2 Timothy 4:19-22

¹⁹Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. ²¹Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers. ²²The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

Here are Paul’s final words to Timothy before Timothy leaves to come and see him, and his last letter  before his death. He mentions the brothers and sisters in the church who are close to them and sends greetings. We can see the family unity displayed in these verses.

1 Thessalonians 5:26 “Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.”

Filed under: 2 Timothy, 2 timothy, apostle, Bible study, final greetings, God, Jesus, New Testament, Paul, timothy

2 Timothy 4:9-18

⁹Do your best to come to me quickly, ¹⁰for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. ¹¹Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. ¹²I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. ¹³When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.

Here the apostle Paul asks Timothy to come back to him and help him with his last days for everyone had deserted him. Those who were loyal and faithful to God were Luke, Mark, and Timothy. We are warned by Jesus in scripture that people would desert us, persecute us, and betray us because of his name. This is an example of such a case.

Matthew 10:17-23 “Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

Psalm 142 :1-7 “I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble. When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.  Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.”

¹⁴Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. ¹⁵You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.

The consequences of having someone in the church who opposes the truth is that they can affect the rest of the church. Alexander was an example of this and as Paul mentions had done a great deal of harm. This is what seems to have been happening also in the church of Ephesus where Timothy was leading.

1 Timothy 4:1-2 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”

¹⁶At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. ¹⁷But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. ¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Although people had rejected Paul, here Paul seeks forgiveness and mercy for those who had deserted him taking on the teachings of Christ. In Paul’s case as well as what can definately be practiced in the church today is it’s better to forgive than to harbour resentment and bitterness where other evil thoughts can come. In Paul’s faith to Christ even though he was alone, is that the Lord had saved him from every evil attack, and was with him through it all.

2 Corinthians 2:9-11 “The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

Psalm 46 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Filed under: 2 Timothy, 2 timothy, apostle, Bible study, God, Jesus, New Testament, Paul, personal remarks, timothy

2 Timothy 4:1-9

¹In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ²Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

Paul encourages Timothy to keep his mind on the resulting last days when Jesus will appear, and the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom so that he can preach the word and not be nonchalant about it. Not only this but due to the apostate teachings rising in the church he tells him to not just preach in season but to be ready out of season so no matter who he comes across he will be ready to correct, rebuke, and encourage.

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

Romans 2:16 “This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.”

Acts 10:42-43 “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

³For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Here Paul makes a prophetic statement warning Timothy that people will eventually turn away from true and sound teaching and turn to what they want to hear and myths. In this case Timothy has to be ready for those times hence why Paul encourages him to be prepared in season and out of season.

⁵But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Paul tells Timothy that despite what will happen in the church, that he himself should keep himself pure in thought, and abiding by sound teaching. He must also endure hardship that is to come, whether within the church or attacks by the enemy. That he must put to use all his duties of his ministry as an evangelist who preaches the word, in all seasons.

⁶For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. ⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Continuing from verse 5 Paul mentions here that he has discharged all the duties of his ministry hence he feels he is being poured out like a drink offering. Paul is also aware that his death is soon to come and so makes an example of himself that he will fight the good fight up until death. Paul is also aware of the prize, which is why he endures hardship, in this case it is the crown of righteousness of his faith in Christ that God himself will give to him.

Isaiah 40:31 “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

1 Corinthians 9:23-25 “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

2 Philippians 2:16-18 “as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.”

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2 Timothy 3:10-17

¹⁰You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

Here Paul is continuing from the last passage, a letter to his companion Timothy whom he sent to Ephesus to take care and lead the church that was growing and coming into opposition from false teachers. In verse 10 Paul gives Timothy his last words of encouragement knowing that his life was soon to end. He tells Timothy that although there are those who have risen in the church who oppose the truth and start arguments within the church, that Timothy should follow the way of Christ, which Paul had followed, hence he mentions “my teaching, my way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, and sufferings” to encourage Timothy to strive for these things rather than be persuaded into false teachings.

¹²In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

A struggle that Timothy had seemed to have was coming to terms with persecution and especially since Paul was imprisoned, Timothy’s fear had risen, as can be seen in 2 Timothy 1 where Paul tries to encourage him to remain faithful. Here in verse 12 Paul mentions it once more as his final words, just to reassure Timothy that persecution will come to those who live godly lives, but it is far better for that to occur, as the alternative is that evil men will go from bad to worse being deceived.

¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

It is evident that Timothy’s growth in the Lord has been at such a young age (infancy). It goes to show the benefits of coming to know the Lord through faithful teaching (makes you wise for salvation through faith in Christ). In this case, Timothy was taught not just by Paul, but as he mentioned earlier, the faith that lived in his grandmother Lois and in his mother Eunice in 2 Timothy 1:5.

Exodus 20:6 “but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Regardless of who wrote the scriptures, all scripture as Paul mentions is God-breathed (inspired by God) and is therefore truethful in every way. To Timothy’s benefit and subsequently those who read and spend time in God’s word, it is useful for teaching others, rebuking false teaching, correcting misunderstanding, and training each person to be faithful to God. In context with this letter, Timothy was able to use these scriptures for handling such people and situations within the church of Ephesus where false teachers had risen, and the result of their actions was destroying the faith of some.

Psalm 1 “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.“

Ephesians 6:17 “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Filed under: 2 Timothy, 2 timothy, apostle, Bible study, God, Jesus, New Testament, Paul, paul's charge to timothy, timothy

2 Timothy 3:1-9

¹But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Continuing from Paul’s last passage in regards to being a workman approved by God, telling Timothy not to have anything to do with quarreling about words and to gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Here Paul gives Timothy a prophetic vision of future events and the ways in which people will behave. He does this to compare what is happening at the present time of when this letter was written, where there were people who were coming into the church and starting arguments and false teachings, to the resulting end days actions of people. It appears from this text that the closer to the last days we come the worse people behave. It is also evident that Paul is also speaking about people within the church during the last days as he states “having a form of godliness but denying its power”.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

2 Peter 2:18 “For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.”

Romans 1:18-21 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

⁶They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, ⁷always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.

In verse 6 Paul states that these false teachers are the kind to ‘worm their way’ (manipulate their way through) into homes and ‘gain control’ (teach falsely to gullible people, women in this case). They are always learning new false teachings but never acknowledging truth (Jesus Christ).

⁸Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. ⁹But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

Jannes and Jambres are only mentioned here once in the Bible, however from what I’ve read on other sites they are supposedly magicians during the time of Moses. Either way, they were men who had opposed Moses or rather opposed the truth, and thus their errors will be known to those watching.

Exodus 7:8-11 “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.”

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2 Timothy 2:14-26

¹⁴Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.

Paul instructs Timothy to remind the believers not to quarrel about words because it brings about more trouble than what its worth. We can see that in the church of Ephesus where Paul was worried that people would come in like wolves, and the teachings of false teachers (1 Timothy 1:3-4) would affect the church in a destructive way.

1 Timothy 3-4 “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith.”

¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Paul is speaking to Timothy from a leader to another leader that he should be someone who is worthy to handle the Word of truth, and also dealing with his feelings about being ashamed of suffering for the gospel, as he mentioned earlier in 2 Timothy 1:8 “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,“.

¹⁶Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.

Paul here warns about talking of things that are ungodly, that it affects those who talk about it causing them to go further and further from the truth. Not only this but their false teachings spread throughout the church causing destruction. He gives an example through two people Hymenaeus and Philetus who have falsely taught that the resurrection had already taken place. This is in reflection to what the devil does to the Word of God, by taking scripture and twisting it to mean something different therefore ending with false teaching. For example in Genesis 3:1-5 where the serpent uses God’s Word to trick Eve. The other was when Jesus was being tempted for forty days in the desert and the devil tried to trick Jesus to no avail.

Genesis 3:1-5 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Matthew 4:5-6 “Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

¹⁹Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Despite all the false hood that can rise in the church God knows those who are his even though we may not. Those who confess to believe in Christ would turn away from sin. This can be seen as a sign of a true believer.

Numbers 16:5 “Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him.”

²⁰In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. ²¹If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

In a large house such as the church of Ephesus there are those who are used for honourable works, but there are also those that are used for less honourable works, though none-the-less important. Either way, there are articles that are being used for ignoble uses contrary to what they were meant to serve. If a person repents from sin and makes himself holy and worthy before God, then they are prepared to do any good works, whether gold, silver, wood, or clay.

²²Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Likewise here Paul says to keep away from lusts of the flesh and pursue Godliness just as those who pursue Jesus Christ have done by repentance of sin and accepting love, faith, and peace.

²³Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

Here Paul reiterates himself to what he said at the beginning of the passage, not to get involved with quarreling about words. Where in the beginning Paul was refering to people who quarrel about words, here he is specifically telling Timothy as a leader of the church not to be involved in quarreling, but to be kind instead and not resentful.

²⁵Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

As a leader Timothy will be able to teach effectively if he doesn’t get involved in arguments as Paul has been mentioning in this passage. The conclusion is that in this way he can be gentle when approaching people who oppose the truth, and in turn they may change their hearts and minds about certain teaching that have been traps of the devil.

Filed under: 2 Timothy, 2 timothy, a workman approved by God, Bible study, God, Jesus, New Testament, Paul, timothy

2 Timothy 2:1-13

¹You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Continuing from the previous passage to Timothy regarding his appointment as leader and dealing with Timothy’s fear and anxieties, Paul sets him aside to encourage him to stay strong in the grace(undeserved gift) that is in Jesus. Paul mentions God’s grace a lot in his writings, possibly due to the abundant grace that Jesus had once shown Paul who was once crucifying the Christians.

1 Timothy 1:12-14 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

²And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

Timothy’s guidance from Paul in the previous book 1 timothy had his instructions on how to carefully choose the appropriate teachers to help Timothy oversee and lead the church in Ephesus. Here in verse 2 Paul tells Timothy to entrust his teachings to reliable men whom Timothy would choose as leaders of the church.

³Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.

It is obvious that Timothy was going through some rough times as leader of the church in Ephesus, which is why Paul had written this to encourage Timothy to stay strong and not to be ashamed or fearful of suffering for the gospel. In verse 3 Paul tells Timothy to endure just as all those who had followed Christ as this would please the Lord. In verse 4 he tells Timothy to basically devote himself entirely to doing the will of God and higher matters of his calling. This would mean Timothy would have to deny himself, give up worldy business, “take up his cross” and endure hardship.

⁵Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.

As Paul states similarly, Timothy can’t receive the promises of God, unless he is involved and follows the rules, whether he must endure hardship or not.

⁶The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. ⁷Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Again, similarly those that work hard for the Lord will receive the promises of God. In each of these cases, whether a soldier, an athlete, or a hardworking farmer, must all endure hardship, follow God’s ways, and apply themselves, so that they may please God and receive their rewards.

⁸Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, ⁹for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. ¹⁰Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

Here Paul reminds Timothy on why he should endure hardship. So that God’s word may be proclaimed to the world and those elected to be heirs with Christ may be saved into eternity with Christ. It’s as if he reminds Timothy that it is not about himself that he should endure such hardships, but rather it is a selfless act of love in that it is about reaching out to others.

¹¹Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; ¹²if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; ¹³if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

In these next verses Paul recites a saying that if we lose our lives to this world (give up material possessions and the lustful ways of the world) we will find our lives in Christ, which has much more value in this life (things that are unseen) and importantly in the eternal life, which much of these verses are alluding to.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

In verse 12 Paul recited that if we endure the hardships of this life from the trouble and the hard work that it takes to follow Christ, in the eternal life we will also be heirs and reign with Christ, however if we choose to disown Christ in this life then he will also disown us.

Romans 8:17 “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Matthew 10:32-33 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”

Though we may lose faith, God cannot go back on his Word, he is forever faithful.

Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.”

Filed under: 2 Timothy, 2 timothy, Bible study, God, Jesus, New Testament, Paul, timothy

2 Timothy 1:1-18

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, ²To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul starts his letter by giving glory to God rather than to himself about his appointment as an apostle of Christ who gave him the promise of life by his belief in his deliverance. This type of introduction is common to Paul’s letters.

³I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

Having a clear conscience before God as Paul mentions here is to be in right standing with God without having sinned knowingly. For example in Genesis 20:6 God mentions how a clear conscience has kept Abimelech from sinning against him. “Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her.”

Paul had always sought solution through prayer as we can read he prayed constantly for Timothy and the church of Ephesus.

⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

This gives us a little insight into Timothy’s family, where both his mother and grandmother had the same gift of faith that Timothy has. Paul is reminded of Timothy’s faith so that he may encourage him to continue on with his work in the power of the Holy Spirit as we will read in the following verses.

⁶For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Due to Timothy’s sincere faith Paul is urging him to make use of the gift of God, which is the Holy Spirit when Paul as leader of the church prayed for him with the laying on of his hands. This is also depicted in Acts 19:4-6 “Paul said, ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.”

Paul seems to be urging Timothy not to be fearful or lack the confidence to do the will of God that he was appointed to because the Holy Spirit is powerful and will help him overcome obstacles.

⁸So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,

We see in the next verse after Paul urges Timothy not to be fearful about his duty, that possible reasons for his fear was feeling ashamed or fear of suffering. In verse 8 however Paul encourages him not to feel ashamed to proclaim the Lord, or the fact that Paul was in prison. But rather to suffer for the gospel, the truth.

Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

Luke 9:26 “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”

⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

Verse 9 coincides with Paul’s teaching on the fact that we are saved by the grace of God not by our works in his letter to the Ephesians and is re-iterating this here to Timothy. He also mentions that this grace was already set in place before the beginning of time, i.e. before the creation of the world, where God foreknew the events that would occur. But this all to his purpose.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. ¹²That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

Paul here is reminding Timothy that the promise of Christ is immortal life through his saving grace. And because of this gospel he just like Timothy had been chosen to preach the word, which is why he suffers in chains for it because he knows the reward is life. He tells Timothy he is not ashamed of his suffering because he knows Jesus and believes that he will help carry him through each day as it comes.

This is the main reason for this passage, as we read in the first several verses where we find that Timothy had been timid (fearful), but here Paul is giving his account, so that Timothy might follow in the same way.

¹³What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Paul tells Timothy that his teachings are a pattern of which Timothy should follow when he ministers to the church, that is, Paul’s teachings are done in faith and love in Christ. The good deposit Paul speaks of is the Holy Spirit as mentioned earlier when he laid hands of prayer on Timothy.

¹⁵You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. ¹⁷On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. ¹⁸May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.

Phygelus and Hermogenes were obviously companions of Paul whom in the face of trial had deserted Paul when he was imprisoned. On the other hand we are presented with Onesiphorus who was not ashamed of Paul’s suffering but came to search him out and help him through despite his chains. It is possile that Paul used both these scenarios to serve as an example for Timothy to think over as this passage is related to Timothy’s apparant struggle with timidity. But in verse 18 we read Paul’s favour on the latter where he prays that Jesus would grant Onesiphorus mercy for such kindness. It can be seen that Paul is trying to encourage Timothy more so not to let fear overcome him when suffering for the gospel.

Filed under: 2 Timothy, 2 timothy, Bible study, encouragement, faith, fear, God, Jesus, New Testament, Paul, perseverance, timidity, timothy

Intro to 2 Timothy

Awaiting his death from emperor Nero, Paul’s last exhortations to Timothy and the church are written in this second letter to Timothy. The letter includes ministerial topics such as persevering in the faith, godlessness in the last days, as well as encouragement to teach the truth despite Paul’s situation in prison.

Filed under: 2 Timothy, 2 timothy, Bible study, encouragement, God, Jesus, New Testament, Paul, paul in prison, persevering, timothy