2 Timothy 2:1

Here Paul encourages Timothy to constancy and perseverance in his work: Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, Ti2 2:1. Observe, Those who have work to do for God must stir up themselves to do it, and strengthen themselves for it. Being strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus may be understood in opposition to the weakness of grace. Where there is the truth of grace there must be a labouring after the strength of grace. As our trials increase, we have need to grow stronger and stronger in that which is good; our faith stronger, our resolution stronger, our love to God and Christ stronger. Or it may be understood in opposition to our being strong in our own strength: "Be strong, not confiding in thy own sufficiency, but in the grace that is in Jesus Christ." Compare Eph 6:10, Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. When Peter promised rather to die for Christ than to deny him he was strong in his own strength; had he been strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, he would have kept his standing better. Observe, 1. There is grace in Christ Jesus; for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, Joh 1:17. There is grace enough in him for all of us. 2. We must be strong in this grace; not in ourselves, in our own strength, or in the grace we have already received, but in the grace that is in him, and that is the way to be strong in grace. 3. As a father exhorts his son, so does Paul exhort Timothy, with great tenderness and affection: Thou, therefore, my son, be strong, etc. Observe,

I. Timothy must count upon sufferings, even unto blood, and therefore he must train up others to succeed him in the ministry of the gospel, Ti2 2:2. He must instruct others, and train them up for the ministry, and so commit to them the things which he had heard; and he must also ordain them to the ministry, lodge the gospel as a trust in their hands, and so commit to them the things which he had heard. Two things he must have an eye to in ordaining ministers: - Their fidelity or integrity ("Commit them to faithful men, who will sincerely aim at the glory of God, the honour of Christ, the welfare of souls, and the advancement of the kingdom of the Redeemer among men"), and also their ministerial ability. They must not only be knowing themselves, but be able to teach others also, and be apt to teach. Here we have, 1. The things Timothy was to commit to others - what he had heard of the apostle among many witnesses; he must not deliver any thing besides, and what Paul delivered to him and others he had received of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2. He was to commit them as a trust, as a sacred deposit, which they were to keep, and to transmit pure and uncorrupt unto others. 3. Those to whom he was to commit these things must be faithful, that is, trusty men, and who were skilful to teach others. 4. Though men were both faithful and able to teach others, yet these things must be committed to them by Timothy, a minister, a man in office; for none must intrude themselves into the ministry, but must have these things committed to them by those already in that office.

II. He must endure hardness (Ti2 2:3): Thou therefore, etc. 1. All Christians, but especially ministers, are soldiers of Jesus Christ; they fight under his banner, in his cause, and against his enemies, for he is the captain of our salvation, Heb 2:10. 2. The soldiers of Jesus Christ must approve themselves good soldiers, faithful to their captain, resolute in his cause, and must not give over fighting till they are made more than conquerors, through him that loved them, Rom 8:37. 3. Those who would approve themselves good soldiers of Jesus Christ must endure hardness; that is, we must expect it and count upon it in this world, must endure and accustom ourselves to it, and bear it patiently when it comes, and not be moved by it from our integrity.

III. He must not entangle himself in the affairs of this world, Ti2 2:4. A soldier, when he has enlisted, leaves his calling, and all the business of it, that he may attend his captain's orders. If we have given up ourselves to be Christ's soldiers, we must sit loose to this world; and though there is no remedy, but we must employ ourselves in the affairs of this life while we are here (we have something to do here), we must not entangle ourselves with those affairs, so as by them to be diverted and drawn aside from our duty to God and the great concerns of our Christianity. Those who will war the good warfare must sit loose to this world. That we may please him who hath chosen us to be soldiers. Observe, 1. The great care of a soldier should be to please his general; so the great care of a Christian should be to please Christ, to approve ourselves to him. The way to please him who hath chosen us to be soldiers is not to entangle ourselves with the affairs of this life, but to be free from such entanglements as would hinder us in our holy warfare.

IV. He must see to it that in carrying on the spiritual warfare he went by rule, that he observed the laws of war (Ti2 2:5): If a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. We are striving for mastery, to get the mastery of our lusts and corruptions, to excel in that which is good, but we cannot expect the prize unless we observe the laws. In doing that which is good we must take care that we do it in a right manner, that our good may not be evil spoken of. Observe here, 1. A Christian is to strive for masteries; he must aim at mastering his own lusts and corruptions. 2. Yet he must strive according to the laws given to him; he must strive lawfully. 3. Those who do so shall be crowned at last, after a complete victory is obtained.

V. He must be willing to wait for a recompence (Ti2 2:6): The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. Or, as it should be read, The husbandman labouring first must partake of the fruits, as appears by comparing it with Jam 5:7. If we would be partakers of the fruits, we must labour; if we would gain the prize, we must run the race. And, further, we must first labour as the husbandman does, with diligence and patience, before we are partakers of the fruit; we must do the will of God, before we receive the promises, for which reason we have need of patience, Heb 10:36.

The apostle further commends what he had said to the attention of Timothy, and expresses his desire and hope respecting him: Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things, Ti2 2:7. Here, 1. Paul exhorts Timothy to consider those thing about which he admonished him. Timothy must be reminded to use his considering faculties about the things of God. Consideration is as necessary to a good conversation as to a sound conversion. 2. He prays for him: The Lord give thee understanding in all things. Observe, It is God who gives understanding. The most intelligent man needs more and more of this gift. If he who gave the revelation in the word does not give the understanding in the heart, we are nothing. Together with our prayers for others, that the Lord would give them understanding in all things, we must exhort and stir them up to consider what we say, for consideration is the way to understand, remember, and practise, what we hear or read.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1. Thou therefore, my son, be strong] Rather render my child, as in 1Ti_1:2 where the difference is explained, and be strengthened, ‘be emboldened,’ because the verb is of the same class in Greek as our English verbs with the ending -en. It occurs again in the active 2Ti_4:17 ‘the Lord stood by me and strengthened me.’ So the Vulg. here has the Low Latin ‘confortare,’ whence our own ‘comfort’ and ‘comforter.’

in the grace that is in Christ Jesus] ‘Christ Jesus’ here and in 2Ti_2:3 according to the order of the words as they framed themselves on the aged Apostle’s lips in these last years. See note on 1Ti_1:1. ‘In the grace,’ strengthened, that is, in those virtues and spiritual powers which in their fulness are in Christ. ‘The grace that is in Christ Jesus,’ as distinguished from ‘the Grace of Christ’ appears to be used only here. We have had ‘life that is in Christ Jesus’ 2Ti_1:1; then ‘faith and love that are in Christ Jesus,’ the first two movements and powers of that life, 2Ti_1:13; and now the full ‘grace,’ all the developed activities of strong life. As a matter of language the prepositional phrase ‘that is in Christ Jesus’ may mark progress towards the adjectival phrase which we should use now, ‘the Christian life,’ ‘the Christian graces’; see note on 1Ti_1:2. But we may rejoice that the changing phrase was (as it were) crystallised for us here at a stage that shews so plainly how inward sanctification is nothing but continued and increased vital personal union with Christ.

1–7. Personal and Ministerial Zeal enforced by Parables from the life of the Soldier, the Athlete and the Farmer

The Apostle resumes the main thread of exhortation to Christian courage. After its enforcements by Timothy’s inherited grace (2Ti_1:5) and the grace of his ‘laying on of hands’ (2Ti_1:6), by the free gift of the Saviour’s own life with all its love and light (2Ti_1:9-10), by his own apostleship (2Ti_1:11-13), the defection of false friends (2Ti_1:15), the refreshing zeal of Onesiphorus (2Ti_1:16-18), he plies his scholar with new illustrations yet of the old lesson. Courage to hold the torch up and hand the torch on (2Ti_2:1-2) is to be drawn from the soldier’s life (2Ti_2:3-4), the athlete’s (2Ti_2:5), the farmer’s (2Ti_2:6); and our Lord Himself, the Great Teacher by parables, will point their moral for him (2Ti_2:7).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ti_2:1

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

The connection

Οὐν points back to the defection of others, contrasting it with what St. Paul is satisfied will prove The faithfulness of Timothy. (H. R. Reynolds, D. D.)

Imitate the loyal

It is as though he said, Imitate the one loyal follower (Onesiphorus), and make up to me for the faithless conduct of so many false friends. (H. D. M. Spence, M. A.)

Strength through partnership with Christ

Steven Gerard once told a poor cartman to purchase a cargo of sugar, promising to back him. From that moment the cartmans wisdom and credit were equal to Gerards, for Gerard was his. If the cartman had forgotten his wise, rich friend, and acted on his own judgment and credit, he would have been weak again, and as foolish as weak. The cartman alone was nothing without wisdom or credit, but the cartman and Gerard were strong. Our strength is in partnership with Christ. Christians strong in Christ Jesus:--

I. Consider the duty incumbent on all who have a mind for heaven, namely, to be strong. What is it to be strong in the sense of the text? It presupposeth one thing, namely, they must be spiritually alive. To be strong imports three things.

1. To be ready for action, according to the difficulties you may meet with in your way.

2. That you be resolved. Thus David exhorts Solomon, Take heed now, said he, for the Lord hath chosen thee, to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong and do it. That is, be fully resolved and peremptory, so as not to be diverted by any emerging difficulties.

3. That you be of good courage.

What need is there to be strong?

1. You have much work before you. The work of your own salvation is upon your hand (Php_2:12). You have also to serve your generation, by the will of God.

2. You will meet with much opposition in your work. I now proceed--

II. To consider the direction, namely, that those who would be strong, must be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. What is the grace that is in Christ Jesus?

1. Relative grace, that is the free favour of God to poor sinners, by which they are embraced in the arms of His love unto salvation.

2. Real grace, that is the fulness of the Spirit, and His graces, lodged in Jesus Christ, as the fountain and head of influences, from which they are to be derived, into all His members. For it hath pleased the Father, that in Him should all fulness dwell. And out of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

What is it to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus?

1. It is to be animated to duty by the faith of that grace that is in Christ Jesus for us, both relative and real.

2. It is to be strengthened to duty by supplies of grace derived from Christ Jesus by faith.

Why must those that would be strong be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus?

1. Because all those that would be strong must be strong as members of Christ, as branches of the vine.

2. Because the grace that is in Christ Jesus is only sufficient to bear us through. (H. Boston, D. D.)

Strength of grace

I. Multiplicity of arguments should provoke to obedience. Thou, therefore.

II. Men regard those most who are the likest minded to themselves. My son.

III. Strength of grace is necessary for a christian.

1. Comeliness pleads for it. For is not Christ the root, we the branches? He the foundation, we the building? Our head, and we His members? And betwixt these ought there not to be an analogy, a just proportion, otherwise, would it not be unseemly? Should one finger stand still, would we not repute it a blemish? and shall we not do the same in this mystical body?

2. Necessity requires it. We must fast, watch, and pray, fight with principalities, powers, and spiritual enemies, which are in high places. And will not crosses come, thick and threefold--temptations, desertions, sickness, and death, too? What can or will do these, suffer these things, anything but strength of grace, spiritual power? What manner of men ought ministers to be, thundering in preaching, fervent in prayer, shining in life, burning in spirit? And what is necessary for a preacher is required of every Christian, strength of grace. Strength is tried--

(1) In prosperity: art thou humble in thine own eyes? Is thy heart, with the remembrance of the Lords mercies, made hot? and is it thy greatest care, how to promote his glory? When the rain falls, the waters swell: the sun shines, the sweetest flowers smell the spring approacheth, all creatures revive. So when grace grows, our joy is full; our mouths are trumpets sounding aloud, and every member of the body is an active instrument, a never-wearied agent to fight the battles, and finish the great works of our Lord and Master. A willow bows with a small blast: an oak endures, stands upright in a storm.

(2) In adversity: art thou patient? etc. The horse neighs at the trumpet; the leviathan laughs at the spear: so a strong man in grace, slights crosses, etc.

Helps to grow strong in grace.

1. Hast thou, in thy apprehension some seed of sanctification? then seriously think of it, highly esteem of it, and bless thou the Lord for it.

2. Resolve with thyself the highest period of grace, whereof a created nature is capable. Scholars aim at the highest degree; citizens, at the most honourable office; and all tradesmen, at the increase of goods: so should weak Christians to be rich in the grace of God: strong in the Lord.

3. Add to these two, practice: exercise thy talent; put it forth, for Thy own, and thy Masters advantage. Is it not written that many acts produce an habit, and to him that hath shall be given?

4. Neglect no means whereby grace is begun, or increased.

IV. All grace is from Christ Jesus. Whether we consider the beginning, kinds, or degrees; all grace is in Him, and by Him. Is it not written, that Christ ascended on high; gave gifts unto men? Of His fulness, are we not said to receive grace for grace? that is of all the kinds which are in the Head, the same be derived to His members. (J. Barlow, D. D.)

Moral energy

I. Moral energy a Divine gift. This verse deals with the great motive power of the Christian religion, what imparts inward strength to frail humanity. Much besides is, so to speak, machinery, and this--the grace of Christ, is the steam, the driving force, without which the most perfect machinery is useless. Paul enjoins Timothy to obtain this force, this inward energy of the soul; and by calling it grace the apostle teaches that it is not like the unconscious forces of nature--the power of wind, or water, or fire, or gravity-which human skill can have at command and direct; but a power of a different, a spiritual order, and bestowed on other conditions. For it flows from the grace or kindness of God, and it is, therefore, called grace, just as an act prompted by kindness is called a kindness, and the same with a favour.

II. Christ the source of moral energy. The Christian faith is that the Lord Jesus Christ is the fountain of all power, and the tire of all love, dwelling in the heart, as well as in heaven: Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. That is the faith of Christ; and it cannot be said of it that it is a weak, unsubstantial, and merely sentimental religion. It is based on the most sublime facts, for which it offers appropriate evidence; and the power of those facts to arrest, attract, rivet, and renew the hearts of weak and sinful men, and awaken in them an enthusiasm of trust, and gratitude, and devotion--the history of our religion for eighteen hundred years must declare, for no mere language can.

III. The command to be strong in Christ. It is very characteristic of Scripture, and of its close conformity to human nature, even in its problems, that this great central thought, of the Divine source of moral energy, should be put into the form of a command to be obeyed--an injunction, for the observance of which man is responsible. It is not said to us, Lie helpless till the Divine energy of Christ flows into your soul; but, Be inwardly strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. I charge you to become empowered with that energy. Such is our strange life, our mysterious nature. Dependent on God yet responsible to Him! It is God that worketh in you. Work out your own salvation. I, yet not I, says Paul. By grace ye are saved and healed; and this grace has its centre and fount in Christ. But it is your duty to have much of it. (T. M. Herbert, M. A.)

Our true strength

Luther relates concerning one Staupicius, a German divine, that he acknowledged that before he came to understand the free and powerful grace of Christ, he resolved and vowed a hundred times against a particular sin; yet could never get power over it, nor his heart purified from it, till he came to see that he trusted too much to his own resolutions, and too little to Jesus Christ; but when his faith had engaged against his sin, he obtained the victory. (J. L. Nye.)

Christ qualifies His servants

We are His servants. A master does more than engage a servant: he also gives him the means whereby he may work. The tradesman does not put his servants into a shop wherein there are no goods to sell; the farmer does not send his servants into the field without plough, harrow, or spade; the surgeon does not withhold drugs; nor the lawyer parchment and pens from his servant. It is even so with our great Master. He calls us to work, and, if we ask Him, He will qualify us for it. (T. R. Stevenson.)

Self-sufficiency

A certain alchemist who waited upon Leo X. declared that he had discovered how to transmute the baser metals into gold. He expected to receive a sum of money for his discovery, but Leo was no such simpleton; he merely gave him a huge purse in which to keep the gold which he would make. There was wisdom as well as sarcasm in the present. That is precisely what God does with proud men, he lets them have the opportunity to do what they boasted of being able to do. I never heard that so much as a solitary gold piece was dropped into Leos purse, and I am sure you will never be spiritually rich by what you can do in your own strength. Be stripped, brother, and then God may be pleased to clothe you with honour, but not till then. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Strong in Christ Jesus

When Wingfield expressed his pity for Kirby, who was condemned to die for the truth, the undaunted martyr replied, Fire, water, and sword are in His hands, who will not suffer them to separate me from Him. Here was power from on high perfected in human weakness. Nor was it less manifested in another who exclaimed, If every hair on my head were a man, they should suffer death in the faith in which I now stand. It was in the exhaustion of age, and after long imprisonment, hardship, and ill treatment, that Latimer, when brought out to be burnt at Oxford, lifted his wrinkled hands towards heaven, and cried, O God, I thank Thee that Thou hast reserved me to die this death. (C. Graham.)

Christs sufficiency never failing

In travelling through the West of England, you come ever and anon upon large tracts of country, bleak, barren, and desolate; no tree, no flower, no blade of grass, no habitation of man. In these wild and dreary wastes you find proofs in abundance that the spots were not always desert. The deep, black, yawning shaft of many a mine; the broken or decaying timbers which still stand around, or over the mouth of those mines; the remains of cottages; all, all tell you that the place was not always a wilderness. But the mines have been rifled of their treasures, the last vein has been opened, the last bucket of precious ore has been drawn up to the surface of the ground; there is nothing more to be gotten from the once rich earth; and so the miners have all departed to seek a supply elsewhere. Now, as you stand there, in that solitude and desolation, hearing no more the miners song, and missing the busy hum of labour, which perhaps years before had greeted you as you walked over those Cornish lands, you can scarcely help contrasting those empty mines with that ever rich and overflowing treasury of blessing which a gracious God has opened to all His people in Jesus Christ. (A. C. Price, B. A.)

Strong through faith

On an occasion of great drought, which the rain-makers attributed to the missionaries, a Bechuana chief with twelve spears came to command Robert Moffat to leave the territory on pain of death; but he said, You may shed my blood, you may burn my dwelling; but my decision is made: I do not leave your country. And the cause of all this was his faith. He was a man of wonderful faith; he believed the Gospel was the power of God unto salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus. He felt that his Master was ever as near to him, and as full of love, as the wife of his bosom; he felt that Christ must reign until He should put all things beneath His feet; and just because he was so strong in faith, he was so strong altogether. (J. C. Harrison.)

The conflict and the strength

(2Ti_2:1-7):--In these seven verses I see--

I. The apostle enumerating the sort of labours and sufferings which his young disciple Timothy would have to endure.

II. The grace which is suggested to Timothy as sufficient to support him. (D. Wilson, M. A.)

The holy calling of the minister of the Lord

I. The extent of this calling (2Ti_2:1-7). Presented under figures

1. Of the soldier.

2. Of the athlete.

3. Of the husbandman.

II. Motives for the exercise of this calling (2Ti_2:8-13).

1. A look backwards (2Ti_2:8).

2. A look around about one (2Ti_2:9-10).

3. A look orwards (2Ti_2:11-13). (Van Oosterzee.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ti 2:1-2. Thou therefore, my son — Animated by the example of fidelity and courage manifested by Onesiphorus; be strong — Ενδυναμου, be encouraged and strengthened, in a firm reliance on the grace that is in Jesus — And which he is always ready to communicate to all that pray for and expect it. And the things — The wholesome doctrine, (2Ti 1:13,) that thou hast heard of me — To which I have often borne solemn testimony; among many witnesses — See 1Ti 6:12. By these many witnesses, he seems to have meant the elders, deacons, and others, present when Timothy was set apart to the sacred office of the ministry, and received a solemn charge from the apostle to execute his trust faithfully. The same commit thou — With great seriousness, care, and diligence, before thou leavest Ephesus; to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others — After thou art gone: that the truth may be continued, in an uninterrupted succession of such persons, who shall hand it down from one to another throughout all ages, even till the end of time.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exhortations to Flrmness, Uncontentiousness, and Perseverance

1-26. The duties of God's ministers are, (1) to maintain the faith against assailants and seducers (2Ti_2:1-2, 2Ti_2:14-21, 2Ti_2:26), and, (2) to be brave and patient (2Ti_2:3-13, 2Ti_2:22-25).

1. Therefore] will then. Be strong] show the strength which is yours as a Christian and as a minister of Christ.

2. The Apostle refers especially to the charge that he had given to Timothy at his ordination in the presence of the presbyters and others who assisted at it. This charge contained a summary of the faith, which in turn Timothy was to hand on to others. Teach others] probably, 'teach them to others.' They have now been stereotyped in the Scriptures of the NT. and in the Creeds.

3-6. Endure hardness] RV 'suffer hardship with me.' A good soldier] The soldier's virtue is to be shown in resisting, (1) the enemies of the faith, (2) all evil; and with this end in view he will not devote himself to other occupations, but observes the rules of his service. God's minister must be like him, and like the labourer who works hard in the field. In which case, St. Paul adds, he has, like the husbandman, a right to a living wage.

7. If Timothy thinks it over, he will see that it is only reasonable that the presbyter should be supported by a stipend, answering to the labourer's wages.

8. Timothy is to be firm and unflinching in maintaining the doctrines of the Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ, which his adversaries denied.

9, 10. As an evil doer] St. Paul was now probably imprisoned on the charge of setting fire to Rome with the other Christians. He was willing to endure that or anything else provided that so he might make known the salvation in Christ to those whom God had chosen to know it; if the preacher was in chains, the word he preached was unfettered and had free course. St. Paul says this in part as an encouragement to Timothy to suffer with him (2Ti_2:3).

11-13. The Apostle quotes a saying or hymn in use among Christians, which is applicable from its reference to endurance.

11. A faithful saying] 1Ti_1:5; 1Ti_4:9.

13. He abideth faithful] We have been admitted into covenant with Him, and whatever we may do, He will observe the terms of the agreement, whether they bring us good or evil.

14-21. Urgent charge to Timothy to resist the heterodox teaching.

15. Rightly dividing the word of truth] The original word means either cutting a straight path for it, or dealing in a straightforward way with it.

16. They] the heterodox teachers.

17, 18. Hymenaeus] 1Ti_1:20. Of Philetus nothing more is known. Their heresy may have been an allegorical explanation of the Resurrection as the new life of the soul which had been imparted to it by faith in Christ. The belief that 'the resurrection is past already' may have been that Christ's Resurrection was the only one that was to be. A belief like this seems to have prevailed at Corinth: cp. 1Co_15:12, 1Co_15:16, 1Co_15:20.

19. The doctrine of the Resurrection is the sure foundation of God, which stands as a fundamental article of the Christian faith. When the time comes, the Lord will show that He knoweth them that are his, who will be those that during their life on earth have, as Christians, departed from iniquity. This seal] the inscription stamped upon the foundation stone of the faith.

20, 21. In the visible Church there would be some hearts of gold incapable of being seduced, but there would also be some of less precious material liable to be led away by the heterodox teachers; if the latter purged themselves from their false teachers by rejecting their doctrine and ministry, they too would become vessels unto honour.

22-25. Personal to Timothy.

22. Flee.. youthful lusts] avoid a young man's desires after novelty in teaching. (There is apparently no reference to the desires of the flesh.) Avoid foolish questions or speculations which gender strife, and pursue a steadfast course of piety with sincere believers, not entering into controversial disputations, but correcting opponents with gentleness and meekness, not for the sake of victory, but for their good. Also] RV 'but.'

26. St. Paul's thought passes from Timothy's behaviour towards the heterodox to what may be the results of it to themselves namely, their recovery.

J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

II. CONFIRMATION OF TIMOTHY IN THE COMING FUTURE, 2Ti_2:1-26.

1. Personal appeal for boldness, hardihood, endurance of sufferings, in hope of final glory, 2Ti_2:1-13.

1. Thou—The Greek thou, in itself emphatic, and also by position in strong antithesis to the deserters of 2Ti_1:15, and in accordance with Onesiphorus. 2Ti_1:16-18.

Be strong—Warned by the first and confirmed by the second.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

2Ti_2:1. Be strong.—R.V. “be strengthened,” and continue so.

2Ti_2:2. Among many witnesses.—The instrumental form, lit. “by the mediation of,” here is equal to “in presence of many witnesses,” who were present to confirm the word. Able to teach others.—The others would not always be docile learners—others of a different quality or spirit, it is indicated.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—2Ti_2:1-2

The Permanence of Christian Doctrine.

I. That Christian doctrine becomes more vivid as the soul is strengthened by Divine grace.—“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2Ti_2:1). In contrast to the weak conduct of those who had forsaken him, and in imitation of the devotion of a man like Onesiphorus and of his own resolute attitude, the apostle exhorts Timothy to seek increased spiritual strength. In our own strength we can do nothing; but in the grace supplied by Christ to all who believe in Him and ask Him, we find all we need for strengthening our own Christian character, and for imparting instruction to others. Our power to do good will depend upon the degree in which the truth influences our own souls. In the meeting of Elijah and Ahab at the plot of Naboth we have an illustration of the contrast between strength and weakness: the righteous man is strong, the wicked man weak and vacillating.

II. That the reality of Christian doctrine is attested by reliable witnesses.—“The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses” (2Ti_2:2)—by means of many witnesses. Every true believer is a witness of the truth. In other words, the truth is its own witness, exemplified in the changed lives and righteous conduct of those who have embraced it. The public teacher is called by his office to be a faithful and true witness, and the soundness of his doctrine is attested by the manifold witnesses of its transforming power.

III. That the permanence of Christian doctrine is secured by careful transmission to faithful and competent teachers.—“The same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2Ti_2:2). There is only one gospel, and this has been authenticated by its own intrinsic value and by the testimony of incorruptible witnesses, and every care must be taken to preserve this gospel inviolate and transmit it in its purity and strength to future generations. Care must also be taken that the human vehicle of the truth be duly fitted and prepared to convey it to others. Here we have the earliest indication of the formation of a theological school, which shall not only train men to instruct the ignorant, but to defend and maintain the truth in its integrity. The teachers of Christian doctrine must be not only able to teach, but be men of unblemished character and undoubted fidelity. Truth will be rendered permanent not simply by human creeds and ecclesiastical traditions, but by living witnesses of its converting power.

Lessons.—

1. Christian doctrine and practice must go together.

2. We can only witness for the truth as we know it.

3. Experimental religion is the best guarantee of the permanence of truth.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

2Ti_2:1-2. The Custody of the Gospel.

I. The truth of the gospel has been verified by reliable witnesses (2Ti_2:2).

II. Is to be handed on to the custody of faithful and competent teachers (2Ti_2:2).

III. Personal growth in the grace of Christ is essential to the safe custody of the gospel.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

IV

Instruction how and why Timothy should suffer for the cause of the Lord

2Ti_2:1-13

1Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses1 [in the presence of many witnesses], the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able [also] to teach others also. 3Thou therefore endure hardness2 [suffer thou affliction with me], as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.3 4No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier4 [may please the commander]. 5And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. 6The husbandman that laboreth must be first5 partaker of the fruits. 7Consider what I say;6 and the Lord give7 thee understanding in all things 8[for the Lord will give thee, &c]. Remember that Christ Jesus, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel: 9Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil-doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. 10Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sake [on account of the elect], that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11It is a faithful saying [Faithful is the saying]: for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny8 him, he also will deny us: 13If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: [for]9 he cannot deny himself.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

2Ti_2:1. Thou therefore, &c. After the statement (2Ti_1:15-18) of the unfaithulness of many, and the fidelity of one, he addresses himself to Timothy with new exhortations. If he have excited him (2Ti_1:6-18) to stir up the gift within him as much as possible, without allowing himself to be held back through false shame, he now gives him express direction how and why he should suffer for the Lord’s cause. “The glorious paragraph (2Ti_2:1-13) contains, in compressed brevity, all that could animate and encourage not only the beloved pupil of the Apostle to fidelity in Christianity, but what also can strengthen the teachers and Christians of all ages to the firmest and most heroic resolution in faith and conflict;” Heydenreich.—It will appear, from the comment itself, how beautifully everything is connected together. The exhortation (2Ti_2:1-2) can be regarded as a kind of introduction to that which follows immediately; while the Apostle explains farther (2Ti_2:3-7) how and (2Ti_2:8-13) why he should suffer for the name of Christ.—Thou therefore, my son. The contrast to the foregoing is not to be overlooked here. Be the conduct of others as it may, do not allow thyself to be turned from the way thou art upon, but be strong according to the inward man.—Be strong in the grace; about equivalent to, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might (Eph_6:10). ̓Ενδυναμοῦσθαι, to encourage one’s self, to strengthen one’s self inwardly.—In the grace, not only through the grace; so that ἐν must be explained as διά; besides, also, that the grace of Christ makes up, as it were, the element of life in which Timothy moves, and from which his strength is born.—In Christ Jesus; the grace which dwells in complete fulness in Christ, and in His fellowship becomes the personal possession of believers in Him. If this power first were received and preserved, Timothy would be in a condition to fulfil the demand now following. The more deeply Paul feels that the moment is drawing near when he shall quit the scene of his activity, so much the more, naturally, must it be in his mind to leave behind, in his friend and pupil, a courageous and bold witness of Jesus Christ. To this end he gives him now, before all things, a command (2Ti_2:2) how he must act with the treasure of doctrine which he has received from the Apostle.

2Ti_2:2. And the things that thou hast heard of me, &c. We find no sufficient grounds to think here (Huther, De Wette, and others) of a definite transaction—of which mention is made also in 1Ti_4:14; 2Ti_1:6—viz., the ordination of Timothy. We believe much rather (Matthies) that the Apostle is thinking here of his public statements of doctrine, of his own preaching of evangelical doctrine and history, which Timothy must have heard, naturally, often, and which had been made before many witnesses. The correctness of this view appears clear from the fact that Timothy must commit what he has heard to such men as, in their turn, might be in condition to teach others also; from which conclusion of the verse we may well infer that the Apostle, in its beginning also, has referred to his doctrine, and not to special official prescripts, which could find application only in the case of individuals. If a connection be sought between this exhortation and the context, whether preceding or following, then it may be said that Timothy must not only himself fight (2Ti_2:3), but must also gird others, and in this way, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ care for his covenant-comrades (Huther). Perhaps it is still yet simpler, if we consider this exhortation, standing entirely alone, as coming from the Apostle’s pen rather without design, and then say: the Apostle does not bind himself to express through the context what is exercising his mind. In 2Ti_2:3 he continues the series of reflections already begun, uninterruptedly. “But thus writes no forger—so after a plan, yet so spontaneously,” (Wiesinger). Obviously, after what has here been said, the design of the Apostle is now clear. It is not enough for him that Timothy himself preach the truth purely and plainly; he must also have a care that it be transmitted and preserved in its purity and plainness. To this end, all the admonitions occurring here, serve. Timothy has heard the Apostle’s word among many witnesses, διὰ πολλῶν μαρτύρων properly, intervenientibus multis testibus—under the interposition; i.e., here, in presence of many witnesses (Winer, Gramm., p. 338). That which he also must transmit is, in a certain respect, no longer a private possession, but has become already common property. This shall he entrust to faithful men; and now so much the more, since it is his intention (2Ti_4:19) to quit Ephesus, and to go to Paul. “Antequam isthinc ad me proficiscare;” Bengel. By πιστοῖς ἀνθρώποις, we do not understand faithful in general (although it is self-evident that this is presupposed), but true, reliable men, who can guard well, and wisely administer the committed trust (comp. 1Co_4:2; 1Co_4:7; 1Co_4:21).—Who shall be able. Not a new quality added to the foregoing, but, as often, οἵτινες in the sense of quippe qui apti erunt—to teach others also; in other words, to set forth again to others, for their instruction and edification, the gospel which they themselves have first heard. We cannot possibly see here anything else, than that by ἑτέρους we must think of the members of the congregation, and not of teachers. The idea that Timothy—as Paul had done—should gather pupils around him, and that these again should train pupils, so that in the community an order (stamm) of apostolic men might continue which could devote itself to the unimpaired transmission of apostolical doctrine (Huther), appears to us to be thrust into the text, and, when clearly and consistently developed, to lead either to the notion of a sort of esoteric doctrine, or to point to the Roman Catholic theory of tradition.—[“The things agreed on, and consented to by all the other Apostles, do thou commit to able men, and appoint them as bishops to the several churches under thee;” so Dr. Hammond. “I think there is no foundation for all this in the text;” Whitby, in loco.—E. H.]—We avoid this difficulty when we simply so interpret the exhortation, that Timothy should care for the transmission and confirmation of the gospel in the congregation, through other qualified teachers (Lehrorgane).

2Ti_2:3. Thou therefore endure … of Jesus Christ. After what has just been said, the Apostle proceeds farther to the express exhortation to suffer for the cause of the Lord. Συγκακοπάθησυν, suffer with; the true reading, instead of the Recepta, σὺ οὖν κακοπάθησον which, through the superfluous repetition of the σὺ οὐν (2Ti_2:1), gives a flat, cumbrous sense. The word κακοπαθεῖν (comp. 2Ti_2:9, and 2Ti_4:5) is also often used, by the classical writers, of the fatigues, burdens, and deprivations which are connected with military service. Under three distinct figures the Apostle now places before Timothy his Christian calling. The first is that of a soldier. Serving, as such, under the banner of Jesus, he must feel bound partly to endurance and partly to abstinence. Tertull., Ad Martyres, cap 3, p. 138, Edit. Rigalt: “Nemo miles ad bellum cum deliciis venit, sed de papilionibus expeditis et substrictis, ubi omnis duritia, imbonitas et insuavitas consistit.” Also elsewhere, 1Ti_1:18; 1Ti_6:12; 1Co_9:1; 2Co_10:4-5; and especially in Eph_6:12-18, is the same figure employed by the Apostle.

2Ti_2:4. No man … that he may please him that, &c. As the soldier, especially when in active service—ὁ στρατευόμενος—must bear more than others, so, still farther, has he less freedom than others to do everything he may wish. Ἐμπλέκεται signifies, especially, entanglement in something hindering and obstructing (comp. 2Pe_2:20). By πραγματεῖαι (comp. Luk_19:13), we must not think exclusively of lawsuits, but especially of business affairs, and generally of all those occupations which the support of daily life renders necessary, but which also are wholly irreconcilable with a faithful fulfilment of the duties of a soldier. Amongst the ancients, the unnatural combination of one line of activity with another was forbidden by positive laws. Ambros.De Offic., libr. 1, says: “Qui imperatori militat, a susceptionibus litium, actu negotiorum forensicum, venditione mercium prohibetur humanis legibus.”—“He who fights for the Imperator, is prohibited by human laws from litigation, the pursuit of forensic affairs, the sale of merchandise.” [Militares viros civiles curas arripere prohibemus. Quoted by Whitby.—E. H.]—The sole calling of the στρατιώτης is that, through the faithful performance of his duties, he please the commander, τῳ στρατολογήσαντιi.e., the commander-in-chief. The Catholic Church (Roman) has interpreted this prescript literally, in that it has forbidden the clergy, peremptorily, a certain number of unclerical occupations (see Walter’sKirchenrecht, 5th ed., Bonn, 1831, p. 398). On the other hand, upon the Protestant side, the following application was characteristically given to this passage by Melanchthon: “Ita vult ministrum Evangelii totum servire propriæ vocationi et non ingerere se in alienos, in gubernationem politicam. Non habeat minister Evangelii alterum pedem in templo, alterum in curia.” (“So he wishes the minister of the gospel to serve in his own vocation unreservedly, and not to engage in outside affairs, in political management. Let not the minister of the gospel have one foot in the temple and the other in the curia.”) If we ask in what way the Apostle himself has, in his own example, explained this his prescript, then it becomes plain that it must be understood not absolute, but cum grano salis. Paul also, while working with his hands, has eaten his own bread (Act_20:34; 1Co_4:12; lb., 1Co_9:6); and certainly he will not have given this counsel to Timothy unconditionally. But, assuredly, special tact and wisdom are necessary so to manage the inevitable cares and occupations which daily life brings with it, that the cause of the kingdom of God shall be thereby in no wise injured, but rather can gain advantage from their results; as was the case actually with Paul himself, who found occasion, in his own activity, to set forth his example to the community for imitation (see 2Th_3:6-9).

2Ti_2:5. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. The Apostle develops now, yet farther, the same thought in the form of a second figure. To strive, is not synonymous here with στρατεύεσθαι, but is an expression borrowed from the Greeks (ἀθλεῖν), to which he alludes also in 1Co_9:24 and 2Ti_4:7-8 (comp. Heb_12:1). It is not enough, he wishes to say, that a man shall himself only take part in the contest, indifferent how, in other respects, he carries himself; but, chiefly and before all that he conduct himself according to the laws of battle, since without this he can lay no claim to the honor of being crowned. He who fights against the laws of the contest, forfeits his crown; νομίμως ἀθλήσῃ = conformably to the laws. The specific, not tropical sense, is as follows: The minister of the gospel dare not arbitrarily exempt himself from this or that portion of his task, or even direct his activity according to his own discretion; not the bias of his own heart, but the will of the Lord alone must be his standard; so that, without this, it is impossible for him to hope for His approval and recognition.

2Ti_2:6. The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits. The third figure, borrowed from the husbandman, develops once more the same idea, though in a measure, indeed, upon another side. Here, too, there is no promise (De Wette), but an exhortation, grounded upon a comparison with the γεωργός. Κοπιῶντα is put forward with emphasis, for a proof that the Apostle is speaking of a privilege which is accorded exclusively to the laboring, but in no wise to the not-laboring husbandman. There must be work especially with persistent exertion, if one will—what every husbandman naturally wishes—actually gather the fruits of his field. The question only is, in what sense πρῶτον is to be taken, and with what this adverb is to be combined. Not in the sense of ita demum (Heinrichs; also the Dutch translation); as little as an hyperbaton = τὸν γεωργόν κοπιῶντα πρῶτον, κ.τ.λ.; but that also it be connected with μεταλαμβάνειν, and considered equivalent to first, before all others. The Apostle will say, finally, not every husbandman, but he only who labors with assiduity, must first, before all others, enjoy the fruits of his labor. If, consequently, Timothy will claim this privilege for himself, there must be unremitting toil upon his part; just as above, in 2Ti_2:5, his coronation was made dependent upon lawfully-conducted contests. That, for the teacher, the right of a suitable support upon the part of the community exists, is without doubt a Pauline thought (see 1Co_9:7, et seq.); this, nevertheless, is not taught here.

2Ti_2:7. Consider what I say, &c. According to De Wette, this exhortation is apparently superfluous, since the foregoing comparisons were easy for Timothy to understand. “But the sense of the verse is not meant to enlighten the understanding of Timotheus as to the meaning of the metaphors, but as to the personal application of them;” Conybeare and Howson. Hence, also, it is not necessary to adopt the notion (Mosheim, Michaelis), that some secret sense lies hidden under the foregoing comparisons.—And the Lord give thee understanding in all things. This reminder is here all the more appropriate, since an unspiritual understanding of the prescripts of the Apostle, κατὰ οητόν, not κατὰ διάνοιαν, was certainly possible, but not desirable for the community. For the rest, these words, although they refer exclusively to the foregoing, make nevertheless an appropriate transition to what follows (2Ti_2:8-13); in which verses the Apostle names various motives which should determine Timothy to the true fulfilment of the duty which hitherto had been pressed upon his heart.

2Ti_2:8. Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, raised from the dead, &c. First motive: remembrance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul directs the view of his friend and pupil back to that great event which is the foundation of all faith and of all hope of Christians (comp. 1Co_15:12-20). He should hold Jesus Christ in remembrance (here, where there is occasion to speak of the Lord as an historical person, not the name of office—Christ—but the individual name—Jesus—stands first), not in general, but here especially the risen from the dead (ἐγεγερμένον, not ἐγερθέντα). Through the addition, of the seed of David (comp. Rom_1:3), not the lowliness of the person of the Lord, also not His Messianic dignity (Huther), but simply His human descent, His origin is denoted, and truly, indeed, with indirect “polemic” against the docetic error of false teachers; and upon this circumstance special stress is laid, because Timothy could perceive from it that Jesus Christ, although man of flesh and blood as he himself, nevertheless was raised from the dead; and this could contribute, amid the feeling of his own weakness, to his consolation and encouragement. “Hanc unam genealogiam a Timotheo vult attendi, quæ argumento est Jesum esse Christum;” Bengel.—According to my gospel (comp. Rom_2:16; Rom_16:25; 1Ti_1:11). That Paul is thinking here of the gospel of Luke (Jerome, Baur), is wholly unproven. Not without indirect polemic against the preaching of those who do not place the resurrection of the Lord in the forefront, or who reject it decidedly, Paul speaks here so expressly of it, since his train of thought occasions him now, in what follows immediately, to speak of his own person.

2Ti_2:9. Wherein I suffer trouble … unto bonds. A second motive for Timothy. He should direct his look not only backwards, but also around him, to the example of his own teacher and fellow-soldier.—Wherein; for the sake of which—the gospel—ἐν ᾧ, “cujus annuntiandi munere defungens;” Beza.—I suffer, κακοπαθῶ (comp. 2Ti_2:8).—Even unto bonds, μέχρι δεσμῶν. His present bonds are the ultimus terminus ad quem, whither his suffering has gone on until now (comp. Php_2:8), μέχρι θανατοῦ.—As an evil-doer. “Malum passionis, ac si præcessisset malum actionis;” Bengel. The word κακοῦργος, which occurs besides only in the gospel of Luke (Luk_23:39), sounds very well in the mouth of the Apostle, who had so fine a feeling for honor and shame, just to express the nature of his own position; and this so much the more, since, at the latest, his case had taken an unfavorable turn (comp. 2Ti_4:16-17).—But the word of God is not bound. Parenthesis, in which the Apostle gives account of what serves especially for his encouragement amid his heavy sorrows.—The word of God; designation of the gospel, specially upon the side of its Divine origin (comp. 1Th_2:13); not of the Holy Scriptures in general, nor of the Divine promises in particular.—Is not bound, οὐ δέδεται. Antithesis to his own imprisoned estate, τρεχέι (2Th_3:1). The gospel is preached in spite of the imprisonment of Paul, not through himself (as De Wette explains, while he appeals for his interpretation to Act_28:31, for we have to do here with the second imprisonment), but through others.

2Ti_2:10. Therefore … glory.Διὰ τοῦτο; therefore, because the word of God is not bound. The unimpeded course of the gospel is to the Apostle a new proof of its all-embracing power; and the thought inspires him to suffer willingly for a cause which otherwise might seem lost. The additional clause, for the elect’s sake, must thence be understood not as a new ground, but as a more definite statement. By the ἐκλεκτοί, we must think here exclusively just as little of those to whom the gospel is not yet preached, as of those who have already received it (comp. Tit_1:1). The conception is rather to be taken generally. For their sakes he endures all. ’Yπομένω denotes not only passive endurance, but steadfastness, as of a soldier on the attack of the enemy (Wiesinger). It is not so evident what the Apostle means thereby, when he adds yet, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.They also, καὶ αὐτοί; as now already the Apostle himself, upon his part, was conscious of the σωτηρία in Christ. It is nevertheless a question, in what way the sorrow of the Apostle could serve to the furtherance of the same end with the ἐκλεκτοί. That he regarded his own suffering as in no way sin-extinguishing, requires indeed no special mention. The view, further also, that he wishes only to express the salutary influence which the consideration of his ὑπομονή would exert upon the ἐκλεκτοί (De Wette, Huther), will not fairly satisfy us. Certainly it is better, if we paraphrase his thoughts thus: that he, amid all the burdens of his calling, endured, without yielding up the high task of his life, that thereby the elect of God might be partakers of the σωτηρία in Christ, through his persevering, continued preaching (comp. Act_13:48). This σωτηρία is here united with its highest reach—μετὰ δόξης αἰωνίου. “Cum gloriâ æternâ. Hoc finis est salutis, quam in Christo consequimur, salus enim nostra est, Deo vivere, quæ incipit a regeneratione nostra, absolvitur autem plena nostra liberatione, quum nos Deus ex mortalis vitæ ærumnis eductos in regnum suum colligit. Ad hanc salutem accedit participatio cælestis adeoque divinæ gloriæ. Ergo ut Christi gratiam amplificaret, nomen æternæ gloriæ saluti apposuit;” Calvin.—[“With eternal glory. This is the reach of the salvation which we obtain in Christ. For our salvation is to live to God, which begins from our regeneration, but is completed in our full deliverance when God gathers us from the calamities of our mortal life into His kingdom. Participation of heavenly and so of divine glory happens to this salvation. Therefore, that he may magnify the grace of Christ, he adds the name of eternal glory to salvation.”]

2Ti_2:11. It is a faithful saying, &c. Finally, the Apostle adduces a third motive. He directs the look of Timothy forward to the results which are connected in the future as well with the faithfulness as with the unfaithfulness of the servant of Christ. Faithful is the word, must not, as 1Ti_4:9, be referred to the preceding, but, as 1Ti_1:15, to the immediately following. The Apostle strengthens a general thought, and γάρ is equivalent to indeed. “The recent interpreter consider the following sentences, corresponding to each other, as strophes from a church hymn, respecting which, again as before, nothing more can be said than that the passage answers thoroughly well for a hymn, but it cannot be proved to have been taken from one;” (Matthies). But if, now, the words do not constitute a portion of an old Christian church song, surely they deserve to be employed as the text of a Christian hymn.—For if we be dead with (him), we shall also live with (him). A genuine Pauline thought. It is known how (amongst other places, Romans 6.) the whole Christian life is comprehended under the category of a dying and rising again with Christ. Not only the outward resemblance, but also the personal fellowship of the Christian with the Lord, is here meant; and, indeed, he speaks of a death and life in a spiritual sense, not in a pure natural sense. Yet the spiritual dying must certainly attain to such height, that we must be prepared, if necessary, to renounce our natural life for the sake of the Redeemer; while, on the other hand, the true spiritual life which is enjoyed here in consequence of that spiritual dying with Him (mitsterbens) issues in a personal participation of the blessed life in eternity.

2Ti_2:12. If we suffer, we shall also reign with (him). (Comp. Rom_8:17; Eph_2:6.) Not suffering wholly in general, but with Him, σὺν αὐτῷ, is here meant. Reigning with Him is somewhat the same with the phrase, “to reign in life” (Rom_5:17), when, indeed, the Messiah’s kingdom shall be revealed in its full glory.—On the other hand, if we deny (him), he also will deny us. Perhaps an allusion to the Lord’s own words, Mat_10:33; Mar_8:38; to which also 2Pe_2:1; Judges 4, seem to hint. To deny Christ, is, in general, to be ashamed of Him by word or deed. Here, with special reference to the work of the minister of the gospel, to be ashamed, through fear of men, to confess Him freely. He who is guilty of this, finds his sentence already recorded (Mat_7:23).

2Ti_2:13. If we believe not, &c.; not in general, but are unfaithful to our holy calling, and to the vows made before the Lord. That condition is meant, indeed, which constitutes the ground of the denial of the Lord just referred to. “Si abnegamus; ore, si non credimus: corde;” Bengel.—Yet he abideth faithful (comp. Rom_3:3-4). He will not, as we in like case, become untrue to Himself. For he cannot deny himself (see Critical remarks). It is a gross misunderstanding to interpret this last reminder as a word of consolation in any such sense as this:—if we, from weakness, are unfaithful, we may calm ourselves with the thought that He will not break His word; and that, notwithstanding it, His faithfulness to us will be forever confirmed. In a certain sound sense this thought is certainly true; but the connection of the discourse here plainly shows that the Apostle will warn with emphasis, and, in other words, will say: Fancy not, if thou art unfaithful, that the Lord’s punishment will fail. He is just as faithful in His threatenings as in His promises. He remains ever like Himself, and can also just as little endure the unfaithful, as He can allow the faithful to go unrewarded (comp. Heb_2:3; Joh_3:20).

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The prescript of the Apostle in 2Ti_2:2 is specially weighty on this account, because a very significant hint is given for the true relation between Scripture and tradition. Certainly it is true that an apostolic tradition existed before and also apart from the New Testament; so that, in a certain respect, it can be said that the Church has not to thank Scripture for its origin, but was established independently of it. It was this truth which orthodox Protestant theologians have only too often forgotten, but which has been handled, amongst others, by Lessing, with power and good success. On the other side, it is also equally certain that we would not know and authenticate purely the apostolic tradition, if, early, a Scripture had not been at hand, in which it was deposited, and unless this Scripture were the necessary corrective, by which all that presents itself to us as tradition must be proved, and also according to which it must become ever modified.10 In the gospel of John (Joh_21:23), we have the earliest proof in point—how impure tradition already in the earliest age would become, were it not fastened in Scripture, and even explained thereby. The publicity which the Apostle here palpably claims for the pure transmission of his original doctrine, stands, moreover, in noticeable contrast over against the veil of the mysterious, in which false teachers frequently envelop their doctrines.

2. As the threefold figure of the soldier, the athlete, and the husbandman, presents to view the calling and the burdens in the life of the minister of the gospel, so also the calling of each individual Christian, at all times and in all places, admits easily its reapplication.

3. The high value which the Apostle attributes to the bodily resurrection of the Lord, here and in other passages, is, in a remarkable way, in contrast with the spiritualistic and indifferentistic evaporization of this chief article of the gospel, on the side of the modern speculative rationalism of our days.

4. “The word of God is not bound.” Through this thought, which is applicable in the widest sense, the peculiarity of the gospel in opposition to every human institution, even to the law of Moses, is devoted, as well also as its rapid and unhindered spread is explained; while its future conquest over every, even the greatest obstacle, is guaranteed.

5. The suffering of the witnesses for Christ was, and is at all times, one of the most powerful agencies for the furtherance of the gospel (comp. Php_1:12-14; Col_1:24; 2Co_1:5-7). “The sorrow as well as the consolation of a minister of the gospel, as of a leader in Christ’s contest, extends to other Christians for consolation and welfare. His sorrow, in this, that each suffering for Christ, in and with Christ, is a victory; while persistent strength of faith in fierce battle overcomes sin and the world in them, the spectacle is the consolation of all who behold their conflict, and who fight after them. And while the witnesses for Christ again are consoled, now also, according to the deeper experience of life, a rich source of comfort and power streams forth from them into the hearts of others;” Gerlach.—Compare Vinet’s beautiful essay upon Col_1:24 : “Le fidèle achevant les souffrances de Jésus Christ,” in his Études Évangéliques, pp. 112–146.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

What and how the Christian shall suffer for Christ.—The holy calling of the minister of the Lord: (1) The extent of this calling (2Ti_2:1-7). Presented under figures (a) of the soldier, (b) the athlete, (c) the husbandman; (2) motives for the exercise of this calling (2Ti_2:8-13): (a) a look backwards (2Ti_2:8), (b) a look around about one (2Ti_2:9-10), (c) a look forwards (2Ti_2:11-13).—The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the true strength of His own.—Even the best Christian needs, like Timothy, constant strengthening.—Scripture and tradition.—The worth and the want of worth of tradition.—The Christian teacher a soldier of Christ: (a) The enemy against whom, (b) the Leader under whom, (c) the weapons with which, (d) the crown for which he strives.—The inevitable, necessary self-denial which is bound up with the service of the Lord.—What the Christian teacher can learn from the husbandman: (1) No fruit without labor; (2) no labor without reward.—Hold in remembrance, that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead: (1) Why shall this be thought of? This recollection gives power to work, to endurance, to conflict, to dying; (2) how shall this be thought of? Continually, faithfully (in a believing spirit), in joyful hope.—The word of God is not bound, (1) to any person who preaches it, (2) to any form in which it is preached, (3) to any time, place, or other circumstance.—The suffering of the ministers, the gain of the congregations.—Through dying to life, through enduring to reigning, through denial to being denied.—The thought of the faithfulness of the Lord an inestimable consolation for His own, but likewise a most earnest warning.—The great antithesis and the inner connection between the this-side and the beyond-side in Christian life.—The higher the calling, so much the heavier the responsibility.—He who will win the highest, must also venture the highest.—The faithfulness of the Lord not bound to our unfaithfulness.

Starke: Bibl. Würt.: Christians must not only stand by Divine truth, but they must do their utmost that it be transmitted to posterity, upon which account they should support churches and schools, and should help care for their preservation (2Th_3:1).—Cramer: Beautiful evidence of three main articles of the Christian faith: that Christ is true man, born of the seed of David, was really dead, and is really risen from the dead (Luk_24:6-7).—Hedinger: The suffering and glory of Christ in common with His members.—It belongs to the mystery of the cross of Christ, that, the more purely any one preaches it, the more persecution, or at least evil report of the doctrine, he experiences on account of it.—Quesnel: Happy, and eternally glorious, are different.—That God gives eternal life to them who, for the sake of Christ, die the martyr’s death, no one doubts; but that every Christian is under obligation to die with Christ through the mortifying of his own pleasures and desires, and to put to death his former sins through the martyrdom of penitence, is not believed, and yet it must be believed just as much as the other.

Heubner: God has formed for Himself, out of weak and despised ones, the strongest instruments.—No human power can suppress the word of God, or hinder its course.—No rejected person will be able to complain to the Lord, and say He has not kept His word.

Lisco: What adorns the minister of Christ?—Be faithful even unto death.—The picture of a good soldier of Christ: (1) His quality (2Ti_2:1-7); (2) his encouragements and strenthenings (2Ti_2:8-13).—Wholly to Christ do we belong in life, suffering, and dying.—Of the conflict and of the crown of the Christian.—Palmer: The entire pericope, as an admonition to Christians, confirmed.—Schröder: The confirmation solemnity a farewell solemnity: (1) What is the home we thereby leave? (2) what is the strange land into which we are introduced? (3) what staff is thereby given into our hands?

2Ti_2:8, appropriate especially to the Festival of Easter, or the Sunday following.

Footnotes:

[1]2Ti_2:2.—[διὰ πολλῶν μαρτύρων = amid, i.e., in the presence of, yet not = ἐνώπιον; so Huther. These witnesses assisted by their presence.—E. H.]

[2]2Ti_2:3.—[συγκακοπάθησον. The ordinary text, Leide dich. The reading συγκακοπάθησον must, on the authority of A. C.1 D.1 E.1 F. G., Sin., and others, be preferred to the usual σὺ οὐν κακοπάθέσον. [Lachmann also reads συγκακοπάθησον.—E. H.]

[3]2Ti_2:3.—[Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ is preferable to ̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ; is supported by the weightiest authorities.—E. H.]

[4]2Ti_2:4.—[τῷ στρατολογήσαντι; badly translated in the English Version; though it would seem to have some support in the Vulgate—cui se probavit.—E. H.]

[5]2Ti_2:6.—[πρῶτον; so all the authorities and modern critical editions; but the Sin. reads πρότερον.—E. H.]

[6]2Ti_2:7.—[ἄ λέγω; Lachmann and Tischendorf, on the authority of the evidence, read ὁ. The Sin. also has ὁ.—E. H.]

[7]2Ti_2:7.—δώσει, not δῷη; see Tischendorf. [The English Version misses the sense, and leaves out the illative particle here, which has some emphasis.—E. H.]

[8]2Ti_2:13.—[The Recepta has ἀρνούμεθα. Lachmann, and, after him, Tischendorf, reads ἀρνησόμεθα. The authorities are in its favor.—E. H.]

[9]2Ti_2:13.—[The particle γὰρ was not in the text our translators used.—E. H.]

[10][An important principle, well stated.—E. H.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

II. FAITH’S CONFLICT AND THE BELIEVER’S PATH

CHAPTER 2

1. The apostle’s charge (2Ti 2:1-2)

2. As soldier and husbandman (2Ti 2:3-7)

3. Identification with Christ (2Ti 2:8-13)

4. Exhortation and warning (2Ti 2:14-18)

5. The great House (2Ti 2:19-22)

6. The believer’s path (2Ti 2:23-26)

2Ti 2:1-2

First we find a charge of the apostle to his spiritual son Timothy. The blessed servant of the Lord knew that he was soon to depart, and therefore he charges Timothy to commit the great truths concerning the Gospel, which he had heard from the lips of the apostle in the presence of many witnesses, to faithful men, who are able to teach others. To the apostle it had been given to complete the Word of God (Col 1:25). No new revelation is promised through Timothy, but he is charged to communicate the revealed truth to others, who would be chosen by the Lord, as His gifts to the Church, to propagate His truth. This is the only true apostolic succession, not through the church as an organization, nor through certain men who claim ecclesiastical authority, but through those who hold the form of sound words and who minister it to others in the energy of the Spirit of God. Timothy needed for this the strength of the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And so does every servant of Christ.

2Ti 2:3-7

Here the qualities that Timothy ought to possess in order to carry on the work are given by the apostle. As a good soldier of Jesus Christ, warring a spiritual warfare, he must suffer hardships and many privations. He must beware not to be entangled with the affairs of this life. The soldier’s calling is to please him who has called him, and all else, comforts and self-indulgence must be sacrificed. The soldier does this to obtain a corruptible crown, how much more then should the soldier of Jesus Christ do this to gain an incorruptible crown!

The Christian is also a laborer, a husbandman. He must labor first in order to enjoy fully the fruit of his labor. And that requires patience. He urges Timothy to consider what he tells him, with the assurance that the Lord would give him understanding in all things. These are the practical conditions for all who are engaging in service--enduring hardship, self-denial, unentangled, separated from the world and its ways, fighting lawfully and laboring first to be partaker of the fruits.

2Ti 2:8-13

In connection with this he was to remember “that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from among the dead” according to the gospel, which he calls “my gospel”--”wherein I suffer as an evildoer, even unto bonds; but the Word of God is not bound.” Christ suffered, and though He is of the seed of David and has the promises of David’s throne, yet it is not yet His; He waits patiently for it upon the Father’s throne. In the meantime He, raised from among the dead (the seal upon His blessed work), has given His gospel of grace and glory to be preached. And suffering is connected with this (Php 3:10; Col 1:24).

“The afflictions found in the path of service in the gospel assume here a high and peculiar character in the mind of the suffering and blessed apostle. It is participation in the sufferings of Christ, and, in the case of Paul, to a very remarkable degree. The expressions he uses are such as might be employed in speaking of Christ Himself as regards His love. As to the propitiation, naturally no other could take part in that: but in devotedness, and in suffering for love and for righteousness, we have the privilege of suffering with Him. And here what part had the apostle with these sufferings? ‘I endure,’ He says, ‘all things for the elect’s sake.’ This is truly what the Lord did. The apostle trod closely on His footsteps, and with the same purpose of love--’that they might obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory,’ Here of course the apostle has to add, ‘which is in Christ Jesus’; still, the language is marvellous in the lips of any other person than the Lord Himself For it is what Christ did.”

The servant is identified with his Lord and called upon to go in the same path. “It is a faithful saying, for if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.” While this is true positionally of all believers, all have died in Christ and live in Him, the meaning here is the practical manifestation of it in self-denial and suffering with Him. If we suffer and endure we shall also reign with Him. And if any deny Him He will also deny them before His judgment seat (Mat 10:33). These are solemn words little heeded in our days of laxity and declension. “If we are unfaithful, yet He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself,” that is, His own nature. “The One we serve must of necessity be served according to the reality of what He is. The Righteous One must be served in righteousness; the Holy One, in holiness; the One who is not of the world, by those who seek no place in the world. We cannot make Christ other than He is, and we cannot make the world other than it is” (Numerical Bible).

2Ti 2:14-18

These things he was to remember. And if they are remembered they will bring deliverance from the strife about words, vain and unessential disputations in which there is no profit, which only subvert the hearers. It is through disputes about words, and speculations, that Satan brings in his most subtle deceptions. The true way is to strive diligently to show oneself approved of God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, “rightly dividing the Word of truth.” What a havoc has been wrought by a wrong dividing of the Word of truth! Law and grace have been jumbled together, Israel robbed of her promises, and the church impoverished on account of it. The Word of God and the truth of God have suffered most from the hands of such unskilled workmen, who, not dividing the Word of truth rightly, have produced confusion worse confounded. The sad division of Christendom, a carnally minded, professing church, is the fruit of it, and much else. The whole truth of God has been obscured, and unbelief fostered by it. To insist upon “rightly dividing the Word of truth” and to practice it both in teaching and living is a most essential requirement of the true workman.

Profane and vain babblings are to be avoided, for they only produce ungodliness. Hymenaeus and Philetus, who held that the resurrection had taken place already and thereby overthrew the faith of some, were examples of it. How true it is that error is like a gangrene, spreading vileness and corruption everywhere.

2Ti 2:19-22

But in the midst of the declension and perversion of the truth of God, as it began in apostolic days, and is now more fully developed in our own times, there is the foundation of God, which stands firm and unmovable. Christ is the foundation of faith, and of His church. There is a double seal. “The Lord knoweth them that are His”--this is the divine side. This statement is given for the comfort of His own, and it is a most precious comfort, “the Lord knoweth them that are His.” But this comforting assurance must lead us into communion with Himself. If He knoweth us as His own, we also know Him and delight ourselves in His fellowship. And so we also know in the days of decline and departure from the truth, that the Lord knows and keeps those who belong to Him. But there is also another side, “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” This is the solemn responsibility of every one who nameth that blessed Name, which is above every name. This is the true evidence that we walk in real fellowship with Him, that He knows us and we know Him.

The great house of which Paul speaks is Christendom. It contains vessels of gold and silver, and vessels of wood and earth, some to honor and some to dishonor. Here we have the two classes found in the professing church, those who are really the Lord’s, known of Him, who know Him, who walk in His fellowship and witness to it by departing from iniquity; and the other class, which merely profess His name, who have the outward form of godliness, but deny the power thereof; more fully described in chapter 3:1-5. If the true believer is to be a vessel fit for the Master’s use he must purge himself individually from such. This is demanded again by the apostle when in the above passage, describing the moral character of these vessels to dishonor, vessels of wood and earth, he writes, “from such turn away.” This is the solemn responsibility of every true believer; he is not to be in fellowship with such, and when obedient to this call the believer becomes a sanctified vessel, a vessel set apart, separated, and then as such a fit vessel for the Master’s use and prepared unto every good work.

The whole of that which calls itself “Christian” is looked at here as a great house. The Christian is of it outwardly, in spite of himself, for he calls himself a Christian, and the great house is all that calls itself Christian. But he cleanses himself personally from every vessel which is not to the Lord’s honor. This is the rule of Christian faithfulness; and thus personally cleansed from fellowship with evil, he shall be a vessel unto honor fit for the Master’s use. Whatsoever is contrary to the honor of Christ, in those who bear His Name, is that from which he is to separate himself.

By purging himself from all those who are unto dishonor, the servant of God shall be unto honor, sanctified and prepared for every good work. For this separation from evil is not merely negative; it is the effect of the realization of the word of God in the heart. I then understand what the holiness of God is, His rights over my heart, the incompatibility of His nature with evil. I feel that I dwell in Him and He in me; that Christ must be honored at all costs; that that which is like Him alone honors Him; that His nature and His rights over me are the only rule of my life. That which thus separates me unto Him, and according to what He is, separates me thereby from evil. One cannot walk with those who dishonor Him, and, at the same time, honor Him in one’s own walk (Synopsis Of the Bible).

2Ti 2:22-26

Exhortations follow pointing out the way the servant of Christ is to walk and serve as a vessel unto honor, and fit for the Master’s use. He is to flee youthful lusts and follow righteousness, faith, love and peace, in true fellowship with all who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. His service, under the direction of the Lord, must be among those who are destitute of the truth and who are ensnared by the devil, though they profess to be religious. The servant of the Lord has a solemn responsibility towards such. How he is to act in this service is given in 2Ti 2:24-26. And blessed are those servants who, walking in true separation, reach out for the unsaved masses of professing Christendom and labor in love in the great house.

Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Division 2. (2Ti 2:1-13.)

The conflict of faith.

We now come to the general subject of the conflict of faith, the apostle addressing himself to one who evidently was naturally of a timid spirit, while yet possessing heartfelt desire to be with Christ at all cost; but this being with Christ entailed the service of One who Himself had gone to death in the pursuit of His service, whom God had raised from the dead. In a hostile world as a soldier, he was to be free and without entanglement. As a husbandman, he must realize the long and patient labor that had to be before the fruits could be partaken of. The principle abides for all of us, of course at all times; the apostle insists upon the faithfulness of the word, that it is, if we have died together with Him, that we shall live together; that if we endure, we shall reign with Him; and that, on the other hand, if we deny Him, He also will deny us. The one thing impossible to Him ever is that He can deny Himself.

1. The first need, therefore, in view of the circumstances, is to be strong, and grace is that which alone will furnish us with the strength we need. Timothy was, with the courage of his conviction, to entrust the things which he had heard of the apostle, in the presence of many witnesses, to faithful men who should be able to teach others also. This is the apostolic succession which we are to look for in Christianity, and it is the only one. It is a succession of those who hold the doctrine of the apostles, energized by the Spirit of God. It is at once most sorrowful and very comforting to realize how little the history of the Church is the history of those who were at any time approved of God. The first Church history was written when already a debased Christianity had accepted alliance with the world.

Paul’s Christianity had found its place of shipwreck; but Christendom had found, also, its Melita, its harbor of refuge, its land of milk and honey. The millennium was supposed to be at hand, but it was only the preparation time of the new ship of Alexandria which was to bring the whole company with Paul, a prisoner, safely to Rome. It is well for us to think that the principle of what is here, however, must apply all through, and that it is right to think of the succession of faithful men who should be able to teach others. It is right, as far as lies in us, to provide for this; but it is only the power of the Spirit that can make anything effectual here, and who will assuredly take care of the glory of Christ, whatever may be before us.

2. Timothy was to take his share in suffering, then, "as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Here there was, as a first necessity, the need of being free from entanglement with the affairs of life. What a rebuke this calling of a soldier is to those who, if they be Christ’s, must necessarily be such, but who think it hard to have to conform to the requirements of a soldier’s life! Think of men who have to leave everything, perhaps, at a moment’s notice, to put their lives in peril, and all to obtain, at most, the praise of men, the corruptible crown, which so soon must surely wither. The strife which belongs to us as Christians, however sad may be the circumstances which force one into opposition, is one, nevertheless, as to which there can never be a doubt in the soul as to the importance of that for which it is undergone -the goodness of that which is to be the reward of it. There is no throwing away of life upon a cause which may, after all, prove to be a mistake; and if the conflict even take the form, as now it must needs take it, of contention with the evil which exists among Christians themselves, and oftentimes with those who are themselves Christians, none the less it is that which can rightly engage all the energy of the soul to carry it to victory. The apostle warns us here, indeed, by another figure, that if one strive for mastery, he is not crowned except he strive lawfully. The method and character of the strife on our side must be subject to the moral conditions which never can be absent for one who is to expect his reward from God. The rightness of the cause does not release from the necessity of having every step taken to be as right as the end is. The principle of the world warfare, that in war everything is lawful, has no place in the Christian one. The end does not sanctify the means, but the better the end, the more worthy must be the means employed to attain it.

The apostle adds to this the need of patience. We are not merely soldiers, we are laborers; and the labor must come first, before there can be any partaking of the fruits. Long labor it may be, and faith needed, as we put seed into the ground, only apparently, perhaps, to be swallowed up by it, and have to wait how long to see the resurrection of that which must die first in order to bring forth fruit! Painful to nature, here are yet the conditions of the divine work; but they are necessitated by what man is on the one hand, and by the distinct need of the stamp of God being upon all that He is doing. Resurrection, the principle of which the apostle has already shown us to be in the seed sown, is that which on the one hand reveals man’s condition to the full, and on the other hand displays the power of God working in its own sovereign and almighty character. The apostle urges Timothy to think well of what he is saying. And here he will find the understanding which the Lord will surely give for all the way.

3. This principle the apostle now enlarges upon: "Jesus Christ, of the seed of David," did not, nevertheless, quietly succeed to David’s throne; undoubted might be His title, and sure that He was to fill it; nevertheless, upon all this, death was to pass. The very promises of God were to know this law of death and resurrection. A higher character of things, of course, ensues, and a more glorious throne than that of David is to be the portion of Him who passed through death to obtain it; but it was this which already furnished the gospel of God for men, and it was no wonder if, in the sowing of this gospel seed, there should be still the same principle observed all through. The bringer of the word of peace must meet the sword; the bringer of blessing for the souls of men must suffer as an evil-doer unto bonds; but it was to prove, also, that the word of God could not be bound; that the opposition of man could not, in fact, prevail against it. There were those who yet would, through the grace of God, fulfil the purpose of God in the obtaining of that salvation which was in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. God was acting for the Son of His love, and it was impossible that the fruits of His work could finally be wanting. Death itself was in this case no Sadducean annihilation of that which died. And a death with Christ is the very condition of life. Here is the faithful word, that "if we have died together with Him, we shall also live together." There is no other way. Grace itself does not deliver us from the necessity of abiding by such conditions as these. It is a principle stamped upon nature itself, and which Christianity only brings out and exhibits in its full meaning and necessity. We must endure the suffering in order to reign with Him. We must have the cross to find the crown; and then, alas, there is the possibility, even to a Christian, of shrinking from the trial, and, in some sad sense at least, if not in an open way, denying Him: but then we must expect a corresponding denial. Grace will have its way surely, but grace itself conforms to the conditions which are here. This is the way grace manifests itself, and we cannot in any sense, or in any particular, deny that which is of Christ, deny Him therefore in any part of that which belongs to Him, without finding in ourselves the corresponding recompense; and "if we are unfaithful," says the apostle, "He abideth faithful, He cannot deny Himself," His own nature. This is what makes the conditions so absolute. The One we serve must of necessity be served according to the reality of what He is. The Righteous One must be served in righteousness; the Holy One, in holiness; the One who is not of the world, by those who seek no place in the world. We cannot make Christ other than He is, and we cannot make the world other than it is.

F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 29

THE NEED OF MACHINERY FOR THE PRESERVATION AND TRANSMISSION OF THE FAITH-THE MACHINERY OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. - 2Ti_2:1-2

In this tenderly affectionate address we have a very early indication of the beginnings of Christian tradition and Christian schools, two subjects intimately connected with one another. St. Paul having pointed out as a warning to his "child" Timothy the cold or cowardly behavior of those in Asia who had turned away from him, and as an example the affectionate courage of Onesiphorus, returns to the charge of which this letter is so full, that Timothy is "not to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord," but be willing to "suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God." {2Ti_1:8} "Thou, therefore, my child," with these instances in mind on the one hand and on the other, "be inwardly strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." In his own strength he will be able to do nothing; but in the grace which Christ freely bestows on all believers who ask it of Him, Timothy will be able to find all that he needs for the strengthening of his own character and for the instruction of others.

And here St. Paul, in a way thoroughly natural in one who is writing a letter which is personal rather than official, diverges for a moment to give utterance to the idea which passes through his mind of securing permanence in the instruction of the faithful. Possibly it was in reference to this duty that he feared the natural despondency and sensitiveness of Timothy. Timothy would be likely to shrink from such work, or to do it in a half-hearted way. Or again the thought that this letter is to summon Timothy to come to him is in his mind, {2Ti_4:9; 2Ti_4:21} and he forthwith exhorts him to make proper provision for continuity of sound teaching in the Church committed to his care. "The things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." In other words, before leaving his flock in order to visit his spiritual father and friend, he is to secure the establishment of apostolic tradition. And in order to do this he is to establish a school, -a school of picked scholars, intelligent enough to appreciate, and trustworthy enough to preserve, all that has been handed down from Christ and His Apostles respecting the essentials of the Christian faith. There is only one Gospel, -that which the Apostles have preached ever since the Ascension. It is so well known, so well authenticated both by intrinsic sublimity and external testimony, that no one would be justified in accepting a different Gospel, even upon the authority of an angel from heaven. A second Gospel is an impossibility. That which is not identical with the Gospel which St. Paul and the other Apostles have preached would be no Gospel at all. {Gal_1:6-9} And this Divine and Apostolic Gospel is the Gospel which has been committed to Timothys charge. Let him take all reasonable care for its preservation.

For in the first place, such care was commanded from the outset. Christ has promised that His truth shall continue and shall prevail. But He has not exempted Christians from the duty of preserving and propagating it. He, Who is the Truth, has declared that He is ever with His Church, even unto the end of the world; {Mat_28:20} and in fulfillment of this promise He has bestowed the Spirit of truth upon it. But He has nowhere hinted that His Church is to leave the cause of His Gospel to take care of itself. On the contrary, at the very time that He promised to be always with His disciples, He prefaced this promise with the command, "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you"; as if His promise were contingent upon their fulfillment of this charge. At the very moment when the Church received the truth, it was told that it had the responsibility of safeguarding it and making it known.

And, secondly, experience has proved how entirely necessary such care is. The Gospel cannot be superseded by any announcement possessing a larger measure of truth and authority. So far as the present dispensation goes, its claims are absolute and final. But it may be seriously misunderstood; it may be corrupted by large admixture of error; it may be partially or even totally forgotten; it may be supplanted by some meretricious counterfeit. There were Thessalonians who had supposed that the Gospel exempted them from the obligation of working to earn their bread. There were Christians at Corinth and Ephesus who had confounded the liberty of the Gospel with antinomian license. There was the Church of Sardis which had so completely forgotten what it had received, that no works of its doing were found fulfilled before God, and the remnant of truth and life which survived was ready to perish. And the Churches of Galatia had been in danger of casting on one side the glories of the Gospel and returning to the bondage of the Law. Through ignorance, through neglect, through willful misrepresentation or interested opposition, the truth might be obscured, or depraved, or defeated; and there were few places where such disastrous results were more possible than at Ephesus. Its restless activity in commerce and speculation; its worldliness; the seductiveness of its forms of paganism; - all these constituted an atmosphere in which Christian truth, unless carefully protected, would be likely to become tainted or be ignored. Even without taking into account the proposal that Timothy should leave Ephesus for awhile and visit the Apostle in his imprisonment at Rome, it was no more than necessary precaution that he should endeavor to secure the establishment of a permanent center for preserving and handing on in its integrity the faith once for all committed to the saints.

"The things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses." The last three words are remarkable; and they are still more remarkable in the original Greek. St. Paul does not say simply "in the presence of many witnesses" (ενωπιον or παροντων πολλων μαρτυρων ), but "by means of many witnesses" (διαρων). In the First Epistle {1Ti_6:12} he had appealed to the good confession which Timothy had made "in the sight of many witnesses." As regards Timothys confession these were witnesses and no more. They were able forever afterwards to testify that he had made it; but they did not help him to make it. The confession was his, not theirs, although no doubt they assented to it and approved it; and their presence in no way affected its goodness. But here those who were present were something more than mere witnesses of what the Apostle said to Timothy: they were an integral part of the proceeding. Their presence was an element without which the Apostles teaching would have assumed a different character. They were not a mere audience, able to testify as to what was said; they were guarantees of the instruction which was given. The sentiments and opinions which St. Paul might express in private to his disciple, and the authoritative teaching which he delivered to him in public under the sanction of many witnesses, were two different things and stood on different grounds. Timothy had often heard from his friend his personal views on a variety of subjects; and he had often heard from the Apostle his official testimony, delivered solemnly in the congregation, as to the truths of the Gospel. It is this latter body of instruction, thus amply guaranteed, of which Timothy is to take such care. He is to treat it as a treasure committed to his charge, a precious legacy which he holds in trust. And in his turn he is to commit it to the keeping of trustworthy persons, who will know its value, and be capable of preserving it intact and of handing it on to others as trustworthy as themselves.

Some expositors interpret the passage as referring, not to the Apostles public teaching as a whole, but to the instructions which he gave to Timothy at his ordination respecting the proper discharge of his office; and the aorist tense (ηκουσας) favors the view that some definite occasion is intended. {comp. 1Ti_4:14; 2Ti_1:6} In that case the Apostle is here showing anxiety for the establishment of a sound tradition respecting the duties of ministers, - a very important portion, but by no means the main portion of the teaching which he had imparted. But the aorist does not compel us to confine the allusion to some one event, such as Timothys ordination or baptism; and it seems more reasonable to understand the charge here given as a continuation of that which occurs towards the close of the first chapter. There he says, "Hold the pattern of sound words which thou hast heard" (ηκουσας) "from me"; and here he charges Timothy not merely to hold this pattern of sound words fast himself, but to take care that it does not perish with him.

This, then, may be considered as the earliest trace of the formation of a theological school, -a school which has for its object not merely the instruction of the ignorant, but the protection and maintenance of a definite body of doctrine. That which the Apostle, when he was in Ephesus, publicly taught, under the sanction of a multitude of witnesses, is to be preserved and handed on without compromise or corruption as a pattern of wholesome doctrine. There are unhealthy and even deadly distortions of the truth in the air, and unless care is taken to preserve the truth, it may easily become possible to confuse weak and ignorant minds as to what are the essentials of the Christian faith.

The question as to the earliest methods of Christian instruction and the precautions taken for the preservation of Apostolic tradition is one of the many particulars in which our knowledge of the primitive Church is so tantalizingly meager. A small amount of information is given us in the New Testament, for the most part quite incidentally, as here; and then the history runs underground, and does not reappear for a century or more. The first few generations of Christians did not contain a large number of persons who were capable of producing anything very considerable in the way of literature. Of those who had the ability, not many had the leisure or the inclination to write. It was more important to teach, by word of mouth than with the pen; and where was the use of leaving records of what was being done, when (as was generally believed) Christ would almost immediately appear to put an end to the existing dispensation? Out of what was written much, as we know, has perished, including even documents of Apostolic origin. {Luk_1:1-2; 1Co_5:9; 3Jn_1:9} Therefore, much as we lament the scantiness of the evidence that has come down to us, there is nothing surprising about it. The marvel is, not that so little contemporary history has reached us, but that so much has done so. And what it behooves us to do is to make a sober use of such testimony as we possess.

We shall be doing no more than drawing a reasonable conclusion from the passage before us if we infer that what St. Paul enjoins Timothy to do at Ephesus was done in many other Churches also, partly in consequence of this Apostolic injunction, and partly because what he enjoins would be suggested in many cases by necessity and common sense. This inference is confirmed by the fact that it is precisely to the continuity of doctrine secured by a regular succession of authorized and official teachers in the different Churches that appeal is continually made by some of the earliest Christian writers whose works have come down to us. Thus Hegesippus cir. A.D. 170) gives as the result of careful personal investigations at Corinth, Rome, and elsewhere, "But in every succession (of bishops) and in every city there prevails just what the Law and the Prophets and the Lord proclaim" (Eus., "H.E.," IV, 22:3). Irenaeus, in his great work against heresies, which was completed about A.D. 185, says, "We can enumerate those who were appointed bishops by the Apostles themselves in the different Churches, and their successors down to our own day; and they neither taught nor acknowledged any such stuff as is raved by these men"

But since it would be a long business in a work of this kind to enumerate the successions in all the Churches, he selects as a primary example that of "the very great and ancient Church, well known to all men, founded and established by the two most glorious Apostles Peter and Paul." After giving the succession of Roman bishops from Linus to Eleutherus, he glances at Smyrna, presided over by St. Johns disciple, Polycarp, whose letter to the Philippian Church shows what he believed, and at Ephesus, founded as a Church by St. Paul and presided over by St. John, until the times of Trajan (III 3:1-3). Again he says that, although there may be different opinions respecting single passages of Scripture, yet there can be none as to the sum total of its contents, viz., "that which the Apostles have deposited in the Church as the fullness of truth, and which has been preserved in the Church by the succession of bishops." And again, still more definitely, "The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world even to the ends of the earth, has received from the Apostles and their disciples the belief in one God, Father Almighty, etc. Having received this preaching and this belief, the Church, as we said before, although dispersed about the whole world, carefully guards it, as if dwelling in one house; and she believes these things, as if she had but one soul and one and the same heart, and with perfect concord she preaches them and teaches them and hands them down, as if she possessed but one mouth. For although the languages up and down the world are different, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same. For neither the Churches which are established in Germany believe anything different or hand down anything different, nor in Spain, nor in Gaul, nor throughout the East, nor in Egypt, nor in Libya, nor those established about the central regions of the earth And neither will he who is very mighty in word among those who preside in the Churches utter different [doctrines] from these (for no one is above the Master), nor will he who is weak in speaking lessen the tradition" (I 10. I, 2). Clement of Alexandria (cir. A.D. 200) tells us that he had studied in Greece, Italy, and the East, under teachers from Ionia, Coelesyria, Assyria, and Palestine; and he writes of his teachers thus: "These men, preserving the true tradition of the blessed teaching directly from Peter and James, from John and Paul, the holy Apostles, son receiving it from father (but few are they who are like their fathers), came by Gods providence even to us, to deposit among us those seeds which are ancestral and apostolic" ("Strom.," I p. 322, ed. Potter). Tertullian in like manner appeals to the unbroken tradition, reaching back to the Apostles, in a variety of Churches: "Run over the Apostolic Churches, in which the very chairs of the Apostles still preside in their places, in which their own authentic writings are read, uttering the voice and representing the face of each of them"; and he mentions in particular Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, Ephesus, and Rome. "Is it likely that Churches of such number and weight should have strayed into one and the same faith?" ("De Pries. Hoer.," 28., 36.).

This evidence is quite sufficient to prove that what St. Paul charged Timothy to do at Ephesus was done not only there, but at all the chief centers of the Christian Church: viz., that everywhere great care was taken to provide continuity of authoritative teaching respecting the articles of the faith. It indicates also that as a rule the bishop in each place was regarded as the custodian of the deposit, who was to be chiefly responsible for its preservation. But the precise method or methods (for there was probably different machinery in different places) by which this was accomplished, cannot now be ascertained. It is not until near the end of the second century that we begin to get anything like precise information as to the way in which Christian instruction was given, whether to believers or heathen, in one or two of the principal centers of Christendom; e.g., Alexandria, Caesarea, and Jerusalem.

St. Paul himself had ruled that a bishop must be "apt to teach" (1Ti_3:2; comp. Tit_1:9); and although we have no reason to suppose that as a rule the bishop was the only or even the chief instructor, yet he probably selected the teachers, as Timothy is directed to do here. In the great Catechetical School of Alexandria the appointment of what we should now call the Rector or senior professor was in the hands of the bishop. And, as we might expect, bishops selected clergy for this most important office. It forms one of the many contrasts between primitive Christianity and heathenism, that Christians did, and pagans did not, regard it as one of the functions of the priesthood to give instruction in the traditional faith. The heathen clergy, if consulted, would give information respecting the due performance of rites and ceremonies, and the import of omens and dreams; but of their giving systematic teaching as to what was to be believed respecting the gods, there is no trace.

It is more than probable that a great deal of the instruction both to candidates for baptism and candidates for the ministry was from very early times reduced to something like a formula; even before the dangers of corruption arising from Gnosticism rendered this necessary, we may believe that it took place. We know that the Gospel history was m the first instance taught orally; and the oral instruction very soon-fell into something that approached to a stereotyped form. This would probably be the case with regard to statements of the essentials of the Christian faith. In Ignatius ("Philad.," 8.), Justin Martyr ("Apol.," I 61, 66), and in Irenaeus ("Haer.," I 10. i) we can trace what may well have been formulas in common use. But it is not until the middle of the fourth century that we get a complete example of the systematic instruction given by a Christian teacher, in the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, delivered, however, before his episcopate.

But what is certain respecting the earliest ages of the Church is this; that in every Church regular instruction in the faith was given by persons in authority specially selected for this work, and that frequent intercourse between the Churches showed that the substance of the instruction given was in all cases the same, whether the form of words was identical or not. These facts, which do not by any means stand alone, are conclusive against the hypothesis that between the Crucifixion and the middle of the second century a complete revolution in the creed was effected; and that the traditional belief of Christians is not that which Jesus of Nazareth taught, but a perversion of it which owes its origin mainly to the overwhelming influence of His professed follower, but virtual supplanter, Saul of Tarsus.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

2:1-13 Timothy is again told to be strong and to endure suffering along with Paul (2:1-7; see 1:8). Timothy’s obedience should be motivated by reflecting on the Good News and on Paul’s example (2:8-13).

2:1 Timothy, my dear son (literally Therefore you, my child): In the Greek, therefore links this phrase back to 1:15-18 and the emphatic you is in contrast to those examples.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2Ti 2:1. Σὺ, thou) The exhortation is intensified; 2Ti 2:3, ch. 2Ti 3:10, note [in antithesis to the previously mentioned backsliders, ch. 2Ti 1:15].—τέκνου μου, my son) An argument why Timothy should imitate Paul, viz. from his spiritual relationship.—ἐνδυναμοῦ) 2Ti 1:7, be strong, and show thyself to be so. [This is treated of in 2Ti 2:3-13.—V. g.]—ἐν τῇ χάριτι, in the grace) Common grace incites and strengthens us even for extraordinary duties. It is an incentive and stimulus.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ti_2:1. After interrupting his exhortations by an allusion to the unfaithful Asiatics and to the faithful Onesiphorus, Paul with σύ resumes his exhortations to Timothy, at the same time connecting them by οὖν with those already given. In the first place, he now appeals to him: ἐνδυναμοῦ ἐν τῇ χάριτι τῇ ἐν Χρ. Ἰησ.] ἐνδυναμοῦσθαι does not mean: feel oneself strong, nor: depend on something (Heydenreich); but: become strong, grow strong (see Eph_6:10). The active voice is found in 2Ti_4:17 and 1Ti_1:12. As the apostle sees the end of his labours draw nearer, he is the more anxious that Timothy, for whom he has the warmest paternal love (τέκνον μου), should become a stronger and bolder champion for the Lord.

ἐν τῇ χάριτι] may either be a completion of the idea of ἐνδυναμοῦ (Wiesinger), or define it more precisely (van Oosterzee, Plitt, Hofmann). The second view is the correct one: Timothy is to become strong by the χάρις ἡ ἐν Χρ., that he may be capable of discharging faithfully the office entrusted to him; comp. the passage in Eph_6:10.

ἡ χάρις ἡ ἐν Χρ. Ἰ.] is not the office of teacher (Calovius and others), nor is it equivalent to χάρισμα, 2Ti_1:6; on the other hand, it is not the life imparted by divine grace, nor the redemption of the Christian (Wiesinger); it is objectively the grace dwelling in Christ, the grace of Jesus Christ, or better: the grace obtained for us in the person of Christ (Hofmann).

ἐν is explained by Chrysostom and others as equivalent to διά; this is not incorrect, only that ἐν indicates a more internal relation than διά. The believer lives in the grace which is in Christ; the strengthening to which Timothy is exhorted can only be effected by his abiding in this grace.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ti 2:1 . σύ : emphatic, as in 1Ti 6:11 and ch. 2Ti 3:10 ; but the appeal is not primarily that Timothy should imitate Onesiphorus, or learn by the example of Phygelus and Hermogenes, but rather marks the intensity of the apostle’s anxiety for the future conduct of Timothy in the Church; and similarly οὖν is resumptive of all the considerations and appeals for loyalty in chap. 1.

τέκνον : See note on 1Ti 1:2 .

ἐνδυναμοῦ ἐν , κ . τ . λ .: The thought is resumed from 2Ti 1:8-9 , and expanded in 2Ti 2:3-13 . The closest parallel is that in Eph 6:10 , ἐνδυναμοῦσθε ἐν Κυρίῳ , κ . τ . λ . See note on 1Ti 1:12 and reff., esp. Rom 4:20 , Phi 4:13 . Although the verb is passive, as indicated in the R.V., those who are, or who are exhorted to be, strengthened are not merely passive recipients of an influence from without. The act of reception involves man’s co-operation with God. Compare “Abide in me, and I in you” (Joh 15:4 ). The perfection of God’s power is conditioned by the weakness of man (2Co 12:9 ).

τῇ χάριτι τῇ ἐν Χρ . Ἰησ .: The two passages, 2Co 12:9 , and Eph 6:10 , alluded to in the last note, explain this. Grace here has its simplest theological meaning, as the divine help, the unmerited gift of assistance that comes from God.

2Ti 1:8 to 2Ti 2:2 . The leading thoughts in this section are ( a ) the Day of reward and judgment which is surely coming (2Ti 1:12 ; 2Ti 1:18 ), ( b ) the unreasonableness therefore of cowardly shame (2Ti 1:8 ; 2Ti 1:12 ; 2Ti 1:16 ), and ( c ) the necessity that Timothy should guard the deposit and hand it on (2Ti 1:14 to 2Ti 2:2 ).

Be not ashamed, therefore, of the Gospel to which our Lord was not ashamed to testify; nor be ashamed of me, who am in prison because of testimony borne to Him and it. Share our sufferings in the strength given by God, whose power is displayed in the Gospel of life of which I was appointed a preacher. This is the direct cause of my present lot; but I am not ashamed; for I know the power of Him to whom I have committed myself in trust. Do you imitate His faithfulness: guard the deposit committed to you. I am not asking you to do more than some others have done. You know Onesiphorus and his work as well as I do. When all turned their backs on me, he was not ashamed to make inquiries for me; and, finding me in prison, he constantly cheered me by his visits. May God bless him and his! Do you, then, welcome the strengthening grace of Christ, and provide for a succession of faithful teachers to preserve intact the sacred deposit of the faith.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ch.

2:1-26.] Exhortations to Timotheus, founded on the foregoing examples and warnings.

1.] Thou therefore (οὖν follows, primarily on his own example just propounded (cf. συγκακοπάθησον below), and secondarily on that of Onesiphorus, in contrast to those who had been ashamed of and deserted him), my child, be strengthened (reff. The pres. indicates an abiding state, not a mere insulated act, as παράθου below. The verb is passive, not middle: see reff., and Fritzsche on Rom 4:20) in the grace which is in Christ Jesus (τουτέστι διὰ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ χριστοῦ, Chrys. But more than that: the grace of Christ, the empowering influence in the Christian life, being necessary for its whole course and progress, is regarded as the element in which it is lived: cf. αὐξάνετε ἐν χάριτι, 2 Pet. ult. χάρις must not be taken, with Ambr., Calov., Mack, al., for his ministerial office), and the things which thou heardest from me with many witnesses (i.e. with the intervention, or (as Conyb.) attestation of many witnesses: διὰ (reff.) imports the agency of the witnesses as contributing to the whole matter treated of: so διὰ πολλῶν δακρύων, and διὰ προφητείας, 1Ti 4:14. These witnesses are not, as Chrys., Thdrt., the congregations whom Timotheus had heard the Apostle teaching (ἅπερ ἤκουσάς μου πολλοὺς διδάσκοντος, Thdrt.), or as Clem. Alex. in Œc., testimonies from the law and prophets: nor as Heydenr., the other Apostles: much less, as he gives in another alternative, the Christian martyrs: but the presbyters and others present at his ordination, cf. 1Ti 4:14; 1Ti 6:12; and ch. 1:6. No word such as μαρτυρούμενα or βεβαιούμενα (Heydenr.) need be supplied), these deliver in trust (cf. παραθήκην above, ch. 1:14) to faithful men (i.e. not merely ‘believers,’ but ‘trustworthy men,’ men who τὴν καλὴν παραθήκην φυλάξονται) such as shall be (not merely ‘are,’ but ‘shall be’—give every hope of turning out) able to teach them to (so I take ἑτέρους, not as a first, but as a second accusative after διδάξαι, the first being included in ταῦτα above) others also (καί carries the mind on to a further step of the same process—implying ‘in their turn.’ These ἕτεροι would be other trustworthy men like themselves). The connexion of this verse with the foregoing and the following has been questioned. I believe it to be this: ‘The true keeping of the deposit entrusted to thee will involve thy handing it on unimpaired to others, who may in their turn hand it on again. But in order to this, thou must be strong in grace—thou must be a fellow-sufferer with me in hardships—thou must strive lawfully—thou must not be entangled with this life’s matters.’ So that ver. 2 serves to prepare him to hear of the necessity of endurance and faithful adhesion to his duty as a Christian soldier, considering that he has his deposit not only to keep, but to deliver down unimpaired. It is obviously a perversion of the sense to regard this verse us referring (as Bengel, ‘παράθου, antequam istine ad me proticiscare’) merely to his journey to Rome—that during that time he should, &c.: the ἔσονται, and the very contemplation of a similar step on the part of these men at a future time, are against such a supposition.

Mack constructs a long argument out of this verse to shew that there are two sources of Christian instruction in the Church, written teaching and oral, and ends with affirming that those who neglect the latter for the former, have always shewn that they in reality set up their own opinion above all teaching. But he forgets that these two methods of teaching are in fact but one and the same. Scripture has been God’s way of fixing tradition, and rendering it trustworthy at any distance of time; of obviating the very danger which in this Epistle we see so imminent, viz. of one of those teachers, who were links in this chain of transmission, becoming inefficient and transmitting it inadequately. This very Epistle is therefore a warning to us not to trust oral tradition, seeing that it was so dependent on men, and to accept no way of conserving it but that which God’s providence has pointed out to us in the canonical books of Scripture.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The conclusion of the former exhortation, which hath also added unto it a declaration how that they do not keep that worthy thing that is committed unto them which keep it to themselves, but they rather which do most freely communicate it with others, to the end that many may be partakers of it, without any man’s loss or hindrance.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

CHAPTER II.

He exhorts Timothy to constancy, fidelity, and courage; and to

acquit himself as a true soldier of Jesus Christ; and patiently

expect the fruit of his labours, 1-7.

What the apostle's doctrine was relative to Christ, 8.

He mentions his own sufferings and consolations, 9-13.

What Timothy is to preach, how he is to acquit himself, and what

he is to shun, 14-16.

Of Hymeneus and Philetus, and their errors, 17, 18.

Of the foundation of God, and its security, 19.

The simile of a great house and its utensils, 20, 21.

Timothy is to avoid youthful lusts, and foolish and unlearned

questions, 22, 23.

How he is to act in reference to false teachers, 24-26.

NOTES ON CHAP. II.

Verse 1. Be strong in the grace] Though the genuine import of the word grace is favour, yet it often implies an active principle communicated from God; light directing how to act, and power enabling to act according to the light.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

1 Be strong in the grace As he had formerly commanded him to keep, by the Spirit, that which was committed to him, so now he likewise enjoins him “to be strengthened in grace.” By this expression he intends to shake off sloth and indifference; for the flesh is so sluggish, that even those who are endued with eminent gifts are found to slacken in the midst of their course, if they be not frequently aroused.

Some will say: “Of what use is it to exhort a man to ‘be strong in grace,’ unless free-will have something to do in cooperation?” I reply, what God demands from us by his word he likewise bestows by his Spirit, so that we are strengthened in the grace which he has given to us. And yet the exhortations are not superfluous, because the Spirit of God, teaching us inwardly, causes that they shall not sound in our ears fruitlessly and to no purpose. Whoever, therefore, shall acknowledge that the present exhortation could not have been fruitful without the secret power of the Spirit, will never support free-will by means of it.

Which is in Christ Jesus. This is added for two reasons; to shew that the grace comes from Christ alone, and from no other, and that no Christian will be destitute of it; for, since there is one Christ common to all, it follows that all are partakers of his grace, which is said to be in Christ, because all who belong to Christ must have it.

My son. This kind appellation, which he employs, tends much to gain the affections, that the doctrine may more effectually obtain admission into the heart.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

II.

(1) Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.—St. Paul, after the reference to the faithless Asiatics and the true loyal Onesiphorus, with which he interrupted his exhortation, turns again to Timothy. Thou therefore (oun), my son, considering what has taken place, be strong. It is as though he said, Imitate the one loyal follower, and make up to me for the faithless conduct of so many false friends. “Thou, then, be strong,” but not as men understand strength or firmness; but do thou be strong “in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”—that is, be strong in the power of that inward sanctification which enables a man to will and to do according to what God has commanded, in the power of that inward sanctification which alone proceeds from Christ, and which will never be wanting to any one who is in Christ; in other words, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Eph_6:10).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou therefore, my son,.... The illative particle, "therefore", shows the connection between this and the preceding chapter; the appellation, "thou, my son", expresses the apostle's tender affection for Timothy, and is the rather used to engage his attention to the advice he was about to give him; which is, that since he had received the true grace of God, and unfeigned faith dwelt in him; and since he had such gifts, qualifying him for the work of the ministry; and since so good a thing as the glorious Gospel of the blessed God was committed to his trust; and since there were so many who had departed from it, and so few that abode by it, he would have him

be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; by which may be meant either the free favour and love of God in Christ, Rom 8:39 which is in itself always strong, immovable, and unalterable; and is the strength and security of the saints, though they have not always the same strong believing views of it; and to be strong in it, is to be rooted and grounded in it, and to have a strong sense and firm persuasion of interest in it, and that nothing can separate from it: or else the Gospel, which is a declaration of grace, and is in Christ, and comes by him; and to be strong in it, is to preach it boldly, to defend it bravely, and courageously oppose every error and heresy, and every abettor thereof; and it also becomes every private believer to hold it fast, stand fast in it, abide by it, and earnestly contend for it; and so the phrase may stand opposed to , or "one strong in the law", which is so often used by the Jews (d): or rather by grace is meant the fulness of grace which is in Christ, for the supply of his people; for in that grace which is in him, and not in that which is in themselves, should their dependence be. It is very agreeable to be strong in grace received, in point of exercise, but not in point of contentment; so as to rest satisfied with the present measure of it, without growing in it, and going on to perfection; and much less in point of consolation, so as to derive peace and comfort from it; and still less in point of trust and confidence in it; for it is but a creature, though a very glorious one, being the workmanship of God, and very variable as to its exercise, and as yet imperfect; and not that, but the object of it, is to be trusted in: though indeed a person's enjoyment of everlasting glory and happiness may be strongly concluded from the work of grace which is begun in him; that being an immortal seed, and a well of living water springing up into eternal life; and with which glory is inseparably connected. But grace in Christ is what believers should always have recourse unto, and exercise faith on; and not only believe that there is such a fulness of grace in Christ, which they have both heard of and seen, and which they know is laid up for them, and given to them, and is sufficient for them; but they should go forth out of themselves unto it, and draw water with joy out of the full wells of salvation in Christ: and this grace is of a strengthening nature, both to ministers of the word, to enable them to fulfil their ministry, to bear reproaches, afflictions, and persecution for the Gospel, and the infirmities of weak brethren; and to private believers, to strengthen them against every corruption, temptation, and snare, to exercise every grace, and discharge every branch of duty.

(d) Targum in Ruth ii. 1. & in Psal. lxxxii. 1. & cxii. 2. & in Eccl. x. 17. & in Cant. viii. 10, vid. T. Bab. Sota, fol. 14. 1. & Tzeror Hammor, fol. 9. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Ver. 1. Be strong] Together with the word there goes forth a power, as Luk 5:17. Exhortations are God’s means to make us such as he requireth us to be.

In the grace that is in Christ Jesus] Weak grace may evidence pardon of sin; but it is strong grace that can overcome the temptations of Satan, 1Jn 2:12; 1Jn 2:14, and bear up the heart in strong consolation, {a} The blessing upon man in the first creation was, "Increase and multiply;" in the second, "Grow in grace, be strong," &c.

{a} Θαττον αν ειδης την καρδιαν η τα εν τη καρδια.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou therefore - In view of the fact stated in the previous chapter, that many had turned away from the apostle, and had forsaken the paths of truth.

Be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus; - compare the notes at Eph 6:10. The meaning is, Be strong, relying on the grace which the Lord Jesus only can impart.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The grace which is in Christ Jesus; i.e. which is in thee by Christ Jesus. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The sense is either: Show thyself a stout and valiant man, not being affrighted at the dangers that threaten thee in the publishing and defence of the gospel which brings the glad tidings of the grace of Jesus Christ: or: Be thou strong through the gracious influence of Christ Jesus, without which thou canst do nothing.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Child for son, A.V; strengthened for strong, A.V Be strengthened (ejndunamou); more exactly (as Huther), become strong, or, which is the same thing, strengthen thyself; implying, perhaps, though gently expressed, some previous weakness, as m Heb_11:34, "From weakness were made strong;" where the image seems to be that of recovery from sickness. Inw, Eph_6:10, however (ejndunamousqe ejn Kuri) there is no evidence of preceding weakness, but only a call to use the strength they had; and it may be so here too. The strength, Timothy is reminded, by which he was to fight the good fight, was not his own, but that which would come to him from the grace and love of Jesus Christ (1Co_15:10; Php_4:13)

HOMILETICS.

Vers. 1-14.

Endurance the lot of Christ"s ministers.

Continual endurance of evil, whether directed specially against himself, or generally thwarting the cause which he has most at heart, is the ordinary lot of the minister of Jesus Christ exercising his ministry in an evil world. And in order to be ready to encounter this evil, actively or passively, as the case may require, a complete concentration of purpose on the fulfilment of his ministry is absolutely required. If the heart is divided between the ministry of God"s Word and the enjoyment of an easy life, there will be a constant temptation to avoid those various forms of "hardship" which properly belong to the campaign of the soldiers of Christ. Troubles will be shirked rather than endured; and ministerial duties will be made to stand on one side when they interfere with the inclinations of the moment. Labour will be evaded when the soul calls for ease. The determined struggle, and the sturdy stand against evil, whether in his own heart or in the world around him, will be postponed to a more convenient season, while weak compromises and sinful compliances take their place in the immediate present. At the same time, contradiction and opposition, crooks and crosses of various kinds, untoward events, troubles, disappointments, and difficulties of all sorts, will be met, not in the spirit of Christian fortitude, not in the spirit of Christian meekness and patience, but with petulant complaints, or with roughness and ill temper, as running against the current of the love of ease in the soul. It is, therefore, incumbent upon the servant of God to be wholly given up to the ministry which he has received. He must resolutely shake off the entanglements of the affairs of this life, that he may please him who called him to be a soldier. He must feel, "My work in life, my mission, the dispensation committed to me, is to advance the kingdom of Christ in the world. I am set by my Lord and Master for the defence of the gospel to preach it, to vindicate it, to uphold it against all gainsayers, to adorn it with my own life, to use my utmost endeavour for its maintenance, its propagation, its triumphs. I must no more shrink from obloquy, from labour, from suffering, from troubles, or, if need be, from bonds and death, in the fulfilment of this work and ministry, than the soldier shrinks from fatigue and exposure, from hunger and hardship, from wounds and from death, in bravely discharging the duties of his warfare." For his encouragement in carrying out this resolve, he has the example of his Lord who suffered unto death and was raised again from the dead. tie has the example of the apostles who endured troubles and bonds and imprisonment, and yet saw the gospel which they preached triumphing over all opposition. He has the promises of God assuring life, and a kingdom, to those who suffer and die with Christ. And so, accepting endurance as the portion of Christ"s servants, he pursues his ministry diligently, joyfully, and steadfastly, throws his whole strength into it, and looks forward with an unwavering hope to obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

HOMILIES BY T. CROSKERY Ver. 1.

Exhortation to Timothy to be strong.

The apostle founds upon the foregoing examples and warnings an admonition to Christian firmness and courage.

I THE NEED OF SPIRITUAL STRENGTH. "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

1. Strength was necessary to meet the difficulties and dangers of his official life at Ephesus.

2. The admonition was probably needed on account of thediscouragements which Timothy himself must have felt at the conduct of the Asiatic deserters.

3. Strength is the spring of happy activity in any sphere. "The joy of the Lord shall be your strength.

II THE SOURCE OF THIS SPIRITUAL STRENGTH. "The grace that is in Christ Jesus." It seems strange to say, "Be strong," to a spiritually discouraged man, as it would be strange to say the same thing to a physically weak man. The injunction is reasonable, however, when we consider that the source of our renewed power is at hand. The grace of Christ is the inward power which enables us "to will and to do of his good pleasure." "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might". (Eph_6:10) Here lies the true source of our strength. The apostle declared he could do all things through Christ who strengthened him. T.C.

HOMILIES BY R. FINLAYSON Vers. 1-13.

Hardship in connection with the Christian ministry.

I PRELIMINARY EXHORTATION.

1. As to personal strength. "Thou therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." As the apostle"s power of working was already much crippled by close imprisonment, he naturally felt anxious regarding the future of Christ"s cause. In calling Timothy his son, he does not formally name him as his successor. At the same time, he may be regarded as looking to him as one like-minded, who had youth on his side, to continue the work which he felt was passing out of his hands. While Phygelus and Hermogenes were untrue to him, and Onesiphorus was dead, Timothy must stand forward. For this he would require a liberal supply of strength. With paternal anxiety, then, he points him to the great Source of strength, viz. the grace that is in Christ Jesus and obtained by him for us, or the lordly power to bless without respect to the merit of the recipient. In Joh_1:14 he is said to be fall of grace, and, in the sixteenth verse following, it is said that it is out of his fulness that all his people receive. As the Fountain, he supplies all that depend upon him with all that is necessary for the proper discharge of their duties. To whom else, then, could he point Timothy? In spiritual work there is a giving out of strength, for which there is needed renewal. There are also occasions for which there are needed special supplies of strength. At all times there is a tendency to a culpable and enfeebling supineness, against which there is needed a gracious supply. Let the Christian minister, then, find his empowering for his work in the grace that is centred in Christ.

2. As to the regular transmission of the truth. "And the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." Paul himself heard directly from Christ, who is as full of truth as of grace. But he points to a definite and solemn occasion, when he was the speaker and Timothy the hearer, viz. the occasion, repeatedly referred to, of Timothy"s ordination. What he heard then was by the mediation of many witnesses, i.e. the presbyters who were present at his ordination, and laid their hands on him, and who, by the part they took in it, gave their attestation to the charge. What Timothy received then has repeatedly been called his deposit, or talent of the catholic faith. This, in turn, he was to commit to trusty men, i.e. men who could be entrusted with the keeping of the deposit. They, in their turn, were to teach others, so that they also could be entrusted with the deposit. Thus there was to be a regular succession of teachers for the handing down of the truth. There is a place assigned to tradition here; but, as it is made to depend on the trustworthiness of each individual in the chain of succession, we must think of a tradition that is to be tested by Scripture. At the same time, there is a handing down of Scripture truth with traditional associations embodying the Church"s thinking out of the truth, and, if this is what it ought to be, then it is important that it should be handed down by means of a regular succession of teachers. All encouragement, then, is to be given to the proper education of young men for the ministry; and yet a theological institution will fail of its end unless there is the proper keeping up of the Church"s life, which is needed to influence the right class of young men to devote themselves to the ministry.

II THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER IS TO BE PREPARED FOR HARDSHIP. Three figures suggestive of hard service.

1. The soldier. "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier." The soldier, above others, has to have his mind made up to experiencing hardship. He has to leave home and friends. He may have to encounter hardships on the march. He has especially to face the hardships and dangers of the battlefield, "seeking the bubble reputation, even in the cannon"s mouth." So the Christian minister is, in a special manner, a soldier of Christ Jesus. He is one whom Christ has in a solemn way bound to himself, he has to fight under Christ and for Christ in an unfriendly world; and he need not be surprised if he is called upon to experience the hardships of a soldier. Let Timothy, then, willingly, nobly, take his part along with Paul and other soldiers of Christ. But the apostle draws attention to a special condition of excellence in a soldier. He does not entangle himself in the affairs and businesses of this life. In choosing to be enrolled under a commander, he leaves his former employment behind. He is henceforth at the will of his commander for whatever hard service he may need him. Especially does this condition

2. apply to a soldier on service. Before entering on a campaign, he would need even to have family affairs arranged, that he may give himself up undistractedly to the service required of him. Only thus can he expect to approve himself to his commander. The Christian minister is in the same way to be unentangled with businesses, which he leaves to others. Paul was not always able to free himself from the necessity of making his own bread; but it is advisable that a minister should be left free in this respect, and it is wrong for him unnecessarily to divide his energies, or to mix himself up with what can be better done by others. For it is only when his mind is thoroughly undistracted and absorbed in service that he can approve himself to the great Commander.

3. The athlete. "And if also a man contend in the games, he is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully." The Greeks were great admirers of physical perfection. Even their men of genius, like Plato, engaged in athletic contests on public occasions. Great encouragement was given to the athletic art. The successful athlete was crowned under very inspiriting circumstances. There were many subordinate rules to be observed by the athlete, but the great rule was to go through a course of very hard preparation. Only thus could he expect to be crowned when the occasion of the games came round. The minister is, in the same way, to aim at efficiency in his art. He has many examples of this placed before him. And there is great encouragement given by that royal Personage who is to preside on the occasion of award. The successful minister is to be crowned. There are many subordinate rules to be observed by him, but the great rule is that he is to subject himself to severe discipline. Only thus can he expect to have a fadeless crown for efficiency in the ministerial art.

1. The husbandman. "The husbandman that laboureth must be the flat to partake of the fruits." The husbandman has to extract bread from the unwilling ground; and he may have to do this under unfavouring conditions of weather. He has need, then, for hard and persistent labour, especially in the season of spring. In the sweat of his face he has to prepare the soil and put in the seed. It is only the husbandman that thus exerts himself that comes to the front in the time of fruit. He is eating of the new corn, when the husbandman who has not exerted himself is far behind. In the same way the minister has to extract good products from unwilling hearts, and not always under favouring conditions from without. Hard work is needed to prepare the soil and to put in the seed. If he engages in hard work, he has the prospect of the farmer, viz. the fruit of his own labour. He will have joy in those for whom he has laboured partly in this world, chiefly in the next world. It is the minister who does not grudge hard service that comes to the front in the enjoyment of fruit, while he who gives grudging service lags behind in the reward. Appended call to attention. "Consider what I say; for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things." What Paul said was easily understood; but it needed to be thoroughly weighed so as to become spiritual strengthening to Timothy. It plainly meant that he was to set himself to hard work, and that he need not expect easy outward conditions of working; when the mind is made up to it, the hardest work is often felt to be light. This was a lesson which he wished Timothy to learn, with the Lord"s promised and all-sufficient assistance.

III ENCOURAGEMENTS UNDER HARDSHIP.

1. Example of Christ.

(1) Victorious aspect of Christs resurrection. "Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead." Paul"s principal encouragement is to go back in memory upon the historical Jesus at the victorious point of his history. He seemed to be utterly defeated in death. His body was laid in the tomb, a stone rolled against the mouth of it and sealed, and a watch set; and the rulers thought they had conquered. Could he be released from the power of death and the grave? Let not the most distressed, the most maltreated of men, despair; for it was when Christ seemed to be utterly defeated that he victoriously got for his people victory over sin and over death and the grave.

(2) His resurrection culminating in his present mediatorial dignity. "Of the seed of David, according to my gospel." As of the seed royal, he was raised, and raised to sit upon the throne of his father David. That is the high position he has won for himself. The government of the universe is at this moment upon his shoulders. Under all outward defeat, then, let us enter into the spirit of the victorious termination of our Lord"s career of suffering.

2. Example of Paul.

(1) Appearance of defeat. "Wherein I suffer hardship unto bonds, as a malefactor." He had not yet resisted unto blood. But though he had not gone the length of the Master, he bad gone the length of bonds, and, with his Master, was numbered with the transgressors.

(2) Promise of victory. "But the Word of God is not bound." Not only was his conviction strong that the Word proceeding from God could not be bound by any tyrant, but he had the fact to lay hold of that much freedom was enjoyed in the preaching of the Word.

(3) Victorious for the sake of the elect. "Therefore I endure all things for the elect"s sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." God has appointed for the elect the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. It is a salvation which is to blossom forth under a sunnier sky into glory. This glory will be ample compensation for present sufferings, not only in its quality, but in its being eternal. How, then, was he to help forward the destiny of the elect, and at the same time his own destiny? He could not preach in his dungeon; but he could follow up the preaching of others by a brave bearing. He could show that he could act what he had preached. And did not much depend on his going forward bravely to martyrdom?

3. A saying of the martyr times. "Faithful is the saying.

(1) How the Christians encouraged one another to constancy! Past act.

if we died with him, we shall also live with him." They first went back to a definite act in the past, viz. the profession of faith with which they commenced their Christian career. They thus in obligation came up to the martyr point. They said they were willing, should the Master call them to it, to share death with him. If this was the true reading of their act, the bright side of it was that they would also be called to share life with Christ. Abiding state. "If we endure, we shall also reign with him." They next thought of their present suffering calling for an abiding spirit of endurance, and they used to say to one another, that, if they did not flinch, their future would be brightened to them by their being called to sit with Christ on his throne.

(2) How the Christians discouraged one another against apostasy! Future act. "If we shall deny him, he also will deny us." They next thought of their being put to a severe test in the future. The time might come when their choice would be between Christ and life. Far be it from them, for the sake of life, to deny Christ; for that act of denial on their part would carry with it an act of denial on his part. Abiding state. "If we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself." They next thought of an act of denial followed by no penitence, and they said to one another, that if that was their permanent state, their future would be darkened, even by reason of the unchanging character of their Saviour. It was impossible for him to contradict himself, and, as surely as he shows his approval of faith, must he show his disapproval of unbelief. The martyr times had already commenced. The first persecution was under Nero in the year 64, the last under Diocletian in the year 303. The first persecution had not yet ceased. The Christians, charged with setting fire to Rome, were subjected to the most inhuman treatment. As the historian Tacitus informs us, they were sewn in sacks made of the skins of wild beasts, and thrown to be torn by dogs. They were smeared with pitch, and set on fire as torches to illuminate the imperial gardens at night. "This persecution extended beyond the walls of Rome, and continued with more or less severity to the end of Nero"s reign, four years afterwards." It was in the last year of Nero"s reign that Paul was now awaiting his martyrdom. This martyr saying may be viewed as the fruit of those years of persecution. As here incorporated by Paul into this Epistle, it would be a precious legacy to the Church in the many years of persecution to come. R.F.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter II

Ver. 1. Thou therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. This is the practical result which the preceding statements were intended to produce in the mind of Timothy. The therefore, which indicates the connection, points back mainly to the apostle himself, and subordinately to his sympathizing friend Onesiphorus, who had shown themselves to be possessed of a moral power that was adequate to the greatest trials and emergencies of life. And this power the apostle had also been careful to represent as derived solely from the grace of a redeeming God. Therefore, when calling upon his child Timothy to follow in the same path of suffering and obedience, his primary exhortation is as to the source of strength: Be strengthened—ἐνδυναμοῦ—not simply “be strong,” for the verb in the passive signifies to become strong, to get strength (comp. Rom 4:20, Eph 6:10); and this in the grace that is in Christ Jesus—that is, in the supply of the Spirit of life, which is ever ready to be given to those who are savingly united to Him. The being in Christ by a childlike faith is the sphere in -which the gift of grace is to be found. But the injunction to be strengthened therein, implies that, in order to be realized, it must be actively laid hold of by the believer. The grace that is provided to sustain him and carry him forward in the life of faith, is cooperating grace; and at every step it requires his willing respondency and implicit obedience. This is what was seen so nobly exemplified in the case of Abraham (Rom 4:18-22), and is explicitly enjoined upon all believers (Php 2:12-13). So that the “more grace” which is said to be given to believers (Jas 4:6), is always given in proportion as they feel their need of more, and are prepared to receive and use it.

Patrick Fairbairn — An Exposition of Ezekiel (1851), Jonah (1849), and The Pastoral Epistles (1874) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

grace

Grace (imparted). vs. Heb 4:16; Rom 6:1; 2Pe 3:18.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Admonition to Faithfulness in the Ministry.

v. 1. Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

v. 2. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

v. 3. Thou, therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

v. 4. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

v. 5. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive awfully.

v. 6. The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits.

v. 7. Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

The discussion is still dominated by the thought of chap. 1:8, that Timothy should not be ashamed of the Gospel, of the testimony of the Lord. For that reason the apostle summarizes all his wishes and hopes for his favorite pupil in the urgent appeal: Thou, then, my son, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus. The fatherly feeling and attitude of Paul, as brought out in his kind address, is intended to remind Timothy of the obligations which his spiritual sonship places upon him. He was to become and be, he was to show himself strong, Eph 6:10. This strength, however, for patient endurance, for victorious warfare, he could find and receive only in the grace which is in Christ Jesus. The unmerited grace and mercy of God, which was revealed to us and is given to us in Christ Jesus, is a source, not only of comfort in richest measure, but also of the true strength which enables us to overcome all spiritual enemies and obtain the victory. The grace of God in Christ was to be the sphere, the element in which Timothy was to have his spiritual being; through it he was to keep the apostolic doctrine pure and unadulterated in the Church.

This St. Paul expressly demands: And the things which thou hast heard from me through many witnesses, these transmit to faithful men, such as will be able to teach others also. This gives us an idea of the manner in which the apostle taught the candidates for admission into the Christian Church. He expounded the doctrine to them by word of mouth, and accompanied this teaching with a continual reference to the Old Testament, the many proof-passages being his infallible witnesses. Thus Timothy had a certain foundation under his feet concerning the doctrine which he had heard from Paul. He could assent to this doctrine cheerfully and confidently, knowing that God Himself had substantiated its truths. But for this reason he could also pass on the doctrine which he had received without the slightest hesitation: he could, in turn, instruct faithful, trustworthy men, preparing them for the work of the ministry. Such men as have a most thorough understanding, a perfect knowledge of the doctrines as taught by Paul, and are, moreover, faithful and trustworthy, may be chosen as ministers of the Church. Incidentally, the words of the apostle imply a certain amount of natural or acquired aptitude to teach. The possession of a certain amount of knowledge alone is not sufficient in a teacher, but it is absolutely necessary for him to be able to impart the Christian doctrine to others in the form of proper teaching. To this end the Holy Spirit Himself must be the instructor of all the teachers in the Church; for their sufficiency in office is of God, 2Co 2:16-17; 2Co 3:4-6.

It was to be expected, of course, that Timothy, in the fulfillment of this work, would not always find smooth sailing. Anticipating this, the apostle writes: Join me in bearing suffering, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. It is the lot of the messengers of Christ to endure various sufferings for the sake of the Gospel. As the work of a soldier in this world is connected with many difficulties and hardships, even so it holds true also, in a far greater measure, that a soldier of Jesus is beset with many difficulties and hardships, since the enemies with whom he is obliged to battle are skillful, powerful, and dangerous in a much greater degree than any earthly foes, Eph 6:12. In addition to that, immeasurably more important matters, the soul’s salvation and eternal life, are here concerned. It is only by patient suffering, by cheerful endurance, that a servant of Christ will perform his work properly. There is at least a measure of comfort, at the same time, in the fact that other soldiers of the Master are subject to the same hardships.

The apostle now illustrates his admonition by referring to three examples, by every one of which he wishes to emphasize some specific phase in the work of a minister. The first picture develops the comparison with the life of a soldier: No member of the army becomes entangled in the business pursuits of life, in order that he may please him that hired him. The apostle speaks of a person belonging to an army, not of a soldier on duty. As soon as a man joins the army, and even before he has seen active service, he leaves all matters of business behind him, he is no longer concerned about his food and clothing, that being supplied by the quartermaster’s department. The recruit is supposed to strain his every effort in the direction of serving in the army to the best of his ability, to give the best account of himself. Thus the service of a Christian minister demands full concentration of all bodily, mental, and spiritual powers; his one aim is to please the great Master in whose service he is laboring. There is included here an indirect admonition to the congregations to take such care of their pastors as to prevent their being forced to worry about the necessaries of life for themselves and their family. If this is done in the proper manner, the cares and worries of daily life will be taken from the shoulders of the pastor, and he mill thus have all the more leisure and energy to devote to the proper execution of the work of his office.

The second picture which the apostle uses is taken from the athletic games of the Greeks: But even if a man competes in the games, he is not crowned unless he complies with the rules. In the national athletic games of the Greeks the prize had little material value, consisting merely of a wreath: but the honor connected with the gaining of the prize was such as to cause the victor to become the subject of countless hymns throughout the Greek world. But the much-coveted prize was given only on one condition, namely, that the competitor in the games had complied with all the rules, both as to training and as to behavior during the games. In the same way every servant of the Word is bound by the rules which the Lord has laid down in His Word. All other considerations, from the standpoint of man, no matter with what intention they are brought forward, must be set aside. The pastor is to devote himself to his work with a cheerful intensity that seeks the welfare of the souls entrusted to him.

The third picture of the apostle is taken from the work of a field-laborer or a farmer: The farmer that has labored hard should be the first partaker of the fruits. Everyone that earns his living from the soil, that labors in the field in the sweat of his face, should at the same time have the comforting assurance that he may be the first to enjoy the results of his toil. This idea is applied to the work of the Christian pastor. The men engaged in this work are not only obliged to toil unceasingly, but they also must receive the fruits of their labors as they present themselves. Whether their preaching be a savor of life unto life or a savor of death unto death, they must be faithful. Whether their fruit consists more of joy or more of suffering and misery makes no difference. The final blessed change to glory everlasting will not take place until the last day.

The apostle realizes that the application of the three parables is not easy, and therefore adds: Mark what I say; for the Lord will give you understanding in all things. Timothy was to apply the lessons of the pictures following the admonition to his own case. He was to solve his specific problems in accordance with these reminders of the apostle. Since this understanding, however, is not a matter of mere mental ability, but of the Lord’s enlightenment, therefore the apostle says that this will come to him by the gift of the Lord. If there is any Christian that should feel the necessity of praying for strength and light, for understanding and knowledge from above, it is a servant of the Word. And in the measure in which he asks the blessing of God success will attend his work.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ti 2:3

True Bravery.

I. Many a hero in ancient and modern times is glorified, and many a conquered man is despised, when the so-called hero trusted to his strength of mind or body, and felt confident of escape or victory. This is not bravery. To feel sure that for you there is little or no danger, is not heroic. This was not St. Paul’s bravery, when he was a day and a night in the deep, or though no sailor, thrice shipwrecked, and ready to face it all over and over again. He has told us nothing more of it than these words, "a day and a night in the deep." What a proof that is of bravery; it did not dwell in his mind enough to speak of.

II. Again, many will dare really dangerous things when numbers look on, and great praise and shouting thousands cheer them on to their work. This was not St. Paul’s kind of bravery. For the sake of Christ he could take pleasure in infirmities, in weakness, in shame, and go from city to city, though beaten here, stoned there, imprisoned, attacked.

III. Christ’s army has no room for cowards. Numbers do not hide them, they cannot hide undiscovered in the general wars. In Christ’s army Christ requires every one to be brave, whilst He has declared, speaking from heaven, that "the fearful shall have their place in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." It seems a fatally unexpected sentence at the first sight. But the servants of the Almighty King of Life ought to have some of the life strength of His almightiness in them. True bravery is of the Spirit; it is the life of Christ within the heart; and fears nothing within, or without, so long as the good cause is not betrayed, so long as truth is upheld. It is perfect self-mastery, unselfishly following Christ.

E. Thring, Uppingham Sermons, vol. i., p. 173.

Christian Battles.

I. If you look at the text you will notice that the Apostle is putting before us a plain exhortation to conduct, based upon a distinct statement of position. The position he states to be this, "as a soldier"—the conduct, "endure hardness"; and when we come to examine into the necessity of such conduct, based upon the exigencies of such a position, we are thrown back upon the old thought of the enemy, with whom we have to contend; we have in fact to fight against the devil, the world, and the flesh. When we speak of fighting with Satan there is this always to be remembered, that the war has to be waged with one possessed of all the three chief faculties which go to make any malignant power oppressive to a struggling heart; for Satan is undoubtedly, possessed, first of all, of natural capacity; secondly, of a wide-reaching science; and thirdly, of a large experience. I would remind you further that Satan, in his fight against us, is seconded by that power within us, which from its intimate connection with our animal organism, and the grovelling direction of all its tendencies, can best be epitomised in its character as "the flesh." If the flesh is a traitor who makes a concordat with Satan, "the world" is an enemy equally fierce and infinitely more subtle. "The world," in a word, we know, means this: the accumulated force of certain principles sinborn, and sin-strengthened, which tend to undermine the spiritual life.

II. The character of the enemy is marked by three features. (1) Craft or unworthy cunning. (2) Patient persistence in recurrent and well-timed attack. (3) A seductiveness in order to overcome suspicion or fear of evil. To disguise from ourselves the reality, or to minimise the strength of the forces opposed to us, lest we become careless and are confident of victory; or, what is equally dangerous, to lose sight of the certainty of recurrent assistance, and so yield to the seductions of evil from a craven fear of ultimate defeat is the utmost folly.

III. How are we to meet an enemy of so formidable a kind? St. Paul says, "Asa soldier." How are we to act as soldiers?

(1) By a life of faith. The illuminative power of faith, and also faith as a dominant faculty must rule. Faith inspires courage.

(2) To act with simplicity. To be one’s simple better self; and simplicity is part of the character of God. (3) With patience. Patience is love exerting itself to resistance. You must eventually win your way simply by standing your ground.

IV. If such be some of the features of the soldier’s character, what does it all amount to? It amounts, I submit, in practice to precisely what the Apostle said, "enduring hardness"; not that you should be callous, but that such virtues should be exercised by you with unbending resolution, and that you should keep constantly before you the ever-recurring need of determinedly crushing pride and passion. God has Himself entered the arena, and we have also the encouragement of the brotherhood of Christians.

W. J. Knox Little, Characteristics and Motives of the Christian Life, p. 70.

Christianity: a Warfare.

If we are true Christians we are every one of us soldiers. If we really belong to Christ we are every one of us carrying on a daily warfare. The enemy is never out of our sight; the contest is a lifelong contest; the battle ground is our soul; the enemy whom we have to beat down is sin in its ten thousand varying forms; the struggle is often invisible to all but ourselves: alone we have to fight, alone we have to conquer, seen only, aided only, guided only (it may be) by our unseen Chieftain, our great and glorious Leader, who, seated high above the din and turmoil of the contest, watches all the efforts, and controls all the movements of His mighty host.

II. Our text gives us some very necessary, very useful advice on this topic. It bids us remember that it is not an easy thing to be a Christian: it bids us remember that to be a soldier of the Cross requires effort and self-denial and constant endurance. Thou therefore endure hardness," or, as it might be paraphrased, "Thou therefore take thy share of suffering, take thy portion of hardship, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

III. Our army has its great tradition. Through the exertions of the early warriors it is that we are possessed, as we are today, of all the blessings of the Gospel. To their courage, their zeal, and their love for souls, we owe the peace and the happiness which Christianity has brought to us. Let us thank God that He raised up these mighty warriors; let us thank God that they went forth as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, and conquered ignorance, conquered superstition, conquered sin. One last word. Do not let us forget that we belong to a victorious army. We are on the conquering side: those of us who love and serve Christ must prevail at last.

E. V. Hall, The Waiting Saviour, p. 37.

Fortitude.

There are many obvious reasons for cultivating a more robust and manly earnestness in our religion.

I. It is due to the character of the great Master whom we serve. "No man that warreth." It cannot be doubted that, in the vivid language of the Word of God, every Christian, without exception—man, woman, or child—is called to be a soldier, any more than it can be doubted that conflict, with all its ideas of danger and watchfulness and struggle, enters into the actual personal experience of us all. We look up to the Captain of our salvation, and every imaginable motive which can nerve the human heart combines to inspire us with dauntless courage and unflinching fortitude.

II. A robust earnestness is due to the necessities of the work. God takes every possible precaution in His Word that we should count the cost before we enlist under our Captain’s banner. We must conquer or be conquered—for there is no other alternative—live or die. And this endurance of hardship is the more necessary because, not only are habits of personal self-denial and self-restraint, watchful devotion and earnest effort, the conditions of victory, but they are actual parts of the victory themselves.

III. Manly vigour is due to the abundance of the reward. This motive is addressed to the Christian, not to the man of the world; to the converted, not to the unconverted. Salvation itself is not of reward, it is all of grace. It is free sovereign grace, out of the spontaneous love of God, that calls the soul. It is all of grace, not of works. But once let the soul find Christ, let it be accepted within the family circle, let it fairly take service beneath the banner of Christ as the faithful soldier and servant of a crucified Master, and then God deals with it by rewards.

E. Garbett, Experiences of the Inner Life, p. 149.

Fearfulness under a Curse.

These are the words of St. Paul; they express his view of a good man’s life and character. The Christian man is a soldier of Christ, and must be brave and enduring. The brave alone enter heaven; the fearful are cast into hell. Bravery, endurance, and victory, are not accidental or wonderful, not matters of chance, to be or not to be, but sober necessities of common life; and fearfulness is not a pardonable weakness, but a deadly sin; and like any other sin must be steadily fought against and overcome. Bravery is Christian, fearfulness is devilish. The good soldier of Christ, man or woman, is brave, and the temper of the Christian is bravery.

II. St. Paul was brave. When he saw the brethren, we are told he thanked God and took courage. The very words "took courage" show how lonely-hearted he must have felt before, as well he might feel; how in his spirit he longed for some human consolation, as he was about at last to see the city of palaces, the stronghold of earthly power, the fairest, grandest sight that eye could see of man’s work, the foulest and most poisonous that sin triumphant had ever dwelt in. St. Paul coming up the long straight road, mile after mile, drawing nearer to so vast, so pitiless, so splendid a place, had his human feelings we may be sure; for, when he saw the brethren who had come out to meet him, he took courage. Well he knew the meaning of his own words to his young and faithful friend: "Do thou, therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." A brave man’s words they were, and a brave man’s heart experiences the freshness of his free spirit, that knew nothing on the wide earth which could make him step back one foot when Christ had work to be done. The brave are of Christ, the doom of hell fire is on the fearful.

E. Thring, Uppingham Sermons, vol. i., p. 167.

Enduring Hardness.

I. In the large social life of which we are all members these words come to us as a call to more service. The Church of Christ exists to serve. We do not exist for ourselves; we exist for others. We do not unite to get; we unite to give. We do not come together even for spiritual fellowship: we come together for practical work. Now the Church of Christ can never choose her work: her work is always given her in the providence of God. Each new age brings to her a new task, and surely never was the task more clear to the Church of Christ than it is today. The task of the Church is to restore the inspiration of the Christian faith, and to revive the beauty of Christian love.

II. In our outward public life these words come to us as a call to more sacrifice. If we are true followers of Jesus Christ, somewhere in our life the note must be telling of definite sacrifice. Christ’s view of life is not an easy view; it is on the whole a severe view. It does not meanwhile admit of a full-orbed culture; it demands sacrifice. Fear not to make some sacrifice for Christ; pant not so eagerly to have your own ideas of life realised. Have faith in eternity, and meanwhile take bravely your share of the hardness.

III. These words come to us as a call to more strictness. We shrink from the hardship of watching strictly and sternly our inward personal life. When the inner life is not cared for, outward work—even God’s work—may be done faithfully, but it has no effectiveness, no glow. Where the inner life is watched strictly and severely there comes over even the simplest life of outward work the spell that attracts, the beauty that wins.

R. S. Simpson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 358.

Enduring Hardness as a Soldier.

The fact that we are Christian soldiers suggests three corresponding duties.

I. The will of the soldier should be wholly absorbed in that of his commander.

II. A soldier must possess true courage.

III. A soldier must be ready to endure hardness.

J. N. Norton, Golden Truths, p. 411.

References: 2Ti 2:3.—A. P. Stanley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 198; Ibid., vol. xiv., p. 364; J. Thain Davidson, The City Youth, p. 183; C. Garrett, Loving Counsels, p. 206; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi., No. 938; Church of England Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 72; Ibid., vol. viii., p. 163; S. Pearson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 307; H. P. Liddon, Ibid., vol. xxxv., p. 273. 2Ti 2:3-6.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 256. 2Ti 2:4-10.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 80. 2Ti 2:5.—W. Landels, Christian World Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 395. 2Ti 2:8.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1653; Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 67; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vi., p. 376.

2Ti 2:9

The Word of God here evidently means His Gospel; for the word Gospel occurs in the preceding verse as the subject about which the Apostle is speaking. And the intention of the Apostle in saying this here is to prevent Timothy from being discouraged by the fact that he, Paul, who had been so actively engaged in promoting the Gospel, who was so closely and entirely identified with it, that he, more than any other, represented it to the world, was now in prison on account of it. There were two ways in which this might discourage Timothy. (1) It was the loss to himself of his most powerful coadjutor in the work to which he had given himself, Paul being emphatically the champion of the Gospel, who had done more for its promotion than any other man. (2) There was the encouraging effect which this state of things was likely to have on opponents. In these circumstances Paul calls the attention of Timothy to the fact that the position and prospects of the truth itself were not to be judged by the position and prospects of its promoters.

I. The Gospel is not bound as regards any human necessity. It is prepared for every requirement of human wellbeing properly understood. In promoting the happiness of man it begins so very far down, and has so true an idea of what that happiness consists in, and such resources for removing all poisonous roots—all hindrances whatever, whether relative or moral—that it never comes to a standstill from want of power or want of adaptation, or from not possessing the particular thing which is required.

II. The Gospel is not "bound" by the purpose of God. The opposite of this is quite conceivable; for as everything turns on the will of God, it might so happen that God did not intend it to be offered to every one, so that all its adaptation and sufficiency of merit and grace would go for nothing in so far as some were concerned. In that sense, and to that extent, it would be bound. It would not be a universal remedy for the universal disease. But this is very far from being the case. (1) It is not bound geographically. (2) It is not bound morally. The purpose of God does not say that there are certain classes of sinners so wicked that they do not deserve it, or certain other classes of sinners so comparatively good that they do not require it. It tells us that no one deserves it, and that every one requires it.

III. It is not bound by the Providence of God. The prisons of the saints have often been the scenes of the noblest deeds for Christ; and out of their darkness have come the most striking appeals which have ever thrilled the heart of humanity; not only investing with a new halo the truth which inspired God’s servants, but showing that however they might be bound His Word was not bound, but rather from these very circumstances the more surely His, and the more certainly on its way to victory.

A. L. Simpson, Sermons, p. 94.

References: 2Ti 2:9.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 216. 2Ti 2:10.—G. B. Johnson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 286; F. Ferguson, Ibid., vol. xvi., p. 168. 2Ti 2:11.—G. Huntington, Sermons for Holy Seasons, p. 223; Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 301. 2Ti 2:12.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x., No. 547; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 186. 2Ti 2:13.—Ibid., Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1453; J. Vaughan, Sermons, 15th series, p. 222. 2Ti 2:15.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxi., No. 1217. 2Ti 2:16.—J. H. Hitchens, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 328; T. T. Munger, Ibid., vol. xxxiii., p. 88.

2Ti 2:19

I. The whole of a man’s peace, and all his security depend upon this: What is his foundation? It is the plainest of all plain Scriptural truths, that the only foundation of any soul’s safety is the Lord Jesus Christ. By which is meant, that the groundwork of a man’s salvation is the, Saviour’s love for his soul, and the work which the Saviour has begun and finished for him—that righteousness in which the Saviour clothes him; that intercession which the Saviour pleads for him, and that glory which the Saviour has prepared for him. Other foundations may have a momentary peace, but this only can support the superstructure for eternity.

II. Now this truth the Apostle carries a little into more detail. In order to do it, his mind borrows an image from a ceremony common at the commencement of the erection of a public building, when a king, as he lays the foundation stone, sets upon it the impression of the royal seal. In like manner, as if to give to the believer’s hope a twofold security, God is said not only to lay the foundation, but to seal it; and when He seals it, He seals it to Himself by the oath with which He confirms it, and to the believer by the spirit in which He gives it.

III. The seal is twofold. There are two fundamental principles which God has placed on it. The one stands out clear, legible and large. "The Lord knoweth them that are His"; and the other is like unto it—"Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." The seal must have been twice stamped; both inscriptions must have been there before the seal is safe, and stands quite sure. The two sides must never be divided. But as the stamp of God’s love is laid, so must the stamp of man’s obedience be laid. God’s love first, to teach that there is no real obedience till there is first a sense of God’s love.

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 2nd series, p. 351.

The Sealed Foundation.

I. The testimony or the declaration of the text. "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure," or, more literally, "the firm foundation of God standeth." Observe the force of the first word, "nevertheless." It obviously refers to the preceding verses, as if the Apostle had said, Whatever error or corruption may spring up, whatever power and influence enemies of the truth may acquire, and whatever defection or apostacy there may be among professing Christians, there is no good reason why Christ’s servants should lose heart, or should relax in their prayers and efforts. "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure." (1) What are we to understand by the foundation of God? The whole scope of the verse obviously is to set forth the absolute safety of Christ’s Church and people. The Lord Jesus Christ, in His glorious Person, offers atoning death, a finished work of redemption, as the one great foundation; but all who are built on Him by faith, are, in God’s judgment, one with Him, one building, one body. (2) What is taught concerning this foundation? "It standeth sure." This is a plain inference from the fact that it is the foundation of God.

II. The Divine seal or confirmation of this testimony. (1) We have, on the one side, a declaration of glorious privilege—"having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His." The Lord knows all things, but in a peculiar and distinguishing sense He knows and marks His people as His own. But God has known His people, and set His love on them from eternity, for they are all elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. (2) "And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." It is here put in the form of a rule or precept, to teach us that the certainty of God’s purpose never interferes with our moral responsibility, nor supersedes the obligation resting on His people, to strive and pray for entire holiness.

R. Elder, The Redeemer’s Cry, p. 91.

References: 2Ti 2:19.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1854; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 174; R. S. Candlish, Sermons, p. 220; G. E. L. Cotton, Sermons to English Congregations in India, p. 157; Bishop Magee, Church of England Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 1; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 201; Ibid., vol. viii., p. 74; L. Abbott, Ibid., vol. xxi., p. 113; Ibid., vol. xxxvi., p. 74.

2Ti 2:20

The Church Visible and Invisible.

The sight of the united body of Christians has led us to speak of what are called the visible and the invisible Church, in what seems an unscriptural way. The word Church, applied to the body of Christians in this world, means but one thing in Scripture—a visible body invested with invisible privileges. Scripture does not speak of two bodies, one visible, and the other invisible, each with its own complement of members.

I. The Church of Christ, as Scripture teaches, is a visible body, invested with invisible privileges. Take the analogy of the human body by way of illustration. When the soul leaves the body, it ceases to be a body, it becomes a corpse. So the Church would cease to be the Church did the Holy Spirit leave it; and it does not exist at all except in the Spirit. Very various things are said of the Church; sometimes it is spoken of as glorious and holy, sometimes as abounding in offences and sins. It is natural, perhaps, at first sight, to invent, in consequence, the hypothesis of two Churches, as the Jews have dreamed of two Messiahs; but, I say, our Saviour has implied that it is unnecessary; that these opposite descriptions of it are not really incompatible; and, if so, what reason remains for doing violence to the sacred text?

II. Take (1) the objection that bad men are in the visible Church; what does it prove? Is a dead branch part or not part of a tree? You may decide this way or that, but you will never say, because the branch is dead, therefore the tree has no sap. It is a dead branch of a living tree, not a branch of a dead tree. In like manner, irreligious men are dead members of one visible Church, which is living and true, not members of a Church which is dead. Because they are dead it does not follow that the visible Church to which they belong is dead also. (2) Now to consider a second objection that is urged, viz., that "there are good men external to the visible Church, therefore there is a second Church called the invisible." In answer I observe, that as every one who has been duly baptised is, in one sense, in the Church, even though his sins since have hid God’s countenance from him; so if a man has not been baptised, be he ever so correct and exemplary in his conduct, this does not prove that he has received regeneration, which is the peculiar and invisible gift of the Church. The essence of regeneration is the communication of a higher and Divine nature; and sinners may have this gift, though it would be a curse to them, not a blessing.

J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. iii., p. 220. 2 Timothy ii., vers. 20, 21

Vessels of Gold and of Earth.

The "great house" is the external institution of the Church, the "vessels" are its members. Some of them are precious, and used for high purposes, some are cheap and common. A man can settle to which of the classes he belongs. If he belong to the one, honour, if he belong to the other, dishonour is his portion.

I. First of all note the two classes. There is gold and silver plate set out upon the high table where the lord of the house sits, or ranged in glittering rows upon some buffet or sideboard. There are pots and pans in the scullery fit only for base uses. And, says Paul, there is as much difference between different sets of people who are joined in the same Christian community, as between these two sets of vessels. Now, of course, we are not to suppose that the distinction which he here draws is the vulgar worldly one, according to natural gifts and capacities. Men put shining faculties and talents in high places, and lowly or moderate ones in the background. That is not the way in which God classifies vessels in His house. The difference points to a thing within our own power, viz., the difference in maturity of Christian character, in fervour and earnestness of Christian devotion. It is this, and only this, and not the vulgar distinctions of temperament or capacity, which lie so little within our own power, that determines the hierarchy of excellence and the aristocracy and nobility in the Church of Christ. The graces of a Christian character are the gold and silver. The "earth" is the tendencies of the desires, or the selfishness of our own nature.

II. Note, again, the possibility and the method of passing from the lower class to the higher. "If a man purify himself from these." The these there evidently means, not ones which the Apostle has been specifying, but the whole class of commoner and viler vessels of which he has been speaking. (1) The cleanness of a man’s heart and life determines his place in the Christian Church. (2) It is a man’s own business to make himself clean.

III. Note the characteristics of the more precious. The vessel unto honour is (1) sanctified. Consecration is indispensable if we are to be of any use to Jesus, or precious in His sight, (2) "meet for the Master’s use," or, as it might perhaps be rendered even more accurately, simply "useful to the Master." You cannot make man-of-war’s masts out of crooked sticks, and no man is meet for the Master’s use except on condition of devotion and purity. (3) The last characteristic is that of readiness for all sorts of service. The figure of the cup is abandoned here. There should be many-sided alacrity. The calls to "good works" often come suddenly, and if we are not living with our loins girt, the opportunity may pass before we have pulled ourselves together.

IV. Note the honour to the vessel. The true honour is service. Reputation and other consequences of service are desirable, but nothing is greater, more ennobling and blessed, than the service itself. Can any of us have any higher honour than to be of use to Jesus Christ? The King’s servants are made nobles by their service, as was the case of old in England.

A. Maclaren, The God of the Amen, p. 198.

Reference: 2Ti 2:20, 2Ti 2:21.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii., No. 1348.

2Ti 2:21

A Vessel unto Honour.

St. Paul is giving his dying counsels to his dear Timotheus; dictating them, probably, to Luke, in the Roman dungeon, from which he was to be released only by his martyrdom. As ever, as in his earliest discourses and epistles, so here, while the topics are many, the topic is Christ; Christ in His personal and saving glory, and the relation of believing man to Him. On the verge of the eternal state he writes as practically as possible on the holy theme. He leaves behind him, not a rhapsody of farewell, but a grave, tender, last reminder to his beloved disciple how to believe aright in the unchangeable Saviour, and how to serve that Saviour’s purposes day by day in trial and in duty. The man who has found Christ, and is found in Him, is not the man to be disturbed, certainly not the man to be bewildered in the prospect of death. He belongs already to both worlds, belonging to Him to whom they both belong. For him the things seen and temporal are just the present field of his Master’s work, and the things unseen and eternal are but the extension of that vast field into another climate, but under the same owner and lighted by the same sun. So the dying Apostle is full of the thought of his younger fellow-labourer’s continued labour. The Church visible is a great house, and every member of it, every one who is registered under the Christian name, is, in some sense, a vessel, a σκεῦος in it, and used for some purpose by the Master of it. But the qualities and uses of the vessels immensely vary; and there are those which are used only for purposes of dishonour; that is to say, for the whole context makes us sure of this, they are not used for purposes obscure and humble, but for purposes conditioned by evil; purposes, for example, of the warning, of the beacon.

I. What does a vessel to honour mean? The vessel which is hallowed so as to be usable by the master—that is the vessel unto honour. Its capacity may be large or small; its workmanship may be homely or elaborately magnificent.

II. "A vessel unto honour." It is a term glorious with that rare honour which cometh from God only, and which falls impartially, where it falls at all, upon the greatest and the least, as man counts great and little. A vessel is a thing which is altogether not its own. Its idea is that it is a thing for use, for the use of an agent who is not itself. It originates nothing; it only carries, conveys, transmits. It is not its own motor; it is carried; it is for a hand which is not itself to lift, to grasp, to bear away and about where it would and where it would not. It is doubly not its own; it carries what is not itself, the wine or the water, for the sake of which it is employed; and it is carried by what is not itself, the Possessor, who may do what He will with His own, and who knows what the vessel does not know—His plan and aim in all the carrying.

H. C. G. Moule, Christ is All, p. 227.

Reference: 2Ti 2:21.—S. A. Tipple, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 161.

The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

St. Paul having acquainted Timothy with the hard things which he had suffered from the gospel of Christ, and withal informed him how many had flinched for fear of suffering forsaking him and the cause of God defended by him; in this verse he exhorts Timothy to courage and holy resolution for Christ; Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus: That is, when others shew pusillanimity and cowardice, do thou shew thyself a strong and valiant man, not being affrighted at the dangers that threaten thee in publishing and defending the gospel of Jesus Christ. Be strong in the grace of Christ; that is, in the gospel of Christ, which contains a discovery of the riches of his grace, or be strong through the influences of the grace of Christ.

Note, 1. That as all Christians in general, so the ministers of Christ in particular, do need courage, Thou, my son, be strong; nothing he does, but is an act of valour, all duties are attended with difficulties, which put the Christian upon disputing every inch of his way; they are only a few gallant spirits that dare take heaven by storm: And the ministers of Christ do meet with more difficulties than other men.

Learn, 2. That our strength, both as Christians and as ministers, lies in Christ, and not in ourselves: Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; the strength of every saint, yea, of the whole host of saints, lies in the Lord of hosts.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2 Timothy Chapter 2

The truth was the especial treasure committed to him; and he has not only to keep it, as we have seen, but to take care that it was propagated and communicated to others after him, and perhaps still farther. That which he had heard from Paul in the presence of many witnesses (who could confirm Timothy in his convictions respecting the truth, and certify others that it was indeed what he had received from Paul) he was to communicate to faithful men, who were capable of teaching others. This was the ordinary means. It is not the Spirit in the assembly, so that the assembly was an authority; it is no longer revelation. Timothy, well instructed in the doctrine preached by the apostle, and confirmed in his views by many other witnesses who had likewise learned of Paul, so that it was common to all as known, received truth, was to take care that it should be communicated to other faithful men. Neither had this anything to do with giving them authority, with consecrating them, as has been said. It is the communication to them of the truth which he had received from Paul.

This procedure shuts out the idea of the assembly as the propagator of the truth. It was the business of the faithful son in the faith of the apostle, of the ministry.

Timothy himself was not an authority either. He was an instrument for the communication of the truth and was to enable others to be so likewise: a very different thing from being the rule of the truth. That which he had heard-and the other witnesses served as a guarantee against the introduction of anything false, or even of his own opinions, if he had been inclined to entertain them-that he was to communicate.

It is thus that, in the ordinary sense, ministry is continued; care is taken by competent persons for the communication, not of authority, but of the truth, to other faithful persons. God can raise up any one whom He chooses, and give him the energy of His Spirit; and where this is found, there is power and an effectual work: but the passage we are considering supposes the careful communication of the truth to persons fit for this work. Both principles equally shut out the idea of the communication of official authority, and the idea of the assembly being either an authority with regard to the faith or the propagator of the truth. If God raised up whom He pleased, in whatever way He pleased, the means which He employed (when there was no special operation on His part) was to cause the truth to be communicated to individuals capable of propagating it. This is a widely different thing from bestowing authority, or the exclusive or official right to preach. And it was known, revealed truth he was to communicate, that had the direct authority of revelation-what Paul’s writings can alone furnish us now, or of course other inspired writings.

The apostle goes on to shew the qualities that Timothy ought to possess, in order to carry on the work amid the circumstances that surrounded him, and in which the assembly itself was found. He must know how to endure hardships, vexations, difficulties, sorrows, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ; he must beware of entangling himself with the affairs of life. A soldier, when in service, could not do so, but must be free from every hindrance, that he may please the one who had called him to arms. So also, as in the lists, he must fight according to rule, according to that which became the Lord’s servant and was conformable to the Lord’s will. And he must labour first, that he may have a right to enjoy the fruit of his labour. These are the practical conditions of divine service for whosoever engages in it. He must endure, be unentangled in the world, fight lawful]y and labour on first [5] before he looked for fruits. The apostle returns to the elementary but fundamental principles of the truth, and to the sufferings of ministry, which moreover were in nowise a hindrance to the operations of the Spirit of God in extending the sphere in which the truth was propagated, and the word of God made known. Nothing could restrain the power of that instrument of the work of God.

The truth of the gospel (dogma is not the subject here) was divided into two parts, of which the apostle speaks also in the Epistle to the Romans: the fulfillment of the promises; and the power of God in resurrection. “Jesus Christ, of the seed of David; raised from the dead.” These, in fact, are, as it were, the two pivots of the truth: God faithful to His promises (shewn especially in connection with the Jews); and God mighty to produce an entirely new thing by His creative and quickening power, as manifested in the resurrection, which also put the seal of God upon the Person and the work of Christ.

The afflictions found in the path of service in the gospel assume here a high and peculiar character in the mind of the suffering and blessed apostle. It is participation in the sufferings of Christ, and, in the case of Paul, to a very remarkable degree. The expressions he uses are such as might be employed in speaking of Christ Himself as regards His love. As to the propitiation, naturally no other could take part in that: but in devotedness, and in suffering for love and for righteousness, we have the privilege of suffering with Him. And here what part had the apostle with those sufferings? “I endure,” He says, “all things for the elect’s sakes.” This is truly what the Lord did. The apostle trod closely on His footsteps, and with the same purpose of love-”that they might obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.” Here of course the apostle has to add, “which is in Christ Jesus ; “still, the language is marvelous in the lips of any other person than the Lord Himself. For it is what Christ did. Observe also here, that the greater the sufferings are (how small are ours on this account!) as the fruits of this love for the objects of the counsels of God, the greater is our privilege, the more do we participate in that which was the glory of Christ here below.

This thought sustains the soul in affliction of this kind: one has the same object as the Lord Himself. The energy of love in preaching the gospel addresses itself to the whole world. Perseverance, in the midst of affliction and difficulties and desertion, is sustained by the feeling that one is laboring for the accomplishment of God’s counsels. One endures all things for the elect, for God’s elect, in order that they may have salvation and eternal glory. This feeling was in Paul’s heart. He knew the love of God, and he sought-at the cost of whatever suffering it might be in the tumultuous sea of this world-that they who were the objects of the same love should enjoy the salvation and the glory which God bestowed. This was a faithful saying, that is, that which he had just declared; for if we should die with Christ, we should also live with Him; if we should suffer, we should also reign with Him. If any denied Him, He would also deny them; the consequences of such an act remained in all their force, they were linked with the immutability of His nature and His being, and were displayed in the authority of His judgment; He could not deny Himself because others were unfaithful. Timothy was strengthened to maintain these great principles, which belonged to the moral nature of the Lord, and not allow himself to be drawn aside by speculations which only subverted souls and corrupted the faith. He was to shew himself a workman approved of God, one who, being filled with the truth, and knowing how to unfold it in its various parts, according to the mind and purpose of God would not be ashamed of his work in the presence of those who might judge it. The profane and useless thoughts of human speculation he was to avoid. They could not but go on to produce ungodliness. They might have a great show of depth and height (as in the case of the assertion, that the resurrection had already taken place, which in a fleshly way went beyond all bounds with regard to our position in Christ)-these doctrines which eat like a canker. Those of whom the apostle spoke had already overthrown the faith of some, that is, their conviction as to the truth and profession of the truth. But here the soul of the apostle found its refuge in that which is immutable, be the failure of the assembly or man’s unfaithfulness ever so great. The sure foundation of God remained. It had this seal: the Lord knew them that were His. This was God’s side, which nothing could touch.[6] The other was man’s- he who professed the name of the Lord was to depart from all iniquity. This was man’s responsibility, but it characterised the work and fruit of grace wherever that work was genuine and the true fruit borne.

But here we have distinct evidence of the state of things which this epistle contemplates; namely that the outward assembly had taken quite a new character, very different from that which it had at the beginning; and that now the individual was thrown upon his personal faithfulness as a resource, and as a means of escape from the general corruption. The sure foundation of God remained-His divine knowledge of those that are His; and individual separation from all evil; but the outward assembly assumes, in the eyes of the apostle, the character of a great house. All kinds of things are found in it, vessels of honour and vessels of dishonour, precious and vile. The man of God was to purge himself from the latter, to stand apart and not defile himself with that which was false and corrupt. This is a principle of all-importance, which the Lord has given us in His word. He allowed the evil to display itself in apostolic times, so far as to give occasion for the establishment of this principle by revelation, as that which was to govern the Christian. The unity of the assembly is so precious, it has such authority over the heart of man, that there was danger, when failure had set in, lest the desire for outward unity should induce even the faithful to accept evil and walk in fellowship with it, rather than break this unity. The principle therefore of individual faithfulness, of individual responsibility to God, is established, and set above all other considerations; for it has to do with the nature of God Himself, and His own authority over the conscience of the individual. God knoweth them that are His: here is the ground of confidence. I do not say who are. And let those that name the name of Jesus separate themselves from all evil. Here I get what I can recognize. To maintain in practice the possibility of union between that name and evil is to blaspheme it.

The whole of that which calls itself Christian is looked at here as a great house. The Christian is of it outwardly, in spite of himself; for he calls himself a Christian, and the great house is all that calls itself Christian. But he cleanses himself personally from every vessel which is not to the Lord’s honour. This is the rule of Christian faithfulness; and thus personally cleansed from fellowship with evil, he shall be a vessel unto honour fit for the Master’s use. Whatsoever is contrary to the honour of Christ, in those who bear His name, is that from which he is to separate himself.

Discipline for individual faults is not the subject here, nor the restoration of souls in an assembly that has in part lost its spirituality; but a line of conduct for the individual Christian in respect of that which dishonors the Lord in any way.

These instructions are solemn and important. That which makes them needful is sorrowful in its nature; but it all helps to exhibit the faithfulness and grace of God. The direction is plain, and precious when we find ourselves in similar circumstances. Individual responsibility can never cease.

When the Holy Ghost acts energetically and triumphs over the power of the enemy, these individuals who are gathered together in the assembly develop their life in it according to God and His presence, and the spiritual power which exists in the whole body acts upon the conscience, if needed, and guides the heart of the believer: so that the individual and the assembly flow on together under the same influence. The Holy Ghost, who is present in the assembly, sustains the individual at the height of God’s own presence. Strangers even are obliged to confess that God is there. Love and holiness reign. When the effect of this power is no longer found in the assembly, and by degrees Christendom no longer answers to the character of the assembly as God formed it, yet the responsibility of the individual to God has not ceased on that account. It can never either cease or diminish, for the authority and the rights of God Himself over the soul are at stake.

But in a case like this, that which calls itself Christian is no longer a guide, and the individual is bound to conform himself to the will of God, by the power of the Spirit, according to the light he has from God.

God may gather the faithful together. It is grace on His part; it is also His mind. But individual responsibility remains-responsibility not to break the unity, feeble as it may be, wherever it is possible according to God: but responsibility to preserve the divine character of Christianity in our walk, and to respond to the revelation we have received of His nature and of His will.

By purging himself from all those who are unto dishonour, the servant of God shall be unto honour, sanctified and prepared for every good work. For this separation from evil is not merely negative; it is the effect of the realisation of the word of God in the heart. I then understand what the holiness of God is, His rights over my heart, the incompatibility of His nature with evil. I feel that I dwell in Him and He in me; that Christ must be honoured at all costs; that that which is like Him alone honours Him; that His nature and His rights over me are the only rule of my life. That which thus separates me unto Him, and according to what He is, separates me thereby from evil. One cannot walk with those who dishonour Him, and, at the same time, honour Him in one’s own walk.

That which follows shews the sanctifying character of this exhortation. The apostle says, “Flee also youthful lusts; but seek righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” This is to breathe the pure atmosphere which is found in the Lord’s presence; in which the soul enjoys health and strength. All that corrupts is far away. And, further, we find, what is so often contested, that we can and are to distinguish those who call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart. We do not decide who are the Lord’s: He knows them. But we are to associate ourselves with those who manifest themselves, such as call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Those I am to know, own, and walk with. The statement that I cannot know who these are, is in defiance of an express rule of scripture, applicable to a state where, through corruption, many who may possess Christianity are not so manifested. As we find throughout these epistles, the apostle exhorts to avoid vain questions, in which there is no divine instruction. They only produce barren discussions and strife; and the servant of the Lord is not to strive. He comes, on God’s part, to bring the truth in peace and love. He is to maintain this character in the expectation that God, in His grace, will give repentance to those who oppose (for it is the heart and conscience that are in question), that they may acknowledge the truth.

The truth of God is not a thing of human understanding; it is the revelation of that which God is, and of His counsels. Now we cannot have to do with God without the heart and conscience being engaged. It is not the revelation to us of God, if this is not the case. Christians are brought into connection with the divine Being Himself, and in acts which ought to have the most powerful effect on the heart and conscience; if they do not, both the one and the other are in a bad state and hardened. The Spirit of God, no doubt acts on the understanding and by it; but the truth lodged in it is addressed to the conscience and to the heart, and if these are not reached by the truth, nothing is done. Nor indeed is anything really understood till they are. For in divine truth things are understood before words, as “born again.” (compare Joh 8:43) On the other hand, by means of error, by occupying the mind with the error, Satan shuts God out of it, and leads the whole man captive, so that he does the will of that enemy to the soul.

Footnotes for 2 Timothy Chapter 2

5: Read “laboring first.”

6: This, while a profound source of comfort, is a proof of decline; for men ought to know who are the Lord’s too. It is not, “The Lord added daily to the assembly such as should be saved.”

John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1, 2. Thou, therefore, my son. Since his son, Timothy, should follow his example, and seek to be strong through the grace of Christ.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Paul pictures Timothy's Christian life as a soldier's life, as a farmer's life, and as an athlete's life.

my child

Here "child" is a term of great love and approval. It is also likely that Timothy was converted to Christ by Paul, and so this is why Paul considered him like his own child. AT: "who is like my child" (See: Metaphor)

be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus

Paul speaks about the motivation and determination that God's grace allows believers to have. AT: "let God use the grace he gave you through your relationship to Christ Jesus to make you strong" (See: Metaphor)

among many witnesses

"with many witnesses there to agree that what I said is true"

entrust them to faithful people

Paul speaks of his instructions to Timothy as if they were objects that Timothy could give to other people and trust them to use correctly. AT: "commit them" or "teach them" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

grace

in Christ

testimony

trust

faithful

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

1–10. REPETITION OF CHARGE I. BE STRONG IN CHRIST’S STRENGTH

1. σὺ οὗν. Thou therefore; sc. in reference to the defections of which he had just spoken.

τέκνον μου. see on 1Ti 1:2.

ἐνδυναμοῦ, be strengthened (passive, not middle, voice). The present tense marks an abiding and continual strengthening. See note on 1Ti 1:12.

ἐν τῇ χάριτι τῇ ἐν Χρ. Ἰησ., the sphere within which alone a man can be truly strong.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1-13. Further appeal to Timothy to take heart and to entrust his teaching to others.

Paraphrase. So then, as others have failed me, I turn to you to whom I have a right to appeal, such as I had not to Onesiphorus, as you are my own child in the faith—and I bid you to realize constantly the strength which is yours in virtue of the grace given you through your union with Christ Jesus. In that strength, Come to me and, before you come, hand over the truths which you heard from me, in the presence of many witnesses, to men on whom you can rely as being of ability enough to train others in their turn. Then come and take your share of suffering as a true soldier in the army of Christ Jesus: now every soldier hopes to please his general and, therefore, while on active service does not tie himself up with business affairs: so, too, an athlete hopes to win the prize, but he cannot win it unless he observes to the end the rules of the contest: in the same way a husbandman hopes to take his share first of the fruits of the ground, but he must work hard for it. Think over the way in which this applies to you: for the Lord is ready to give you discernment in all things.

Keep ever in your memory Jesus Christ—as one who has been raised from the dead, and as the offspring of a Royal ancestor, as a living Lord, for this is the central truth of the Gospel entrusted to me. In the service of that Gospel, I am now suffering, aye, imprisoned and fettered as though I was a criminal: yet God’s word has never been fettered by man: it has been free and doing its work all the time: and, therefore, I am ready to endure this and anything to help God’s chosen ones that they with me may obtain salvation, that complete salvation which is given by union with Christ Jesus and which carries with it a glory that is eternal. How true is that great saying:

“Who shares Christ’s death His life shall share:

They reign with Him their cross who bear:

Who Him deny He will deny:

Though our faith fall, He cannot lie.”

Nay, He cannot be untrue to Himself.

1. σύ, in contrast to 1:15-18: οὖν, taking up 1:14, “as I need some one to guard the deposit”; cf. 1:14 παραθήκην with 2:2 παράθου. ἐνδυναμοῦ, taking up 1:7, 8, 12: a favourite Pauline word (six times: elsewhere in N.T. only Act 9:22 where it is used of St. Paul): probably middle voice; cf. Eph 6:10 ἐνδυναμοῦσθε ἐν κυρίῳ . . . ἐνδύσασθε: for the thought, cf. 2Co 12:9. ἐν τῇ χάριτι, “grace” in its widest sense, but perhaps with special reference to the χάρισμα of 1:6.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore [ουν] . In view of what has been said in the previous chapter. Be strong [ενδυναμου] . In Paul, Rom 4:20; Eph 6:10; Phi 4:13. Lit. be strengthened inwardly.

In the grace [εν τη χαριτι] . Grace is the inward source of strength. Comp. the association of grace and strength in 2Co 12:9.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.