2 Timothy 2.5-Paul Uses Athletic Metaphor to Emphasize with Timothy He Must Remain Dedicated and Devoted to Pleasing the Lord
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday April 2, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 2:5-Paul Uses Athletic Metaphor to Emphasize with Timothy He Must Remain Dedicated and Devoted to Pleasing the Lord
Lesson # 29
2 Timothy 2:5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. (NASB95)
Second Timothy 2:5 Furthermore in fact, if anyone does at any time compete as an athlete, if he does not compete as an athlete according to the rules, then he can never, as a rule of athletics, receive the victor’s crown. (My translation)
As we noted in our study of Second Timothy 2:3, Second Timothy 2:3-6 contains three metaphors.
The purpose of these metaphors is to exhort Timothy to continue to remain faithful to Paul’s apostolic teaching.
The athletic metaphor contained in Second Timothy 2:5 serves as an emphatic addition to the previous military metaphor in verse 4.
In Second Timothy 2:5, the apostle Paul employs two fifth class conditional statements.
The first contains a protasis but its apodosis is expressed by another fifth class condition.
It would appear that there is only one apodasis and a protasis appears twice.
However, the second fifth class condition serves as the apodosis for the first protasis.
In both instances, the fifth class condition is expressing a principle or a rule in the athletic games in the Graeco-Roman world in the first century.
The protasis of the first fifth class condition is “if anyone does at any time compete as an athlete” and the apodasis is the second fifth class conditional statement “if he does not compete as an athlete according to the rules, then he can never, as a rule of athletics, receive the victor’s crown.”
This first fifth class condition is expressing a principle in the athletic games of the Graeco-Roman world in the first century, namely one who competes as an athlete does not win the prize of the event he is competing in unless he competes according to the rules of the athletic contest.
The relationship between the protasis and the apodosis is equivalence.
This means that protasis and apodosis say the same thing if they are flip-flopped.
In other words, if a person who competes as an athlete can never receive the victor’s crown if he does not compete according to the rules is the same as saying that if a person does not compete according to the rules, then he can never receive the victor’s crown if he does compete as an athlete.
The protasis of the second fifth class condition is “if he does not compete as an athlete according to the rules” and the apodosis is “then he can never, as a rule of athletics, receive the victor’s crown.”
So this second fifth class condition is expressing another rule in the athletic games of the Graeco-Roman world in the first century, namely if anyone does not compete as an athlete according to the rules, then he can never receive the victor’s crown.
The relationship between the protasis and the apodosis in the second fifth class conditional statement is cause-effect.
The cause is anyone not competing according to the rules and the effect is never receiving the victor’s crown.
The point Paul is making would be clear to Timothy.
If he was to be rewarded at the Bema Seat by the Lord Jesus Christ, then he must remain faithful in living his life in accordance with Paul’s apostolic teaching which served as a spiritual rule book for Timothy.
Paul was Timothy’s spiritual trainer.
He is emphasizing with Timothy the need for him to abide by the rules of the Christian way of life and thereby fulfill his responsibilities as a communicator of the gospel.
This means he is to confess his sins when necessary and obey the commands and prohibitions in Paul’s apostolic teaching.
By doing so he will fulfill his responsibilities as a pastor to study, teach, pray and exemplify godliness for the body of Christ.
If he remains faithful, he will receive a full reward from the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church.
Now, we must not take Paul’s illustration too far since unlike the athlete, the Christian is not competing against their fellow Christians.
In First Timothy 6:12, the apostle Paul says something to Timothy which is similar to his statement here in Second Timothy 2:5 and in both instances, he is using an athletic metaphor.
First Timothy 6:12 You yourself continue making it your habit of making every effort to win the race, which is noble by means of your faith. I solemnly charge you for your own benefit to make it your top priority to experience the life which is eternal for which purpose, you were effectually called with the result that you confessed the confession in the presence of many witnesses, which is of the utmost importance. (Author’s translation)
Wherever the apostle Paul traveled among the cities of the Greeks, at Corinth, Ephesus, and Athens, he observed the athletic contests which served to provide him effective illustrations of the Christian way of life.
The public games of Greece (Greek: agones) and Rome (Latin: Ludi) consisted of a variety of athletic games and contests.
The athletes were trained in the Greek gymnasium, which was the central market where poets, artists, and merchants brought their goods.
The exhibitions of the later Roman amphitheater and circus never matched the glory of the ancient Greek games; they were at best a shadow and later nothing more than an imitation.
The Greeks held six major athletic games: (1) Delphic or Pythian (2) Corinthian or Isthmian (3) Nemean (4) Thebes (5) Eleusis (6) Olympic.
The Olympic Games were the earliest and remained the most celebrated of the four national festivals of Greece.
The foot race (dromos) of a single lap of the stadium (stadion), which was about 180 m. (200 yards) long, was at first the only contest.
Later (14th Olympiad) the double lap and others were added.
The goal of the foot race was a square pillar that the runner kept in view to redouble his exertion.
Only freeborn Greeks were allowed to compete in the Olympic Games.
The athletes (from athlos, “a contest”) were selected by local and municipal elimination trials, after which they submitted for 10 months to rigorous training under professional paidotribai (literally, “youth rubbers”) and gymnastai.
Arrived at Olympia, they were examined by the officials, and took an oath to observe all the rules.
When everything was ready the athletes were led into the stadium and as they entered, a herald announced their names and the cities that had entered them.
All contestants, whatever their age or rank, were naked and occasionally a girdle might be worn at the loins.
The most important events were grouped together as the pentathlon, or five contests.
To promote all-around development in the athlete each entry in any of these events was required to compete in all of them and to secure the victory it was necessary to win three contests out of the five.
When the toils of five days was over the victors received their rewards.
In the ancient world, the stephanos was the wreath or garland, the actual crown for winning an event whereas the brabeion was the prize given to the victor in the athletic games of the ancient world.
Stephanos was the wreath or garland, the actual crown for winning an event and became synonymous with diadema or diadem, which was military rewards or medals that were made of gold.
Brebeion was actual prizes you received upon winning at the various athletic games in the ancient world and would include: (1) gold spears, shields, cups (2) cash (3) pass of gold to the Games at which you won (4) You could sit in the royal box with highest potentate (5) Your children’s education was totally paid for at public expense. (6) You were supported by the treasury for the rest of your life. (7) Poets such as Pindar would write song about your victory (8) You were totally exempt from income tax for the rest of your life.
At the Bema Seat, the believer’s service will be evaluated by the Lord Jesus Christ in order to determine if their actions related to their service merit a reward or not.
At the Bema Seat, they will give an account to the Lord or in other words, they will be held responsible by the Lord for their service, which involves a four-fold stewardship: (1) Time: Were they profitable in how they used their time on earth that the Lord gave them? (Galatians 6:9-10) (2) Talent: Were they profitable in how they used their spiritual gift the Lord gave them? (1 Peter 4:10) (3) Truth: Were they profitable in how they used the truth the Lord gave them? (Colossians 4:5-6) (4) Treasure: Were they profitable in how they used their finances that the Lord gave them? (Luke 6:38)
At the Bema Seat, the believer’s service, as expressed through their stewardship in these four areas, will be evaluated by the Lord Jesus Christ to determine if they were a faithful and profitable steward in these four areas or not.
If they were a faithful and profitable servant and steward with their time, spiritual gift, truth and finances that were given to them by the Lord as trusts, they will receive a reward from the Lord and if they were not, they will not receive a reward (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Philippians 3:14; Colossians 3:23-25; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4; 1 John 2:28; Revelation 2:7, 10, 17, 26; 3:4-5, 12, 21).