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
Our verse again is verse 3.
2 Timothy 1:3
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;
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.
Now to the specific commentaries. In my view of the
commentaries I noticed that they differed on how
they broke out the verse into its parts so rather
than dealing with this verse by its parts, we will
take one commentary at a time. First, the Barnes
Notes.
I thank God, whom I serve from
my forefathers - Paul reckoned among his
forefathers the patriarchs and the holy men of
former times, as being of the same nation with
himself, though it may be that he also included his
more immediate ancestors, who, for anything known to
the contrary, may have been distinguished examples
of piety. His own parents, it is certain, took care
that he should be trained up in the ways of
religion; compare the Philippians 3:4-5; Acts
26:4-5.
Quoted verses:
Philippians 3:4-5
4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh.
If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he
might trust in the flesh, I more:
5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of
Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the
Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Acts 26:4-5
4 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the
first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all
the Jews;
5 Which knew me from the beginning, if they would
testify, that after the most straitest sect of our
religion I lived a Pharisee.
The phrase “from my forefathers,” probably means,
after the example of my ancestors. He worshipped the
same God; he held substantially the same truths; he
had the same hope of the resurrection and of
immortality; he trusted to the same Saviour having
come, on whom they relied as about to come. His was
not, therefore, a different religion from theirs; it
was the same religion carried out and perfected. The
religion of the Old Testament and the New is
essentially the same; see the notes at Acts 23:6.
Quoted verse:
Acts 23:6
But when Paul perceived that the one part were
Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in
the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the
son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of
the dead I am called in question.
With pure conscience -
see the notes at Acts 23:1.
Quoted verse:
Acts 23:1
And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men
and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience
before God until this day.
Notice the commentary on Acts 23:1:
I have lived in
all good conscience - I have
conducted myself so as to maintain a good
conscience. I have done what I believed to
be right. This was a bold declaration, after
the tumult, and charges, and accusations of
the previous day Acts 22; and yet it was
strictly true. His persecutions of the
Christians had been conducted
conscientiously, Acts 26:9, “I verily
thought with myself,” says he, “that I ought
to do many things contrary to the name of
Jesus of Nazareth.” Of his conscientiousness
and fidelity in their service they could
bear witness. Of his conscientiousness
since, he could make a similar declaration.
He doubtless meant to say that as he had
been conscientious in persecution, so he had
been in his conversion and in his subsequent
course. And as they knew that his former
life had been with a good conscience, they
ought to presume that he had maintained the
same character still. This was a remarkably
bold appeal to be made by an accused man,
and it shows the strong consciousness which
Paul had of his innocence. What would have
been the drift of his discourse in proving
this we can only Conjecture.
~Barnes Notes |
That
without ceasing - compare Romans 12:12; 1
Thessalonians 5:17.
Quoted verses:
Romans 12:12
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation;
continuing instant in prayer;
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing.
I have remembrance of thee in
my prayers night and day - see the notes at
Philippians 1:3-4. ~Barnes
Notes
Quoted verse:
Philippians 1:3-4
3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making
request with joy,
Now to the Adam Clarke:
Whom I serve from my
forefathers - Being born a Jew, I was
carefully educated in the knowledge of the true God,
and the proper manner of worshipping him.
With pure conscience -
Ever aiming to please him, even in the time when
through ignorance I persecuted the Church.
Without ceasing I have
remembrance of thee - The apostle thanks God
that he has constant remembrance of Timothy in his
prayers. It is a very rare thing now in the
Christian Church, that a man particularly thanks God
that he is enabled to pray for Others. And yet he
that can do this most must have an increase of that
brotherly love which the second greatest commandment
of God requires: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself. It is also a great blessing to be able to
maintain the spirit of a pure friendship, especially
through a considerable lapse of time and absence. He
that can do so may well thank God that he is saved
from that fickleness and unsteadiness of mind which
are the bane of friendships, and the reproach of
many once warm-hearted friends. ~Adam Clarke
Now to the John Gill:
I thank God - After the
inscription and salutation follows the preface to
the epistle; which contains a thanksgiving to God
upon Timothy's account, and has a tendency to engage
his attention to what he was about to write to him
in the body of the epistle. God is the object of
praise and thanksgiving, both as the God of nature
and providence, and as the God of all grace; for
every good thing comes from him, and therefore he
ought to have the glory of it; nor should any glory,
as though they had not received it: and he is here
described, as follows,
whom I serve from my
forefathers with pure conscience - the
apostle served God in the precepts of the law, as in
the hands of Christ, and as written upon his heart
by the Spirit of God, in which he delighted after
the inward man, and which he served with his
regenerated mind; and also in the preaching of the
Gospel of Christ, in which he was very diligent and
laborious, faithful and successful: and this God,
whom he served, was the God of his "forefathers", of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of Benjamin, of whose
tribe he was, and also of his more immediate
ancestors. The Ethiopic version renders it, "from my
original"; for though he preached the Gospel of
Christ, and asserted the abrogation of the
ceremonial law, yet he worshipped the one, true, and
living God, the God of Israel, and was not an
apostate from the true religion, as his enemies
would insinuate: and this service of his was
performed with a "pure conscience": every man has a
conscience, but the conscience of every natural man
is defiled with sin; and that is only a pure one,
which is sprinkled and purged with the blood of
Christ; and whereby a person is only fitted to serve
the living God, without the encumbrance of dead
works, and slavish fear, and with faith and
cheerfulness; and such a conscience the apostle had,
and with such an one he served God. For this refers
not to his serving of God, and to his conscience,
while a Pharisee and a persecutor; for however moral
was his conduct and conversation then, and with what
sincerity and uprightness soever he behaved, his
conscience was not a pure one. He goes on to observe
what he thanked God for,
that without ceasing I have
remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day
- that God had laid him upon his heart, and
that he had such reason to remember him at the
throne of grace continually. We learn from hence,
that the apostle prayed constantly night and day;
and if so great a man as he stood in need of
continual prayer, much more we; and that in his
prayers he was not unmindful of his friends, though
at a distance from him; and in both these he is to
be imitated: it becomes us to pray without ceasing:
to pray always, and not faint and give out, to pray
every day and night; and to pray for others as well
as for ourselves, for all the saints, yea, for our
enemies, as well as for our friends.
~John Gill
Recap
1] The leading subject of ministers is Salvation
-The Salvation Process - Eternal Life in the Kingdom
of God.
2] True ministers are in close adherence to the Word
of God. They preach from the Word of God.
3] The faith of firstfruits is unfeigned; it will
stand the trial.
4] Faith dwells in firstfruits as a living
principle.
5] Firstfruits today hold the same religion and the
same doctrines and beliefs as those at the beginning
of the New Testament church.
6] Firstfruits conduct themselves in the Salvation
with a pure conscience. They are continually
moving forward in the Salvation Process and
addressing the elements of it.
7] Firstfruit are ever aiming to please God.
This is part of having a pure conscience.
8] Firstfruits are patient in tribulation and
continue instant in prayer.
9] We give thanks to God continually and put
everything into His hands [Assiduity].
10] We pray for the brethren continually. |