This section has two verses:
2 Timothy 2:1-2
1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among
many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful
men, who shall be able to teach others also.
We will begin with the Barclay:
THE CHAIN OF TEACHING
The verse paraphrased:
1. As for you, my child, find your strength in the
grace which is in Christ Jesus;
2. And entrust the things which you have heard from
me, and which are confirmed by many witnesses, to
faithful men who will be competent to teach others
too.
HERE we have in outline two things – the reception
and the transmission of the Christian faith.
(1) The reception of the faith is founded on two
things. It is founded on hearing. It was from Paul
that Timothy heard the truth of the Christian faith.
But the words he heard were confirmed by the witness
of many who were prepared to say: ‘These words are
true – and I know it, because I have found it so in
my own life.’ It may be that there are many of us
who do not have the gift of expression, and who can
neither teach nor expound the Christian faith. But
even those among us who do not have the gift of
teaching are able to witness to the living power of
the gospel.
(2) It is not only a privilege to receive the
Christian faith; it is a duty to transmit it. All
Christians must look on themselves as the link
between two generations. In his commentary, E. K.
Simpson writes on this passage: ‘The torch of
heavenly light must be transmitted unquenched from
one generation to another, and Timothy must count
himself an intermediary between apostolic and later
ages.’
(3) The faith is to be transmitted to faithful men
and women who in their turn will teach it to others.
The Christian Church is dependent on an unbroken
chain of teachers. When the letter known as 1
Clement was sent to the church at Corinth, the
author sketched that chain. 'Our apostles appointed
the aforesaid persons (that
is, the elders) and afterwards they
provided a continuance, that, if these should fall
asleep, other approved men should succeed to their
ministry.’ The teacher is a link in the living chain
which stretches unbroken from this present moment
back to Jesus Christ.
These teachers are to be faithful. The Greek for
faithful, pistos, is a word with a rich variety of
closely connected meanings. A person who is pistos
is someone who is believing, loyal and reliable. All
these meanings are there. Falconer said that these
believing people are such ‘that they will yield
neither to persecution nor to error’. The teachers’
hearts must be so set on Christ that no threat of
danger will lure them from the path of loyalty and
no seduction of false teaching cause them to stray
from the straight path of the truth. They must be
steadfast both in life and in thought.
~Barclay Commentary
Before we get into the other commentaries, I want to
read the first nine verses so we have them in mind
as we read from the commentaries.
2 Timothy 2:1-9
1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among
many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful
men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier
of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the
affairs of this life; that he may please him who
hath chosen him to be a soldier.
5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he
not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first
partaker of the fruits.
7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee
understanding in all things.
8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David
was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even
unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.
Let us go now to the general commentaries.
“A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus”
2 Timothy 2:1-9
Soldier, 2
Timothy 2:1-4 [just quoted-see
Lesson]: There is grace enough in Jesus for
every need, but we must avail ourselves of it. We
can expect nothing less than hardship, since life is
a battlefield. Our one aim should be to please Him
who chose us to be soldiers. In order to be all that
he would have us be, we must avoid entangling
ourselves in the conditions around us. We must
resemble a garrison in the town where it is
quartered, and from which it may at any hour be
summoned away. The less encumbered we are, the more
easily shall we be able to execute the least command
of our Great Captain. How high an honor it is to be
enrolled among His soldiers!
Athlete, 2
Timothy 2:5 [just quoted-see
Lesson] : Life is an amphitheater, filled with
celestial spectators. Probably our worst antagonist
is found in our own heart. If we win the crown, we
must observe regulations as to diet, exercise,
purity, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
Quoted verse:
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run
all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye
may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is
temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a
corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight
I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into
subjection: lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Husbandman, 2
Timothy 2:6 [just quoted-see
Lesson] : We ought to be working for God in His
vineyard or harvest-field; but we are allowed to
partake of the fruits. It is imperative that we
should be nourished while we labor. In all these
positions we must remember Jesus Christ, risen from
the dead. We must draw upon the power of His
resurrection, and to do this, we must live on the [Kingdom]-side
of the Cross [stake].
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live,”
Galatians 2:20. ~F. B.
Meyer
Quoted verse:
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Now to the Matthew Henry. I am including the
commentary that speaks to verse one.
Here Paul encourages Timothy to constancy and
perseverance in his work: Be strong in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus, 2 Timothy 2:1. Observe,
Those who have work to do for God must stir up
themselves to do it, and strengthen themselves for
it. Being strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus may be understood in opposition to the
weakness of grace. Where there is the truth of grace
there must be a labouring after the strength of
grace. As our trials increase, we have need to grow
stronger and stronger in that which is good; our
faith stronger, our resolution stronger, our love to
God and Christ stronger. Or it may be understood in
opposition to our being strong in our own strength
[this one on point]: “Be strong, not confiding in
thy own sufficiency, but in the grace that is in
Jesus Christ.” Compare Ephesians 6:10, Be strong in
the Lord, and in the power of his might. When Peter
promised rather to die for Christ than to deny him
he was strong in his own strength; had he been
strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, he
would have kept his standing better. Observe,
Quoted verse:
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in
the power of his might.
1. There is grace in Christ Jesus; for the law was
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ, John 1:17. There is grace enough in him for
all of us.
2. We must be strong in this grace; not in
ourselves, in our own strength, or in the grace we
have already received, but in the grace that is in
him, and that is the way to be strong in grace.
3. As a father exhorts his son, so does Paul exhort
Timothy, with great tenderness and affection: Thou,
therefore, my son, be strong, etc.
~Matthew Henry Main
Let us go now to the Matthew Henry Concise which
covers the first 7 verses of Chapter 2:
As our trials increase, we need to grow stronger in
that which is good; our faith stronger, our
resolution stronger, our love to God and Christ
stronger. This is opposed to our being strong in our
own strength. All Christians, but especially
ministers, must be faithful to their Captain, and
resolute in his cause. The great care of a Christian
must be to please Christ. We are to strive to get
the mastery of our lusts and corruptions, but we
cannot expect the prize unless we observe the laws.
We must take care that we do good in a right manner,
that our good may not be spoken evil of. Some who
are active, spend their zeal about outward forms and
doubtful disputations. But those who strive lawfully
shall be crowned at last. If we would partake the
fruits, we must labour; if we would gain the prize,
we must run the race. We must do the will of God,
before we receive the promises, for which reason we
have need of patience. Together with our prayers for
others, that the Lord would give them understanding
in all things, we must exhort and stir them up to
consider what they hear or read.
~Matthew Henry Concise
Now this from the Cambridge Bible commentary:
In the grace that is in Christ
Jesus - ‘Christ Jesus’ here and in 2 Timothy
2:3 according to the order of the words as they
framed themselves on the aged Apostle’s lips in
these last years. See 1 Timothy 1:1. ‘In the grace,’
strengthened, that is, in those virtues and
spiritual powers which in their fulness are in
Christ. ‘The grace that is in Christ Jesus,’ as
distinguished from ‘the Grace of Christ’ appears to
be used only here. We have had ‘life that is in
Christ Jesus’ 2 Timothy 1:1; then ‘faith and love
that are in Christ Jesus,’ the first two movements
and powers of that life, 2 Timothy 1:13; and now the
full ‘grace,’ all the developed activities of strong
life. As a matter of language the prepositional
phrase ‘that is in Christ Jesus’ may mark progress
towards the adjectival phrase which we should use
now, ‘the Christian life,’ ‘the Christian graces’;
see 1 Timothy 1:2. But we may rejoice that the
changing phrase was (as it
were) crystallized for us here at a stage
that shews so plainly how inward sanctification is
nothing but continued and increased vital personal
union with Christ.
~Cambridge Bible commentary
Quoted verses:
1 Timothy 1:1 [see
Lesson]
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment
of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is
our hope;
2 Timothy 1:1 [see
Lesson]
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
according to the promise of life which is in Christ
Jesus,
2 Timothy 1:13 [see
Lesson]
Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast
heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ
Jesus.
1 Timothy 1:2 [see
Lesson]
Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy,
and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Now to the specific commentaries.
The verse is generally in two parts:
1] Thou therefore, my son.
2] Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
1] Thou therefore, my son.
Therefore (οὖν) - In
view of what has been said in the previous chapter.
~Vincent's Word Studies
Thou therefore - In
view of the fact stated in the previous chapter,
that many had turned away from the apostle, and had
forsaken the paths of truth.
~Barnes Notes
Thou therefore, my son
- The illative particle, "therefore", shows the
connection between this and the preceding chapter;
the appellation, "thou, my son", expresses the
apostle's tender affection for Timothy, and is the
rather used to engage his attention to the advice he
was about to give him; which is, that since he had
received the true grace of God, and unfeigned faith
dwelt in him; and since he had such gifts,
qualifying him for the work of the ministry; and
since so good a thing as the glorious Gospel of the
blessed God was committed to his trust; and since
there were so many who had departed from it, and so
few that abode by it, he would have him
~John Gill
Thou therefore —
following my example (2 Timothy 1:8, 2 Timothy
1:12), and that of ONESIPHORUS [On·e·siph'o·rus] (2
Timothy 1:16-18), and shunning that of those who
forsook me (2 Timothy 1:15).
~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
Quoted verses
2 Timothy 1:8 [see
Lesson]
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of
our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou
partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according
to the power of God;
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.
2 Timothy 1:16-18
[see
Lesson]
16 The Lord give mercy unto the house of
Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not
ashamed of my chain:
17 But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very
diligently, and found me.
18 The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of
the Lord in that day: and in how many things he
ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very
well.
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.
my son — Children ought
to imitate their father. ~~Jamieson,
Fausset, Brown
2] Be strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus.
Be strong in the grace which
is in Christ Jesus; - compare the notes at
Ephesians 6:10. The meaning is, Be strong, relying
on the grace which the Lord Jesus only can impart.
~Barnes Notes
Quoted verse:
Ephesians 6:10
...which we discussed in
the Matthew Henry commentary above
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in
the power of his might.
Be strong in the grace that is
in Christ Jesus - Though the genuine import
of the word grace is favor, yet it often implies an
active principle communicated from God; light
directing how to act, and power enabling to act
according to the light.
~Adam Clarke
Be strong — literally,
“be invested with power.” Have power, and show
thyself to have it; implying an abiding state of
power. ~Jamieson, Fausset,
Brown
In the grace — the
element IN which the believer’s strength has place.
Compare 2 Timothy 1:7, “God hath given us the spirit
of power.” ~Jamieson,
Fausset, Brown
Quoted verse:
2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of
power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Be strong (ἐνδυναμοῦ)
In Paul [meaning in the
letters of Paul], Romans 4:20; Ephesians
6:10; Philippians 4:13. Lit. be strengthened
inwardly. ~Vincent's Word
Studies
Quoted verses:
Romans 4:20
He staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to
God;
Ephesians 6:10
...again, mentioned above
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in
the power of his might.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me.
Note: Clearly
showing that the strength is by the Holy Spirit in
us.
Some things we
learned today:
1] Reception of our faith comes by hearing the Word
of God
2] The words of God are true. We know this because
of many witnesses and what we have seen in our own
experience.
3] Even if you do not have the gift of teaching the
gospel, you are able to witness the living power of
the gospel.
4] Timothy heard the gospel from Paul. So have we.
5] The giving of the gospel is a chain or linked
event going back to Christ and the beginning of the
church.
6] God gives to the firstfruit understanding - 2
Timothy 1:7.
7] We are soldiers in the army of Christ.
8] It is imperative that we should be nourished
while we labor.
9] We must live on the Kingdom side of the plan of
God. The 10,000-year perspective.
10] God is encouraging us to constancy and
perseverance in His Work.
11] Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His
might. - Ephesians 6:10
12] Grace [Salvation Process] and truth came by
Christ. - John 1:17
13] We must be strong in the Salvation Process.
14] To be strong, we rely on Christ and the power of
the Holy Spirit.
15] As we proceed through life/the Salvation
Process/trials, we must become stronger in faith,
resolution and love to God and Christ.
16] Some may fall from the faith in your lifetime.
You remain strong.
17] Let Paul and Onesiphorus [On-e-siph'o-rus] be
your example.
18] When the scriptures says, "be strong" it means,
literally, "be invested with power."
19] Be strengthened inwardly by the power of the
Holy Spirit.
20] We can do all things through Christ who
strengthens us. |