Learning Through the Book of 2 Timothy

Learning Through the Book of 2 Timothy

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The second letter of Paul to Timothy was also his last letter before his martyrdom in Rome, under the order of Nero on 64 CE.

2 Timothy is more on Paul’s last will to Timothy, his encouragement and reminders of his teachings to his disciple.

The very theme of Chapter 1 speaks of Paul reminding Timothy about his calling and the foundation of that calling.

Here are the reminders of Paul:

(1)  Stir up the gift from God (v.6).

Timothy’s calling is on pastoring and teaching. In fact, he is the first ordained Bishop on the Church of Ephesus.

Similarly, we also have gifts from God.

However, our fear prevents us from utilizing our gifts, so in verse 7, Paul reminded Timothy that God did not give us the spirit of fear but of power (authority), of love and of sound mind (wisdom or self-discipline).

(2)  Do not be ashamed of the Gospel, which is the testimony of our calling (v.8-10).

Our calling’s foundation is the Gospel for it is the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ. What is the Gospel? In 1 Corinthians 15, it clearly states that the one and true gospel is that Jesus came down from heaven to earth to show us the way back to Father, died for our sins, was buried, then rose again the third day, to which we anchor our faith and hope today that we will also be resurrected in Him and live together with Him for eternity.

This very same Gospel is the divine power of God (2 Peter 1:3) that saved us (Romans 1:16) and called us into the holy calling, not by works, but according to God’s purpose and grace.

The secret of our confidence in the Gospel: (a) knowing whom we believed (v.12-13), and (b) holding fast, that is listening and adhering to the words of our Pastors or Leaders in faith.

2 Timothy chapter two highlights the practical characters of a vessel fitted for the Master’s use.

Verses 20 and 21 mentions 2 types of people inside the church: (1) honorable people, and (2) dishonorable people. Honorable people are vessels made up of gold or silver, while dishonorable people are vessel made up of wood or earthen vessel. Refined by fire the first one will be purify, while the latter will be burned. What does it mean? In our life, when we first come to know God, we decided to turn away from our sins as a fruit of our faith. Thus so, we are given a chance to see the Kingdom and a perfect opportunity to equally contend to enter it. It is a great hope. However, we cannot enter God’s Kingdom if we are not fitted perfectly, so what we are aiming for is to qualify for God’s honor – a vessel for honorable use, and to whom we are contending for then? We are contending to our past self – to get better and better. From one degree of glory to another. So we have to peel ourselves to things that God do not need.  To simplify, let’s take God as a rich guy who wants to hire a maid. One day, he stumbled across a peasants who begs for food. What the rich guy did is offer him a job in exchange for the food and shelter. The poor guy finds hope in him and believe the man (Believed) so he accepted the offer and left his old life behind (Repentance). Because the rich guy doesn’t need the old and dirty clothes of his newly hired maid, he ordered him to take a bath (Baptism) and give him new clothes for a uniform (Clothing in Christ, meaning having the Holy Spirit). That uniform is his identity as being owned by the rich guy. Likewise, as we receive our identity as Christian (for we are being clothed under the protection and power of Christ as we conformed to Him), we also received the seal of the Holy Spirit. As the poor man’s master now is the rich guy, our Master now is also Christ, and like the poor guy, we are also being hired by God for his spiritual, kingdom service here on earth. The Church here now is just a pool of people aiming for a prize of a greater calling in Christ (Philippians 3:13).

The question now here is, how to qualify? Verse 21 mentions that in order for us to be an honorable vessel, we must: (1) be sanctified or purified ourselves first, and (2) meet the requirements to be fitted for the master’s use or be fitted to God first.

God’s Qualifications or Requirements:

(1)  Free ourselves from the affairs of this life.

Verses 3 to 6 of chapter 2 mentions about the life of three types of people: soldier, athlete, and farmer.

a.     Soldier. In military professionalism, soldiers are compelled to give up free will and comfort in exchange of the will of their commander-in-chief. Same way, God also wants us to give up our will and sense of comfort in exchange for His will and His comfort. Remember, even Jesus’ life on earth is a life of submission and obedience to the Father up to the point of His death to the Cross (Philippians 2:5-11).

b.     Athlete. The life of an athlete is all about self-discipline in order to achieve a gold medal. Likewise, we are also contending to beat up our old self unto the finish line, and that my friend requires sense of self-discipline to avoid temptations and urges to sin. This also requires daily self-check.

c.      Farmer. One distinct character of a farmer is the ability to know the time and season. This only means that God wants us to be prepared at all times, not only to answer people who questions our faith, but also practical preparation on how to face life’s trials and tribulations. This requires wisdom.

(2 ) Free from youthful lust or desires (v.22). Instead of following our passions and desires of worldly things, God wants us to follow righteousness, faith, peace and love, bearing in mind always the life and mind of Christ.

(3)  Avoid foolish talking, quarreling and godless chatter (v.14-15). These things only increases ungodliness. Instead, instruct others the truth with meekness and patience (v.25).

In Chapter 3, Paul warns the Church about our own selves (v.1-8). He also mentions the importance of the Scriptures.

Even though we keep on studying and learning the word of God, without application, we will never arrive to the knowledge of the truth. So, what is the solution? Verse 14 says, continue on the things we learned (practicing it), knowing of thou has learned them (studying the Word).

Importance of the Scripture (v. 15-17)

1.     The scripture makes us wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

2.     The scripture is profitable for doctrine.

3.     The scripture is profitable for reproof and correction.

4.     The scripture is profitable for instruction in righteousness.

5.     The scripture will make us perfect and thoroughly furnished for good works.

Chapter 4 is the last reminders of Paul to Timothy:

(1)  Make use of every opportunity to preach the gospel – to correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction (v.2).

(2)  Examine ourselves if we are still doing exactly what we preach (v.5).

In the end, Paul encourage everyone that finishing our course or purpose excellently and with a good fight of faith awaits for us a crown of righteousness. Meaning, we may not have a temporal reward here, for our greatest reward is a life that is eternal.