2 Timothy 2

2Ti 2:1-26.

EXHORTATIONS; TO

FAITHFULNESS AS A

GOOD

SOLDIER OF

CHRIST;

ERRORS TO

BE

SHUNNED; THE

LORD'S

SURE

FOUNDATION; THE

RIGHT

SPIRIT FOR A

SERVANT OF

CHRIST.

1. Thou therefore--following my example

(2Ti 1:8, 12),

and that of ONESIPHORUS

(2Ti 1:16-18),

and shunning that of those who forsook me

(2Ti 1:15).

my son--Children ought to imitate their father.

be strong--literally, "be invested with power." Have

power, and show thyself to have it; implying an abiding state of power.

in the grace--the element IN

which the believer's strength has

place. Compare

2Ti 1:7,

"God hath given us the spirit of power."

2. among--Greek, "through," that is, with the attestation

(literally, "intervention") of many witnesses, namely, the presbyters

and others present at his ordination or consecration

(1Ti 4:14; 6:12).

commit--in trust, as a deposit

(2Ti 1:14).

faithful--the quality most needed by those having a trust

committed to them.

who--Greek, "(persons) such as shall be competent

to teach (them to) others also." Thus the way is prepared for

inculcating the duty of faithful endurance

(2Ti 2:3-13).

Thou shouldest consider as a motive to endurance, that thou hast not

only to keep the deposit for thyself, but to transmit it unimpaired to

others, who in their turn shall fulfil the same office. This is so far

from supporting oral tradition now that it rather teaches how

precarious a mode of preserving revealed truth it was, depending, as it

did, on the trustworthiness of each individual in the chain of

succession; and how thankful we ought to be that God Himself has

given the written Word, which is exempt from such risk.

3. Thou therefore endure hardness--The oldest manuscripts have

no "Thou therefore," and read, "Endure hardship with

(me)." "Take thy share in suffering" [CONYBEARE

and HOWSON].

4. "No one while serving as a soldier."

the affairs of (this) life--"the businesses of life"

[ALFORD]; mercantile, or other than military.

him who hath chosen him--the general who at the first enlisted

him as a soldier. Paul himself worked at tent-making

(Ac 18:3).

Therefore what is prohibited here is, not all other save religious

occupation, but the becoming entangled, or over-engrossed

therewith.

5. And--"Moreover."

strive for masteries--"strive in the games"

[ALFORD]; namely, the

great national games of Greece.

yet is he not crowned, except--even though he gain the victory.

strive lawfully--observing all the conditions of both the contest

(keeping within the bounds of the course and stript of his clothes) and

the preparation for it, namely, as to self-denying diet, anointing,

exercise, self-restraint, chastity, decorum, &c.

(1Co 9:24-27).

6. must be first partaker--The right of first partaking of

the fruits belongs to him who is laboring; do not

thou, therefore, relax thy labors, as thou wouldest be foremost in

partaking of the reward. CONYBEARE explains

"first," before the idler.

7. Consider the force of the illustrations I have given from the

soldier, the contender in the games, and the husbandmen, as

applying to thyself in thy ministry.

and the Lord give, &c.--The oldest manuscripts read, "for

the Lord will give thee understanding." Thou canst understand my

meaning so as personally to apply it to thyself; for the Lord will give

thee understanding when thou seekest it from Him "in all things." Not

intellectual perception, but personal appropriation of the truths

metaphorically expressed, was what he needed to be given him by the

Lord.

8. Rather as Greek, "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from

the dead." Remember Christ risen, so as to follow Him. As He was raised

after death, so if thou wouldest share His risen "life," thou must now

share His "death"

(2Ti 2:11).

The Greek perfect passive participle, implies a permanent

character acquired by Jesus as the risen Saviour, and our

permanent interest in Him as such. Christ's resurrection is put

prominently forward as being the truth now assailed

(2Ti 2:18),

and the one best calculated to stimulate Timothy to steadfastness in

sharing Paul's sufferings for the Gospel's sake (see on

2Ti 2:3).

of the seed of David--The one and only genealogy (as contrasted

with the "endless genealogies,"

1Ti 1:4)

worth thinking of, for it proves Jesus to be the Messiah. The absence

of the article in the Greek, and this formula, "of the seed of

David" (compare

Ro 1:3),

imply that the words were probably part of a recognized short oral

creed. In His death He assured us of His humanity; by His resurrection,

of His divinity. That He was not crucified for His own sin

appears from His resurrection; that He was crucified shows that He bore

sin, on Him, though not in Him.

my gospel--that which I always taught.

9. Wherein--in proclaiming which Gospel.

suffer trouble--literally, "evil." I am a sufferer of evil as

though I were a doer of evil.

bonds--

(2Ti 1:16).

word . . . not bound--Though my person is bound, my

tongue and my pen are not

(2Ti 4:17;

Ac 28:31).

Or he alludes not merely to his own proclamation of the Gospel,

though in chains, but to the freedom of its circulation by

others, even though his power of circulating it is now prescribed

(Php 1:18).

He also hints to Timothy that he being free ought to be the more

earnest in the service of it.

10. Therefore--Because of the anxiety I feel that the Gospel

should be extended; that anxiety being implied in

2Ti 2:9.

endure--not merely "I passively suffer," but "I actively

and perseveringly endure," and "am ready to endure patiently all

things."

the elect's sakes--for the sake of the Church: all the members of

Christ's spiritual body

(Col 1:24).

they . . . also--as well as myself: both God's elect

not yet converted and those already so.

salvation . . . glory--not only salvation from

wrath, but glory in reigning with Him eternally

(2Ti 2:12).

Glory is the full expansion of salvation

(Ac 2:47;

Ro 8:21-24, 30;

Heb 9:28).

So grace and glory

(Ps 84:12).

11. Greek, "Faithful is the saying."

For--"For" the fact is so that, "if we be dead with Him (the

Greek aorist tense implies a state once for all entered into

in past times at the moment of regeneration,

Ro 6:3, 4, 8;

Col 2:12),

we shall also live with Him." The symmetrical form of "the saying,"

2Ti 2:11-13,

and the rhythmical balance of the parallel clauses, makes it likely,

they formed part of a Church hymn (see on

1Ti 3:16),

or accepted formula, perhaps first uttered by some of the Christian

"prophets" in the public assembly

(1Co 14:26).

The phrase "faithful is the saying," which seems to have been the usual

formula (compare

1Ti 1:15; 3:1; 4:9;

Tit 3:8)

in such cases, favors this.

12. suffer--rather, as the Greek is the same as in

2Ti 2:10,

"If we endure (with Him)"

(Ro 8:17).

reign with him--The peculiar privilege of the elect Church now

suffering with Christ, then to reign with Him (see on

1Co 6:2).

Reigning is something more than mere salvation

(Ro 5:17;

Re 3:21; 5:10; 20:4, 5).

deny--with the mouth. As "believe" with the heart

follows,

2Ti 2:12.

Compare the opposite, "confess with thy mouth" and "believe in thine

heart"

(Ro 10:9, 10).

he also will deny us--

(Mt 10:33).

13. believe not--"If we are unbelievers (literally, 'unfaithful'),

He remains faithful"

(De 7:9, 10).

The oldest manuscripts read, "For He cannot (it is an

impossibility that He should) deny Himself." He cannot be

unfaithful to His word that He will deny those who deny Him, though

we be not faithful to our profession of faith in Him

(Ro 3:3).

Three things are impossible to God, to die, to lie, and to be deceived

[AUGUSTINE, The Creed, 1.1],

(Heb 6:18).

This impossibility is not one of infirmity, but of infinite power and

majesty. Also, indirectly, comfort is suggested to believers, that He

is faithful to His promises to them; at the same time that apostates

are shaken out of their self-deceiving fancy, that because they change,

Christ similarly may change. A warning to Timothy to be steadfast in

the faith.

14. them--those over whom thou dost preside

(Tit 3:1).

charging--Greek, "testifying continually": "adjuring them."

before the Lord--

(1Ti 5:21).

that they strive not about words--rather, "strive with words":

"not to have a (mere) war of words"

(2Ti 2:23, 24;

1Ti 6:4)

where the most vital matters are at stake

(2Ti 2:17, 18;

Ac 18:15).

The oldest manuscripts put a stop at "charging them before the Lord"

(which clause is thus connected with "put them in remembrance") and

read the imperative, "Strive not thou in words," &c.

to no profit--not qualifying "words"; but Greek neuter, in

apposition with "strive in words," "(a thing tending) to no profit,"

literally, "profitable for nothing"; the opposite of "meet for the

master's use"

(2Ti 2:21).

to the subverting--sure to subvert (overturn) the hearers: the

opposite of "edifying" (building up)

(2Co 13:10).

15. Study--Greek, "Be earnest," or "diligent."

to show--Greek, "present," as in

Ro 12:1.

thyself--as distinguished from those whom Timothy was to charge

(2Ti 2:14).

approved--tested by trial: opposed to "reprobate"

(Tit 1:16).

workman--alluding to

Mt 20:1,

&c.

not to be ashamed--by his work not being "approved"

(Php 1:20).

Contrast "deceitful workers"

(2Co 11:13).

rightly dividing--"rightly handling" [Vulgate]; "rightly

administering" [ALFORD]; literally, cutting

"straight" or "right": the metaphor being from a father or a steward

(1Co 4:1)

cutting and distributing bread among his children

[VITRINGA and CALVIN],

(Lu 12:42).

The Septuagint,

Pr 3:6; 11:5,

use it of "making one's way": so BENGEL here takes

Paul to mean that Timothy may make ready a straight way for "the

word of truth," and may himself walk straight forward according to this

line, turning neither to the right nor to the left, "teaching no other

doctrine"

(1Ti 1:3).

The same image of a way appears in the Greek for

"increase" (see on

2Ti 2:16).

The opposite to "rightly handling," or "dispensing," is,

2Co 2:17,

"corrupt the word of God."

truth--Greek, "the truth" (compare

2Ti 2:18).

16. shun--literally, "stand above," separate from, and superior

to.

vain--opposed to "the truth"

(2Ti 2:15).

babblings--with loud voice: opposed to the temperate "word"

(Tit 3:9).

increase--Greek, advance"; literally, "strike forward":

an image from pioneers cutting away all obstacles before

an advancing army. They pretend progress; the only kind of

progress they make is to a greater pitch of impiety.

more ungodliness--Greek, "a greater degree of impiety."

17. will eat--literally, "will have pasture." The consuming

progress of mortification is the image. They pretend to give rich

spiritual pasture to their disciples: the only pasture is

that of a spiritual cancer feeding on their vitals.

canker--a "cancer" or "gangrene."

Hymenaeus--(See on

1Ti 1:20).

After his excommunication he seems to have been readmitted into the

Church and again to have troubled it.

18. erred--Greek, "missed the aim" (see

1Ti 6:21).

is past already--has already taken place. The beginnings of the

subsequent Gnostic heresy already existed. They "wrested"

(2Pe 3:16)

Paul's own words

(Ro 6:4;

Eph 2:6;

Col 2:12)

"to their own destruction," as though the resurrection was merely the

spiritual raising of souls from the death of sin. Compare

1Co 15:12,

where he shows all our hopes of future glory rest on the literal

reality of the resurrection. To believe it past (as the Seleucians or

Hermians did, according to AUGUSTINE

[Epistles, 119.55, To Januarius, 4]), is to deny it in

its true sense.

overthrow--trying to subvert "the foundation" on which alone faith

can rest secure

(2Ti 2:19;

compare

Tit 1:11).

19. Nevertheless--Notwithstanding the subversion of their

faith, "the firm foundation of God standeth" fast (so the

Greek ought to be translated). The "foundation" here is "the

Church" [ALFORD], "the ground" or basement support

"of the truth"

(1Ti 3:15),

Christ Himself being the ultimate "foundation"

(1Co 3:11).

In the steadfast standing of the Church there is involved the

steadfast certainty of the doctrine in question

(2Ti 2:18).

Thus the "house"

(2Ti 2:20)

answers to the "foundation"; it is made up of the elect whom "the Lord

knoweth" (acknowledgeth, recognizes,

Ps 1:6;

Mt 7:23;

Joh 10:14;

1Co 8:3)

as "His," and who persevere to the end, though others "err concerning

the faith"

(Mt 24:24;

Joh 10:28;

Ro 8:38, 39;

1Jo 2:19).

BENGEL takes "the foundation" to be the

immovable faithfulness of God (to His promises to His elect

[CALVIN]). This contrasts well with the erring

from the faith on the part of the reprobate,

2Ti 2:18.

Though they deny the faith, God abates not His

faithfulness (compare

2Ti 2:13).

having--seeing that it has [ELLICOTT].

seal--"inscription": indicating ownership and

destination: inscriptions were often engraven on a "foundation"

stone

(Re 21:14)

[ALFORD]. This will agree with the view that "the

foundation" is the Church

(Eph 2:20).

If it be taken God's immovable faithfulness, the "seal" will be

regarded as attached to His covenant promise, with the inscription or

legend, on one side of its round surface, "The Lord knoweth (it is

'knew' in the Septuagint,

Nu 16:5,

to which Paul here alludes, altering it for his purpose by the Spirit)

them that are His"; on the observe side, "Let every one that nameth (as

his Lord,

Ps 20:7,

or preacheth in His name,

Jer 20:9)

Christ."

depart--Greek, "stand aloof."

from iniquity--

(Isa 52:11).

In both clauses there may be an allusion to

Nu 16:5, 26,

Septuagint. God's part and man's part are marked out. God

chooseth and knoweth His elect; our part is to believe, and by the

Spirit depart from all iniquity, an unequivocal proof of our being the

Lord's (compare

De 29:29;

Lu 13:23-27).

St. Lucian when asked by his persecutors, "Of what country art thou?"

replied, "I am a Christian." "What is your occupation? . . .

I am a Christian." "Of what family? . . . I am a Christian."

[CHRYSOSTOM, Orations, 75]. He cannot be

honored with the name Christian, who dishonors by iniquity, Christ, the

Author of the name. Blandina's refreshment amidst her tortures was to

say, "I am a Christian, and with us Christians no evil is done"

[EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 5.1].

Apostasy from the faith is sure soon to be followed by indulgence in

iniquity. It was so with the false teachers

(2Ti 3:2-8, 13).

20. in a great house--that is, the visible professing Christian

Church

(1Ti 3:15).

Paul is speaking, not of those without, but of the [visible] family of

God [CALVIN]. So the parable of the sweep-net

(Mt 13:47-49)

gathering together of every kind, good and bad: as the good and bad

cannot be distinguished while under the waves, but only when brought to

shore, so believers and unbelievers continue in the same Church, until

the judgment makes the everlasting distinction. "The ark of Noah is a

type of the Church; as in the former there were together the leopard

and the kid, the wolf and the lamb; so in the latter, the righteous and

sinners, vessels of gold and silver, with vessels of wood and earth"

[JEROME, Dialogue against the Luciferians,

302] (compare

Mt 20:16).

vessels of gold . . . silver--precious and able to

endure fire.

of wood and earth--worthless, fragile, and soon burnt

(1Co 3:12-15; 15:47).

some . . . some--the former . . . the latter.

to dishonour--

(Pr 16:4;

Ro 9:17-23).

21. If a man . . . purge himself from these--The

Greek expresses "If one (for example, thou, Timothy) purify

himself (so as to separate) from among these" (vessels

unto dishonor).

sanctified--set apart as wholly consecrated to the Lord.

and meet--Some oldest manuscripts omit "and."

the master's--the Lord's. Paul himself was such a vessel: once one

among those of earth, but afterwards he became by grace one of gold.

prepared unto every good work--

(2Ti 3:17;

Tit 3:1).

Contrast

Tit 1:16.

22. Flee--There are many lusts from which our greatest safety is

in flight

(Ge 39:12).

Avoid occasions of sin. From the abstemious character of Timothy

(1Ti 5:23)

it is likely that not animal indulgences, but the impetuosity, rash

self-confidence, hastiness, strife, and vainglory of young men

(1Jo 2:14-16),

are what he is here warned against: though the Spirit probably

intended the warning to include both in its application to the

Church in general.

also--Greek, "But"; in contrast to "every good work,"

2Ti 2:21.

youthful--Timothy was a youth

(1Ti 4:12).

righteousness--the opposite of "iniquity," that is,

unrighteousness

(2Ti 2:19;

compare

1Ti 6:11).

peace, with, &c.--rather, put no comma, "peace with them

that call on the Lord out of a pure heart"

(1Ti 1:5;

Eph 6:5;

Col 3:22).

We are to love all men, but it is not possible to be at

peace with all men, for this needs community of purpose and

opinion; they alone who call on the Lord sincerely (as contrasted with

the false teachers who had only the form of godliness,

2Ti 3:5, 8;

Tit 1:15, 16)

have this community [THEODORET].

(Ro 12:18).

23.

(Tit 3:9.)

unlearned--Greek, "undisciplined"; not tending to promote

the discipline of faith and morals

(Pr 5:23).

"Uninstructive"; in contrast with "instructing"

(2Ti 2:25),

and "wise unto salvation"

(2Ti 3:15).

avoid--"decline."

24. not strive--"The servant of the Lord" must imitate his

master in not striving contentiously, though uncompromising in

earnestly contending for the faith

(Jude 3;

Mt 12:19).

gentle unto all men--"patient" (Greek, "patient in

bearing wrongs") in respect to adversaries. He is to be gentle

so that he may occasion no evils; patient so that he may endure

evils.

apt to teach--implying not only solid teaching and ease in

teaching, but patience and assiduity in it [BENGEL].

25. instructing--Greek, "disciplining," instructing

with correction, which those who deal in "uninstructive" or

"undisciplined questions" need (see on

2Ti 2:23;

1Ti 1:20).

those that oppose themselves--Greek, "oppositely affected";

those of a different opinion.

if . . . peradventure--Greek, "if at any time."

repentance--which they need as antecedent to the full

knowledge (so the Greek for 'acknowledgment') of

the truth"

(1Ti 2:4),

their minds being corrupted

(2Ti 3:8),

and their lives immoral. The cause of the spiritual ignorance which

prompts such "questions" is moral, having its seat in the will,

not in the intellect

(Joh 7:17).

Therefore repentance is their first need. That, not man, but God alone

can "give"

(Ac 5:31).

26. recover themselves--Greek, "awake to soberness,"

namely from the spiritual intoxication whereby they have fallen into

the snare of the devil.

the snare--

(Eph 6:11,

"the wiles of the devil":

1Ti 3:7; 6:9).

taken captive by him at his will--so as to follow the will

of "THAT" (the Greek emphatically marks

Satan thus) foe. However, different Greek pronouns stand for

"him" and "his"; and the Greek for "taken captive" means not

"captured for destruction," but "for being saved alive,"

as in

Lu 5:10,

"Thou shalt catch men to save them unto life"; also there is no article

before the Greek participle, which the English Version

"who are taken captive," would require. Therefore, translate, "That

they may awake . . . taken as saved (and willing) captives by

him (the servant of the Lord,

2Ti 2:24),

so as to follow the will of HIM (the Lord,

2Ti 2:24,

or "God,"

2Ti 2:25)."

There are here two evils, the "snare" and sleep, from which they

are delivered: and two goods to which they are translated,

awaking and deliverance. Instead of Satan's thrall comes the

free and willing captivity of obedience to Christ

(2Co 10:5).

It is God who goes before, giving repentance

(2Ti 2:25);

then the work of His servant following is sure to be crowned with

success, leading the convert henceforth to "live to the will of God"

(Ac 22:14;

1Pe 4:2).