Christian Commitment

Theme: Faithfully undertake God’s Work now

Background: Imprisoned and facing impending execution, Paul exhorts Timothy to faithfully undertake his ministry in spite of various adversities.

Recurring Topics:

Relationships

Ashamed/Not Ashamed

Suffering

Greeting/Salutation/Address (1:1-2)

An apostle of Christ Jesus (1:1)

First indication of relationship

More than just a title

Indicates the kind of sold out service that Paul and the fellow apostles have offered.

Some examples?

Paul is, as of writing this, imprisoned for proclaiming the Gospel

Will of God

God chose Paul for this position

Emphasizes God’s sovereignty

All that has happened so far resulted from God’s design to make Paul an apostle.

What has happened to Paul so far?

Promise of Life

Paul is facing impending execution.

Such a promise of life in Christ Jesus holds extraordinary hope in the face of death.

To Timothy

My beloved son

2nd indication of relationship

These two obviously had a significant friendship that had an intimacy paralleled only by a relationship that a father would have with his son.

By implication, the phrase “Grace, mercy and peace” indicates that these are available only from God and Jesus.

Gratitude/Thanksgiving that transforms into an exhortation (1:3-7)

Context indicates that such thanksgiving take place during Paul’s prayers

Paul’s prayers were characteristically constant.

The conjunction of constancy and “night and day” calls attention to the frequency with which Timothy came up in Paul’s prayers (NAC 34:184).

Interesting interjection

Paul exclaimed that he served God with a clear conscience.

Why would this have been important? (His present circumstances might cast aspersion on such a conscience)

At the end of his life, he can claim, not in a selfish confidence, but, rather, by God’s grace, that what he had undertaken for God was the intended produce of a Jewish upbringing, faith in the God’s Messiah evidenced in genuine service.

Paul links his service to his own heritage of faithfulness.

Paul links himself with prior faithful believers.

Such a declaration fits well with Paul’s later reminder of Timothy’s heritage of faith.

Such prayers led Paul to desire to see Timothy again, which would bring him joy.

Their last meeting concluded with tears. (v. 4)

It’s uncertain as to when this meeting had taken place, however, the effect cannot be denied.

Paul’s thanksgiving prayers led him to consider Timothy’s heritage of faith (v. 5).

Both Timothy’s grandmother and mother evidenced genuine faith.

A sincere, or genuine, faith makes itself known through behavior.

The impact of their testimony, according to Paul’s implication, influenced Timothy’s own reception of faith.

Such a reminder underscores the influence of family on one’s faith.

Keep in mind that this is not an excuse to reject faith, for we each are responsible before God for how we respond to the Gospel.

However, we cannot underestimate the power of our influence of faith in the lives of our family members.

For this reason

Three reasons motivate Paul’s exhortation to Timothy

Paul’s demonstration of faithful service.

The laying on of my hands likely refers to when others, with Paul, recognized God’s calling Timothy to serve as a pastor in what is typically referred to today as ordination (1 Timothy 4:14).

Paul’s attention to his role in this event for Timothy connects Paul’s earlier statement of Paul’s own faithfulness to the need for Timothy to heed this exhortation.

Timothy’s heritage of faith

God’s gift (v. 7)

God’s Gift to Timothy

The phrase, “to kindle afresh,” suggests that Timothy either was not exercising his ministry gifts or at the point of abandoning the ministry.

The phrase, “the laying on of my hands,” connects the commissioning service for Timothy’s pastoral ministry (1 Timothy 4:14; ie. ordination) to Paul’s faithful service as spoke of in 2 Timothy 1:3.

In 1 Timothy 4:14, Paul calls attention to the group involved in this kind of service.

Here, Paul calls attention to his specific role in this same commissioning activity.

Essentially, the faithfulness that Paul had exhibited in his service to the Lord, in the midst of the faithfulness of prior generations, he is calling on Timothy to do the same in his ministry.

The primary essence to Paul’s exhortation is calling on Timothy to demonstrate ministry faithfulness.

The motivation behind such ministry faithfulness concerns what God has given.

God had not given Timothy timidity, which demonstrates the temptation that Timothy was facing was to fear or cowardice, likely motivated by Paul’s imprisonment and suffering for the same Gospel that Timothy had been entrusted with.

God has given power, love, and discipline/self-control.

Power calls attention to the boldness that one can display when proclaiming the Gospel in the midst of adversity (NAC 34:189).

Love supplies the grounds to face adversity with patience rather than in anger (NAC 34:189).

Discipline refers to the ability to control oneself, even in the use of both power to proclaim God’s Truth in God’s love (NAC 34:189).

All three are gifts of the Holy Spirit and, therefore, not attainable through human means or effort but from the work of the Spirit in us (WBC 46:497).

Gallantry (Courage; 1:8-12)

First instance of reference to being ashamed.

Exhortation to not be ashamed of Christ, nor of Paul but to join with Paul in suffering.

Why might there be a temptation to being ashamed? (bc both Christ and Paul suffered for the Gospel)

Suffering for the Gospel is properly motivated by God’s sovereignty in our salvation, culminating in life the goes beyond this one.

Our salvation is not rooted in something temporary, like our works.

Rather, our salvation was set from all eternity, thus before we ever existed.

Paul embraces God’s sovereignty in his salvation by calling attention to both his imprisonment and activities: preacher, apostle, and teacher (2 Timothy 1:11).

Second reference to being ashamed.

Paul connects his suffering to the Gospel.

However, Paul notes how he is unashamed because he has intentionally entrusted his life to the Lord, who is always faithful (2 Timothy 1:12).

What might tempt Paul to feeling shame?

“That day” is a reference to the Judgment Seat of Christ as taken in context with 1 Timothy 4:8.

Guard (1:13-14)

2 Timothy 1:13 concerns promoting God’s Truth as received from other faithful preachers and teachers.

2 Timothy 1:14 highlights the importance, in the power of the Spirit, of protecting God’s Truth from error.

Unfaithfulness contrasted with Faithfulness (1:15-18)

Unfaithfulness (BKC 2:751-52).

It is unknown just how those in Asia actually failed Paul.

We might suggest that Phygelus and Hermogenes were the most outspoken in their rejection of Paul since they are identified by name.

What is known is that, in some way, they failed this apostle when he needed it most.

This failure, however, implies more than just failing Paul but, rather, also strongly suggests turning away from Paul’s gospel.

Remember, the general context suggests faithfulness in proclaiming the Gospel.

The phrase ‘turned away’ is used elsewhere to call attention to instances of turning away from the Truth of God’s Word, or apostasy (2 Timothy 4:4; Titus 1:14; NAC 34:197).

Faithful service deserves commendation.

Onesiphorus’ Service

Apparently Onesiphorus and members of his household have served Paul.

Such service occurred on two separate occasions, both in Rome and Ephesus.

Beyond this, we have no other information about Onesiphorus and his family.

Here we have our third instance of the word ashamed

This instance indicates that Onesiphorus was not ashamed of being associated with Paul.

It also indicates that Onesiphorus was not ashamed of the Lord who was the theme of Paul’s Gospel proclamation.

In context with 2 Timothy 1:12 and 4:8, Paul is asking that the Lord would reward Onesiphorus’ service to Paul at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Conclusion:

Application:

We can be faithful now on account of our rich heritage of faith and God’s present gifts to us (2 Timothy 1:3-7).

Avoiding any feelings of being ashamed for Christ or our persecuted brethren demands that we recognize the God’s sovereign work in our salvation to give us eternal life, therefore anything that follows our salvation is no mere accident but falls within God’s sovereign plan that leads to our permanent union with Him (2 Timothy 1:8-12).

Adversity should never deter us from faithfully proclaiming God’s Truth entrusted to us through faithful teachers and preachers (2 Timothy 1:13).

Faithfully protect God’s Truth from being mixed with error (2 Timothy1:14).

Let’s be mindful of how we treat our brothers and sisters in the midst of adversity knowing that it is going to impact the awards we receive at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Timothy 1:18).

Sources Used:

Litfin, A. Duane. “2 Timothy.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.

Lea, Thomas D., and Hayne P. Griffin. 1, 2 Timothy, Titus. Vol. 34. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992.

Mounce, William D. Pastoral Epistles. Vol. 46. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2000.