2 Timothy 1:3-18

ENCOURAGEMENT TO BE FAITHFUL

Ti 1:3  Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 2Ti 1:4  I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.

Paul and Timothy were very good friends. Paul mentored Timothy and brought his mother and grandmother to faith in Jesus. Paul did pray for Timothy, Rom_1:8; Php_1:3; Col_1:3 They had become the best of friends. When the left each other for the last time tears were shed. Most likely Paul new it would be the last time. He was going to prison and then was going to be put to death. Imagine that you were parting with a loved one and it would be the last time on earth that you would see each other it had to be hard for both of them.  2Ti_1:4

2Ti 1:5  I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. 2Ti 1:6  This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.

Life Application New Testament Commentary 1:5 Timothy’s mother and grandmother, Eunice and Lois, were early Christian converts, possibly through Paul’s ministry in their home city, Lystra (Act_16:1). They had communicated their strong Christian faith to Timothy, even though his Greek father (Act_26:1) was probably not a believer. Paul mentioned that he knew Timothy sincerely trusted the Lord because Timothy’s genuine faith stood in bold contrast to the insincerity of many who had deserted Paul (see 2Ti_1:15; 2Ti_2:17-18;). Paul had no doubts concerning Timothy’s faith.

2Ti 1:7  For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2Ti 1:8  So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don't be ashamed of me, either, even though I'm in prison for Him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News.

Paul is encouraging Timothy to persevere in his preaching. Not to fear the dangers that he will face as Paul was facing at the moment of this writing. I left out about 5 verses that the life Application New Testament had put in that referred to all the people that had  left Paul and were teaching false doctrine. He was insuring that Timothy was stead fast in the faith.  

2Ti 1:9  For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time—to show us His grace through Christ Jesus. 2Ti 1:10  And now He has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.

" His plan from before the beginning of time" I found that to be an interesting Phrase. God has a plan for all of us and we only need to heed his word. Paul then went on to say that he broke the power of death, one of our greatest fears. How horrible it must be to believe that when you die that is the end no redemption of any kind and then find out you were wrong and then be judged. Our souls belong to God and when our turn comes to be judge we have Jesus on out side.

2Ti 1:11  And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News. 2Ti 1:12  That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the One in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until the day of His return.

Paul was going to die and he knew it yet he stayed true to his faith. He may have been suffering physically but mentally he was still strong in the Lord.

2Ti 1:13  Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. 2Ti 1:14  Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.

Again Paul is bolstering Timothy in all of the things that he has been taught and that the Holy Spirit was with him.

Life Application New Testament Commentary: 1:13 Timothy did not need to wonder about the content of right teaching—he could always recall Paul’s teaching and read Paul’s letters as his pattern. Like a sure foundation, Paul’s pattern would keep Timothy from straying from the truth. Timothy had every resource needed to carry on his ministry, and it boiled down to teaching only the truth, and living in the faith and love that he had in Christ Jesus. Sound teaching requires both faith in the heart and genuine love for the Lord. Sound teaching also helps people remain true to the tenets of the Christian faith because it refers to orthodox teaching (see 1Ti_1:10; 1Ti_6:3).

1:14 Timothy was to carefully guard the truth that had been entrusted to him—not by burying it and keeping it hidden, but by entrusting it to faithful men and women, who would teach it to others, who in turn would teach it to others, and on through the centuries. Because men like Timothy guarded the truth as Paul had commanded, two thousand years later we too have the true gospel, the sound doctrine, that we are commanded to entrust to others. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit could the truth remain untainted, guarded, and protected as it passed through the centuries.

 

2Ti 1:15  As you know, everyone from the province of Asia has deserted me—even Phygelus and Hermogenes. 2Ti 1:16  May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains. 2Ti 1:17  When he came to Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me. 2Ti 1:18  May the Lord show him special kindness on the day of Christ's return. And you know very well how helpful he was in Ephesus.

Onesiphorus was a friend, there is very little mentioned about him but he was a friend of Paul's and not doubt another witness for the Lord.

Dave