Posts: 2 Timothy

2 Timothy

Remember the good parts of the histories of yourself and of others. The world reminds us often enough how many times we fall short. Late in Paul’s life, he reminded Timothy of the successes of faith he had seen (2 Timothy 1:3 – 7). The purpose was to generate a sense of power and of love and of having soundness of thought. The faithful should fear nothing, but be confident in the redemption provided by Jesus, the forgiving and gracious divine nature, and the promises to the faithful recorded in the Scriptures.

Remember the histories of the faithful you have encountered and be encouraged (2 Timothy 1:8 – 18). All too often, the faithful evaluate the gospel by worldly standards and are ashamed by its lack of political power or its uncomfortable difficulties. Rather, be encouraged by the evidence upon which the gospel stands, the love and grace displayed by God in handling our debt to justice for us, and the promises of transformation of the faithful into the character of Jesus. Remember those who zealously endured and be heartened that the tools are still available.

Paul used soldiers, athletes, and farmers as illustrations of the nature of the work in the kingdom of God (2 Timothy 2:1 – 13) All of them exert themselves greatly to achieve a goal, each having to wait until the end for the prize. The faithful should expect life on earth to be rife with difficulties because such is the price of any worthwhile endeavor. Those who expect comfort and smooth sailing will be sorely disappointed.

Paul reminded Timothy of the principles of good teaching (2 Timothy 2:14 – 26). Rather than striving over words, take the time to carefully define them. Do not take part in discussions about things we cannot control. Never speculate. Help the other person make his or her point. Never be afraid of truth. Be a teacher, not a debater. Be gentle, patient, and humble because people will listen longer and maybe finally grasp the concept.

Bad times and evil (or just misinformed) opponents can be discouraging. The majority have always been self-serving, so we should expect the same to be so in the future. Yet, the message of the faithful must be characterized as Good News, something profitable and useful for navigating the storms of life. The objective of the message is not to refute evil, but equip people for service (2 Timothy 3:1 – 17).

The brokenness of the world can be discouraging, so Paul ended 2 Timothy with a series of methods for being recharged. The first (4:1) is to be refreshed by remembering who is really in charge, how the faithful are rescued, the example of how Jesus dealt with life, and that Judgment will come, so only a limited time remains to rescue those about whom we care. Such an outlook leaves no space for the faithful to bemoan what goes wrong, but only to reach forward to what needs to be yet accomplished.

Feelings of defeat drain our energy. Recharging occurs when we prepare for the next round (2 Timothy 4:2). The faithful do not prepare for specific encounters or battles, but prepare so as to be ready at all times to describe a life of hope. Different situations require different presentations: logic or correction or encouragement. The faithful are patient and educational, not exhorting with empty promises but with a sensible view of reality. Preparation for presenting good news re-invigorates faith.

“The good old days” are nothing more than revisionist history. The world has always been and will continue to spiral downward. Authority figures block access to better ways as frightened groups turn inward for answers instead of outward. The faithful recharge themselves by realizing that the easiest moments are the immediate. The best window of opportunity is now. Bring good news, not fear or hate or surrender. Serve the hopeless not just to the full, but to overflowing (2 Timothy 4:3 – 5).

As Paul’s life was coming to a close, he wrote to Timothy for the purpose of recharging him, to cause him to step up to fill the void (2 Timothy 4:6 – 8). Great leaders all die. That reality should awaken the need to step up. Paul never claimed to be unique, irreproducible. Rather, he encouraged those who would come later that they were part of a larger group, “Those who have loved His appearing.” Let the successes of those who have led be the motivation to continue.

Even in the first few decades of the church, not everyone stuck with the program. But rather than being slowed by the failures of some, be recharged by learning from their bad choices and fill the gaps they left. Some perhaps have gone in different yet profitable directions. Celebrate their successes. Hardship is not so hard when viewed through its achievements. Remember those to whom your spirit has become connected (2 Timothy 4:9 – 22).

2 Timothy 1:7, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and of love and of self-control.” Paul referred to an unnamed special power he had bestowed on Timothy, but all the faithful have the indwelling Spirit through whom they accomplish the humanly impossible (2 Corinthians 4:7), so the application is the same. The faithful have no fear because they are selfless (1 John 4:18), and exhibit self-control through gentleness, patience, and the ability to overcome themselves. This mastery of life is a tremendous attraction to those on the outside.

2 Timothy 1:12, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have entrusted to Him into that day.” Many good, sincere church-goers miss the first step in Paul’s summary. Jesus is known through the gospel accounts, understanding His motives and character and rationale. Becoming convinced of His trustworthiness, the faithful hand over their eternal selves to Him and have peace, certain that, despite the unpredictability of this life, He will get them to the end with style.

2 Timothy 2:2, “The things that you have heard from me through many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Jesus jump-started the church with miraculously appointed leaders and teachers whose objective was to build the church such that it could then edify itself (Ephesians 4:16). Timothy’s teaching was not just to impart the Good News, but to do so in a way that those who learned would be motivated to spread it further. An essential characteristic of Biblical faith is evangelism.

2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” Because of mankind’s long history of self-deception, preparing to teach others the Good News requires special diligence. Always try to prove yourself wrong; any fool can prove himself right. Read the whole context; short quotations can be manipulated. Find all the passages about the subject rather than filling in the gaps with what has always been taught. If it sounds complicated, it’s probably wrong.

2 Timothy 2:24 – 25, “A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition…” All of the faithful should mature quickly to being able to teach. Other passages upbraid those who neglected this charge (Hebrews 5:12) and those who try to teach without preparation (James 3:1). The keys, Paul relates to Timothy, are gentleness, patience, and humility (all products of the indwelling Spirit) that allow the message to remain simple and attractive to the hearer.

2 Timothy 3:5, “…having a form of godliness but denying its power.” The preceding list of terrible traits described some of the church people of that time. Paul did not focus on their negative characteristics but on the root cause: they were trying to succeed in matters of godliness by their own efforts rather than through the indwelling Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 4:7, Paul characterized those who went about it the right way, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

2 Timothy 3:12, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” The early Christians certainly would wonder at times whether their difficulties happened to them because they chose the wrong path. A truism of every age has been that those who please God will live well. Paul reminded Timothy that such thinking is simply not true. Jesus certainly behaved well yet suffered horribly. The apostles encountered many obstacles. The question for the Western faithful should be, “Why have I not encountered persecution?”

2 Timothy 3:16 – 17, “Every Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable toward teaching, toward reproof, toward correction, toward training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped toward every good work.” The Scriptures themselves are competent for all those purposes, not as proofs for an organizational position. Further, the objective is to equip the faithful for doing what is right, not for defending a philosophical construct.

2 Timothy 4:3 – 4, “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, to themselves they will gather around teachers, having an itching ear. From hearing the truth they will turn away; upon myths they will be turned aside.” Certainly, this sad turn of events happened even when the apostles were still alive. But when Christianity became fashionable in the fourth century, the problem accelerated. Eloquence overcame simplicity; authority stamped out liberty; complexity made the ignorant controllable.

2 Timothy 4:7 – 8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only, but to all who have loved His appearing.” If faith does not produce a confident expectation of acceptability, something went seriously wrong in the building process. The signal from God is when the indwelling Spirit causes the faithful to accomplish the humanly impossible (e.g., 1 John 3:18 – 24, 4:12 – 13).