2 Timothy 4.5a-Timothy Must Continue Making it His Habit of Being Sober With Regards to Each of His Responsibilties
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday August 27, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 4:5a-Timothy Must Continue to Make it His Habit of Being Sober With Regards to Each of His Responsibilities
Lesson # 90
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. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (NASB95)
“But you, be sober in all things” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction de (δέ), “but” (2) nominative second person singular form of the personal pronoun su (σύ), “you” (3) second person singular present active imperative form of the verb nēphō (νήφω), “be sober” (4) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (5) dative neuter plural form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “all things.”
The post-positive conjunction de is introducing a statement that stands in contrast with the apostle Paul’s previous statements in Second Timothy 4:3-4.
The personal pronoun su means “you” referring of course to Timothy and emphasizes Timothy’s responsibility to obey these four commands in verse 5 in contrast to the apostate Christians he describes in verses 3-4 who were rejecting sound doctrine and instead were listening to false doctrine.
The verb nēphō means “to be sober minded” since it pertains to having a proper state of mind or way of thinking and speaks of having a godly state of mind or a godly way of thinking as a result of obeying the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God which He is inspired according to Second Peter 1:20-21.
It speaks of being sober spiritually as a result of experiencing fellowship with God which is accomplished by obeying the Spirit’s voice in the Word of God which constitutes obeying the commands to be influenced by the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18 and letting the Word of Christ richly dwell in one’s soul in Colossians 3:16.
Therefore, here in Second Timothy 4:5, the verb nēphō means “to be sober” as a result of rejecting false doctrine and obeying sound doctrine and specifically it speaks of Timothy being influenced by the Spirit as a result of obeying the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God which He has inspired.
The present imperative form of the verb nēphō is a “customary present imperative” whose force is for Timothy to simply continue making it his habit of being sober in all things.
The adjective pas is used as a substantive in the plural and means “all things” referring to the various responsibilities of Timothy as a pastor-teacher and as Paul’s delegate to the Christian community in the Roman province of Asia.
The word is the object of the preposition en, which functions as a marker of reference indicating that Timothy must continue making it his habit of being sober “with respect to” each and every one of his responsibilities.
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: 2 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. 3 The reason for this is that the time will come when they will no longer tolerate sound doctrine. But rather, they will, as a certainty accumulate for themselves teachers because of their own sinful desires because they will as a certainty want to have their ears tickled. 4 Consequently, on the one hand, they will, as a certainty turn their ears away from the truth while on the other hand, they will, as a certainty be turned away from the truth because of myths. 5 However, you in contrast to them, continue making it your habit of being sober with respect to each and every thing. I solemnly charge you to make it a priority of enduring hardship. I solemnly charge you to make it a priority of performing an evangelist’s duty. I solemnly charge you to make it a priority of fulfilling your ministry. (My translation)
The apostle Paul issues Timothy four more commands in Second Timothy 4:5 and by obeying these commands Timothy would stand in contrast to the apostate Christians who he describes in Second Timothy 4:3-4.
The first command Paul issues Timothy in Second Timothy 4:5 required that Timothy continue to make it his habit of being sober with regards to each and every one of his responsibilities as a pastor-teacher and as Paul’s delegate to the Christian community in the Roman province of Asia.
This is figurative language for possessing a godly state of mind or a godly way of thinking as a result of obeying the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God which He is inspired according to Second Peter 1:20-21.
It speaks of Timothy continuing to make it his habit of being filled with the Spirit or more accurately influenced by the Spirit which is commanded of every church age believer in Ephesians 5:18.
By exercising faith in the Spirit inspired apostolic teaching of the apostle Paul which resulted in obedience to the Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions of this teaching, Timothy would be filled or more accurately influenced by the means of the Spirit and thus he would be sober in all of his responsibilities.
Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. (NASB95)
“Filled” is the verb pleroo which means, “to be fully influenced” since the English word “influence” accurately, conveys the meaning of pleroo.
Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines the word influence: (1) Capacity or power of persons or things to produce effects on others by intangible or indirect means. (2) Action or process of producing effects on others by intangible or indirect means. (3) A person or thing that exerts influence.
If we were to paraphrase Webster’s definition of the word, we would say that Paul wants the Ephesian believers to permit the omnipotence (intangible means) of the Holy Spirit (Person) to produce Christ-like character (effects) in them.
The passive form of the verb is a permissive passive voice, which indicates that the apostle Paul wants the Ephesians to “permit” themselves to be fully influenced by the Holy Spirit.
Now, the force of the present imperative form of the verb pleroo here in Ephesians 5:18 is simply continue and is a command for action to be continued, action that may or may not have already been going on.
He wants them to “make it their habit” to permit themselves to be fully influenced by the Spirit because that will build the character of Christ in them, which is the Father’s will.
In the Greek text, “with the Spirit” represents the preposition en plus the noun pneuma in the instrumental dative case which indicates that the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit is the means by which the church age believer is to continually allow himself to be fully influenced, possessed or controlled by the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 And do not permit yourselves to get into the habit of being drunk with wine because that is non-sensical behavior, but rather permit yourselves on a habitual basis to be influenced by means of the Spirit. (My translation)
The apostle Paul is using a contrast in Ephesians 5:18 since he is contrasting the mental state of someone who is under the influence of alcohol and drunk with that of one who is under the influence of the Spirit.
In Romans 8:5-6, the apostle Paul describes the mechanics of the filling of the Spirit and reveals that it is submitting to the Spirit and being occupied in one’s mind with the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8:5 For you see those who at any time exist in the state of being in submission to the flesh are, as an eternal spiritual truth, preoccupied with the things produced by the flesh. However, those in submission to the Spirit, the things produced by the Spirit. 6 In fact, the mind-set produced by the flesh is, as an eternal spiritual truth temporal spiritual death. However, the mind-set produced by the Spirit is, as an eternal spiritual truth life as well as peace. (My translation)
The believer must be aware of the fact that there is a distinction between the “indwelling” of the Spirit (John 14:16, Romans 8:9, 11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:18-20, 2 Corinthians 6:16 and 1 John 2:20, 26-28) and the “filling” of the Spirit.
The “filling” of the Spirit is “dynamic,” whereas the “indwelling” is “static.”
The Christian is commanded to be “filled” with the Spirit whereas he is never commanded to be “indwelt” by the Spirit.
When you are filled with the Spirit you are appropriating by faith the indwelling presence of the Spirit.
So the first command in Second Timothy 4:5 speaks of Timothy being sober spiritually as a result of experiencing fellowship with God.
For Timothy not to be sober would mean that he is out of fellowship with God because of adhering to false doctrine.
By adhering to false doctrine, Timothy or any Christian would not be in a godly state of mind or would not be thinking godly thoughts and thus this would manifest itself in ungodly behavior.
This interpretation is support by Paul’s statements in Second Timothy 2:23-26.
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. 23 But continue making it your habit of avoiding foolish, yes ignorant pointless debates because you know for certain that they do produce quarrels. 24 However, in the interests of the Lord’s slave, he must never, as an eternal spiritual truth, be characterized as contentious but rather to be characterized as gentle for the benefit of each and every person, a skillful teacher, patient. 25 The purpose of which is to be characterized as correcting with gentleness those who in their own selfish-interests are in opposition. Perhaps, God (the Father) will grant them repentance resulting in knowing experientially the truth. 26 Consequently, they will become sober again, freed from the devil’s trap after having been captured as a prisoner of war by him to do his will. (My translation)