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2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures,

which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Second Letter of Paul to Timothy 3:14-15 NKJV

The Apostle Paul will now show his successors, including at the time of his impending execution Timothy in Ephesus, how they must refute false teaching by focusing on Scripture.
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Today's look at 2 Timothy within our SERIES of Apostolic Faith is primarily TOPICAL with focus on SCRIPTURE and its related terms. - RH 
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Scripture is…

Many of us tend toward an easy answer of quoting scripture as a single and particular verse within a chapter, within a book, within a category of books, i.e. the Torah. Yet this epistle of Paul and books of the Prophets often point to additional books for origin, application and/or context.

the Scriptures are books

Paul reminds Timothy: “.. you have known the Holy Scriptures..”, translated from the Greek: τὰ [ho] ἱερὰ [hieros] γράμματα [gramma] οἶδας [you have known].

No doubt you recognize the Greek word for Scripture – gramma, as grammar.
- γράμμα grámma, gram’-mah; from G1125; a writing, i.e. a letter, note, epistle, book, etc.; plural; learning:—bill, learning, letter, scripture, writing, written.
Writings

Yet let’s not miss that the Apostle Paul points Timothy to the ‘scriptures‘ [plural] and more importantly with specific reference that those writings that are “holy.”

Biblia

The earliest Christian use of ta biblia (the books) in this sense is said to be 2 Clement 2:14 (c. a.d. 150): “The books and the apostles declare that the church . . . has existed from the beginning.” (Compare Dan. 9:2, “I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures,” where the reference is to the corpus of Old Testament prophetic writings.) Greek biblion (of which biblia is the plural) is a diminutive of biblos, which in practice denotes any kind of written document, but originally one written on papyrus.

A term synonymous with“the Bible” is“the writings” or “the Scriptures” (Greek hai graphai, ta grammata), frequently used in the New Testament to denote the Old Testament documents in whole or in part. For example, Matthew 21:42 says, “Have you never read in the Scriptures?” (en tais graphais). The parallel passage, Mark 12:10, has the singular, referring to the particular text quoted,“Haven’t you read this Scripture?” (ten graphen tauten).

Source: The Origin of the Bible – Tyndale Publishers

Old Testament

17:14 וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה כְּתֹב זֹאת זִכָּרוֹן בַּסֵּפֶר וְשִׂים בְּאָזְנֵי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ

And the LORD said to Moses,

“Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua..

Exodus 17:14a – Masoretic Text, Revised Standard Version

Strong’s H3789 – kāṯaḇ (for write) is the same Hebrew word used in the giving of the Commandments.

And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai,
two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written H3789
with the finger of God.
Exodus 31:18 KJV

“Write this as a memorial in a book,” the LORD instructs Moses to give to his successor Joshua.

New testament

Some pastors and teachers wander from the Truth of Scripture by dismissing Old Testament Law and especially the Prophets from the hearing and remembrance of their church.

“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

.. there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust.

“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.

“But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

New Testament Gospel of John 5:43, 45b-47 NKJV

The Lord Jesus Christ, however, connects His own testimony to that of the Hebrew Bible:

“.. he (Moses) wrote [γράφω – graphō] about Me, ” states the Lord Jesus. And the Christ or Messiah of Israel adds:

“But if you do not believe his (Moses’) writings [γράμμα – gramma], how will you believe My words [ῥῆμα – rhēma]?”

This, in addition to being a frequent warning of Christ, became an Apostolic word of warning written in several epistles to A.D. first century pastors.

a word from The Apostle Peter

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words [rhēma] of eternal life

Gospel of John 6:68 – Jesus’ Apostles remain faithful as the Lord’s crucifixion approaches

BUT THE WORD^G4487 OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.”

And this is the word^G4487 which was proclaimed to you as good news.

1 Peter 1:25

I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles..

2 Peter 3:1a-2 LSB

Peter’s Steadfast Purpose and the coming Day of the Lord

All Scripture…

Paul in his second pastoral epistle to Timothy also provides a remembrance of Scripture for generations to follow.

Second Timothy 3:15 (RSV)

speaks of “the sacred writings”

(ta hiera grammata), and the next verse says,

“All Scripture is God-breathed”

(pasa graphe theopneustos).

In 2 Peter 3:16 “all” the letters of Paul are included along with “the other Scriptures” (tas loipas graphas),

by which the Old Testament writings and probably also the Gospels are meant.

ibid.

It is written…
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Is the phrase familiar? 
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- as it is written in the book of the law of Moses – Joshua 8:31
- Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. – 2 Kings 23:21
- Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [sēp̄er] it is written [kāṯaḇ] of me.. – Psalm 40:7
Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’[Jesus, quoting Isaiah 54:13]

Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.

Gospel of John 6:43-45 NKJV

Then I said, “Behold, I come;

In the scroll of the book it is written H3789 of me.

Psalm:40:7 (WLC 40:8) אָז אָמַרְתִּי הִנֵּה־בָאתִי בִּמְגִלַּת־סֵפֶר כָּתוּב עָלָי׃

כָּתַב kâthab, kaw-thab’; a primitive root; to grave, by implication, to write (describe, inscribe, prescribe, subscribe):—describe, record, prescribe, subscribe, write(-ing, -ten).

Strong’s Number H3789 matches the Hebrew כָּתַב (kāṯaḇ),
which occurs 226 times in 212 verses in the WLC Hebrew.

The Holy Writings of God dominate the remembrance of Old Testament faith and New Testament credibility.

Theopneutos – inspired by God

God CANNOT be wrong!

Yet Satan would ask, “Did God really say…?” (And so do false teachers.)

3:16 πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος

theopneustos –
- given by inspiration of God –
  - KJV & others
- inspired by God –
  - CSB, NLT & others
- God-breathed –
  - LSB, NIV & others
- [given by divine inspiration] –
  - AMP
- breathed out by God –
  - ESV
“Every scripture inspired of God,” the ASV translates.

“Every scripture is inspired by God,” reads the New English Translation.

“Every scripture is divinely inspired,” in the Darby translation.

“every Writing is God-breathed,” states Young’s Literal Translation.

Pivotal Proof, IF you believe

How do false teachers oppose God and Christ?

First, in order to turn faithful saints of the church against God false teachers must attack Scripture. They do this with the subtlety of Satan with a simple turn of a word. For when all is said and done, false teachers insist that God is wrong and that they know why.

In a section headed, SCRIPTURE PROVIDES INSTRUCTION FOR SANCTIFICATION (which of course false teachers want no part of), John MacArthur writes:

Some scholars suggest that All Scripture is inspired should be translated,

“All Scripture inspired by God is..,”

which would leave open the possibility that some Scripture is not inspired by Him. But that rendering would make the Bible worthless as a reliable guide to divine truth, because we would then have no way to determine which part of it is inspired by God and which is not.

Men would be left to their own finite and sinful devices and understanding ot discover what part of the Bible may be true and which may not, what part is God’s Word and what part is human conjecture.

THE MACARTHUR NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY – 2 TIMOTHY, P.142

MacArthur definitively adds:

Many men who wrote Scripture, such as Moses and Paul, were highly trained in human knowledge and wisdom, but that learning was not the source of divine truth they recorded. David was a highly gifted poet, .. but it was not the source of the divine truths in those psalms.

ibid. p.143

Does 2 Tim 3:16 prove the inspiration of all Scripture or just some?
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excerpt from: A POPULAR HANDBOOK ON BIBLE DIFFICULTIES 
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PROBLEM:

Some think that the word “all” should be replaced by “every.” Plus, one believe that.. “is” should be placed after.. not before.

SOLUTION:

[edited excerpt] .. those that translate this verse with “is” after “God” make it sound like there are some scriptures not inspired of God. “all” should be translated, “every” if the definite article is missing. However, whenever the word “Scripture” (graphē) is used in the NT, it always refers to authoritative and inspired writings— never the opposite…

Paul’s context here refers to “the Holy Scriptures” (1:15) Timothy’s Jewish mother and grandmother had taught him (2 Tim 1:5), and this could be none other than the whole Jewish OT.

WHEN CRITICS ASK, Norman Geisler & Thomas Howe, pp 505-506

πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος καὶ — ALL SCRIPTURE given by inspiration of God, and…

4 Profitable Imperatives

The Apostle Paul then continues to instruct Timothy and readers of his pastoral epistle in HOW TO APPLY the TRUTH of GOD-BREATHED SCRIPTURE.
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By 'profitable,' Paul means helpful or advantageous 
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Once again, let’s just list Paul’s MUST DO list from various translations noting also the interralationship of these actions of applying Scripture.
- doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, teaching, rebuking, reprimand, correcting, training, [in righteousness], conviction [of sin], reproof
- “omnis scriptura divinitus inspirata
  - et utilis ad docendum ad arguendum ad corrigendum ad erudiendum in iustitia’
    
    from the Latin Vulgate
WE resist many of these Scriptural imperatives; but the Apostle Paul assures Christ-followers that GOD breathed-out the Commandments WRITTEN in the BIBLE.
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Let's simplify Paul's four-point list in 2 Timothy 3:16
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1. DOCTRINE – didaskalia
2. REPROOF – elegchos
3. CORRECTION – epanorthōsis
4. INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS – paideia en dikaiosynē
Doctrine, learning, teaching or Instruction

The Scriptures serve as a comprehensive guide for teaching and imparting knowledge about God, His will, and His ways. … The Bible provides moral and spiritual guidance, helping believers understand the nature of God and the principles of His kingdom.

BibleHub.com

proof, conviction:—evidence, reproof.
- a proof, that by which a thing is proved or tested
- conviction
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence G1650 of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

correction, improvement of life or character,

restoration to an upright or right state – a derivative of the base of G3717; to straighten up:—lift (set) up, make straight.

And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up…

And He [Jesus] laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

Gospel of Luke 13:11,13 NKJV

ἐπανόρθωσις – a straightening up again, i.e. (figuratively) rectification (reformation):—correction.

Paul assures Timothy that Scripture can rectify that false teaching which has made your spirit and life crooked with sin.
Instruction in righteousness –

the whole training and education of children

(which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now reproof and punishment)

It also includes the training and care of the body
παιδεία paideía, pahee-di’-ah; from G3811; tutorage, i.e. education or training; by implication, disciplinary correction:—chastening, chastisement, instruction, nurture.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,

to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

6:4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath,

but bring them up in the

TRAINING [G3809]

and admonition of the Lord.

Paul’s protégé and young pastor to the saints at Ephesus, will not overlook his apostolic example as the type of righteousness required in the instruction of Scripture.

That the man of God may be perfect

thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

2 Timothy 3:17 KJV
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One last word here about ALL SCRIPTURE, before the Apostle pushes on to PREACH THE WORD. 
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ἵνα ἄρτιος ᾖ – that perfect may be

Perfection (used in the King James Version) refers to perfection in Christ.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Gospel of Matthew 5:48 KJV – Jesus teaching the crowds in the Beautitudes

Other translations use ‘complete.’

Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

Revelation of Jesus Christ to John: 3:2 ESV – To the Church in Sardis

Still other translations point the preacher of God to Scripture as essential to be: fit, adequate, capable, or proficient.

ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος – of God the man

The Apostle is addressing the man of God, a technical phrases used only of Timothy in the New Testament. In the Old Testament it is frequently used as a title for one who proclaimed the Word of God. In this context, man of God refers most directly to Timothy and, by extension, to all preachers.

John MacArthur New Testament Commentary – 2 Timothy, p.162

πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν – unto all works good
- πρός – pros – unto, to the advantage of
- πᾶς – G3956 – pas, all (17x in 2 Timothy)
  - ALL, again same as in ‘all scripture’
- ἔργον ἀγαθὸν, ergon agathos, lit. works good
  - (and in the Greek, followed by ‘thoroughly furnished.’
And Paul’s practical preparation for the man of God gives good reason:

The Apostle prescribes SCRIPTURE as a preacher’s tools, useful for building good works among the saints of their church.

ἐξηρτισμένος – thoroughly furnished
- throughly [KJV prior to 16th c. archaic]furnished
  - unto all good works.
ἐξαρτίζω exartízō, means: to furnish perfectly; to finish, accomplish, (as it were, to render the days complete).

One instance of this concept takes place when John the Baptist objected to Jesus that Christ should be baptizing him.

And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now:^G737 for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

Matthew 3:15 KJV

Scripture Written – the Word Spoken

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said…

Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.

Genesis 1:1-3a, Psalm 99:6 KJV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

Gospel of John 1:1-2 KJV

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Gospel of John 1:8, 10:27 KJV – Spoken by JESUS Christ

Next: Preach the word! – 2 Timothy 4

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
February 20, 2026
2 Timothy 2 – Strong Teachers Charge them before God
More than thirty years earlier the Apostle Peter preaching on Pentecost had charged all Israel to accept JESUS as both God and Christ:

“This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses…

And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying,

“Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”

Acts of the Apostles 2:32,40 ESV – Peter preaching on Pentecost ~AD 30

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

What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses,

commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Second Letter of Paul to Timothy 2:1-2 Christian Standard Bible

The Elected Saints (among the Gentiles)

By the grace of God, Paul — that is, Saul of Tarsus — was commissioned by Christ on a road to Damascus to fulfill his election as the Apostle to the Gentiles.

It had been some thirty years ago and Timothy, who had first met Paul in Lystra and followed the Apostle is now a pastor to the church at Ephesus.

Be Strong in the Lord

Paul points to Christ, writing:

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:3 CSB

The Apostle had enlisted Timothy in the service of Christ back in Lystra.

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the commanding officer.

2 Tim 2:4 CSB

In his humility and citing other witnesses Paul has pointed to Christ whom he serves as well. Certainly a soldier of Jesus Christ, risen from death, will be strong in the word given directly to the Apostle who enlisted his service.

Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

2 Tim 2:5

If ever there was a zealous follower of the rules it would be Paul, that is, Saul. And the Apostle had even insisted on circumcising Timothy (though not other gentiles) to fulfill the Lord’s purposes among the Jews.

Remember that Timothy’s absent biological father was Greek, but his grandmother had been a faithful Jew and his mother a Christ-follower.

Why does the Apostle use these two illustrations and the work of the farmer which follows?

Paul has written to the saints in Corinth:

To the Jews.. I became as one under the law–though not being myself under the law–that I might win those under the law.

To those outside the law (that is, Gentiles) I became as one outside the law.. but under the law of Christ–that I might win those outside the law. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

1 Corinthians 9 excerpt CSB

The Apostle with whom Timothy also traveled to Corinth also writes words likely recalled now in Ephesus:

I do all these things because of the gospel, so that I can be a participant in it.

Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize?

So run to win. Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 NET

Paul will return to this before the close of this final pastoral epistle.

The Gospel for the Elect

Remember that Jesus Christ,

of the seed of David,

was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains;

but the word of God is not chained.

Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy 2:8-9 NKJV

As the Apostle nears the finish line of his race into the gentile world of the Roman Empire, Paul’s encouragement of Timothy as pastor of the elect Ephesian saints builds up a key church in a city of a quarter-million people, the third largest in the Empire.

Clement of Alexandria, second largest city in the Empire, would be an important convert in the second century of our Lord Jesus Christ and of course Rome remained the Empire’s largest metropolitan area.

For the Sake of Salvation of the Elect

WHY do all these early Christian saints endure persecution, martyrdom and rejection by the vast majority of those in the cities in which they preach?

Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:10 NKJV

Among the millions of souls surrounding the Apostles and martyred saints in Rome, Ephesus, Corinth and throughout the Empire, Paul encourages pastors in what Christ Himself has promised in the salvation of the elect — believing Jew or pagan Gentile.

The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. – Gospel of John 14:19

if we endure, we will also reign with him;

So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. – Gospel of Matthew 19:28 NKJV

if we deny him, he also will deny us;

but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 10:33

if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven… – Matthew 24:35-36a

Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy 2:12-14 ESV – quoting the Gospels and other Scripture

Choose this day who you will follow

24:15 וְאִם רַע בְּעֵינֵיכֶם לַעֲבֹד אֶת־יְהוָה בַּחֲרוּ לָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת־מִי תַעֲבֹדוּן אִם אֶת־אֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר־עָבְדוּ אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר מֵעֵבֶר הַנָּהָר וְאִם אֶת־אֱלֹהֵי הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם יֹשְׁבִים בְּאַרְצָם וְאָנֹכִי וּבֵיתִי נַעֲבֹד אֶת־יְהוָה׃ פ
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You may recognize my Heading from Joshua's challenge to the Elect to remember the LORD of their Salvation. 

(Remember that this successor[יְהוֹשׁוּעַ] of Moses has a name [yᵊhôšûaʿ] meaning: "Jehovah is salvation" — iēsous, the Greek name for Jesus having the same Hebrew root.)
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Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

.. “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ..

“Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served…

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, …

But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua 24 excerpt NKJV

PAUL now encourages young Timothy — the Apostle builds up pastors and saints to follow until the Day of Jesus Christ.

Remind them of these things, solemnly charging them in the presence of God..
Second Letter of Paul to Timothy 2:14a LSB

Many commentators cite the importance and difficulty of these key verses in 2 Timothy 2:10-13. We will close this section with these observations for your consideration (IF you are among the remnant elect saints of this Common Era):

God must be sovereign in our salvation precisely because we are neither willing nor able to choose salvation for ourselves.

John MacArthur – THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE

Why did the world hate Christ?

.. Earlier in John’s gospel, Jesus explained,

“The world … hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil” (7:7)

Fallen man does not want to be confronted with the true nature of his heart, he doesn’t want to face his inherent wickedness.

He has to find a way to tolerate and excuse himself from the guild he naturally faces each day.

So he falls back on his most dominant sin, pride, and imagines a version of himself that can escape condemnation. He spins a web of delusions, convincing himself that he is truly good and noble—anything to distract from the fact that his deeds are evil.

ibid. pp 7-8

It was true in Ephesus and Rome in the first century AD; it is true in this twenty-first century of the Common Era in Rome and in every other city.

Salvation in God alone

“It’s a well established reality that the doctrine of election is disturbing to many people,” observes MacArthur.

He continues, “Numerous ministry leaders, pastors, and major authors harbor animosity toward the doctrine of election.”

ibid. pp 55,56

Note a later idolatry and heresies which crept quickly into the churches with false teaching seeking to include men as only interpreters of Scripture and intercessors for active sin through memories of saints gone before.

MacArthur cites numerous Scriptures besides those here [2 Timothy 2:10]

ibid. 68-

Before we return to a brief MacArthur outline from this section from his commentary on 2 Timothy, note his QUOTE of Martin Luther introducing this section on:

DIVINE ELECTION:

NO MAN CAN BE THOROUGHLY HUMBLED UNTIL HE KNOWS THAT HIS SALVATION IS UTTERLY BEYOND HIS OWN POWERS, DEVICES, ENDEAVORS, WILL, AND WORKS, AND DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON THE CHOICE, WILL, AND WORK OF ANOTHER, NAMELY, OF GOD ALONE.

MARTIN LUTHER

2 Timothy – NEXT in our outline

An overview Outline of 2 Timothy [Kress Biblical Resources] follows Paul’s brief prologue (2 Tim 1:1-2) with an extended section we have just completed:

Persevere in the ministry and be unashamed to suffer for the gospel (1:3-2:13)

The following extended section we will follow next pivots on 2:14.

Proclaim the truth and be unashamed to confront error (2:14-4-8)

John MacArthur in his NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY OF 2 TIMOTHY outlines this section of Paul’s second letter to Timothy:
- The Elements of a Strong Spiritual Life [2 Tim 2:1-7]
- Motives for a Sacrificial Ministry [2 Tim 2:8-13]
- The Danger of False Teaching [2 Tim 2:14-19]
- and completing 2 Tim 2 – An Honorable Vessel
Remember

Paul’s pivotal imperatives of this section of the Apostle’s second pastoral epistle.
- BE STRONG – v.1
- CONSIDER – v.7
- REMIND – v. 14 (our pivotal hinge today)
- AVOID, ABSTAIN, FLEE, PURSUE, REFUSE
  - ALL next in Paul’s commands to Timothy.
MACARTHUR NT COMMENTARY 2 TIMOTHY, p. 55

Looking for some more Apostolic controvery?

NEXT – We’ll address these warnings against false doctrine.

Talk of JESUS . com

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
January 19, 2026
Finding the Evangelical Freedom of Balaam in our Evangelical Church
.. promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption..

2 Peter 2:19a LSB

Why does the Apostle Peter point to Balaam?
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Do evangelical pastors of Christ's Church have the freedom to accept all prophesy and every doctrine? 
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Note the similarities of the growing popularity of Balaam of Pethor, whom Moses introduces in Numbers 22, to the AD first century missionary journeys of Peter, Paul and John.

Moses led the Israelite people from slavery in Egypt by the hand of the Lord God to the land of Canaan.

Balaam is NOT a prophet of God! He travels to new lands to profit from his reputation as a seer. (This is not unlike many false teachers we meet in Acts of the Apostles.)

Balaam is an opportunist FORCED to obey the LORD. But in addition to Balaam’s error (as some call it), the prophet would easily mislead any away from truth and will of the God.

Worshipers of Baal and other gods will follow false prophets to inclusively worship other gods— even in this Common Era.

Balaam’s journey begins in his homeland, which is described as “Pethor, which is by the Euphrates.”

Balaam’s journey to Moab is marked by divine intervention .. highlighting the spiritual battle over Balaam’s intentions and the sovereignty of God over pagan practices.

BibleHub.com

2 Peter 2: False Teachers – Wandering Creatures

These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed.

They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed.

Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done.

They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight.

They are a disgrace and a stain among you.

They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals.

They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse.

2 Peter 2:12-14 NLT

They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness,
2 Peter 2:15 CSB

but received a rebuke for his lawlessness:

A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

v.16

The Divine Coercion of Balaam

R.C. Sproel observes:

Only by divine coercion did Balaam obey God, and then he gave four prophesies…

ibid. p.236
```
The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened; 
the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God
and has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered: 

I see him, but not now;

I perceive him, but not near.

A star will come from Jacob,

and a scepter will arise from Israel. 

       - Numbers 24:15-17 excerpt CSB
```
Further study of Numbers in the context of Peter’s witness will reveal how a fourth prophesy of Balaam may interest the church.

Freedom Restrained by Truth

The Apostle of Christ writes this second epistle to the church to instruct us:

We do NOT have the freedom to say whatever we want.

AND, in fact, prophets and teachers of false doctrine will walk among the saints of the Church seeking followers to leave the narrow Way of the Lord.

Peter is not describing pagans here but apostates.

R.C. Sproel – Be All the more Diligent to Make your Calling and Election Sure, p.234

Apostates

In these loose, liberal times of Common Era preaching, I believe it necessary to provide a brief definition of that against Peter warns.

An apostate is an individual who has abandoned or renounced their faith, particularly in the context of Christianity.

The term is derived from the Greek word “apostasia,” which means a defection or revolt.

Apostasy is considered a grave sin in Christian theology, as it involves a deliberate turning away from the truth of the Gospel and the rejection of the salvation offered through Jesus Christ.

BibleHub.com Topical Encyclopedia

Most Common Era christians have never heard of such a great sin of apostasy or do we recognize how false teachers have led us away from Christ to the gods of our imagination.
```
Referring to 2 Peter 2:15-16 Sproul continues: 
```
They know the right way; they have been exposed to the teachings of the Gospel;they know what the truth is—they have heard it proclaimed repeatedly—but they have forsaken it and gone a different way.

R.C. Sproul, ibid. pp 234-35

eleutheria – Freedom and Liberties

Fifteen years earlier [AD 49], at the time of the Council of Jerusalem, James writes in his Epistle:

Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom.

James 2:12 CSB

And in his first epistle to the Church Peter had already written:

Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves.

1 Peter 2:16 CSB

AND NOW THE APOSTLE WARNS:

Although these false teachers promise such people freedom, they themselves are enslaved to immorality. For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.

2 Peter 2:19 New English Translation

And what of Popes and false Prophets?

Whether all creatures in the time of Noah — the entire city of Sodom in which we live — the evangelical landscape of all-inclusive gods — speaking to wavering believers,

Does one walk sandalless in the error of Balaam?

The Apostle Peter warns every saint of the Lord Jesus Christ:

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome,

the last state has become worse for them than the first.

For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

2 Peter 2:20-21 ESV

Peter is not finished with his warnings against these pernicious preachers yet to come and corrupt the Church. The Apostle of the Son of the One God — speaks through the Holy Spirit of disobedient angels and false prophets as irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed.

AND, of those in the church who listen to false doctrine and are led astray, the Apostle writes:

For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

2 Peter 2:21 RSV
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Have YOU escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? 
```
NEXT: a Steadfast Purpose and Day of the Lord

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
December 2, 2025