2 Timothy 2
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CHAPTER 2
The Soldier of Christ (2:1-13)
1 Paul tells Timothy to be strong (see Ephesians 6:10 and comment). Timothy is to be strong not in himself but in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. All of God’s gifts to us are included in His grace: the Holy Spirit, salvation, mercy, strength, all kinds of help—all these come from God’s grace. And God’s grace is given to us in Christ Jesus. The greatest gift of all is Jesus Christ Himself.
2 Over the years, Paul has taught Timothy many things in the presence of many people, or witnesses. Now Timothy must pass on these teachings to other select men who themselves will teach yet others. These men must have two qualifications: first, they must be reliable; and second, they must be qualified to teach others (see 1 Timothy 3:2). In this way the Gospel and the true doctrines of the faith will be passed down accurately from generation to generation.
3-4 Here Paul writes that Timothy must be able to endure hardship like a soldier. Not only that, just as a soldier must not become involved in civilian affairs, so a leader in the church must not become entangled in the things of this world. Worldly affairs in themselves are not evil; but if they entangle and distract us, they must be cast off (see Mark 4:18; Hebrews 12:1). Just as a soldier seeks first of all to please his commanding officer, so the “soldier” of Christ must first of all seek to please Christ. A true soldier is always ready and willing to go anywhere and do anything, no matter what his own personal desire might be. Christ’s soldiers must be like that.
5 Here Paul says the Christian is like a person who competes as an athlete. An athlete competing in sports must train himself rigorously; he must be single-minded. In the games he must compete with all his energy and skill. In Paul’s time, all athletes trained for a certain length of time and in a certain way. An athlete who did not train according to the rules would not be able to win in the games. In the same way, Christians must live according to the rules laid down by Christ and His apostles. Those who do so will receive the victor’s crown (1 Corinthians 9:25; 2 Timothy 4:7-8).
6 Here Paul gives a third description of the Christian worker: he is like a hardworking farmer. A farmer deserves to receive a share of the crops. This means that a pastor or other full-time Christian worker is entitled to receive a suitable salary or living allowance from the church (see 1 Corinthians 9:10-11,14).
However, if the farmer is not hardworking, there will be no crop for him to share in. And so it is with Christian workers. Without hard work, there will be no spiritual fruit.
7 Reflect on what I am saying, Paul writes Timothy. To the extent we reflect and meditate on the teachings of the Bible, to that same extent God will increase our understanding. But we ourselves must apply ourselves and study the Bible; and as we do so, God will continue to open our minds to receive more and more of His truth.
8 In accordance with the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets, Jesus Christ was descended from DAVID, the most famous king of the Jews (see Matthew 1:1; Luke 1:32; Romans 1:3-4 and comments).
Remember Jesus Christ. In everything we do, no matter what kind of work it is, let us remember Jesus and keep our eyes fixed on Him (Hebrews 12:2).
9 The Romans could put Paul in chains, but they couldn’t put God’s word, the Gospel, in chains. Pastors and preachers may be put in prison, but God’s word will continue to spread all the more (see Philippians 1:12-14).
10 Paul endures everything for the sake of the elect. In this verse, the elect are those who have been chosen by God to be saved, but who as yet have not believed in Christ (see Acts 13:48 and comment). It is the duty of every Christian to share the Gospel with others and to witness to Christ, so that those whom God has called from before might hear and believe. God has given to us the responsibility of actually bringing the elect to faith, so that they might receive salvation (see Matthew 9:36-38 and comment).
11 If we have died with Christ through baptism, we will also live with him in His resurrection (see Romans 6:3-5 and comment).
12 To reign with Christ, we must stand firm under trials and endure to the end (see Mark 13:13; Romans 8:17; Revelation 3:21 and comments).
If we disown Christ, he will also disown us (see Matthew 10:32-33 and comment).
13 Even if we are faithless, he will remain faithful. This saying can have two meanings. First, it can mean that even when we stumble and fall into sin, God will be faithful to forgive us and cleanse us—if we repent (1 John 1:9). The second possible meaning is this: If we disown God, He will surely disown us, because God must be faithful to Himself; He cannot accept anyone who rejects Him (see Romans 3:3-4 and comment). These two meanings are not contradictory; both are true.
A Workman Approved by God (2:14-26)
14 Timothy must keep reminding the members of the church of these things—that is, the things that Paul has been writing in this letter.
Paul here is thinking especially about those people who spend time quarreling about words. As we seek to understand the truth together, it is proper—in love—to discuss and debate the meaning of Biblical words; but we must not quarrel over them. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). We must learn to discuss and debate without quarreling. Quarreling grieves the Holy Spirit and destroys our fellowship. Such quarreling leads people astray and ruins those who listen (see 1 Timothy 1:3-6 and comment).
15 If something that a workman makes is later shown to be defective, the workman is ashamed. So it is with leaders of the church. Let their work not be defective. Especially, let them handle the word of truth correctly; that is, let them preach and teach the word of God faithfully and accurately.
16 Paul here repeats the thought of verse 14 (see 1 Timothy 6:20-21). Those who indulge in godless chatter get farther and farther away from God.
17-18 In these two verses, Paul is thinking not only of godless chatter (verse 16), but also of false teaching. Why is false teaching so dangerous and harmful? The reason is this: People do not easily recognize that false teaching is, indeed, false; they are deceived by it. It seems like the truth. They are easily led astray by false teachers. If we could immediately recognize false teaching, it would do no harm (see 1 Timothy 4:1 and comment).
This is why Paul says that the teaching of false teachers will spread like gangrene (verse 17). How does gangrene spread? Slowly, insidiously. In the same way, the “gangrene” of false teaching spreads through our minds, and before we are aware of it, it has destroyed us.
Jesus compared false teaching to leaven (Matthew 16:6,11-12). A little bit of leaven spreads slowly and insidiously throughout the whole loaf (Galatians 5:9).
False teaching is also like poison. One drop of poison in a jug of water will make all the water in the jug poisonous, and he who drinks of it will die.
Two such false teachers in Paul’s time were Hymenaeus (1 Timothy 1:20) and Philetus. They taught that the RESURRECTION had already occurred; that is, they taught that there was no real resurrection of the body. They said that the so-called “resurrection” was only a spiritual experience that all believers had already received. But their teaching was completely false. If there is no resurrection of the body, then Christ Himself was not raised from the dead. And if Christ was not raised, then our faith is in vain. Such false teaching will certainly destroy men’s faith (see 1 Corinthians 15:12-17).
19 False teachers will deceive men, but they cannot deceive God. God’s church and its foundation will not be shaken (Ephesians 2:19-22). God knows who are His true servants. The Lord knows those who are his. He knows who are true Christians and who are false Christians. Those who do not turn away from wickedness are false Christians; they are not true members of God’s church.
20 In any church, there are some members who are worthy and noble, and other members who are unworthy and ignoble.
21 Let every true believer cleanse himself from the latter—that is, from those church members who are false and ignoble. By cleansing himself from false brothers and false teaching, the true believer can become an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful … and prepared to do any good work.2
22 Therefore, Paul writes to Timothy: Flee the evil desires of youth—such as, immorality, pride, quarreling, etc. Instead, together with other true Christians, pursue RIGHTEOUSNESS, FAITH, love and PEACE (see 1 Timothy 6:11; 1 Peter 2:11 and comments).
23 We must avoid vain discussions and arguments, because they do not lead to edification but to quarreling (see 1 Timothy 6:20-21; 2 Timothy 2:14,16 and comments).
24 The Lord’s servant—that is, the pastor or leader of a church—should never enter into arguments and quarrels. Instead, he should be kind. Instead of quarreling, he should be able to teach. When others oppose him, he shouldn’t be harsh and resentful; otherwise, their opposition will increase.
25-26 The church leader should gently instruct those who oppose him and who fall into error. It is essential to do this with humility; otherwise, those whom the leader is trying to instruct will become angry and resistant, and it will be even harder to become reconciled with them. The leader’s hope must be that they might come to REPENTANCE and return to the truth, and thus escape from Satan’s trap.
Notice here that repentance is “granted” by God; it is a gift of God. Just as we first believed by God’s grace, so in the same way do we repent by God’s grace. Without God’s grace, we can do nothing that is pleasing to God.
The first gift that a person receives from God is the ability to recognize his sin and to repent of it (see Mark 1:4 and comment). The first essential step in pleasing God and leading a holy life is to confess and repent of one’s sin (see 1 John 1:9 and comment). Therefore, one of the church leader’s main duties and goals is to bring those who have gone astray to repentance.