This section has just the one verse.
And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he
not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
We will begin in the Barclay
THE ATHLETE OF CHRIST
2 Timothy 2:5 - paraphrased
And if anyone engages in an athletic contest, he
does not win the crown unless he observes the rules
of the game.
PAUL has just used the picture of the soldier to
represent the Christian, and now he uses two other
pictures – those of the athlete and of the toiling
farmer [we will see in verses 6-7]. He uses
the same three pictures close together in 1
Corinthians 9:6-7, 9:24–27. Paul says that no
athlete can win the crown of victory without
observing the rules of the contest. There is a very
interesting point in the Greek here which is
difficult to bring out in translation. The
Authorized Version speaks of striving lawfully. The
Greek is athlein nomimo¯s. In fact, that is the
Greek phrase which was used by the later writers to
describe a professional as opposed to an amateur
athlete. The person who strove nomimo¯s was the one
who concentrated completely on the struggle. That
struggle was not just a spare-time concern, as it
might be for an amateur; it was a full-time
dedication of that individual’s life to excellence
in the chosen contest. Here, then, we have the same
idea as in Paul’s picture of the Christian as a
soldier. Christians must concentrate their lives
upon their Christianity just as professional
athletes concentrate upon their chosen contest. The
spare-time Christian is a contradiction in terms;
the whole of life should be an endeavour to live out
our Christianity. What then are the characteristics
of an athlete which are in Paul’s mind?
Quoted verses:
1 Corinthians 9:6-7
6 Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to
forbear working?
7 Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges?
who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit
thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of
the milk of the flock?
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.
| Discussion regarding the, "professional
Christian." |
Continuing now in the Barclay:
(1) Athletes are under discipline and self-denial.
They must keep to their schedule of training and let
nothing interfere with it. There will be days when
they would like to drop their training and relax the
discipline; but they must not do so. There will be
pleasures and indulgences they would like to allow
themselves; but they must refuse them. Athletes who
want to excel know that they must let nothing
interfere with that standard of physical fitness
which they have set themselves. There must be
discipline in the Christian life. There are times
when the easy way is very attractive; there are
times when the right thing is the hard thing; there
are times when we are tempted to relax our
standards. Christians must train themselves never to
relax in the life-long attempt to make their souls [character]
pure and strong.
(2) Athletes are people who observe the rules. After
the discipline and the rules of the training, there
come the contest and the rules of the contest. It is
not possible to win without playing the game.
~ Barclay commentary
| Discussion on how the description of the
Athlete relates to the description of the
Christian. |
Now to the other commentaries. The verse is
primarily in three parts:
1] And if a man also strive for masteries.
2] Yet is he not crowned.
3] Except he strive lawfully.
Commentaries differ on how they combine these
phrases for discussion.
First the general commentary of the Matthew Henry
Concise for the first seven verses:
2 Timothy 2:1-7
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
1] And if a man also strive for
masteries.
And if a man also strive for masteries - As in the
Grecian games. See this favorite illustration of
Paul explained in the notes at 1 Corinthians 9:24.
Quoted verse:
1 Corinthians 9:24
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all,
but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may
obtain.
I want to focus on the phrase, "So run." Let us look
at the commentary on this.
So run, that ye may obtain - So run in
the Christian race, that you may obtain the
prize of glory, the crown incorruptible. So
live; so deny yourselves; so make constant
exertion, that you may not fail of that
prize, the crown of glory, which awaits the
righteous in [The Kingdom]; compare
Hebrews 12:1. Christians may do this when:
(1) They give themselves wholly to God, and
make this the grand business of life;
(2) “When they lay aside every weight”
Hebrews 12:1; and renounce all sin and all
improper attachments; [See sermons, Cargo,
Part 1 and
Part 2.]
(3) When they do not allow themselves to be
“diverted” from the object, but keep the
goal constantly in view;
(4) When they do not flag, or grow weary in
their course;
(5) When they deny themselves; and,
(6)When they keep their eye fully fixed on
Christ Hebrews 12:2 as their example and
their strength, and on [The Kingdom] as the end of
their race, and on the crown of glory as
their reward. ~Barnes Notes
Quoted verse:
Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set
before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher
of our faith; who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is set down at the right hand of
the throne of God.
|
| Discussion on these 6 points and Hebrews
12:1-2 |
If a man also strive for masteries - If a man
contend in the public games - the Olympic or
Isthmian games among the Greeks, so often alluded to
and particularly explained in the notes on 1
Corinthians 9:24-26. ~Adam Clark
And if a man also strive for masteries - In the
Olympic games, by running, wrestling, leaping, &c.
~John Gill
And if a man also strive for masteries - “strive in
the games” [Alford]; namely, the great national
games of Greece. ~JFB
And if a man also strive for masteries - Paul’s
habitual way of looking at the Christian life led
him to pass naturally from the thought of the
soldier to that of the athlete. We want some word to
express this more adequately in the English. ‘Strive
in the games’ would perhaps answer the purpose, as
bringing out more distinctly the new comparison.
~Popular commentary
2] Yet is he not crowned.
Is he not crowned - Though he may have conquered,
except he strive lawfully - unless he enter
according to the rules of the athlete, and act as
these direct. No man, however zealous he may have
been, is to expect the Well done, good and faithful
servant, from Jesus Christ, unless he have labored
in the word and doctrine, preached the truth as it
is in Jesus, and built up the Church upon Him who is
its only Foundation. ~Adam Clarke
Yet is he not crowned - with a corruptible, fading
crown, a crown made of herbs and leaves of trees, as
parsley, laurel, &c. ~John Gill
3] Except he strive lawfully.
Except he strive lawfully - according to the laws
and rules fixed for those exercises; so no man that
calls himself a Christian, minister, or any other,
can expect the crown of life, the prize of the high
calling of God, except he runs the race set before
him, in the right way; looking to Christ, the mark,
pressing through all difficulties, towards the
prize, and holds on and out unto the end.
Lawful diet
The phrase “lawfully” which is found in precisely
the same connection in Galen (Comm. in Hippocrates
1.15) was technical, half-medical, and half
belonging to the training schools of athletes, and
implied the observance of all rules of life prior to
the contest as well as during it. Failure to keep to
the appointed diet and discipline, no less than
taking an unfair advantage at the time, excluded the
competitor from his reward. ~ Biblical
Illustrator
Lawful striving
I. A Christian is a striver.
1. In the breast and forefront of this strife thou
must contend with ignorance, which adversary, though
his eyes be put out, and he be as blind as a
mill-horse, yet his strength is like behemoths, his
weapons Goliahs, his blows the batterings of a
tearing cannon; for if this giant be not quelled,
killed, he will lead you into mazes of error.
2. This monster being put to flight, you are to
encounter with aged superstition.
3. Close after idolatry follows covetousness.
4. At the heels of every striver you shall have
sloth and idleness.
II. Eternal life is called a crown. For the worth
and excellency of it.
III. The lawful striver shall be crowned. ~
Biblical Illustrator
Strive lawfully — observing all the conditions of
both the contest (keeping within the bounds of the
course and stript of his clothes) and the
preparation for it, namely, as to self-denying diet,
anointing, exercise, self-restraint, chastity,
decorum, etc. ~JFB
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