Be loyal
2 Timothy 1
Tom J. Nettles
As Paul
nears the end of his earthly journey and consequently of his apostolic
ministry, he gives both encouragement and admonition to his most consistent and
dearly loved son in the ministry, Timothy. This short letter is remarkable for its fullness in theology,
autobiography, affection for a friend, expression of lament for the fear and
faithlessness of some, confidence in the perfection of the divine plan of
revelation and redemption, and determination to be found working when the night
finally falls on his labors.
I. Paul Reminds Timothy of Relationships
A.
Relations that
inform his [Paul’s] ministry
1.
To God as an apostle 1
a)
His apostleship
particularly concerns Christ Jesus - Throughout Paul’s ministry the whole
movement of biblical theology comes to bear in his deep awareness that his task
of proclamation has no object other than a display of the full riches that are
in Christ. God’s message is a message
about his Son. God’s redemption finds manifestation in his Son. The future Kingdom is brought to fulfillment
in its specific character as a kingdom of the redeemed by his Son. The work of angels is marked out by God’s
redemption of fallen humanity. The work
of apostles continually unfolds layers of richness in Christ.
b)
It is not a
chosen profession, but God’s decree cf. Gal 1:15, 16 In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul also explores
the implications of this call to apostleship.
God designed him for no other purpose than to proclaim the gospel. God set him apart to this purpose even from
his mother’s womb, meaning that he was born to no other purpose.
c)
“according” or “with
a view to” the promise of life; See Titus 1:1 for an expansion of this same
idea. Paul sees this promise
particularly as the “faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth
according to godliness.” This is based
on the “hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised” before the ages
of time began. This fulfilled the hope
believed by the Pharisees see Acts 26:5-8.
The promise of eternal life, therefore, involves the eternal covenant
immutably established in which God sets aside an elect people that he
determines that he will bring to repentance and faith (“knowledge of the truth
according to godliness”)
2.
To Timothy as a
Father in the ministry 2 –4
a)
Paul had no
natural son, but in Christ, he served as father to Timothy; “Beloved:” Paul alternates
between very stern admonition and
melting tenderness. True love
does not omit the tough issues of true discipleship. A love for the brethren does not necessarily
mean that we desire to shield them from hardship. When this hardship is for Christ and the
Gospel, Paul invites Timothy to partake of it.
He sees it as for his good and the gory of God in the calling and sanctification
of the people that are his own.
b)
Timothy is the
consistent object of his prayers, night and day. This could be stated times of prayer but
probably indicates that Paul never is far from prayer throughout the day and in
this context of prayer has Timothy and his ministry as a consistent item for
intercession. As an element of Paul’s knowledge of the certainty of the
accomplishment of God’s decree was his commitment to prayer without ceasing. As
he explains in more detail later, God’s sovereignty and power in the service of
his unchangeable character puts into motion all the means necessary for and
consistent with the gospel. Prayer, as a restoration of knowledge of our
dependence on God and as an expression of our delight in his excellence, manifests
a love for the first table of the commandments summarized in the greatest
commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength.” Our sin in
Adam and in ourselves has obliterated that element of worship and the gospel in
its underlying moral implications restores a love for prayer and a recognition that our supplications to him constitute an
element of his just rule in our lives.
c)
They shared a
deep affection, “Your tears, . . .Longing to see you .
. . filled with joy.” (4) Timothy loved Paul for his unvarnished devotion to
the gospel that led to his own reception of a charge for gospel ministry, and
now shared Paul’s concern for the glory of Christ. See Philippians 2:119ff, for Paul’s
evaluation of Timothy’s heart for Christ and his people.
3.
To His
forefathers as a true worshipper of God
3
a) He probably is not speaking of his position as a Pharisee,
which he repudiated in Phil 3 concerning the Law, but that he affirmed concerning
the resurrection Acts 23:6-9; 26:5-8.
Paul knew that the Pharisee’s doctrine of resurrection was true, but
they did not see it as connected with the redemption Christ effected
through his death. Resurrection unto
life comes only from Christ having paid the wages of sin. Their hope of resurrection, therefore, was
right, but their view of the necessity of the gospel made them deficient. They did not grasp the nature of regeneration,
[John3, Romans 2], the necessity of atonement for forgiveness [Galatians 3], or
of the need for an external righteousness imputed to them [Romans 4, 5,
Philippians 3:9].
b)
At least he has
in mind Abraham [Romans 4:9ff; Gal 3:6, 7] and David [Rom 4:6-8] In the general
sense of having received the oracles of God and the covenants, Paul considered
all the forefathers as in the truth. As
Jesus told the woman at the well, “Salvation is of the Jews.”
c)
Particularly
though, he refers to the remnant that were the true circumcision, the elect of
God that trusted in God’s provision for forgiveness of sin and righteousness. [Romans
9:6-9].
B.
Timothy’s
relations that should encourage his faithfulness
1. To Paul
as a Son and the object of his love and prayers 2-4 (See 2. above) There is
hardly anything more encouraging in earthly relationships than a knowledgeable,
devoted mentor giving himself to the usefulness of a younger person.
2.
To his Christian
heritage and influences, a sincere faith that he himself shares 5 – see
references also 3:14, 15. Calvin sees
this as a pre-Christian faith in the promise; if so it is similar to what Paul
says about himself in verse 3 about his “ancestors.” If so, again, it would
have a bearing on hosw one interpreted 3:15. The language, however, does not seem to
permit this, but is designed to speak of the Christian faith and how he was
reared in its truth. According to Acts 16:1 his mother was “a Jewish woman who
was a believer.” Paul is convinced that
Timothy is now in this faith.
3.
To the
ministerial task to which he was set aside 6, 7
a) The gift of God – an internal spiritual qualification
for the external call of ministry. This
could be the gifting that comes to every member of the body of Christ or an
extraordinary gift such as Paul said not to quench in 1 Thess. 5:19. Since Paul links it particularly to the
laying on of his hands, it probably is the extraordinary gift of
prophesying. In the passage following,
Paul is particularly interested in preserving a deposit that has been
granted. The necessity of the
preservation of special revelation for a truthful grasp of the gospel is on his
mind and he wants Timothy to be fully aware of his own responsibility to
receive and pass on this revelation. In
addition he needs to be able to discern when false teachers have entered and
have begun to distort the truth revealed to Paul. Along with the gift of prophecy comes the
necessity to test everything in order to reject the false. See this operative in Paul in 2 Thess 2:1-5. In that passage we see that the “spoken word”
of the apostles had revelatory authority and the churches were to judge other
teachers by it. Also we see that an apostolic “letter” would confirm the spoken
message of revealed truth.
b) The command to “fan into flame” this gift shows that
the gift of prophetic utterance of revealed truth must be pursued with
boldness, a deep sense of stewardship, and an awareness that the mysterious
symbiosis of human mind and divine Spirit. The instruction about prophetic
utterance in 1 Corinthians 14 assumes this relationship so that “the spirits of
the prophets are subject to the prophets” (32). One that was a true prophet
would recognize Paul’s instruction as “a command of the Lord” and would obey it
(37). H will also recognize the vital nature of such a gift for the glory of
God, the manifestation if truth, and the consequent well-being of the church,
and will therefore, pursue the usefulness of this gift granted him (cf. 1
Corinthians 14:1).
c) “My hands” His
being granted the charge of pastoral ministry came through the laying on of the
hands of the presbytery in which Paul probably was involved with others 1 Tim
4:14. Paul probably refers to another
occasion here when an extraordinary charisma was given Timothy – These passages
together indicate the seriousness with which the church should approach setting
aside men to ministry. We affirm and
enter into God’s call and gifting. With passing of the apostolic age, and thus
their authority on the basis of immediate observation, the prophetic gift,
secondary to and under the authority of the apostolic ministry, ceased as far
as its reception of immediate revelation is concerned. It continues now in the
call to ministry and the necessity of rightly dividing, or handling, the word
of truth (2:15). In both 2 Timothy and 2 Peter, the transition is being made
from the combined authority of written word and charismatic revelation to the
sole authority of written revelation as the apostles
labor to ascertain the perpetuity of their written instructions for the health
of the church and their knowledge of the truth. (eg.
2 Peter 1:12-21 and 3:1-3, 14-16)
d) “Not of fear” -
Spirit empowers for open declaration, not reticence- cf. 4:17; Paul knew what
it meant to have life threatened and to be strengthened by God’s Spirit on such
occasions. He found himself to be
“burdened excessively, beyond our strength,” with the sentence of death within
him. In that condition, he could not
trust in himself “but in God who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:8-10. Paul prayed for clarity and boldness in his
gospel proclamation even in chains.
II.
Our stewardship is an extension of God’s faithfulness
8-14
A.
Suffering is
intrinsic to God’s plan of redemption by the Gospel (8)- Timothy needed the reminder that God did not
give the spirit of fear, because Paul intended immediately to invite him to
join in suffering.
1.
The Lord suffered
as one rejected by the world. A part of
early apostolic preaching was this element of rejection overcome by God’s
acceptance; Acts 2:23; 3:13-18; 4:8-12; 7:51, 52; 13:26-30, 46; “The testimony of our Lord,” can be either
the testimony Jesus gave before Pilate as mentioned in 1 Tim. 6:13, or the
testimony about Jesus given by Paul and the apostles. On this occasion, Paul probably has in mind
the testimony about Jesus that he received by special revelation and that he is
responsible for proclaiming. This is the central element of the “deposit” to
which Paul refers in 1 Timothy 6:20, 2 Timothy 1:12 and 14 [below]. All of the
revelation of God may be brought to summation as a testimony about Christ.
2.
“Nor of me his
prisoner” - Paul suffers as one rejected by the world - Paul often was in chains and often
wrote from prison. He had a high view of
God’s providence and knew that God used even imprisonment to his glory. See Phil. 1:12-20. One could not love worldly approval and court
Paul at the same time.
3.
“According to the
power of God” - As this is the normal course the world takes to the gospel, God
empowers his saints in it. An extended
expression of this confidence animates Paul’s great passage on the inseparability
of the elect from the love of God in Romans 8:35-39. The thought there informs Paul’s discussion
here. Since God already has removed us
from the greatest danger, that is his wrath and just condemnation, how can it
be that any earthly power will overwhelm the saint. If the creator will not accuse or condemn us,
how can it be possible that a creature will succeed in removing us from God’s
fatherly purpose as determined in Christ. We may thus be assured of divine power and
purpose in situations that otherwise would strike fear into the most dauntless
heart.
B.
Salvation is of
God’s initiative in time and in eternity (9) – Our ministry for the gospel
comes with the assurance that God has enveloped it within an eternal operation
of gracious purpose.
1.
“Saved us” – God
alone is properly our Savior in his three-personed
operation. The Father -- has “chosen you,” “chose us in him before the
foundation of the world;” “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our
Savior appeared, he saved us” “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made
us alive” “He delivered us from the domain of darkness” – The Son, “and
transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.” “Christ Jesus came into the world to saved sinners”
“Who gave himself for us to redeem us;” “Who gave himself for our sins to
deliver us,” “who loved me and gave himself for me” “Christ redeemed us from
the curse of the Law,” “God sent forth his Son . . . to redeem those who were
under the law.” “the righteousness . . . . which comes
through faith in Christ;” - The Spirit, “although the body is dead because of
sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness;” “by the washing of
regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,” “unless one is born of water and
the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God, ”It is the Spirit who gives
life;” Because of the connection either as mean or by symbol other things also
are said to save us; they do not save us properly, by having any saving
efficacy in themselves, but are connected with salvation either as fitting
means or as vivid symbols that provide an opportunity for confession of the
certain and saving efficacy of the death of Christ. “Whoever brings back a
sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a
multitude of sins” (James 5:20) “Baptism, which corresponds to this [that is,
the waters of the flood] now saves you, not as a removal of the filth of the
flesh but as an appeal unto God of a good conscience.”
2.
God has set us
aside to salvation by holy and effectual operations of the Spirit: “saved us and called us with a holy calling”
Not a mere invitation but a consecration -
NIV says “to a holy life” and while true in itself considered, and at
least one of the results of this calling,
is not Paul’s point here. ESV says “to a holy calling” also not quite
to the point. Paul is saying that God’s
salvation is initiated experientially by a calling from him that operates
effectually for all his holy purposes of joining us to Christ by repentance and
faith. The calling the Christian receives comes not in “word only” (1
Thessalonians 1:5) but with the full and effectual intention of the new
birth—the alteration of soul—understanding and affections—so as to effect a
turn from sin and open the eyes to the compelling attraction of Christ as
displayed in the gospel.
3.
This call came in
accordance with an eternal purpose [Rom 9:11; Eph 1:11 prothesin] God pursues his own
purpose in this salvation he has granted and does not operate in accordance
with “our works” [presumably “works of righteousness” as in Titus 3:5] either
observed or foreknown in the creature.
Paul removes the eternal operations of God so far from human endeavor in
this text that it is impossible to say that he has made his actions of “grace”
depend on anything foreseen in the creature, only that his decree of salvation
is in light of a redemptive work to be performed by his Son. Paul emphasizes
“His own purpose and grace” in direct contrast to “our works.”
4.
Christ, i.e.
contemplating his work, is the sphere within which this purpose of grace takes
place. Salvation can not be achieved
apart from an adequate savior. Salvation
is not given us therefore, even in eternity as a mere abstraction, but always
in the sphere of a just and holy means of fully honoring the character and Law
of God. When he views salvation,
therefore, in eternity, he does so in wholeness—the nature of the offense of
those to be saved, the demands of the standards that they violated, and a just
means of granting them the grace of forgiveness, righteousness, adoption,, and
eternal glory. Such blessing can only be
granted us in Christ Jesus. Cf.
Ephesians 1:3; Rev. 5:1-5
5.
It was granted to
the ones he chose prior to the beginning of ordered time (“Before the
chronology of ages”); NASB “from all eternity,” ESV “before the ages began” None of this plan did God have to execute as
a reaction to human activity, but rested within the decree, orderly and
purposeful with all that he intended to accomplish resident within it from
before the beginning of chronological time.
C.
The purpose
revealed and accomplished in the person and work of Christ 10 -
1.
Incarnation -
Because as contemplated and purposed in accord with God’s character and
established as possible only through the incarnation of the eternal Son, the
decree makes necessary the means of its accomplishment. Some represent a theology of decrees as
rendering superfluous, even unnecessary, all the historic means of
salvation. Just the opposite is
true. The decree is that which in fact
renders necessary the means. This
eternal purpose, therefore, is “revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ
Jesus.” The “appearing” refers to the
incarnation, his being revealed in the flesh.
Only the eternal Son, taking to himself our nature in humiliation as one
despised and rejected and finally crucified, could bring to pass this
infinitely glorious eternal decree.
2.
The work
commensurate with the incarnation – The sentence of death, the legitimate wages
of sin, was on all those he purposed to save, so Jesus abolished death by his
death, he paid the wages and thus defanged the penalty. His abolition of death
through the acceptable sacrifice opened the promise of eternal life. Eternal
life could not be given unless its promise could be renewed through one whose righteousness
met all the Law’s demands both in penalty and in perfect obedience. The
resurrection shows the acceptability of his sacrifice, and raises us in Christ
into heavenly places where his elect are seated with him. While we remain here,
therefore, before “the day” we are to set our affections on things above where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1-3
D.
Proclamation and
teaching, a subservient, but nonetheless necessary, means; (11) In the same way
that the incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ were necessary, so is
the preaching of the gospel. The fitting
of the heart and mind to receive the verdict against us and to approve the
glory of God’s plan of saving sinners, comes through preaching as the Spirit
gives the “holy calling.” Paul could not
find words adequate to express both the joy and humility of being set by God’s
decree as part of the grand and God-revealing purpose in the apostolic
ministry.
E.
The certainty of
its success, in spite of opposition, is God’s ownership of the whole 12; it
involves God’s deposit to Paul, not Paul’s to Him. The ESV translates the phrase properly as
that that God entrusted to him.
Literally, it says, “my deposit.”
Most translations give the idea that Paul made a deposit of his life to
God, which is in itself true. But the
context calls for understanding this as God’s deposit of truth with Paul, even
as he calls the gospel “my gospel” in 2:8.
Divine revelation in the apostolic ministry came through the confluence
of several factors, all of which one sees operative in the multifaceted
teaching of Paul, Peter, John and others.
One is contemplation on the meaning of the Old Testament text
interpreted in the light of Christ’s appearance and his own words about his
relation to the entire text [Luke 24:25-27].
Second, teaching from other inspired persons gave added truth as the
picture began to fill out during the apostolic age. Third, was special revelation to the Apostles
and prophets [Ephesians 3:1-5; Galatians 1:6-12]. In this manner a fully truthful completed
corpus of revelation was deposited during the apostolic era to regulate the
faith and practice of the church until the day of Christ.
F. Consequently our stewardship must mirror God’s Purpose 13, 14 - This places a stewardship of the deposit on its servants. Truly to realize that we deal with God’s deposit, not the mere opinions of pious men, means that we have liberty neither to subtract from nor add to what is said. The task of proper interpretation in light of the variety of literature still is legitimate as in any document of human language, but the credibility of the proposition once discerned cannot be questioned. Many perplexities about worship “style” and evangelism and discipleship could be answered if closer attention were paid to the truly regulative nature of the deposit.
III.
Faithless and faithful Men 15-18
A. Phygelus and Hermogenes are joined
later by Hymenaeus, Philetus,
and Demas as names whose connections with the world would not permit them to
embrace and suffer for the gospel. Sometimes Paul warns in general speaking of
false teachers only in terms of their teaching (Philippians 3:1,2; Galatians 1:8, 9; 5:7-10) as do John and Peter. Other
times he mentions names as he does here.
B.
Onesiphorus, on the other hand, aggressively sought to be
connected with Paul and his suffering.
Notice the unrelenting energy he gave to finding Paul and give service
to him. “refreshed me, not ashamed, searched
earnestly, found me.
IV.
How should we then Live?
A.
Instruction and
faithfulness in family might be used for the salvation of children
B.
Opposition is not
necessarily a sign that God is not blessing, but is inherent in the Gospel
C.
No amount of
opposition will succeed against God’s decreed purpose,
no amount of hatred will rob Christ of his glory, or the Word of its eventual
rule cf. Psalms 2 & 24.
D.
The very words of
Scripture as well as all its closely connected doctrines are granted by God for
our edification and protected by him
E.
Those who value
them and their messengers will receive mercy.