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
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.)
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.
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