2 Timothy 2:1-5

 

2 Tim 2:1 (KJB)

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

 

Be strong - Enabled or acquire strength

 

The word in the Greek behind “be strong” is in the Imperative mood and present tense. This means that Timothy, and all Christians, are commanded to be strong and the present tense means that all Christians are to be strong continually. This is because we are not strong in our own strength but in the power of the Lord through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The grace which God gives not only saves us from Hell but it also empowers us to continue on in the faith. It enables us to face our enemies with the strength of God as evidenced by martyrs past and those who are under going persecution at present. Paul does not expect Timothy to be a frightened little mouse but to stand boldly for the true Gospel.

 

2 Tim 2:2 (KJB)

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.

 

Paul had a tremendous testimony among many people, especially in the area of confronting the false teachers and their false religions. This testimony had come to the ears of Timothy by many witnesses and Paul is now stating that you have heard from others that I remained faithful and now it is Timothy’s turn to remain faithful. Not only is Timothy to remain faithful but he is also to commit or entrust the true Gospel to other men of like mind. Timothy is to be very discriminating as to whom he will appoint as teachers in the church because they must be of high character and never compromise the truth. The reason that only strong men in the faith should become teachers is because they will also have the responsibility of training the next generation. This is how God has brought the true Gospel down through the entire New Testament period. We are here today learning the true Gospel because the generation before us, trained those who would bring the Gospel to us and now it is our turn to train the next generation of Christians with the truth. Not everyone is called to be a teacher because it is a very serious occupation, especially when the Gospel is being taught. The Gospel is eternal in nature and its very effects determine the salvation or the lost condition of an individual.

 

2 Tim 2:3 (KJB)

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

 

Endure Hardness - Suffer hardship or endure affliction

Good - Noble or excellent

 

Paul is now bringing in some analogies which describe the real essence of being a Christian. Here Paul is commanding Timothy that he is to suffer hardship as good soldier of Christ. Paul sees the body of Christ as a great army on this earth and each Christian is to be ready as a soldier is ready to engage in battle. The battle we engage in is not a physical battle but a spiritual battle. (2 Cor 10:4 KJV) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) With so many false religions and false teachers, we must always be in a mode of war, expecting a battle to begin at any time. A soldier is one who is already prepared for the battle, as they train when there is no war yet. This is why when a person becomes saved, the first thing they must do is to begin to study the Scriptures, because the Scriptures is the battle weapon we use to fight false teachings. False teachings will never stand up under the scrutiny of the Scriptures. A soldier is always ready for battle and also realizes that they are putting their life on the line and that is what the Christians does when they confront false teachings.

 

2 Tim 2:4 (KJB)

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.

 

Warreth - Serve as a soldier or in an army

Entangleth - Weave in or involved

Affairs - Business or pursuits

 

The soldier must be dedicated to his cause. Now one of the most disastrous things that Christians do is to dilute their dedication. We learn a good principle from the book of Nehemiah. (Neh 6:11 KJV) And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. The enemies of God wanted to meet with Nehemiah and that would have caused Nehemiah to have to stop his work and be diverted with a meeting that would produce nothing but maybe his own demise. Nehemiah knew that this was a subtle trap being set for him and he knew that their intentions was to stop the building of the wall. When Christians divert their attention from the Kingdom of God to the things of the world, then they too would be causing a breach in their ministries. Satan is a master at getting us to divert our attention and then eventually divert our lives to something of this world.  I know one area in which many Christians have been diverted and that is the study of the New World Order. There is no doubt that groups like the Council on Foreign Relations or the Bilderbergers exist for the purpose of bringing in a New World Order. Many Christians have now put their Bibles down and started reading books on this subject. They have been diverted from the highest calling to a lower calling. They have traded Christianity for politics. This is exactly what Paul is telling Timothy. Don’t get involved with these things. When the Lord Jesus Christ was here on earth, He didn’t concern Himself with the politics of the Roman Empire. Instead, He went about His ministry and completed His calling without concern for anything political. He did not allow any diversion from His calling and we must follow that example. This is not to say that we stick our heads in the sand and not concern ourselves with what is going on in our countries, but it means our primary reason of existence is for the dissemination of the Gospel. If we are to please God as a good soldier in Christ’s army, then we must remain dedicated like Paul who had a good testimony among many people. We also see many new church movements coming in and diverting the Christians from the truth of the Gospel. Our purpose for existence is rather simple, preach the Gospel to the present generation and train the next generation to do the same thing. I don’t need a book written by a traitorous pastor tell me my purpose, it is in the Bible and all one has to do is blow the dust off and read it.

 

2 Tim 2:5 (KJB)

And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

 

Then Paul uses the analogy of an athlete. An athlete trains for many years and many hours per day to keep themselves in good shape and to be ready for the sporting event of their choice. The Christians are also to be trained in understanding the Scriptures and apologetics to be able to confront the false religions. Obviously Paul had in view here the Olympic games where one person could only win the crown. It was a stephanos crown which was a wreath and only the winner would get one. However, if the athlete is to qualify for that crown, they must compete lawfully, that is, in obedience to the rules and regulations. If they broke any of the rules, then they would be disqualified which would cause a public shame. It is the same with the Christian. If we remain strong in the faith then we will be as one who is crowned but if we break the rules, that is, divert our dedication or wind up in a sinful situation, then we too, will be disqualified as a good soldier of Christ. (Phil 3:14 KJV) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The prize which we strive for is the high calling of God in Christ. The stephanos crown will fade but the good soldier of Christ will never fade, they will get stronger as long as we continue to look to Christ as the source of our strength, we will get that heavenly crown, but we must run the race and we must run it according to the spiritual gifts God has given us and the ministry He gives us, let us always be found faithful. (1 Cor 4:2 KJV) Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

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