2 Timothy 2.1-Timothy was to Empower Himself By Means of the Grace, Namely His Union and Identification with Jesus Christ
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday March 25, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 2:1-Timothy Was to Continue to Empower Himself By Means of the Grace, Namely, His Union and Identification with Jesus Christ
Lesson # 25
2 Timothy 2:1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (NASB95)
“You therefore, my son” is composed of the following: (1) personal pronoun su (σύ), “you” (2) inferential conjunction oun (οὖν), “therefore” (3) noun teknon (τέκνον), “son” (4) personal pronoun egō (ἐγώ), “my.”
The inferential conjunction oun is introducing a statement that is an inference from Paul’s statements in Second Timothy 1:3-18 indicating that his command in Second Timothy 2:1 is based upon what he told Timothy in Second Timothy 1:3-18.
The personal pronoun su means “you” referring of course to Timothy and emphasizes Timothy’s faithfulness in direct contrast to the unfaithfulness of the majority of Christians in Ephesus.
The noun teknon means “spiritual child” which describes Timothy as Paul’s spiritual child emphasizing the spiritual relationship that Paul had with Timothy.
This word is modified by the personal pronoun egō which means “my” since it functions as a genitive of possession expressing spiritual paternity in that Timothy is Paul’s spiritual child since Timothy was saved through his missionary activities and was discipled by the apostle after his conversion.
“Be strong in the grace” is the second person singular present passive imperative form of the verb endunamoō (ἐνδυναμόω), “be strong” (2) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (3) articular dative feminine singular form of the noun charis (χάρις), “grace.”
The verb endunamoō means “to be empowered” and the means by which Timothy was to be empowered is identified by the prepositional phrase ἐν τῇ χάριτι τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, “in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
The noun charis, “grace” refers to the crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session of Jesus Christ which provided Timothy and all Christians eternal salvation.
“In Christ Jesus” refers to Timothy’s union and identification with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
So therefore when Paul commands Timothy to be empowered by means of the grace which resides in his union and identification with Jesus Christ, he wants Timothy to appropriate by faith his union and identification with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
This would be accomplished by considering himself dead to the sin nature and alive to God (Romans 6:11-13).
The present imperative form of the verb endunamoō is a “customary present imperative” whose force is for Timothy to simply continue making it his habit of being empowered by means of the grace which resides in his union and identification with Jesus Christ.
The passive voice of the verb endunamoō is a permissive passive meaning that Timothy was to make it his habit of “permitting himself” to be empowered by means of the grace which resides in his identification with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
To permit himself to be empowered by means of the grace which resides in his identification with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father would require that Timothy appropriate by faith this identification with Jesus Christ.
It means he must continue to appropriate by faith his identification with Christ.
The noun charis, “grace” is the object of the preposition en which functions as a marker of means indicating the means by which the verbal action explicit in the verb endunamoō is accomplished.
Therefore, this indicates that Paul is commanding Timothy to continue making it his habit of permitting himself to be empowered “by means of” the grace which resides in his identification with Jesus Christ.
“That is in Christ Jesus” is composed of the following: (1) dative feminine singular form of the definite article ho (ὁ), “that” (2) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (3) dative masculine singular form of the proper name Christos (Χριστός), “Christ” (4) dative masculine singular form of the proper noun Iesous (Ἰησοῦς), “Jesus.”
The definite article ho preceding the prepositional phrase ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ functions as a “substantiver” meaning it nominalizes (i.e. converts to a noun) it.
The article functions as a dative of simple apposition meaning that ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ clarifies τῇ χάριτι, which identifies this grace as being Timothy’s union and identification with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
Christos, “Christ” is the object of the preposition en which is a marker of close personal association and means, “in union with.”
Therefore, the proper name Christos functions as a dative association indicating that Timothy was “in union with” or “in a close personal relationship with” the Christ.
Christos contains the figure of metonymy meaning that the person of Christ is put for Timothy’s union and identification with Him in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
Second Timothy 2:1 You, therefore, my spiritual child, continue making it your habit of permitting yourself to be empowered by means of the grace, namely union and identification with the Christ who is Jesus. (My translation)
The apostle Paul encourages Timothy and identifies with him by reminding him of their spiritual relationship.
By calling Timothy his spiritual child, he is reminding his younger friend and disciple that he was converted through Paul’s ministry and that he was also trained in the Word of God through his ministry.
This is all to encourage Timothy to continue to persevere despite the apostasy in Ephesus and Paul’s imprisonment.
The command which Paul issues to Timothy here in Second Timothy 2:1 is based upon his statements in Second Timothy 1:3-18.
Thus, Paul’s command here in Second Timothy 2:1 is based upon what he told Timothy in Second Timothy 1:3-18.
In other words, Timothy was to obey this command in Second Timothy 2:1 in light of the things he mentioned in Second Timothy 1:3-18.
“The grace” refers to the crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session of Jesus Christ which provided Timothy and all Christians eternal salvation and unmerited spiritual blessings.
All of these events in the life of Jesus Christ provided Timothy deliverance from sin, Satan, his cosmic system and eternal condemnation and reconciled them to God (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
This reconciliation with God and deliverance and victory over sin, Satan and the cosmic system that God accomplished through His Son’s crucifixion, burial, death, resurrection and session is received as a gift and appropriated through faith in Christ (John 3:16-18; Acts 16:31; Romans 5:1-2).
At the moment of his conversion, through the baptism of the Spirit, Timothy was identified with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
Consequently, he was delivered positionally from the power of Satan, the old sin nature and the cosmic system of Satan (See Romans 5-7).
Positionally means that God viewed Timothy as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ, which was accomplished at the moment of conversion through the baptism of the Spirit when the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit placed him in an eternal union with Christ.
So therefore when Paul commands Timothy to be empowered by means of the grace which resides in his union and identification with Jesus Christ, he wants Timothy to appropriate by faith his union and identification with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
This would be accomplished by considering himself dead to the sin nature and alive to God (Romans 6:11-13).
“Union and identification with the Christ who is Jesus” refers to Timothy’s union and identification with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
It means that at the moment of his conversion, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit caused him to become identical and united with Christ and ascribed to him the qualities and characteristics of Christ.
This prepositional phrase denotes what God has done for Timothy and His viewpoint of Timothy.
He views Timothy as He does all Christians as He views His Son and does “not” view him according to his sins and transgressions and former manner of life prior to his conversion since he is now under the headship of Christ rather than Adam’s headship.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase denotes that Timothy is under the headship of Christ.
The primary doctrine in the Word of God that the church age believer must appropriate for himself by faith is his position in Christ and union with Christ for this will enable them to experience victory over their sin nature, the cosmic system and Satan himself.
The Lord Jesus Christ illustrated this in His vine and the branches metaphor in John 15:1-8 where He states in this passage that His disciples were totally dependent upon their union with Him and His Word and that they could not be productive spiritually without Him.
So therefore, here in Second Timothy 2:1 Paul is reminding Timothy that divine omnipotence resides in his union and identification with Jesus Christ.
He is reminding Timothy of the divine omnipotence available to him in order that he might experience victory over sin, Satan and his cosmic system.