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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. First the general and
then the specific.
The Matthew Henry Concise speaks to the first five
verses.
2 Timothy 1:1-5 - The promise of eternal life
to believers in Christ Jesus, is the leading subject
of ministers who are employed according to the will
of God. The blessings here named, are the best we
can ask for our beloved friends, that they may have
peace with God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Whatever good we do, God must have the glory. True
believers have in every age the same religion as to
substance. Their faith is unfeigned; it will stand
the trial, and it dwells in them as a living
principle. Thus pious women may take encouragement
from the success of Lois and Eunice with Timothy,
who proved so excellent and useful a minister. Some
of the most worthy and valuable ministers the church
of Christ has been favoured with, have had to bless
God for early religious impressions made upon their
minds by the teaching of their mothers or other
female relatives. ~Matthew Henry Concise
I would take this concept a bit further to include
all of the interventions by God directly and
indirectly in the lives of future firstfruits from
birth. Stories could be told on how God used many
methods of putting ideas into the heads of
individuals He would later call. He leads them to
information, His Word and to concepts and
principles. Lessons are taught, such as those about
not lying. Principles are passed to them via
teachers, parents, strangers and employers. Some
come by early television which taught moral or even
spiritual concepts. Clearly God is working with
future firstfruits from birth.
Let us now look at the Matthew Henry main
commentary.
Here is...
I. The inscription of the epistle Paul calls himself
an apostle by the will of God, merely by the good
pleasure of God, and by his grace, which he
professes himself unworthy of. According to the
promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, or
according to the gospel. The gospel is the promise
of life in Christ Jesus; life is the end, and Christ
the way, John 14:6. The life is put into the
promise, and both are sure in Christ Jesus the
faithful witness; for all the promises of God in
Christ Jesus are yea, and all amen, 2 Corinthians
1:20. He calls Timothy his beloved son. Paul felt
the warmest affection for him both because he had
been an instrument of his conversion and because as
a son with his father he had served with him in the
gospel.
Quoted verses:
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in
him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Observe:
1. Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will
of God; as he did not receive the gospel of man, nor
was taught it, but had it by the revelation of Jesus
Christ (Galatians 1:12), so his commission to be an
apostle was not by the will of man, but of God: in
the former epistle he says it was by the commandment
of God our Saviour, and here by the will of God. God
called him to be an apostle.
Quoted verse:
Galatians 1:12
For I neither received it of man, neither was I
taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
2. We have the promise of life, blessed be God for
it: In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot
lie, promised before the world began, Titus 1:2. It
is a promise to discover the freeness and certainty
of it.
Quoted verse:
Titus 1:2
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie,
promised before the world began;
3. This, as well as all other promises, is in and
through Jesus Christ; they all take their rise from
the mercy of God in Christ, and they are sure, so
that we may safely depend on them.
4. The grace, mercy, and peace, which even Paul's
dearly beloved son Timothy wanted, comes from God
the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord; and therefore
the one as well as the other is the giver of these
blessings, and ought to be applied to for them.
5. The best want these blessings, and they are the
best we can ask for our dearly-beloved friends, that
they may have grace to help them in the time of
need, and mercy to pardon what is amiss, and so may
have peace with God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord.
II. Paul's thanksgiving to God for Timothy's faith
and holiness: he thanks God that he remembered
Timothy in his prayers. Observe, Whatever good we
do, and whatever good office we perform for our
friends, God must have the glory of it, and we must
give him thanks. It is he who puts it into our
hearts to remember such and such in our prayers.
Paul was much in prayer, he prayed night and day; in
all his prayers he was mindful of his friends, he
particularly prayed for good ministers, he prayed
for Timothy, and had remembrance of him in his
prayers night and day; he did this without ceasing;
prayer was his constant business, and he never
forgot his friends in his prayers. Paul served God
from his forefathers with a pure conscience. It was
a comfort to him that he was born in God's house,
and was of the seed of those that served God; as
likewise that he had served him with a pure
conscience, according to the best of his light; he
had kept a conscience void of offence, and made it
his daily exercise to do so, Acts 24:16.
Quoted verse:
Acts 24:16
And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a
conscience void of offence toward God, and toward
men.
He greatly desired to see Timothy, out of the
affection he had for him, that he might have some
conversation with him, being mindful of his tears at
their last parting. Timothy was sorry to part with
Paul, he wept at parting, and therefore Paul desired
to see him again, because he had perceived by that
what a true affection he had for him. He thanks God
that Timothy kept up the religion of his ancestors,
2 Timothy 1:5. Observe, The entail of religion
descended upon Timothy by the mother's side; he had
a good mother, and a good grandmother: they
believed, though his father did not, Acts 16:1. It
is a comfortable thing when children imitate the
faith and holiness of their godly parents, and tread
in their steps, 3 John 1:4. - Dwelt in thy
grandmother and thy mother, and I am persuaded that
in thee also. Paul had a very charitable opinion of
his friends, was very willing to hope the best
concerning them; indeed he had a great deal of
reason to believe well of Timothy, for he had no man
like-minded, Philippians 2:20.
Quoted verses:
2 Timothy 1:5 [see
Lesson]
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.
Acts 16:1
Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a
certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son
of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and
believed; but his father was a Greek:
3 John 1:4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children
walk in truth.
Philippians 2:20
For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally
care for your state.
Observe:
1. We are, according to Paul, to serve God with a
pure conscience, so did his and our pious
forefathers; this is to draw near with a true heart,
in full assurance of faith, having our heart
sprinkled from an evil conscience, Hebrews 10:22.
Quoted verse:
Hebrews 10:22
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
2. In our prayers we are to remember without ceasing
our friends, especially the faithful ministers of
Christ. Paul had remembrance of his dearly beloved
son Timothy in his prayers night and day.
3. The faith that dwells in real believers is
unfeigned; it is without hypocrisy, it is a faith
that will stand the trial, and it dwells in them as
a living principle. It was the matter of Paul's
thanksgiving that Timothy inherited the faith of his
mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois, and ought to
be ours whenever we see the like; we should rejoice
wherever we see the grace of God; so did Barnabas,
Acts 11:23-24. I rejoiced greatly that I found of
thy children walking in the truth, 2 John 1:4.
~Matthew Henry Main
Quoted verses:
Acts 11:23-24
23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God,
was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose
of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.
24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost
and of faith: and much people was added unto the
Lord.
2 John 1:4
I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children
walking in truth, as we have received a commandment
from the Father.
In item three above it states in essence, "Faith
dwells in real believers [firstfruits] as a
living principle." What is a living principle? From
the standpoint of the Salvation Process, God the
Father, Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy
Spirit, a living principle is defined as a truth of
God manifested constantly in and through a
firstfruit by the power of the Holy Spirit by the
will and direction of God. Stated another way,
living principles are fruits of the Spirit or Godly
principles that dwell in the heart and minds of
firstfruits and which are manifested; brought to
light by the actions of the firstfruits. Stated yet
another way is to say that both God the Father and
Jesus Christ are living principles. They are
currently in a project whereby they are making
individuals into living principles. We often state
this as building the character of God or Jesus
Christ. We are building the character of and the
maturity of Jesus Christ. The Godhead is developing
the same mind in us that current resides forever in
them. What have some individuals on earth stated
about living principles or the lack thereof?
"Moral principle is the foundation of law."
“Those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral
principles...should not be given awards, honors or
platforms which would suggest support for their
actions.”
"Morality is the basis of things and truth is the
substance of all morality."
"I reject any religious doctrine that does not
appeal to reason and is in conflict with morality."
"Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor
morality without faith."
“Always do what is right. It will gratify half of
mankind and astound the other.” ~Mark Twain
“The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without
character, Commerce without morality, Science
without humanity, Worship without sacrifice,
Politics without principles."
1 Corinthians 15:33
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good
manners.
The New English Bible renders this, "Do not be
deceived, Bad company ruins good morals."
2 Timothy 2:15 [see
Lesson]
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the
word of truth.
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when
he is old, he will not depart from it.
2 Timothy 3:16 [see
Lesson]
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Romans 13:1
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.
For there is no power but of God: the powers that be
are ordained of God.
Now to the specific commentaries:
To Timothy, my dearly beloved son - Not in a
natural, but in a spiritual sense; and not on
account of his being an instrument of his
conversion, but by reason of that instruction in the
doctrines of the Gospel which he gave him, it being
usual to call disciples children; and he calls him
so, because as a son, he, being young in years,
served with him, and under him, as a father, in the
Gospel of Christ; for whom he had a very great
affection, on account of his having been a companion
with him in his travels, and very useful to him in
the ministry, and because of his singular and
eminent gifts, great grace, religion, and holiness:
Grace, mercy, and peace, &c. See Gill on 1 Timothy
1:2. ~John Gill |