2 Timothy 4.8-Paul Asserts He Will Be Rewarded for Faithful Service Along with Other Faithful Christians
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday October 1, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 4:8-Paul Asserts He Will Be Rewarded For Faithful Service Along with Other Faithful Christians
Lesson # 96
2 Timothy 4:8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (NASB95)
“The crown of righteousness” is composed of the following: (1) nominative masculine singular form of the definite article ho (ὁ), which is not translated (2) articular genitive feminine singular form of the dikaiosunē (δικαιοσύνη), “righteousness” (3) nominative masculine singular form of the noun stephanos (στέφανος), “crown.”
The noun stephanos is a reward given to believers for their faithfulness in executing their own spiritual life and is modified by the noun dikaiosune which means “righteousness” and refers to the faithful Christian practicing God’s righteousness by exemplifying His integrity and virtue.
The noun dikaiosune contains the figure of metonymy meaning that divine righteousness is put for faithfully exemplifying it in life.
Therefore, the crown Paul will receive from the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat is for faithfully exemplifying divine righteousness in his life after conversion.
This noun dikaiosune functions as a genitive of production meaning that it “produces” the noun stephanos to which it stands related indicating that this crown is produced by Paul faithfully practicing and exemplifying God’s righteousness in his life after conversion.
“And not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” is emphatic since it advances upon Paul’s previous assertion that in the future the crown which is produced by faithfully exemplifying divine righteousness is reserved for him which the Lord Jesus Christ will reward him at the Bema Seat.
Therefore, the advancement and the intensification is that not only Paul will be rewarded for his faithful service but also everyone who like him lived his life in light of the imminent return of Christ at the rapture.
“To all who have loved” is composed of the following: (1) dative masculine plural form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “to all” (8) articular dative masculine plural perfect active participle form of the verb agapaō (ἀγαπάω), “who love.”
The verb agapaō is used by Paul in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ appearing to the church at the rapture and has the idea of “longing for” in the sense of greatly anticipating the appearing of Jesus Christ at the rapture of the church.
It expresses idea of anticipating with one’s entire being with the implication of living one’s life in the light of the imminent return of Christ.
The adjective pas denotes totality of persons and also functions in a distributive sense meaning “any” emphasizing there are no exceptions and thus expresses the idea that “any” Christian who loves the Lord’s appearing will be rewarded by the Lord at the Bema Seat just like Paul.
Second Timothy 4:8 In the future, the crown which is the product of faithfully exemplifying divine righteousness is reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will, as a certainty reward me on that day. In fact, by no means only me but also anyone who longs for His appearing. (My translation)
The apostle Paul in Second Timothy 4:8 is emphasizing with Timothy that like him, he will be rewarded by the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat for his faithful service in order to motivate Timothy to remain faithful.
This verse is composed of a declarative statement which is modified by a relative clause and then followed by an emphatic correlative clause.
The declarative statement and the relative clause which modifies it express Paul’s confidence in the justice of Jesus Christ in rewarding him for his faithful service.
The emphatic correlative clause emphasizes with Timothy that he too will rewarded if he remains faithful.
Paul is continuing the athletic metaphor from Second Timothy 4:7.
The image Paul is presenting in these two verses is taken from the victorious athlete in the Graeco Roman games who was rewarded by the judge at the Bema Seat for his victory.
Therefore, just like a runner in the Graeco-Roman games was rewarded by the judge at the Bema Seat for being victorious so Paul and all Christians will also be rewarded by the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat for habitually exemplifying God’s righteousness in their life after conversion because of living their lives in the light of the imminent return of Christ at the rapture.
In the declarative statement, Paul asserts that in the future, the crown which is the product of faithfully exemplifying divine righteousness is reserved for him.
When Paul speaks of the future he is referring to the time when he will receive rewards from the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat because he was a faithful steward of the time, talent, treasure and truth the Lord bestowed upon him.
The word “crown” (stephanos) is a reward given to Paul and all believers who are faithful in life.
This crown is the product of Paul faithfully practicing God’s righteousness by exemplifying His integrity and virtue.
Therefore, this crown is the result of Paul habitually exemplifying Christ-like character in his life after conversion and speaks of Paul faithfully adhering to God’s perfect standards, which appear in the gospel.
It refers to Paul faithfully doing all that God commands him in the gospel and all that He demands in the gospel as His child and all that He approves, and all that He provides through Christ and also speaks of Paul faithfully fulfilling his obligations to both God and mankind.
In relation to the former, he faithfully loved God with his entire being and strength whereas in relation to the latter he faithfully loved his neighbor as himself.
Therefore, this crown or reward is the result of Paul faithfully exemplifying Christ’s righteousness in his life after his conversion.
The apostle Paul then employs a relative pronoun clause to indicate who will bestow this reward upon him and when.
This relative pronoun clause identifies Jesus Christ as the one who will evaluate his life and service and stewardship and determine that he does merit rewards.
He is emphasizing with Timothy the certainty that he will be rewarded by the Lord Jesus Christ for his faithful service.
He states it will be “the Lord, the righteous Judge” who will bestow this reward upon him.
The Lord here is a reference to Jesus Christ since Second Corinthians 5:10 teaches that He will conduct the Bema Seat evaluation of the church.
Furthermore, John 5:22-29 and Philippians 2:5-11 make clear that Jesus Christ will be conducting all the judgments in history, which would include the Bema Seat.
When Paul describes Jesus Christ as “the Judge” he means that the Lord will examine his actions and conduct in life after his conversion to determine if he merits a reward or not.
The Lord will evaluate Paul’s four-fold stewardship of time, talent, treasure and truth.
Therefore, in relation to the Christ, it speaks of the Lord Jesus “evaluating” the actions performed by Paul after his conversion to determine if he merits rewards or not.
It denotes Jesus Christ “evaluating” his four-fold stewardship of time, talent, treasure and truth to determine if he merits rewards or not.
When Paul describes Jesus Christ as “righteous” he means that Jesus Christ’s nature and character is in a state or condition of being perfect “integrity” in the sense that His character is perfectly sound and adheres perfectly to His own holy standards and what He has promised to men.
Thus, He is upright, honest, perfectly whole, undiminished and sound, and unimpaired and in perfect condition.
It describes Jesus Christ’s character and nature as being perfect “virtue” in the sense that His character is perfect moral excellence, goodness, and He always conforms to His own perfect standards.
It speaks of the Lord’s character and nature as being in a state or condition of always fulfilling His obligations to His moral rational creatures, whether angels or men.
Therefore, Paul is describing the Lord as being a judge with perfect integrity and virtue and will always do right by him and give him justice.
“On that day” refers to the day when Paul stands before the Lord at the Bema Seat.
The emphatic correlative clause which completes Second Timothy 4:8 emphasizes with Timothy the certainty that he too will be rewarded for his faithful service at the Bema Seat.
Not only Paul will be rewarded for his faithful service but also everyone who like him lived his life in light of the imminent return of Christ at the rapture will be rewarded.
This emphatic correlative clause is designed to encourage Timothy to remain faithful in communicating and exemplifying the gospel.
When Paul speaks of a Christian longing for the Lord’s appearing, he is speaking of a faithful Christian greatly anticipating the appearing of Jesus Christ at the rapture of the church.
It expresses idea of anticipating with one’s entire being with the implication of living one’s life in the light of the imminent return of Christ and this state of longing for Christ’s appearing is the direct result of the Christian faithfully exemplifying Christ’s righteousness.
It speaks of living one’s life in light of the Lord’s imminent return at the rapture of the church.
Paul is emphasizing in this emphatic correlative clause that there are no exceptions in that any Christian who longs for the Lord’s appearing will be rewarded by the Lord at the Bema Seat.