2 Timothy 2.2-Paul Commands Timothy to Ordain Faithful Men with the Gift of Teaching
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday March 26, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 2:2-Paul Commands Timothy to Ordain Faithful Men with the Gift of Teaching
Lesson # 26
2 Timothy 2:2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (NASB95)
“The things” is the accusative neuter plural form of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς), which does not have an explicit antecedent.
However the context indicates that it refers to the various doctrines of the Christian faith which the apostle Paul taught all the churches including Timothy.
“Entrust” is the second person singular aorist middle imperative form of the verb paratithemi (παρατίθημι), which means “to give someone something in trust.”
Mounce writes that the word “is a legal term indicating something left in another’s care for whose safety that person is responsible.”
Knight commenting on the word as well, writes that this word “has the double-sided nuance of both safekeeping and transmission to others.”
Therefore, in Second Timothy 2:2, the verb paratithemi means “to entrust” and has as its subject Timothy and its object is the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos, “these things,” which refers to the various doctrines of the Christian faith.
This indicates that Paul is commanding Timothy “to entrust” the various doctrines of the Christian faith to other faithful Christian men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.
It expresses the fact that the Timothy was to pass along to other faithful men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher the various doctrines of the Christian faith.
It means that Timothy was to communicate to other faithful men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher these various doctrines of the Christian faith who in turn would do the same and communicate these doctrines to other Christians.
The word implies that Timothy was to ordain men who would be faithful in communicating the various doctrines of the Christian faith to the body of Christ.
The aorist imperative form of the verb paratithemi is a constative aorist imperative which is solemnly emphasizing how important it is for Timothy entrust the various doctrines of the Christian faith to other faithful men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.
“Who” is the relative pronoun hostis (ὅστις), which is used to emphasize the characteristic quality by which a preceding statement is to be confirmed and refers to the certain unidentified men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.
It emphasizes that these men are of a certain type of character, which from the context is that they were trustworthy or faithful or loyal to Paul’s apostolic teaching.
Therefore, hostis emphasizes that these men were of such trustworthy character that they were to be entrusted with the various doctrines of the Christian faith in the sense that they were to be ordained.
“Able” is the adjective hikanos (ἱκανός), which means “competent” since it pertains to meeting a particular standard and having the requisite or adequate ability to perform a particular function.
It speaks of having the capacity to perform a particular function.
Here the adjective is asserting that the men who Timothy and the Ephesian church were to ordain must be “competent” in the sense that they have the requisite ability to teach the various doctrines of the Christian faith to the body of Christ.
“To teach” is the verb didaskō (διδάσκω), which means “to teach, instruct” and speaks of “providing authoritative instruction” in the Word of God in a formal setting, namely the public worship service.
The verb denotes the preservation and communication of the gospel concerning Jesus Christ.
Thus, Paul is commanding Timothy to ordain faithful men who are competent to authoritatively teach the Ephesian Christian community the Word of God in the public worship service.
Second Timothy 2:2 Also, the things which you heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these things, I solemnly charge you to entrust to faithful men. Those of such character who will also have made themselves competent to teach others. (My translation)
“The things which you heard from me” refers to the content of Paul’s apostolic teaching or in other words, the various doctrines of the Christian faith which the apostle Paul taught all the churches including Timothy.
“In the presence of many witnesses” refers to many Christians who could testify or verify that Paul communicated the various doctrines of the Christian faith to Timothy.
It is referring to many Christians who were present when Paul taught Timothy the various doctrines of the Christian faith so as to be able to testify to this having taken place.
It indicates that the attendant circumstance in which Timothy heard from Paul the various doctrines of the Christian faith was that he heard these things in the presence of many witnesses.
“These things, I solemnly charge you to entrust to faithful men” is emphasizing how important it is for Timothy entrust the various doctrines of the Christian faith to other faithful men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.
It expresses the fact that Paul is being very solemn and expresses the critical nature of this command.
It expresses the fact that the Timothy was to pass along to other faithful men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher the various doctrines of the Christian faith.
It means that he was to communicate to other faithful men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher these various doctrines of the Christian faith who in turn would do the same and communicate these doctrines to other Christians.
This command implies that Timothy was to ordain men who would be faithful in communicating the various doctrines of the Christian faith to the body of Christ.
It also indicates that women do not receive the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher since if women did receive this gift Paul would have mentioned them since this command is extremely critical to the spiritual growth of the body of Christ.
So it makes clear that women were never ordained to teach the body of Christ in the public assembly.
These “faithful men” are those men in the body of Christ who possess the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher which is indicated by the fact that these men were to teach the doctrines of the Christian faith to the body of Christ and the function of the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher is the gift which the Holy Spirit uses to do this.
These men were to be “faithful” in the sense that they were to demonstrate over an indefinite period of time that they were loyal servants of Jesus Christ and expresses the fact that these men were to have demonstrated over an indefinite period of time that they were loyal to Paul’s apostolic teaching.
“Those of such character” emphasizes the trustworthy character of those men who Timothy and the church at Ephesus should ordain.
“Who will also have made themselves competent to teach others” is asserting that the men who Timothy and the Ephesian church were to ordain must be competent teachers in the sense that they have the requisite ability to teach the various doctrines of the Christian faith to the body of Christ.
It implies that not only were these men to possess the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher but they were also to be fully trained by Timothy in the Word of God so that they could assume authority over a body of believers.
It implies that these men have studied the Word of God and have prepared themselves for the ministry and which preparation has been demonstrated by them in the presence of Timothy and the Ephesian church.
So Second Timothy 2:2 is a solemn command issued by Paul to Timothy to ordain faithful men who are competent teachers of his apostolic teaching, i.e. his gospel.
It is critical that Timothy obeys this command since it is essential for the spiritual growth of the body of Christ and her protection from the false doctrine of Satan’s kingdom.
In Second Timothy 2:2, we read that the apostle Paul was emphasizing with Timothy the importance of ordaining men who had demonstrated themselves to be faithful to his apostolic teaching and were competent teachers.
So he is speaking of the ordination of pastor-teachers to continue the communication of his apostolic teaching to future generations in the church.
Paul doesn’t go into detail regarding the qualifications that must be met by men with the spiritual gift of teaching before they are ordained since he has already written to Timothy about this (see 1 Timothy 3:1-7; cf. Titus 1:6-9).
The pastor-teacher is a male church age believer who at the moment of salvation and by divine appointment has been given the spiritual gift and authority to communicate the Word of God to his fellow believer priests in the royal family of God who have been assigned to him by God.
Every believer in the church age has been assigned to a pastor-teacher without exception (1 Pet. 5:1-4) who has charge over them in the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).
The pastor-teacher has four responsibilities that are the means by which he tends and shepherds the flock of God: (1) Study (2 Tim. 2:15) (2) Teach (1 Tim. 4:13) (3) Pray (Acts 6:1-4) (4) Set an Example (Phlp. 3:17; 2 Thess. 3:7, 9; 1 Tim. 4:12; Titus 2:7; 1 Pet. 5:3).
The spiritual growth of each individual believer is dependent upon that which the pastor-teacher provides, namely, the Word of God, which he is to communicate (Eph. 4:7-16).
God has given the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher to men only (1 Timothy 2:11-14; 3:2; 2 Timothy 2:2).