Las Vegas, Nevada Church
Affiliated with the Intercontinental Church of God and the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

 
 
 Survey of the Letters of Paul:  2 Timothy 1:14  
  
                                                                                                                                                                                    
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2 Timothy 1:14
That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
 
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This section has three scriptures

2 Timothy 1:12-14
12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
14 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost [Spirit] which dwelleth in us.

TRUST HUMAN AND DIVINE
2 Timothy 1:12–14

The verses paraphrased:
And that is the reason why I am going through these things I am going through. But I am not ashamed, for I know him in whom my belief is fixed, and I am quite certain that he is able to keep safe what I have entrusted to him until the last day comes. Hold fast the pattern of health-giving words you have received from me, never slackening in that faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard the fine trust that has been given to you through the Holy Spirit who dwells in you.

THIS passage uses a very vivid Greek word in a significant double way which is full of meaning. Paul talks of that which he has entrusted to God, and he urges Timothy to safeguard the trust God has placed in him. In both cases, the word is parathe¯ke¯, which means a deposit committed to someone’s trust. A man might deposit something with a friend to be kept for his children or his loved ones; or he might deposit his valuables in a temple for safe-keeping, for the temples were the banks of the ancient world. In each case, the thing deposited was a parathe¯ke¯. In the ancient world, there was no more sacred duty than the safe-guarding of such a deposit and the returning of it when in due time it was claimed.

Paul says that he has made his deposit with God. He means that he has entrusted both his work and his life to him. It might seem that he had been cut off in mid-career; that he should end as a criminal in a Roman prison might seem the undoing of all his work. But he had sowed his seed and preached his gospel, and he left the result in the hands of God. Paul had entrusted his life to God; and he was sure that in life and in death he was safe. Why was he so sure? Because he knew in whom he had believed. We must always remember that Paul does not say that he knew what he had believed. His certainty did not come from the intellectual knowledge of a creed or a theology; it came from a personal knowledge of God. He knew God personally and intimately; he knew what he was like in love and in power; and to Paul it was inconceivable that he should fail him. If we have worked honestly and done the best that we can, we can leave the result to God, however meager that work may seem to us. With him in this or any other world, life is safe, for nothing can separate us from his love in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Barclay commentary [on the concept of "doing the best you can" see sermon, "Transcendent"]

Now to the other commentaries beginning with the general and moving to the specific.

To the same purport is that (2 Timothy 1:14), That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost [Spirit], which dwelleth in us. That good thing was the form of sound words, the Christian doctrine, which was committed to Timothy in his baptism and education as he was a Christian, and in his ordination as he was a minister. Observe,

(1.) The Christian doctrine is a trust committed to us. It is committed to Christians in general, but to ministers in particular. It is a good thing, of unspeakable value in itself, and which will be of unspeakable advantage to us; it is a good thing indeed, it is an inestimable [in-es- tuh-muh-buhl] jewel, for it discovers to us the unsearchable riches of Christ, Ephesians 3:8. It is committed to us to be preserved pure and entire, and to be transmitted to those who shall come after us, and we must keep it, and not contribute any thing to the corrupting of its purity, the weakening of its power, or the diminishing of its perfection: Keep it by the Holy Ghost [Spirit] that dwelleth in us. Observe, Even those who are ever so well taught cannot keep what they have learned, any more than they could at first learn it, without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. We must not think to keep it by our own strength, but keep it by the Holy Ghost [Spirit].

Quoted verse
Ephesians 3:8
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

(2.) The Holy Ghost [Spirit] dwells in all good ministers and Christians [firstfruits]; they are [God's] temples, and God enables them to keep the gospel pure and uncorrupt; and yet they must use their best endeavours to keep this good thing, for the assistance and indwelling of the Holy Ghost [Spirit] do not exclude men's endeavours, but they very well consist together. ~Matthew Henry Main

Note: Regarding, "they must use their best endeavors": For firstfruits this is the process of yielding to Christ working in and through you as opposed to just purely your strength or will. You will see this confirmed in the next commentary.

Now from the Matthew Henry Concise

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

Now to the specific commentaries.

Verse 14 is naturally broken into three parts. Commentaries differ in which of the three they discuss.

1] That good thing which was committed unto thee.
2] Keep by the Holy Spirit
3] Which dwelleth in us.


1] That good thing which was committed unto thee.

The good thing - This wholesome doctrine. ~John Wesley Explanatory Notes

That good thing - That fair, honorable trust, good and beautiful in itself, and honorable to him who receives it. ~Vincent's Word Studies

That good thing which was committed unto thee (tēn kalēn parathēkēn). - Simply, “the good deposit.” ~Robertson's Word Pictures

That good thing which was committed unto thee; - see 1 Timothy 6:20. The reference here in the phrase, “that good thing committed to thee,” is to the sound Christian doctrine with which he had been entrusted, and which he was required to transmit to others. ~Barnes Notes

Quoted verse
1 Timothy 6:20 [see Lesson]
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

That good thing which was committed unto thee. - The sound faith just alluded to. Don't let it be perverted. Keep it by the help of the Holy Spirit. This charge is given in view of the conduct of some from the province of Asia, where Timothy was then dwelling, referred to in 2 Timothy 1:15. ~People's New Testament

Quoted verse
2 Timothy 1:15 [see Lesson]
This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

That good thing - The everlasting Gospel, keep by the Holy [Spirit]; for without a continual spiritual energy man can do nothing. This indwelling Spirit will make them effectual to thy own salvation, and enable thee to preach them to the salvation of the souls of others. ~Adam Clarke

That good thing which was committed to thee - By which he means either his ministerial work and office, which is a good work, the dispensation of which was committed to him, and which it became him so to observe, as that the ministry might not be blamed; or else the good and excellent gifts of the Spirit, which qualified him for the discharge of that work, and which were not to be neglected, but to be stirred up, exercised, and improved, lest they should be lost, or took away; or rather the Gospel, which was committed to his trust, to preach: and this may be called a good thing, from the author of it, who is good, whence it is named the Gospel of God, and the Gospel of Christ; and from the matter of it, it consists of good things come by Christ, the High priest, and which it publishes, such as peace, pardon, righteousness, and eternal salvation by him; and from the end and use of it, it being both for the glory of God, the magnifying the riches of his grace, and the exaltation of Christ; and also is the power of God in regeneration and sanctification unto salvation to everyone that believes. And it being said to be "committed to" Timothy, denotes the excellency of it; that it is a treasure, as indeed it is a rich one, it contains the riches of grace, even the unsearchable riches of Christ, is more valuable than thousands of gold and silver: and that it is a trust, and requires faithfulness in ministers, who are the stewards of it; and that it is to be accounted for. Wherefore great care should be had in dispensing and keeping it: ~John Gill

That good thing which was committed unto thee. - Taken in connexion with the foregoing reference to the healthy or health-giving words, the phrase includes what has been technically called the ‘depositum fidei;’ but it has, as in 2 Timothy 1:12, a wider range not the doctrine or the truth only, but all of which Timothy had been made, if one may so speak, the trustee, all spiritual gifts that he had himself received, and the Church committed to his charge. ~Popular Commentary

Quoted verse
2 Timothy 1:12 [see Lesson]
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

That good thing which was committed unto thee.

The sacred trust
I. The charge,—the truth, the Word of God, which—
1. Unfolds the true God.
2. Proclaims life and salvation through the Redeemer.
3. Brings life and immortality to light.

II. The duty. We should have—
1. A correct knowledge of the Word.
2. A devoted attachment to it.
3. A desire to preserve it in its integrity.
4. A willingness to communicate it freely to others [via your character and invoking] .
5. An abiding sense of its responsibility.

III. The assistance.
1. Our necessities are connected with the [power of the Holy Spirit].
2. Rejoice in [God's] readiness to help. ~Biblical Illustrator

2] Keep by the Holy Spirit.

Guard (phulaxon) [Keep]. As in 1 Timothy 6:20 [quoted above]. God has also made an investment in Timothy (cf. 2 Timothy 1:12 - quoted above). Timothy must not let that fail. ~Robertson's Word Pictures

Keep by the Holy Spirit - By the aid of the Holy Spirit. One of the best methods of preserving the knowledge and the love of truth is to cherish the influences of the Holy Spirit. ~Barnes Notes

Keep by the Holy Spirit. - It should be kept pure and incorrupt, free from all the adulterations and mixtures of men; and safe and sound, that it be not snatched away from the churches by false teachers. And whereas the apostle knew, that neither Timothy, nor any other, were sufficient of themselves, for these things, he directs to the keeping of it by the Holy Ghost [Spirit]; who makes men overseers of churches, bestows gifts upon them, to fit them for their work, and leads them into all the truths of the Gospel; and under his influence and teachings, and by the assistance of his grace, are they enabled to discharge their trust, abide by the Gospel, and persevere in the ministration of it to the end. ~John Gill

Through the Holy Ghost [Spirit] which dwelleth in us. - The plural of the pronoun is generic, not personal of Paul and Timothy only. The apostle assumes that the Holy Spirit is actually dwelling in all believers, enabling them to do that which by nature they cannot do. ~Popular Commentary

3] Which dwelleth in us.

Which dwelleth in us (tou enoikountos en hēmin). - It is only through the Holy Spirit that Timothy or any of us can guard God’s deposit with us. ~Robertson's Word Pictures

Which dwelleth in us - in all believers, who are the temples of the Holy Ghost [Spirit]; and in all the churches, which are built up by him, an habitation for God; and in all the ministers of the word, to direct, instruct, support, and uphold them; and who dwells with them, and continues in them, and that for ever, John 14:16. ~John Gill

Quoted verse
John 14:16
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that [it] may abide with you for ever;

Which dwelleth in us. - in all believers, not merely in you and me. The indwelling Spirit enables us to keep from the robbers of the soul the deposit of His word committed to us by God. ~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown



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Las Vegas Church of God - part of The Intercontinental Church of God and The Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association - Tyler, Texas