2 Timothy 2.15-Paul Orders Timothy to Continue Making it His Habit of Accurately Teach the Message of Truth
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday May 7, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 2:15-Paul Orders Timothy to Continue Making it His Habit of Accurately Teaching the Message of Truth
Lesson # 43
2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (NASB95)
The apostle Paul is once again employing the figure of asyndeton and this time it is to emphasize the solemn nature of the command he is issuing Timothy here in Second Timothy 2:15.
“Be diligent” is the second person singular aorist active imperative form of the verb spoudazō (σπουδάζω), which speaks of Timothy conscientiously making every effort to present himself as a proven worker who does not need to be ashamed, teaching the message of truth accurately.
The aorist imperative form of the verb spoudazō is a constative aorist imperative which emphasizes how important it is for Timothy spiritually to conscientiously make every effort to present himself as a proven worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately teaching the message of truth.
“To present yourself” is composed of the following: (1) accusative second person masculine singular form of the reflexive pronoun seautou (σεαυτοῦ), “yourself” (2) aorist active infinitive form of the verb paristēmi (παρίστημι), “to present.”
The verb paristēmi means “to offer” and is used in a sense of offering a sacrifice to the Father and here it speaks of Timothy “offering” himself to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed because of accurately teaching the message of truth.
The reflexive pronoun seautou is used to highlight or emphasize Timothy’s responsibility to offer himself up to the Father as a workman who is unashamed because he is accurately teaching the message of truth.
“Approved” is the accusative masculine singular form of the adjective dokimos (δόκιμος), which means “approved” and would describe Timothy as an approved workman in the sense that he is considered by God as reliable after undergoing testing to determine his reliability as a teacher of the gospel.
“Workman” is the accusative masculine singular form of the noun ergatēs (ἐργάτης), which is used of Timothy in a figurative sense describing him as someone who works for the Father in communicating the Word of God to the non-Christian and Christian.
“To God” is the articular dative masculine singular form of the noun theos (θεός), which refers to the Father which is indicated by the word’s articular construction which in the New Testament commonly signifies the first member of the Trinity unless otherwise indicated by the context.
“Who does not need to be ashamed” is the accusative masculine singular form of the adjective anepaischuntos (ἀνεπαίσχυντος), which means “unashamed” since it pertains to one who has caused no disgrace to himself or others or pertaining to one who has no need to be ashamed.
Timothy would be unashamed before the Lord at the Bema Seat if he obeys Paul’s command to conscientiously make every effort to offer himself up as an approved worker for the benefit of the Father because he accurately taught the Word of truth.
“Accurately handling” is the accusative masculine singular present active participle form of the verb orthotomeo (ὀρθοτομέω), which addresses the pastor-teacher’s responsibility of exposition where he is to accurately communicate the Word of God to his congregation.
The participle form of this verb is functioning as a participle of means which defines for Timothy how he was to offer himself up to God as an approved worker who is unashamed.
The present tense of this verb orthotomeo is a customary present used to signal a regularly occurring action indicating that Timothy is to offer himself up to God as an approved worker who is unashamed by “making it his habit of” accurately teaching the Word of truth.
“The word of truth” is composed of the following: (1) articular accusative masculine singular form of the noun logos (λόγος), “the word” (2) articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun alētheia (ἀλήθεια), “the truth.”
The noun logos means, “word, message” and refers to the content of the message of the gospel which Timothy was to faithfully make it his habit of teaching accurately.
It refers to the divine revelation that was communicated through the apostolic teaching which was communicated to the believers in Ephesus by Timothy and is now recorded in the New Testament.
Specifically the noun refers to the apostolic teaching communicated by Timothy to the Ephesian church and the non-Christian in Ephesus.
The noun alētheia refers to Paul’s apostolic teaching and specifically it refers to his apostolic teaching which Timothy was to make it his habit of accurately teaching to the Christian community and non-Christian members of the community.
Therefore, the word refers to the truth of God in an objective sense as a body of knowledge containing the revelation regarding the will of the Father for the Christian and the non-Christian.
This revelation also contains information regarding the character and nature of the Trinity and contains information regarding the consequences of the Christian failing to do the will of the Father or doing His will.
It contains information regarding the consequences of the non-Christian rejecting Jesus Christ as Savior or accepting Him as Savior and also contains information regarding what the Father has provided for the Christian through both His Son and the Holy Spirit which enables the Christian to execute His will.
Second Timothy 2:15 I solemnly charge you to conscientiously make every effort to offer yourself up as an approved worker, who is unashamed for the benefit of God (the Father) by specifically making it your habit of accurately teaching the message of truth. (My translation)
By obeying this command Timothy would be avoiding falling into the trap the apostate pastors in Ephesus fell into by adhering to the teaching of the Judaizers.
As we noted in our study of Second Timothy 2:14, they argued about the meaning and usage of words in the Mosaic Law rather than communicating accurately Paul’s apostolic teaching, i.e. the gospel.
Timothy was to avoid what these apostate pastors were doing with the Word of God.
For Timothy or any pastor to accurately teach the message of truth, i.e. the gospel would demand that they have sound hermeneutical principles when approaching the interpretation of the Word of God.
The rules and principles involved in interpreting the Bible is called hermeneutics.
Adhering to sound hermeneutical principles will result in sound exegesis, which refers to the process of determining the meaning of a text of Scripture, the Word of God and refers to the explaining, declaring, telling, or relating of objective truth.
Exegesis precedes exposition (i.e. communicating the Word of God to the congregation).
Exposition aims to apply the text and its meaning to men and women today, enabling them to answer the question: what message has this for us, or for me, in the present situation?
Exposition must be firmly based upon exegesis: the meaning of the text for hearers today must be related to its meaning for the hearers to whom it was first addressed.
All sound exegesis of a passage of Scripture must begin with the words of the text itself and secondly, the interpreter must pay attention to the context in which any passage appears.
Thirdly, one must interpret a passage of Scripture in its historical setting.
Another important consideration when interpreting Scripture is that the interpreter must understand the grammar and syntax of a passage and specifically he must understand the grammar and syntax of the original language of the passage.
The interpreter must take into consideration figurative language and must have the presupposition that the word is literal unless there is strong evidence for determining otherwise.
So here in Second Timothy 2:15, the apostle Paul is addressing one of the four great responsibilities of the pastor, namely accurately teaching the message of truth and to accurately teach the Word of God one must study of the Word of God.
Second Timothy 2:15 confronts the pastor-teacher with his earthly responsibilities to God and His Word in that the pastor-teacher must first devote himself to prayer and study of the Word of God before he can communicate the Word of God accurately.
The content of his message will be determined by how diligently he studies and prays.
The lifestyle of the pastor must be one that is constantly devoted to prayer, study and the teaching of the Word of God (Acts 6:4).
The pastor-teacher is first and foremost must be a student of the Word of God himself; therefore he must be diligent in learning the Word.
There will be shame for the cosmic pastor who was not faithful in studying and teaching the Word of God (1 John 2:28).
Some expositors have viewed Paul’s command in Second Timothy 2:15 addressing not only Timothy’s teaching but also his conduct.
Though godly conduct is absolutely essential for a productive ministry, Timothy’s conduct is not in view here.
The immediate context indicates clearly that Paul’s emphasis is upon Timothy’s teaching in contrast to the false teaching of the apostate pastors in Ephesus who obeyed the legalistic teaching of the Judaizers.
This is indicated by the fact that “the immediate context is dominated by speech acts and references to Timothy’s teaching and the false teaching (vv. 14, 17-18).”
Second Timothy 2:15 is echoed somewhat by Paul in First Timothy 4:16 since the apostle addresses Timothy’s teaching ministry.