2 Timothy 2.22b-Timothy Must Continue Zealously Practicing So as to Exemplify Righteousness, Christian Doctrine, Divine-Love and Peace
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday June 4, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 2:22b-Timothy Must Continue Zealously Practicing So As to Exemplify Righteousness, Christian Doctrine, Divine-Love and Peace
Lesson # 55
2 Timothy 2:22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. (NASB95)
“And” is the conjunction de (δέ), which is used in a mild adversative sense meaning it is introducing a command which stands in contrast to the previous command for Timothy to continue making it his habit of avoiding youthful lusts.
“Pursue” is the second person singular present active imperative form of the verb diōkō (διώκω), which means “to do something with an intense effort to a goal” and means “to do something with intense effort and with a definite purpose or goal in mind.”
The present imperative form of the verb dioko is a “customary present imperative” whose force is for Timothy to simply continue making it his habit of making every effort or be zealous to practice so as to exemplify righteousness, faith, love and peace.
“Righteousness” is the accusative feminine singular form of the noun dikaiosune (δικαιοσύνη), which means “righteousness” and speaks of Timothy perfectly adhering to God’s perfect standards, which appear in the gospel.
“Faith” is the accusative feminine singular form of the noun pistis (πίστις), which is used in an objective sense for the Christian faith.
“Love” is the accusative feminine singular form of the noun agape (ἀγάπη), which means “divine-love” since it refers to the love of God reproduced in the life of Timothy by the Holy Spirit when he exercises faith in the Word of God and specifically faith in his union and identification with Christ.
“Peace” is the accusative feminine singular form of the noun eirene (εἰρήνη), which refers to the peace of God being manifested in the life of Timothy with regards to his relationships with people in the Christian community and non-Christian community.
“With those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” speaks of the Christian offering up intercessory prayers to the Father for others and petitions for themselves.
Second Timothy 2:22 Now you continue making it your habit of avoiding youthful lusts. Instead continue making it your habit of zealously practicing so as to exemplify divine-righteousness, Christian doctrine, divine-love, peace along with those who make it their habit of calling upon the Lord from a pure heart. (My translation)
The second command here in Second Timothy 2:22 requires that Timothy continue making it his habit of zealously practicing so as to exemplify righteousness, Christian doctrine, divine-love, peace.
So in other words, Paul wants Timothy to be dedicated and devoted to obeying and exemplifying the gospel in his life.
The goal in view is that of exemplifying these godly virtues, which is accomplished by obedience to Paul’s apostolic teaching, i.e. the gospel.
Specifically, exemplifying these things is accomplished by Timothy appropriating by faith his union and identification with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session.
This in turn results in obedience to the various prohibitions and commands that appear in the Word of God, i.e. the gospel and would result in obedience to this command in Second Timothy 2:22.
This obedience constitutes loving God with one’s entire being and strength and one’s neighbor as oneself.
To exemplify these things is to pursue the objective of becoming like Jesus Christ or spiritual maturity.
Therefore, Timothy was to continue making it his habit of being zealous to practice righteousness, faith, love and peace so as to exemplify these godly virtues.
The Spirit will produce in him these godly virtues when he obeys Paul’s Spirit inspired apostolic teaching, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ which stands in contrast to the apostate pastors in Ephesus who exemplified ungodliness.
“Righteousness” speaks of divine righteousness because it is produced by the Spirit in Timothy when he obeys Paul’s Spirit inspired teaching.
It refers to Timothy fulfilling his obligation to God to love Him with his entire being and strength and fulfilling his obligation to his fellow human being to love them as himself.
The word refers to Timothy practicing so as to exemplify God’s integrity and virtue and speaks of Timothy perfectly adhering to God’s perfect standards, which appear in the gospel.
It denotes Timothy doing all that God commands him in the gospel and all that He demands of him in the gospel as His child and all that He approves, and all that He provides through Christ.
“Christian doctrine” refers to Timothy applying Paul’s apostolic teaching and refers to the content of what Paul taught the Gentile churches.
“Divine-love” refers to the love of God reproduced in the life of Timothy by the Holy Spirit when he exercises faith in the Word of God and specifically faith in his union and identification with Christ.
It refers to Timothy obeying the Lord Jesus’ command to love one another as He loves, which is the direct result of exercising faith in the Word of God (John 13:34).
The word refers to God’s love practiced by Timothy toward the Lord, his fellow Christian and fellow human being since this is the direct result of exercising faith in the Word of God and in particular the command in John 13:34.
Divine love is distinguished from the exercise of human love in that the former is a response to God’s love for the Christian and an expression of faith in God whereas the latter is based upon the attractiveness of the object.
Therefore, the emphasis with this word is upon God’s love being reflected in the life of Timothy as it functions towards the Lord and his fellow human beings since Paul is contrasting the negative ungodly results of the apostate pastors in Ephesus who taught false doctrine and exemplified ungodly behavior as a result.
So, Paul is commanding Timothy to continue making it his habit of zealously practicing divine-love so as to exemplify it.
In Second Timothy 2:22, “peace” refers to the peace of God being manifested in the life of Timothy with regards to his relationships with people in the Christian community and non-Christian community.
It refers to the peace of God that is produced by the Spirit in and among believers.
The Spirit does this when believers obey the commands and prohibitions that He guides Paul in issuing them in this epistle.
The peace of God is manifested in the life of the Christian like Timothy who exercises faith in the gospel which results in obedience to the commands and prohibitions in the gospel which constituted Paul’s apostolic teaching.
This obedience produces peace in the Christian with regards to their relationship with the Trinity and in their relationships with people, both Christian and non-Christian.
Of course, this peace can be disrupted by people who are antagonistic towards the obedient Christian but as far as what the Christian can control, namely his own decisions, he will have peace with people.
For example, Timothy could not be at peace with the apostate pastors in Ephesus until they repented of their disobedience to the gospel.
In Second Timothy 2:22, the phrase “those who make it their habit of calling upon the Lord” speaks of the Christian offering up intercessory prayers to the Father for others and petitions for themselves.
It does not refer to exercising faith in Jesus Christ as Savior as it does in Romans 10:12-14 since in Romans Paul is speaking in the context of how a sinner whether or Jew or Gentile can be declared justified by the Father.
Paul is not speaking of the non-Christian in Second Timothy but is addressing a believer, namely Timothy.
So this word here in Second Timothy 2:22 is a reference to making requests of the Father in prayer as a Christian.
“The Lord” is a reference to the Father and not the Lord Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit since Paul is speaking in the context of the Christian offering prayers and the Scriptures teach that all prayer is to be addressed to the Father and not the Son or the Spirit (cf. Luke 11:1-2; John 14:13-14; 16:23-27; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 2:18; 3:14; 5:20; Col 1:3, 12; 3:17; 1 Peter 1:17; Revelation 1:6).
The apostle Paul taught the churches, throughout the Roman Empire, to address the Father in prayer (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6; Eph 2:18; 3:14; Col 1:3; 1:12).
The apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:17 also stated that prayer was to be addressed to the Father.
“From a pure heart” refers to the state or condition of the believer’s heart that does not have any known sin circulating in its stream of consciousness.
It refers to the believer who has confessed his sins to the Father and as a result is experiencing fellowship with God and is filled with the Spirit or more accurately is influenced by means of the Spirit (1 John 1:9).
It indicates that a pure heart is the source from which the Christian calls upon the Father in prayer.
Second Timothy 2:22 echoes First Timothy 6:11.
First Timothy 6:11 However, you O man belonging to God the Father, continue making it your habit of avoiding these things. Instead continue making it your habit and making every effort to practice so as to exemplify righteousness, godliness, Christian doctrine, divine-love, perseverance, gentleness. (My translation)