This section of Chapter 1 has seven verses:
2 Timothy 1:1-7
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of
God, according to the promise of life which is in
Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy,
and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord.
3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers
with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have
remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;
4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of
thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;
5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith
that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy
grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am
persuaded that in thee also.
6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou
stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the
putting on of my hands.
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but
of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Let us begin with the Barclay commentary
AN APOSTLE’S GLORY AND AN APOSTLE’S PRIVILEGE
First, the paraphrase of the verses:
2 Timothy 1:1–7
This is a letter from Paul, who was made an apostle
of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and whose
apostleship was designed to make known to all men
God’s promise of real life in Christ Jesus, to
Timothy his own beloved child. Grace, mercy and
peace be to you from God, the Father, and from
Christ Jesus, our Lord.
I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience,
as my forefathers did before me, for all that you
are to me, just as in my prayers I never cease to
remember you, for, remembering your tears when we
parted, I never cease to yearn to see you, that I
may be filled with joy. And I thank God that I have
received a fresh reminder of that sincere faith
which is in you, a faith of the same kind as first
dwelt in your grandmother Lois and in your mother
Eunice, and which, I am convinced, dwells in you
too. That is why I send you this reminder to keep at
white heat the gift that is in you and which came to
you through the laying of my hands upon you; for God
did not give us the spirit of craven fear, but of
power and love and self-discipline.
WHEN Paul speaks of his own apostleship, there are
always certain unmistakable notes in his voice. To
Paul, his apostleship always meant certain things.
(1) His apostleship was an honour. He was chosen for
it by the will of God. All Christians must regard
themselves as God-chosen men and women.
(2) His apostleship was a responsibility. God chose
him because he wanted to do something with him. He
wanted to make him the instrument by which the
tidings of new life went out to all people.
Christians are never chosen entirely for their own
sake, but for what they can do for others.
Christians are people who are lost in wonder, love
and praise at what God has done for them and aflame
with eagerness to tell others what God can do for
them too.
(3) His apostleship was a privilege. It is most
significant to see what Paul believed it his duty to
bring to others – God’s promise, not his threat. To
Paul, Christianity was not the threat of damnation;
it was the good news of salvation. It is worth
remembering that the greatest evangelist and
missionary the world has ever seen was out not to
terrify people by shaking them over the flames of
hellfire but to move them to astonished submission
at the sight of the love of God. The driving force
of his gospel was love, not fear.
As always when he speaks to Timothy, there is a
warmth of loving affection in Paul’s voice. ‘My
beloved child’, he calls him. Timothy was his child
in the faith. Timothy’s parents had given him
physical life, but it was Paul who gave him [instruction
to] eternal life. Many people who never
knew physical parenthood have had the joy and
privilege of being a father or a mother in the
faith.
PAUL’S object in writing is to inspire and
strengthen Timothy for his task in Ephesus. Timothy
was young, and he had a hard task in battling
against the heresies and the infections that were
bound to threaten the Church. So, in order to keep
his courage high and his effort strenuous, Paul
reminds Timothy of certain things.
(1) He reminds him of his own confidence in him.
There is no greater inspiration than to feel that
someone believes in us. An appeal to the best in
someone is always more effective than a threat of
punishment. The fear of letting down those who love
us is a sobering thing.
(2) He reminds him of his family tradition. Timothy
was walking in a fine heritage; and, if he failed,
not only would he damage his own reputation but he
would lessen the honour of his family name as well.
A fine parentage is one of the greatest gifts anyone
can have. It is something to thank God for and
should never be dishonored. [See Deuteronomy 27:16]
Quoted verse:
Deuteronomy 27:16
Cursed be he that setteth light by his father
or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
(3) He reminds him of his setting apart for office
and of the gift which was conferred upon him. Once
we enter upon the service of any association with a
tradition, anything that we do affects not only us.
We do not do it in our own strength. There is the
strength of a tradition to draw upon and the honour
of a tradition to preserve. That is especially true
of the Church. Those who serve it have its honour
in their hands; those who serve it are strengthened
by the consciousness of the [spiritual
fellowship] of all the saints.
(4) He reminds him of the qualities which should
characterize the Christian teacher. These, as Paul
at that moment saw them, were four.
(a) There was courage. It was not cowardly
fear but courage that Christian service should
bring. It always takes courage to be a Christian,
and that courage comes from the continual
consciousness of the presence of Christ.
(b) There was power. In true Christians,
there is the power to cope, the power to shoulder
the backbreaking task, the power to stand firm when
faced with the shattering situation, the power to
retain faith when confronted by the soul-destroying
sorrow and the wounding disappointment. Christians
are characteristically people who could pass the
breaking point and not break.
(c) There was love. In Timothy’s case, this
was love for the brothers and sisters, for the
congregation of the people of Christ over whom he
was set. It is precisely that love which gives
Christian pastors other qualities. They must love
their people so much that they will never find any
toil too great to undertake for them or any
situation threatening enough to daunt them. No one
should ever enter the ministry of the Church without
a deep love for Christ’s people.
(d) There was self-discipline. The word is
so¯phronismos, one of these great untranslatable
Greek words. It has been defined as ‘the sanity of
saintliness’. In his book on The Pastorals, Sir
Robert Falconer defines it as ‘control of oneself in
face of panic or of passion’. It is Christ alone who
can give us that command of self which will keep us
both from being swept away and from running away.
No one can ever rule others without having complete
self-control. So¯phronismos is that divinely given
control of self which makes people great rulers of
others because they are first of all the servants of
Christ and in complete control of themselves [by
the power of the Holy Spirit].
~Barclay Commentary
Now to the other commentaries beginning with the
general.
First we will go to the Matthew Henry Main which
covers verses 6-14. I will share with you the
commentary on verses 6-7.
He exhorts him to stir up the gift of God that was
in him. Stir it up as fire under the embers. It is
meant of all the gifts and graces the God had given
him, to qualify him for the work of an evangelist,
the gifts of the Holy [Spirit],
the extraordinary gifts that were conferred by the
imposition of the apostle's hands. These he must
stir up; he must exercise them and so increase them:
use gifts and have gifts. To him that hath shall be
given, Matthew 25:29.
Quoted verse:
Matthew 25:29
For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he
shall have abundance: but from him that hath not
shall be taken away even that which he hath.
He must take all opportunities to use these gifts,
and so stir them up, for that is the best way of
increasing them. Whether the gift of God in Timothy
was ordinary or extraordinary (though
I incline to the latter), he must stir it
up, otherwise it would decay. Further, you see that
this gift was in him by the putting on of the
apostle's hands, which I take to be distinct from
his ordination, for that was performed by the hands
of the presbytery, 1 Timothy 4:14.
It is probable that Timothy had the Holy [Spirit],
in his extraordinary gifts and graces, conferred on
him by the laying on of the apostle's hands (for
I reckon that none but the apostles had the power of
giving the Holy [Spirit]),
and afterwards, being thus richly furnished for the
work of the ministry, was ordained by the
presbytery. Observe,
1. The great hindrance of usefulness in the increase
of our gifts is slavish fear. Paul therefore warns
Timothy against this: God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, 2 Timothy 1:7. It was through base
fear that the evil servant buried his talent, and
did not trade with it, Matthew 25:25.
Quoted verse:
Matthew 25:25
And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the
earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
Now God hath therefore armed us against the spirit
of fear, by often bidding us fear not. “Fear not the
face of man; fear not the dangers you may meet with
in the way of your duty.” God hath delivered us from
the spirit of fear, and hath given us the spirit of
power, and of love, and of a sound mind. The spirit
of power, or of courage and resolution to encounter
difficulties and dangers; - the spirit of love to
God, which will carry us through the opposition we
may meet with, as Jacob made nothing of the hard
service he was to endure for Rachel: the spirit of
love to God will set us above the fear of man, and
all the hurt that a man can do us; - and the spirit
of a sound mind, or quietness of mind, a peaceable
enjoyment of ourselves, for we are oftentimes
discouraged in our way and work by the creatures of
our own fancy and imagination, which a sober, solid,
thinking mind would obviate, and would easily
answer.
2. The spirit God gives to his ministers is not a
fearful, but a courageous spirit; it is a spirit of
power, for they speak in his name who has all power,
both in heaven and earth; and it is a spirit of
love, for love to God and the souls of men must
inflame ministers in all their service; and it is a
spirit of a sound mind, for they speak the words of
truth and soberness.
~Matthew Henry Main
Now notice the Matthew Henry Concise.
God has not given us the spirit of fear, but the
spirit of power, of courage and resolution, to meet
difficulties and dangers; the spirit of love to him,
which will carry us through opposition. And the
spirit of a sound mind, quietness of mind. The Holy
Spirit is not the author of a timid or cowardly
disposition, or of slavish fears. We are likely to
bear afflictions well, when we have strength and
power from God to enable us to bear them. As is
usual with Paul, when he mentions Christ and his
redemption, he enlarges upon them; so full was he of
that which is all our salvation, and ought to be all
our desire. The call of the gospel is a holy call,
making holy. Salvation is of free grace. This is
said to be given us before the world began, that is,
in the purpose of God from all eternity; in Christ
Jesus, for all the gifts that come from God to
sinful man, come in and through Christ Jesus alone.
And as there is so clear a prospect of eternal
happiness by faith in Him, who is the Resurrection
and the Life, let us give more diligence in making
his salvation sure to our souls. Those who cleave to
the gospel, need not be ashamed, the cause will bear
them out; but those who oppose it, shall be ashamed.
The apostle had trusted his life, his soul, and
eternal interests, to the Lord Jesus. No one else
could deliver and secure his soul through the trials
of life and death. There is a day coming, when our
souls will be inquired after. Thou hadst a soul
committed to thee; how was it employed? in the
service of sin, or in the service of Christ? The
hope of the lowest real Christian rests on the same
foundation as that of the great apostle. He also has
learned the value and the danger of his soul; he
also has believed in Christ; and the change wrought
in his soul, convinces the believer that the Lord
Jesus will keep him to [The
Kingdom]. Paul exhorts Timothy to hold
fast the Holy Scriptures, the substance of solid
gospel truth in them. It is
not enough to assent to the sound words, but we must
love them. The Christian doctrine is a trust
committed to us; it is of unspeakable value in
itself, and will be of unspeakable advantage to us.
It is committed to us, to be preserved pure and
entire, yet we must not think to keep it by our own
strength, but by the power of the Holy Spirit
dwelling in us; and it will not be gained by those
who trust in their own hearts, and lean to their own
understandings.
~Matthew Henry Concise [Emphasis mine]
I was discussing with another minister the text I
have highlighted here in red. This was my
statement:
"If the heart and mind of a firstfruit is likened
unto a closely woven cloth bag, the scriptures
cannot be something we place in the bag but
something that must become part of the fabric of the
bag. For whatever reason, I believe the spiritual
journey of some is far too shallow, as if they
merely had the scriptures in the bag. The
scriptures must become a part of the substance of
the heart, mind and soul of the individual. This is
what I believe the Matthew Henry is referring to
when it calls this, 'unspeakable' as in, 'of
unspeakable value and advantage to us.' Christ IS
the Word and we must become like Christ."
Now we will read from the John Darby Synopsis:
God then has given us the Spirit of power and of
love and of a sound mind; the apostle had received
such a position from God, that he had been able to
bestow on Timothy the gift needed for his service
but the state of spirit and soul which could use it
was part of the inheritance of every Christian who
leaned really on God. Nor was he to be ashamed
either of the testimony, which was losing outwardly
its onward current in the world, nor of Paul who was
now a prisoner. How precious to possess that which
is eternal, that which is founded on the power and
on the work of God Himself! There were indeed the
afflictions of the gospel, but he should take part
in them and not shrink, enduring according to the
power of God. God has saved us, has called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works, as though
anything depended on man, but according to His own
purpose and His grace given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. This is the sure and
immovable foundation, a rock for our souls, against
which the waves of difficulty break in vain, shewing
a strength which we could not resist for a moment,
but shewing also their total powerlessness against
the purpose and work of God. The efforts of the
enemy only prove that he is without strength, in the
presence of that which God is, and of that which He
has done for us. And the apostle identifies his
ministry with this, and the sufferings he was
undergoing. But he knew whom he had believed and his
happiness was safe laid up with Him.
~John Darby Synopsis
Now notice this from the Expositor's Bible
Commentary...
The spirit with which we are endowed is a spirit of
power, whereas a spirit of fearlessness is weak.
Faint-heartedness cannot be strong. The fainthearted
mistrust themselves and others; and they discourage
themselves and others. They anticipate dangers and
difficulties, and thereby sometimes create them; and
they anticipate failure, and thereby often bring it
about. It is only by acting, and by acting
vigorously and courageously, that we find out the
full power of the spirit with which we have been
blessed.
Again, the gift which God has bestowed upon us is a
spirit of love: and more than anything else perfect
love casts out the spirit of fear. Fear is the child
of bondage; love is the child of freedom. If we love
God, we shall not live in terror of His judgments:
and if we love men, we shall not live in terror of
their criticisms. Moreover, the spirit of love
teaches us the nature of the gift of power. It is
not force or violence; not an imposing of our own
will on others. It is an affectionate striving to
win others over to obedience to the will of God. It
is the spirit of self-sacrifice; not of
self-assertion.
Lastly, the spirit with which we are endowed by God
is a spirit of discipline [sound
mind]. By discipline that cowardly
indolence, which the spirit of fearfulness
engenders, can be kept down and expelled. If it be
asked whether the discipline be that which Timothy
is to enforce in ruling others, or that which he is
to practice in schooling himself, we may answer,
"Both." The termination of the word which is here
used seems to require the transitive meaning; and
slackness in correcting others may easily have been
one of the ways in which the despondency of Timothy
showed itself. On the other hand the whole context
here speaks of Timothy’s treatment of himself. To
take a more lively interest in the conduct of others
would be discipline for himself and for them also.
There may be as much pride as humility in indulging
the thought that the lives of other people are so
utterly bad, that it is quite out of power of such
persons as ourselves to effect a reformation. This
is a subtle way of shirking responsibility. Strong
in the spirit of power, glowing with the spirit of
love, we can turn the faults of others, together
with all the troubles which may befall us in this
life, into instruments of discipline.
~Expositor's Bible
Commentary
We must look at least one of the specific
commentaries.
For God hath not given us
the spirit of fear - A timorous and servile
spirit. This is said in order to encourage Timothy,
who was not improbably modest and diffident [lacking
confidence in one’s ability or worth].
But of power - Power
to encounter foes and dangers; power to bear up
under trials; power to triumph in persecutions. That
is, it is the nature of the gospel to inspire the
mind with holy courage; compare, however, Luke
24:49.
Quoted verse:
Luke 24:49
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon
you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye
be endued with power from on high.
And of love - Love to
God and to the souls of men. The tendency of This,
also, is to “cast out fear” 1 John 4:18, and to make
the mind bold and constant. Nothing will do more to
inspire courage, to make a man fearless of danger,
or ready to endure privation and persecution, than
“love.” The love of country, and wife, and children,
and home, makes the most timid bold when they are
assailed; and the love of Christ and of a dying
world nerves the soul to great enterprises, and
sustains it in the deepest sorrows.
Quoted verse:
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth
out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth
is not made perfect in love.
And of a sound mind
- The Greek word denotes one of sober mind; a man of
prudence and discretion. The state referred to here
is that in which the mind is well balanced, and
under right influences; in which it sees things in
their just proportions and relations; in which it is
not feverish and excited, but when everything is in
its proper place. It was this state of mind which
Timothy was exhorted to cultivate; this which Paul
regarded as so necessary to the performance of the
duties of his office. It is as needful now for the
minister of religion as it was then.
~Barnes Notes
Let us recap some of what we have learned
in this lesson.
1] Firstfruits must avoid and/or destroy any spirit
of fear within us.
2] God has delivered us from fear.
3] God has given us the spirit of power, and of love
and of a sound mind [discipline].
4] The call of the gospel is a holy call, making you
holy.
5] The scriptures must become a part of the
substance of the heart, mind and soul of the
individual.
6] There are afflictions of the gospel, but we
should take part in them and not shrink.
7] The fainthearted anticipate dangers and
difficulties and thereby sometimes create them; and
they anticipate failure, and thereby often bring it
about.
8] The spirit of love casts out fear.
9] Discipline [a
sound mind] keeps down and expels
fearfulness.
10] A disciplined mind is one that is well balanced
and under right influences. |