Faith and Heritage
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2 Timothy 1:1-7
2 Timothy 1:1-7
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
In 1 Timothy Paul identifies himself as “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God,” while here as “an apostle . . . by the will of God.”
PAUL
Paul was born in Tarsus in the region of Cilicia (Acts 9:11; 21:39; 22:3).
JEWISH LAW
Jewish law, prescribed that boy begin the study of Scriptures at five years of age. Josephus relates that both the Scriptures nd the traditions were taught in every city to Jewish boys “from our first consciousness.”
Jewish sentiment also asserted the nobility of manual labor. An early Jewish saying insists: “Whoever doth not teach his son work, teacheth him to rob.”
Jewish education sought to produce man who could both think and act.
SON OF THE COMMANDMENT
At 13 a Jewish boy became a “bar mitzvah” (“son of the Commandment”).
HIS PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
As to his physical appearance, there are only indirect and allusive statements from the New Testament.
The suggestion of an unprepossessing appearance is possibly borne out by the contemptuous remark of his antagonists at Corinth.
Paul himself refers to two matters which must have marred his appearance to some extent: that which seems to have been some type of “bodily ailment,” ant the “marks of Jesus” borne in his body.
A PERSECUTOR OF CHRISTIANS
Paul first appears in the New Testament in the role of a persecutor of the Church: imprisoning Christians in Jerusalem.
The earliest Christians preached in terms mainly elementary or functional.
The Jerusalem Christians were yet within the scope of Judaism.
STEPHEN
It is recorded that Stephen began to apply the doctrine of Jesus’ Messiahship to the area of Jewish law. Stephen had been prepared by the Lord for this moment.
Stephen plainly and clearly proclaimed Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the Law.
Stephen bluntly and plainly said, “You have not kept it.”
you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”
THE RATIONALE
The rationale for the stoning of Stephen may be related to the prevalent view that while nothing could be done either to hurry or to frustrate entirely the coming of the Messianic age, transgression and apostasy within the nation could delay it.
THE MODERN CHURCH
The actions of the modern Pentecostal Church are identical. The modern Pentecostal Church falls into the same category regarding the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. These modern denominations justify their actions. The modern Pentecostal Church persecutes greatly Christ’s followers.
HOW COULD ISRAEL OR THE MODERN CHURCH MISS IT SO BADLY?
Israel claimed to be sticklers for the Law. The government of most modern churches is unscriptural.
Many leaders of Pentecostal denominations would choose their own Church constitution over the Word of God.
When religious men leave the Word of God, even as Israel of old, they in effect construct their own salvation. Even as Israel of old, they will justify themselves.
THE CONDITIONS OF PAUL’S CONVERSION
Many have suggested that Paul’s conversion was prepared for by his contacts with the followers of Christ. Certainly Luke makes the historical connection between the martyrdom of Stephen, and the conversion of Paul.
RESULTANT CONVICTIONS
Three convictions became inescapably obvious to Paul:
His life and activities in Judaism lay under the rebuke of God (Rom. 9:4-5; 10:2-4).
He could not escape the conclusion that the Jesus Whom he was persecuting was alive.
A third conviction which was unmistakably clear to Paul was that he had been appointed by Jesus Christ to be an apostle to the Gentiles.
AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST
“An apostle of Jesus Christ,” proclaims several things:
The calling or office of the apostle is unique to the Church Age.
The apostle fills the role of the prophet used by God to lead. The office of the apostle now has the role of spiritual leadership.
Apostles can and do function in every office of the fivefold callings: “apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher” (Eph. 4:11-13).
Spiritual authority resides in all these fivefold callings, but moreso in the office or calling of the apostle.
The Commander in Chief to Whom the apostle must unequivocally answer, is the Lord Jesus Christ.
THE WILL OF GOD
“By the will of God,” proclaims the fact that this certainly had not originally been Paul’s will. His calling is “the will of God.”
Whereas Paul had not previously been in the will of God, he was able to come into that will only by his acceptance of Jesus Christ.
The “will of God” is what the entirety of man’s life and experience is all about. The Holy Spirit’s purpose totally and completely, is to bring about the will of God in the believer’s heart and life and of course, his daily walk (Rom. 8:26-27).
The Lord has a perfect will as it regards the work or ministry of all believers.
It is the will of God, that the believer know and understand that everything he receives from the Lord, has all come by the way of the cross. If the believer understands that, it will always guarantee the help of the Holy Spirit, the believer will then carry out the work and ministry which the Lord has desired that he do (Rom. 6:3-5, 11, 14; 8:1-2, 11; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2:2).
For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
The believer is to look totally and completely to the Cross, which will guarantee the will of God.
THE PROMISE OF LIFE
“According to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,” tells us several things:
Eternal life is found only in Christ Jesus.
Every believer in one way or the other, is to be a bearer of this life-giving message.
The phrase “in Christ Jesus” proclaims the manner in which this life was brought about, which is through the cross of Christ.
The apostle was a messenger to announce to death-doomed men the divine promise of life eternal offered to men in Christ Jesus.
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
In his first epistle to Timothy, Paul greeted the young preacher with the words “my true son in the faith.”
He asks Timothy to come to him “before winter.”
Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, also Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren.
But we have no record as to whether Timothy arrived before his execution or not.
TIMOTHY
“To Timothy,” presents the Holy Spirit desiring that this last letter be sent to Timothy.
GRACE, MERCY, AND PEACE
“Grace, mercy, and peace,” proclaims the three great attributes of the Christian faith.
It is not so necessary to understand every complexity of the words “grace, mercy, and peace,” as it is to possess these great attributes.
GRACE
Grace is simply the means by which the goodness of God can be given to undeserving people.
God has always been a God of grace. His grace is no greater today than it was 5,000 years ago.
It is the cross of Christ which made it possible for His grace to be put into force.
The believer will guarantee to himself an uninterrupted flow of the grace of God. We Christians frustrate the grace of God.
Anything in which we place our faith, other than the cross of Christ, frustrates the grace of God.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit will begin to work in your heart and life.
What is impossible to me and you, is no problem at all for the Holy Spirit.
VICTORY
Understand that in the cross is all the Christian’s victory and all his solutions. If he quits trusting in the cross of Christ, he will not get victory.
Victory is not merely not doing certain wrong things. Victory is “walking after the Spirit!”
HOW DOES ONE WALK AFTER THE SPIRIT?
The secret of all victory is “walking after the Spirit,” which of course refers to the Holy Spirit.
Any believer can walk after the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit will always lead one to the cross. That’s all the Holy Spirit demands of us.
When one places one’s faith totally and completely in the cross, which guarantees the help, and direction of the Holy Spirit, one is then “walking after the Spirit.”
THE BELIEVER AND HIS FAITH
Does this mean that once the believer anchors his faith in the cross, that everything will be perfectly rosy from then on out? No it doesn’t!
If the believer fails, he is to ask the Lord to forgive him.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
As the believer goes along, he will find his faith little by little getting stronger and stronger. Victory and total victory will be that of the believer.
THE MERCY OF GOD
Humanity doesn’t need justice, but rather mercy. God is a God of mercy.
God literally had no choice but to extend mercy, for mercy is the outgrowth of grace.
And how was that mercy shown to lost humanity?
The mercy of God and all its glory, is extended to mankind totally and completely through and by the cross of Christ. Mercy cannot be extended even by a loving God, unless it comes through the sacrificial offering of the Son of the living God.
Every believer wants continued flow of the mercy of God.
If the believer is properly looking to the cross, mercy is always extended and in every capacity. Grace and mercy are twins.
It’s impossible for one to have grace without at the same time having mercy.
There is absolutely nothing we can do that will merit mercy from God.
HUMILITY AND THE CROSS
Grace and mercy both have an awful lot to do with humility.
Religion robs one of all humility.
Pride is the very opposite of humility.
It is impossible for a believer to have true, biblical humility, unless they are looking properly toward the cross.
The very nature of the cross speaks of humility, as nothing else speaks of humility. The very fact of what took place on the cross literally screams humility. The only way the believer can have humility, and walk in humility, is for the believer to have his faith anchored squarely in the cross. A by-product of such faith is always humility.
This is true humility, the only true humility there is.
This means there is not much humility in the modern Church. And for that humility to be regained, the Church must come back to the cross.
PEACE
The “peace” of which the apostle here speaks, is “sanctifying peace.”
If in any way the believer is attempting to bring about sanctifying peace by his own machinations, he will literally have no peace.
In the Old Testament, the sin had been forgiven due to the sin-offering being offered, and now peace with God was reestablished.
From the sacrifice of Christ comes one’s peace.
GOD THE FATHER AND CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD
“From God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord,” portrays in glaring consistency the source.
God the Father gives us all of these things, but He does so through “Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“Christ” stands for the “anointed One.” Christ delivered from sin.
I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day,
Paul stops to thank God.
FOREFATHERS
“Whom I serve from my forefathers,” pertains according to the word “forefathers,” the entirety of Israel as a people and as a nation.
When Paul mentions the “forefathers,” he is really speaking of the entirety of the Jewish legacy.
PURE CONSCIENCE
“With pure conscience,” in effect says that he was seeking to please God even when through ignorance he persecuted the Church.
Here he speaks of serving God from his forefathers in good conscience.
PRAYER
The verse gives us almost casually a glimpse of the depth and continuousness of his prayer life.
Prayer is to be an integral part of the life of every believer. It is a privilege to have the opportunity of prayer.
To fail of a prayer life, is to fail! It’s impossible for a believer to have any type of relationship with Christ at all, and not have a prayer life. Not to take advantage of this which is the prerogative and privilege of every Christian, is foolish indeed!
THE PRAYERS OF PAUL
The Lord did not want Timothy to depend totally on the prayers of someone else.
longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.
TEARS
“Being mindful of thy tears,” does not exactly tell us of the occurrence of which Paul speaks here.
JOY
“That I may be filled with joy,” presents much more here than a casual mention of a desired meeting.
For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.
UNFEIGNED FAITH
“When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee,” refers moreso to the quality of the faith here mentioned.
LOIS AND EUNICE
“Which dwelt first in thy Grandmother Lois, and thy Mother Eunice,” proclaims the fact as is obvious, that the grandmother was the first convert.
The use of the past tense in this verse implies that Lois and Eunice were now dead.
THE SAME FAITH
The faith of Timothy’s grandmother and mother, provided the foundation for this young man’s faith.
The Scripture emphasizes strongly the “faith” of these two women, with Paul even referring to it as “unfeigned faith.”
When the apostle speaks of faith, he is speaking of faith in the cross of Christ and His resurrection. That was the anchor of their faith.
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
REMEMBRANCE
“Wherefore I put thee in remembrance,” carries far more weight than a mere admonition.
“I am determined to put thee in remembrance.”
THE GIFT OF GOD
“That thou stir up the gift of God,” refers to the entirety of the call of God on Timothy’s life.
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
THE SPIRIT OF FEAR
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear,” refers to a disposition of the mind.
The mind of man is the gateway to the spirit.
The “spirit of fear” here spoken of is not at the outset a demon spirit; there is such a thing as a demon spirit of fear. If the believer allows fear to take over his mind and spirit,a demon spirit can definitely become involved. This doesn’t mean that the believer becomes possessed with this spirit, but it does mean that such a spirit can definitely cause the believer great problems in the real of oppression.
FEAR
Fear is a complex situation. One of the antidotes to fear is in fact fear—fear of the Lord!
Several Hebrew word groups express the idea of fear and being afraid. They sometimes suggest a cringing fear, and even a fear of God.
Some of the Hebrew words focus on one’s feelings as it regards fear and some on the object of fear itself.
FEAR AS AN EMOTION
A basic cause of this emotion is awareness of vulnerability because of sin or because of the perceived power of another to do harm.
The antidote for the emotion of fear is the conviction that is God is for us and with us.
FEAR OF ANTICIPATED EVIL
This is actually what Paul was warning Timothy about, the fear of anticipated evil.
The antidote to such fear of anticipated evil is found in looking to the Lord with trust.
FEAR OF THE LORD
Every believer should have a healthy fear of the Lord; this is not a slavish or craven fear.
If the believer has a proper fear of God, this will help master ordinary human fears.
Such fear is reverence for God. We who fear God recognize Him as the ultimate reality. Fear of God is called “the beginning of knowledge.”
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
To fear God means to reject every competing power and to serve Him only.
“You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.
Fear of the Lord is expressed by walking in all His ways.
Fear of God is closely linked with morality and with obedience to God’s commands. To fear God means to recognize Him as Creator and to know that His plans stand firm forever (Ps. 33:8-11).
God has a special concern for all who fear Him (Ps. 31:19; 34:9). Those who fear God can say with the psalmist, “We wait in hope for the Lord” (Ps 33:20).
THE NEW TESTAMENT
As in the Old Testament, fear in the New Testament carries a full range of meanings.
There is in the New Testament, as well as in the Old Testament, a fear of God that is in essence the reverence and the awe felt by those who know and love Him.
Although uses of “fear” in the New Testament parallel the uses of this word in the Old Testament, the New Testament makes distinctive contributions to the understanding of our fears.
COVENANT
Those who truly feared God would keep His commandments and, because they did not violate the covenant, did not need to fear punishment.
ONLY ONE OPINION IS IMPORTANT
Believers are to remember that only one opinion is important.
POWER
“But of power,” could be said, “the spirit of power.”
Power is definitely needed by the saint of God. While we all know the Holy Spirit has this power, unlimited power and of every description, how can we have Him expend that power on our behalf?
DELIVERANCE
Millions of Christians don’t even like to hear the word “deliverance.” When “deliverance” is mentioned, it’s mentioned only in the sense of an alcoholic or drug addict.
Anything which controls the Christian even to some degree, can be labeled as none other than a “bondage,” which means the person needs “deliverance.”
The “spirit of fear” of which Paul speaks here, can be labeled as none other than a bondage, and the person needs deliverance.
EXACTLY WHAT DO WE MEAN BY DELIVERANCE?
Do I have a deliverance ministry?
That’s the very heart and core of this ministry, “deliverance!” When most people think of deliverance, they almost always think of it in the wrong way.
When individuals ask for deliverance for themselves or someone else, they’re thinking of a preacher laying hands on the individual and rebuking the problem in the name of Jesus.
Whenever an individual goes up before a preacher for deliverance, for deliverance to be affected, the person must accept Christ.
But what about the millions of Christians who need deliverance as well?
EVERY SINGLE CHRISTIAN WAS DELIVERED OF EVERY SINGLE SIN WHEN THEY INITIALLY CAME TO CHRIST
Whenever you were initially saved, you were cleansed from all sin.
The sin nature, although remaining in the Christian, is extinguished so to speak.
THE SIN NATURE
What exactly do we mean by a “sin nature?”
The sin nature is at work even in the early months of a baby’s life.
Some preachers teach that once the person comes to Christ they have no more sin nature.
With millions of Christians the sin nature is roaring out of control.
THE CROSS OF CHRIST IS THE ANSWER TO THIS DILEMMA
The cross is the only answer to this dilemma.
THE OBJECT OF YOUR FAITH
The object of your faith must be that through which the Holy Spirit works, which is the cross of Christ.
SPIRIT-FILLED CHRISTIANS
Most Spirit-filled Christians think that the very fact of one being Spirit-filled guarantees a constant flow of Holy Spirit power.
but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
If it did, there would never be a single failure of any kind among Spirit-filled Christians.
Why isn’t this power working in all the hearts and lives of Spirit-filled believers?
Anyone who is Spirit-filled, does have the Holy Spirit working within their lives to some measure.
JUDGMENT AND THE CROSS
“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
The judgment of God is now coming upon believers to a far greater extent.
Before the cross, judgment except in a few cases was withheld.
The Lord at times exacted judgment upon His people.
THE CONDITION OF THE MODERN CHURCH RELATIVE TO THE CROSS
The Word of God has all the answers as it regards man’s condition.
The modern church world presently has abandoned the cross.
LOVE
“And of love,” presents the spirit of love.
Whenever the believing sinner comes to Christ, the divine nature comes into the believer’s heart as well. With that comes divine love, “the God kind of love.”
The world doesn’t have this type of love, will not have this type of love unless they come to Christ. Love is one of the fruits of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
This “love” cannot be developed in the heart and life of the believer. The cross was and is the greatest example of love that humanity has ever known and will ever know.
A SOUND MIND
“And of a sound mind,” carries the same connotation as the others, “the spirit of a sound mind.”
WHAT IS THE WAY OF THE LORD?
The way of the Lord, is the way of the cross.
The unsaved can say “yes to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Then the Lord can get him out of his problems.
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
DEAD TO SIN
Why should we have any conversation at all with that to which we are dead?
“Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin.”
Instead of saying”no” to sin, to which I am dead, I will simply say “yes” to Christ.