2 Timothy 4.2b-Timothy Must Convict, Rebuke and Exhort the Christian Community with a Godly Patience and By Means of Instruction
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday August 19, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 4:2b-Timothy Must Convict, Rebuke and Exhort the Christian Community with a Godly Patience and Instruction
Lesson # 86
2 Timothy 4:1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom, 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (NASB95)
At this point in Second Timothy 4:2 the apostle Paul is once again employing the figure of asyndeton which is emphasizing the solemn nature of this third command and its critical importance for the success of Timothy’s ministry and spiritual growth of the church.
“Reprove” is the second person singular aorist active imperative form of the verb elegchō (ἐλέγχω) which means “to convict” and not “rebuke” since the verb epitimaō means “rebuke.”
The verb elegchō means “to convict” since it pertains to Timothy convincing a Christian of their sin through the teaching of the Old Testament Scriptures and Paul’s apostolic teaching, the gospel.
The Holy Spirit inspired the Old and New Testament Scriptures and convicts the Christian of sin through instruction from the Scriptures.
Each and every portion of Old Testament and New Testament is beneficial for the purpose of convicting the Christian of sin in their life.
Therefore, this verb indicates that Paul is commanding Timothy to make it his top priority of convicting the Christian community of sin through the teaching of the gospel and Old Testament Scriptures.
The aorist imperative form of the verb elegchō is a constative aorist imperative which emphasizes how important it is for Timothy to convict the Christian of sin in their life through the teaching of the gospel and the Old Testament Scriptures.
The aorist imperative expresses the idea that this is to be a top priority in Timothy’s life and expresses the fact that this command is very solemn and expresses the critical nature of this command.
“Rebuke” is the second person singular aorist active imperative form of the verb epitimaō (ἐπιτιμάω) which means “to rebuke” since it pertains to expressing strong disapproval of someone or something a person is doing and means to sharply express constructive criticism of a person’s attitude or conduct.
Therefore, this verb epitimaō indicates that Paul is commanding Timothy to make it his top priority of rebuking members of the Christian community through the teaching of the gospel and Old Testament Scriptures.
The aorist imperative form of the verb epitimaō is a constative aorist imperative which emphasizes how important it is for Timothy to rebuke Christians through the teaching of the gospel and the Old Testament Scriptures.
The aorist imperative expresses the idea that this is to be a top priority in Timothy’s life and expresses the fact that this command is very solemn and expresses the critical nature of this command.
“Exhort” is the second person singular aorist active imperative form of the verb parakaleō (παρακαλέω) which means “to exhort” in the sense of authoritatively training the body of Christ through instruction in the sense of communicating the gospel message to them so as to compel obedience in every area of their lives.
This authoritative training through instruction in the gospel would include teaching, conviction, correcting and training with regards to living out in one’s life the righteousness of God (2 Timothy 3:16).
The verb has the idea of “coaching” someone and means “to exhort” in the sense of urging the body of Christ to accept sound doctrine by faith which results in obedience to sound doctrine which produces godly conduct and character.
This authoritative training through instruction would also involve encouraging and warning of danger.
Therefore, this verb parakaleō indicates that Paul is commanding Timothy to make it his top priority of exhorting members of the Christian community through the teaching of the gospel and Old Testament Scriptures.
The aorist imperative form of the verb parakaleō is a constative aorist imperative which emphasizes how important it is for Timothy to exhort Christians through the teaching of the gospel and the Old Testament Scriptures.
The aorist imperative expresses the idea that this is to be a top priority in Timothy’s life and expresses the fact that this command is very solemn and expresses the critical nature of this command.
“With great patience” is composed of the following: (1) preposition en (ἐν), “with” (2) dative feminine singular form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “all” (3) dative feminine singular form of the noun makrothumia (μακροθυμία), “patience.”
The noun makrothumia means “patience” since it pertains to a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune and without complaint or irritation.
Here the word is used with reference to Timothy teaching the Christian community the gospel and Old Testament Scriptures and speaks of godly “patience” produced by the Holy Spirit when Timothy exercises faith in the gospel.
It describes Timothy as being in a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or adversity or underserved suffering without complaint or irritation and speaks of him remaining in a state of being tranquil despite undeserved suffering and adversity or persecution.
This noun is modified by the adjective pas which means “absolute” in the sense of perfectly embodying godly patience which is the result of appropriating by faith God’s power.
Thus, Paul wants Timothy to perfectly embody a patience which is produced by the Spirit when he exercises faith in His teaching found in the gospel.
The noun makrothumia is also the object of the preposition en which means “with” since it is functioning as a marker of manner.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase indicates the manner in which Timothy was to convict, rebuke and exhort members of the Christian community.
He was to convict, rebuke and exhort the Christian community “with a patience which is absolute” or in other words, “with godly patience.”
“And instruction” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) dative feminine singular form of the noun didachē (διδαχή), “instruction.”
The noun didachē speaks of Timothy teaching the church the Word of God whether it is the gospel or Old Testament Scriptures.
The noun didachē is the object of the preposition en which means “by means of” since it is functioning as a marker of means which indicates that Timothy was to convict, rebuke and exhort members of the Christian community “by means of instruction.”
Second Timothy 4:1 I solemnly charge in the presence of God (the Father) as well as the Christ who is Jesus, who is inevitably going to judge the living as well as the dead and in addition by His appearing as well as by His kingdom to make it your top priority of publically proclaiming with authority as a herald the message. I solemnly charge you to make it your top priority of always being prepared to perform this task whether the circumstance is favorable or unfavorable. I solemnly charge you to make it your top priority to convict. I solemnly charge you to make it your top priority to rebuke. I solemnly charge you to make it your top priority to exhort with a patience which is absolute as well as by means of instruction. (My translation)
With each of these five commands, Paul is being very solemn in order to emphasize with Timothy their critical importance to not only the church but also for him.
It is critical for Timothy to obey this command since this will result in him receiving rewards from the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat.
Failure to obey this command would result in a loss of rewards.
It is critical for the church that Timothy obey this command since it will protect the church from destructive ungodly behavior and it will also result in spiritual growth.
Failure to obey this command would result in ungodly behavior in the church and it would thus prevent the spiritual growth of the church.
We must remember that when Paul issues Timothy these five commands it is during a time of great apostasy in the church in the Roman province of Asia.
There is a great apostasy among both pastors and lay people in the church in this particular area of the Roman Empire.
Paul described this apostasy among pastors and their congregations in Second Timothy 3:1-9.
Therefore, the five commands in Second Timothy 4:2 are directly related to this apostasy among Christians in the Roman province of Asia.
Each of these five commands Paul issues Timothy in Second Timothy 4:2 emphasize the importance that the apostles placed upon the teaching of the Word of God to the Christian community.
In fact, it was the first of the four daily disciplines the first century apostolic church practiced.
Acts 2:42-47 reveals that the apostolic church in the first century practiced assembling together on a daily basis in order to hear the teaching of the apostles, fellowship, the observance of the Lord’s Supper and sharing meals together and corporate prayer.
The first century apostolic church serves as a model in practice for churches here in the twenty-first century.
A study of Acts 2:42-27 reveals what was essential to the first century apostolic church and as a result condemns much of the activity going on in churches throughout the world or lack of activity taking place in churches throughout the world in the twenty-first century.
Assembling with other believers is an essential element of our fellowship not only with God but also with each other and is commanded in the Word of God and is a part of our corporate worship of God.