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2 Timothy 1:13 |
Hold fast the form of sound words,
which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which
is in Christ Jesus. |
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 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.
First the Matthew Henry Main Commentary on verse 13.
He exhorts him to hold fast the form of sound words,
2 Timothy 1:13.
1. “Have a form of sound words” (so it may be
read), “a short form, a catechism, an abstract
of the first principles of religion, according to
the scriptures, a scheme of sound words, a brief
summary of the Christian faith, in a proper method,
drawn out by thyself from the holy scriptures for
thy own use;” or, rather, by the form of sound words
I understand the holy scriptures themselves.
2. “Having it, hold it fast, remember it, retain it,
adhere to it. Adhere to it in opposition to all
heresies and false doctrine, which corrupt the
Christian faith. Hold that fast which thou hast
heard of me.” Paul was divinely inspired. It is good
to adhere to those forms of sound words which we
have in the scriptures; for these, we are sure, were
divinely inspired. That is sound speech, which
cannot be condemned, Titus 2:8.
Quoted verse: ...I will include verse 7
Titus 2:7-8
7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good
works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity,
sincerity,
8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he
that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having
no evil thing to say of you.
But how must it be held fast? In faith and love;
that is, we must assent to it as a faithful saying,
and bid it welcome as worthy of all acceptation.
Hold it fast in a good heart, this is the ark of the
covenant, in which the tables both of law and gospel
are most safely and profitably deposited, Psalm
119:11.
Quoted verse: ...1 will include verses 9-10
Psalm 119:9-11
9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by
taking heed thereto according to thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me
not wander from thy commandments.
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might
not sin against thee.
Faith and love must go together; it is not enough to
believe the sound words, and to give an assent to
them, but we must love them, believe their truth and
love their goodness, and we must propagate the form
of sound words in love; speaking the truth in love,
Ephesians 4:15.
Quoted verse: ...1 will read from verse 13 which
is just after the statement by Paul that God has
given us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors
and teachers.
Ephesians 4:13-15
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and
of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to
and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into
him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; it must be
Christian faith and love, faith and love fastening
upon Jesus Christ, in and by whom God speaks to us
and we to him. Timothy, as a minister, must hold
fast the form of sound words, for the benefit of
others. Of healing words, so it may read; there is
healing virtue in the word of God; he sent his word,
and healed them. ~Matthew Henry Main
Now to the Matthew Henry Concise and commentary
covering verses 13 and 14.
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.
The verse is broken out in three parts:
1] Hold fast the form of sound words.
2] Which thou hast heard of me.
3] In faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
1] Hold fast the form of sound
words.
The pattern of sound words - The model of
pure, wholesome doctrine. ~John Wesley
Explanatory Notes
Hold fast the form of sound words. - The word
rendered ‘form’ (ὑποτύπωσις) is the same as that
rightly translated ‘pattern’ in 1 Timothy 1:16. It
is therefore probable that a word so rarely used by
St. Paul is used here also in the same sense. Its
position shows that it is emphatic, and though
without the article in the Greek, the absence is
supplied by the emphasis thus given. The full
interpretation of the words turns on the meaning of
the verb, which may be simply ‘have’ in the sense of
‘take,’ or ‘have’ in the sense of ‘hold fast and
keep.’ The former gives as the meaning, ‘Take what I
have just said as an example of the wholesome
words;’ the latter, which seems, on the whole, to
give the truer meaning, ‘Hold fast, keep before thee
that pattern.’ ~Popular commentary
Wholesome words. As in 1 Timothy 1:10; 1
Timothy 6:3, and elsewhere, words that are
characterized by a spiritual healthiness.
~Popular commentary
Quoted verses:
1 Timothy 1:10 [See
Lesson]
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves
with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for
perjured persons, and if there be any other thing
that is contrary to sound doctrine;
1 Timothy 6:3 [See
Lesson]
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to
wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to
godliness;
Hold fast the form — rather as Greek, “Have (that
is, keep) a pattern of sound (Greek,
‘healthy’) words which thou hast heard from me,
in faith and love.” “Keep” suits the reference to a
deposit in the context. The secondary position of
the verb in the Greek forbids our taking it so
strongly as English Version, “Hold fast.” The Greek
for “form” is translated “pattern” in 1 Timothy
1:16, the only other passage where it occurs. Have
such a pattern drawn from my sound words, in
opposition to the unsound doctrines so current at
Ephesus, vividly impressed (Wahl translates it
“delineation”; the verb implies “to make a lively
and lasting impress”) on thy mind. ~Jamieson,
Fausset, Brown
Quoted verse:
1 Timothy 1:16 [See
Lesson]
Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me
first Jesus Christ might shew forth all
longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should
hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
What does Paul mean by a ‘form of sound words’?
I begin the answer by saying that he does not mean a
doctrinal formula. The word here rendered ‘form’ is
the same which he employs in the first of the
letters to Timothy, when he speaks of himself and
his own conversion as being ‘a pattern to them that
should hereafter believe.’ The notion intended here
is not a cut-and-dried creed, but a body of teaching
winch will not be compressed within the limits of an
iron form, but will be a pattern for the lives of
the men to whom it is given. The Revised Version has
‘the pattern; and not ‘the form.’ ~Alexander
MacLaren
Hold fast the form of sound words. - Hold and teach
sound doctrine, the pure faith, the gospel as Paul
taught it to him, preaching it in faith and love.
~People's New Testament
Hold fast the form of sound words. - He shows in
what he ought to be most constant, that is, both in
the doctrine itself, the essential parts of which
are faith and charity, and next in the manner of
teaching it, a living pattern and shape of which
Timothy knew in the apostle. ~Geneva Bible
Translation Notes
Hold fast the form of sound words - The word
ὑποτυπωσις signifies the sketch, plan, or outline
of a building, picture, etc.; and here refers to the
plan of salvation which the apostle had taught
Timothy. No man was left to invent a religion for
his own use, and after his own mind. God alone knows
that with which God can be pleased. If God did not
give a revelation of himself, the inventions of man,
in religious things, would be endless error,
involving itself in contortions of unlimited
confusion. God gives, in his mercy to man, a form of
sound words or doctrines; a perfect plan and sketch
of the original building; fair and well defined
outlines of every thing which concerns the present
and eternal welfare of man, and his own glory.
~Adam Clarke
Hold fast the form of sound words - On the Greek
word here rendered “form,” see the notes at 1
Timothy 1:16 (quoted above), where it is
rendered pattern. The word means a form, sketch, or
imperfect delineation - an outline. Grotius says
that it here means “an exemplar, but an exemplar
fixed in the mind - an idea.” Calvin says that the
command is that he should adhere to the doctrine
which he had learned, not only in its substance, but
in its form. Dr. Tillotson explains this as meaning
the profession of faith which was made by Christians
at baptism. There seems to be an allusion to some
summary or outline of truth which Paul had given to
Timothy, though there is no evidence that it was
written. Indeed, there is every presumption that, if
it refers to such a summary, it was not committed to
writing. If it had been, it would have been regarded
as inspired, and would have taken its place in the
canon of Scripture. It may be presumed that almost
none of the sacred writings would have been more
sacredly preserved than such a condensed summary of
Christian truth. But there is no improbability in
supposing that Paul, either at his ordination, or on
some other occasion, may have stated the outlines of
the Christian religion to Timothy, that he might
have a clear and connected view of the subject. The
passage, therefore, may be used as an argument for
the propriety of some brief summary of doctrine as a
matter of convenience, though not as having binding
authority on the consciences of others. ~Barnes
Notes
2] Which thou hast heard of me.
Which thou hast heard of me. - The Greek tense (‘which
thou didst hear’) points to some definite
occasion which Timothy would remember, and on which,
in the temper of ‘the faith and love which are in
Christ Jesus,’ Timothy had listened eagerly to the
words which he was now in danger of forgetting.
~Popular commentary
Which thou hast heard of me - both in private
conversation, and in the public ministry of the
word; and which the apostle had not from men, but by
the revelation of Christ; and therefore was to be
depended upon, and to be abode by, or held fast, in
the manner next directed to: ~John Gill
Which thou hast heard of me - This proves that he
does not refer to a written creed, since what he
refers to was something which he had heard.
~Barnes Notes
3] In faith and love which is in
Christ Jesus.
In faith and love - The teaching is to be held,
preached, and practiced, not as a mere schedule of
conduct, however excellent, but with the strong
conviction of faith and the favor of love.
~Vincent's Word Studies
In faith and love — the element IN which my sound
words had place, and in which thou art to have the
vivid impression of them as thy inwardly delineated
pattern, molding conformably thy outward profession.
~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
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.
In faith and love - Faith credits the Divine
doctrines. Love reduces them all to practice. Faith
lays hold on Jesus Christ, and obtains that love by
which every precept is cheerfully and effectually
obeyed. ~Adam Clarke
In faith and love which is in Christ Jesus - in the
exercise of faith, and from a principle of love;
which two graces always go together, and have
Christ, as here, for their object: though this
clause, may be connected with the word "heard", and
the sense be, either that Timothy had heard Paul
preach these sound doctrines with great faith and
faithfulness, and with much fervency and affection
to Christ, and the souls of men; or Timothy had
heard them himself, and embraced and mixed them with
faith, and received them in love: or it may be read
in connection with "the form of sound words"; the
sum of which is faith in Christ, and love to him;
the Gospel is the doctrine of faith; and it puts men
on discharging their duty from love to Christ.
~John Gill
In faith and love which is in Christ Jesus - Hold
these truths with sincere faith in the Lord Jesus,
and with that love which is the best evidence of
attachment to him. ~Barnes Notes
Recap:
1] Know doctrine. Stay immersed in the Word of God.
2] Have it, hold it, remember it, retain it and
adhere to it.
3] Hold doctrine in opposition to all heresies and
false doctrines.
4] False doctrines and heresies corrupt faith.
5] Grow into Christ.
6] Belief in doctrine is not enough. We must love
them.
7] Christian love and faith is different from our
self-generated love and faith.
8] Doctrine is of unspeakabe advantage to us.
9] The words and doctrines of God are elements of
healing. Indeed, the Salvation Process is a place of
healing.
10] The phrase, "form of sound words" means a
pattern of life expressed by and through those
words.
11] Essential to our doctrine is faith and love.
12] The phrase, "Which thou hast heard of me" shows
that God has specific ways by which doctrine and His
Word is made known.
13] The teaching of God must be held, preached and
practiced with the strong conviction of faith and
the favor of love.
14] Faith credits God's doctrines. Love reduces them
all to practice. Faith lays hold on Jesus Christ. |
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