, it only leads to strife which is of an ungodly nature.
• You must not strive with people (literally do not war with people), don’t antagonize, you are the slave of the Lord, and must act as He acted, in gentleness, with a mild, kindly, affable approach.
• You must have an aptitude to teach, that is you develop ability to do it effectively.
• You are to be patient; the force of the word is “patient under evil”, that is in the context of slander or false accusation. The Lord was the supreme example of this; “...Who when He was reviled He reviled not again, when He suffered He threatened not...”( 1st Peter 2v22). It is difficult enough to remain patient during times of frustration, let alone when an injustice is being done or said against us. By now we are beginning to understand the need for Divine strength advised in the first verse “Be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus,,,,”
• “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves” It’s a very interesting phrase....they are opposing you, but because they are opposing God’s word they are actually opposing themselves! These have to be instructed (which is the last thing self opinionated people want to hear), in the spirit of meekness (that is not retaliating when opposed). This is a wonderful verse because the possibility is that God will give them space of repentance and full restoration can be made. Such are ensnared by the devil and they are unaware of it. The ministry of restoration is very much the work of the true servant.
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