2 Timothy 2

Notes

Ver. 1. Considering therefore the importance of your work, and the danger of mistakes in it or apostasy from it, I beseech you, my dear son in the faith, fellowship, and ministry of the gospel, not to be self-confident, nor to trust in any grace that you have already received; but always to depend on the inexhaustible fund of grace which is treasured up in Christ your Head, and in the full favour of God, residing, manifesting, and exhibiting itself in him, that out of his fulness you may continually receive grace for grace. 2. And, setting out in this strength for every duty, and for propagating the true doctrines of the gospel, which are so abundantly attested by the law and the prophets, and which, in a most public manner, I committed to your trust at your ordination,—take heed that you transmit them pure and uncorrupted to such other ministers as manifest themselves faithful believers, who have the glory of Christ and the welfare of souls at heart, and are furnished with knowledge and utterance, gifts and graces, to dispose and qualify them for explaining, proving, defending, and applying the whole counsel of God to their hearers. 3. And, as your office and work are so honourable, let no difficulties nor dangers discourage you; but, considering your sufferings as lying in the way to victory and triumph, act always with holy resolution, vigour, and courage, like a good soldier, that voluntarily fights in the cause and under the banner of Jesus Christ, who is able and willing to support you under and carry you through all your toils and troubles, and to crown them with everlasting honours. 4. And, to carry on the allusion, you must give yourself wholly to your ministerial work; must not follow any civil calling, unprofitable reading, or unnecessary diversion, to entangle your thoughts or swallow up your time; but your whole time, thoughts, words, and actions must be occupied in the spiritual service of Christ your gracious Lord, that you may acquit yourself agreeably to his will, who has appointed, called, and persuaded you to fight the good fight of faith, till you lay hold on eternal life. 5. And, in allusion to the laws of combatants in the Grecian games, you, who have entered into the service of Christ, must exert yourself, with the utmost labour and diligence, according to the prescriptions of his Word, for overcoming all the opposition of sin, Satan, and the world, as ever you expect that Christ should crown you with a glorious reward. 6. Yea, again, to allude to labourers in a field or vineyard, you must first be laborious in preaching the gospel for the glory of Christ and good of souls, and wait with patience for the coming of the Lord, when you shall abundantly share the fruits of your work. 7. Consider these things seriously, that you may look on yourself as a soldier, combatant, and husbandman in the work of the Lord, and may expect labours and hardships in attending your service, but comfortably hope for a blessed and gracious reward at the end of it. And may the Lord Jesus enable you thoroughly to understand and practise these instructions, and every other thing which concerns you as a Christian or minister of Christ. 8. The grand article which I enjoin you constantly to bear in mind, for your own support and encouragement under your trials and sufferings, and to preach to others for their conversion and establishment in the faith and hope of the gospel, is that Jesus, the anointed Saviour, who, according to the flesh, proceeded from the loins of David the renowned king of Israel, having suffered unto death as a sacrifice for sin, was raised from the dead for our justification, according to those glad tidings of salvation which I have laboured to preach chiefly among Gentile sinners: 9. For the preaching of which I am at present persecuted and restrained as an evil-doer, not fit to live; but thanks be to God, that though I am restrained from preaching the gospel in my wonted manner, yet it is still published far and wide with remarkable success by others, and even confirmed by my patient and joyful sufferings for its sake. 10. And, in view of that which God hath and will do by the ministrations of it, I cheerfully submit to all the distresses which are or can be laid upon me, from a principle of love and zeal for the spiritual and eternal welfare of those whom God has from love called to salvation, through belief of the truth under the power of the Spirit,—that they, encouraged by my example, may be induced to believe, cordially embrace, and boldly profess the truth and excellence of the gospel, notwithstanding the violence and persecution of the times; and may, in this way of God's provision, arrive at the full possession of that eternal blessedness and glory which is secured by and reserved in Christ, and to be enjoyed in immediate fellowship with him. 11. Nor is this doctrine of Christ's death and resurrection, and the future glory of his people, more important than true and comfortable; for if, in conformity to him in his death, and by virtue derived from him, we, in our state of vital union with him, be dead to sin and to this world, and willing to lay down our lives for his sake, we also, in conformity to him, in and by the power of his resurrection, shall certainly be quickened, and raised up to a glorious and eternal life with him in the heavenly state. 12. If we patiently endure reproach and trouble for his sake, as he did for ours, we shall also be exalted to sit with him on his throne, as kings and priests unto God; but if, for fear of losing our worldly honours, ease, wealth, liberty, or life, we, as ashamed of him, renounce our profession of his truth, or give up our Christian practice, he also will be ashamed of us, and publicly profess, before an assembled world of angels and men, that he never knew of nor accounted us his children or servants. 13. And whether we believe these comfortable truths on the one hand, or awful denunciations on the other, he, who is the God that cannot lie, the faithful and true Witness, will certainly perform his gracious promises to all true believers, and execute his just threatenings on apostates. For it is not consistent with the perfections of his nature or will to act contrary to his settled declarations of mercy or judgment.—14. Of these points, so closely connected with the eternal salvation of souls, seriously and solemnly, on the authority and as in the presence of Christ, put them in mind, who are in or may be admitted to the ministerial office; that they may attend to what is really substantial, and not to trifling debates, which tend only to puzzle men's minds, and pervert them from the truth of the gospel. 15. And let it be your constant care to yield and manifest yourself as a faithful and approved servant of God, who has no occasion to be ashamed on account of neglect, unskilfulness, unfaithfulness, or imprudence; but who, with care and judgment, separates between truth and error, things important and trifling; and applies the Word of God to men according to their circumstances; and, by ministration and example, marks out before them the right way of truth, holiness, and happiness. 16. But always avoid and oppose all irreverent, defiling, and noisy, but daring and empty discourses, which degrade the nature or perfections of God, or the purity of the gospel;—for these will gradually render men more and more erroneous and profane; 17. And will, by degrees, infect and, as it were, incurably eat out the whole system of truth, and vitals of religion in the church; as too plainly appears in the case of Hymeneus and Philetus. 18. Who, by such vain babblings, have been carried away from the truths of revelation into the most destructive errors, supposing that whatever Christ, or any of the inspired writers, have spoken of the resurrection of the dead, is to be taken mystically, with respect to some events already past, and not to any resurrection of the bodies of men at the last day; and by their bold and subtle reasonings they have seduced some from the truth which they once professed. 19. But notwithstanding all this, the doctrine of the general resurrection is certainly a fundamental truth of God, sealed by his miraculous approbation of the preachers of it. And notwithstanding such melancholy instances of apostasy, the blessed love and gracious promises of God—and Jesus Christ, as the sure foundation of eternal salvation, and the state and structure of grace built upon him—shall remain firm and unchangeable; plainly manifesting, that whatever becomes of others, the Lord will claim, and for ever keep, through faith unto salvation, those who cling to Christ and by constant watchfulness keep vitally united to him by faith; and that, as holiness and happiness are inseparably connected in the plan, and every step of the execution of it, all such as profess to trust in Christ for eternal happiness must labour in heart and life to keep at the farthest distance from sin. 20. But as in the houses of great men there are vessels of different materials, excellency, and use; so in the visible church there are ministers and professors, some excellent, honourable, and approved of God, and others who are mean, contemptible, dishonourable to and disapproved by him. 21. If any one, who claims a share in the blessings, privileges, and services of the great Lord of the church, keep himself from corrupt teachers, errors, and practices, he will appear formed for the noblest purposes, and purified, consecrated, and qualified by the Holy Ghost for whatever use he may be called to. 22. And if you, Timothy, would approve yourself to God, and to your own conscience, in the discharge of your work, labour diligently, by his grace, to flee from all youthful ambition, self-conceit, rashness, or sensuality, and in your preaching and practice pursue after what relates to righteousness before God and men, faith in and fidelity to Christ, and to God through him, and to a charitable and peaceable temper and carriage towards all those worshippers of him whose hearts are sincere and consciences purified by his blood. 23. But shun, as an infectious plague, all impertinent and fruitless inquiries and debates, knowing for certain that they tend only to beget angry contentions, to the disturbance of the church, and the hindrance of the success of the gospel. 24. It is very unbecoming for any minister of the gospel of peace, or even private Christian, to engage in disputes with a litigious temper of spirit; yea, on the contrary, he ought to be kind and courteous towards all men, conveying the truth into their minds in the most clear and scriptural manner, patiently bearing with their infirmities, and even their prejudices. 25. Endeavouring to win upon the adversaries of truth by softness, calmness, and sweetness of temper, as well as by strength of argument,—in hopes that God, in due time, may convince them of their error, and lead them to embrace and boldly profess the truth as it is in Jesus; 26. And that by these means they may be awakened out of the ensnaring errors and practices by which they had been lulled asleep and intoxicated, and in which Satan had caught and held them fast as captives, to be enslaved, domineered over, and ruined by him, according to his malicious will and pleasure.

Ver. 8. Of the seed of David. Timothy is here specially required to witness for the incarnation of Christ, there being some early heretics, such as the Marcionites and Manichees, who totally denied his human nature.—Was raised from the dead. Here Timothy is required to insist on the resurrection of Christ as the proper evidence of his Godhead power, Ro. 1. 4. C.

Ver. 15. Rightly dividing. Either as a priest divided the sacrifice according to the Mosaic ritual—as a ploughman divided the furrow so as best to promote fruitfulness—or as the master of a feast divided the meat, furnishing to every one according to his age and necessities. C.

Ver. 17. The form of the doctrine here condemned is not precisely known. Still it is evident that these erroneous teachers must have asserted, either, (1) That the resurrection was altogether mental, and was 'past' when men believed; or, (2) That it was altogether personal to Christ, and was 'past' when he arose from the dead; or, (3) That it was altogether emblematical, and was 'past' in the act of baptism. One of these, or perhaps all three forms combined, constituted the error which the apostle here so forcibly condemns. C.

Ver. 21. If a man therefore purge himself from these. That is, from 'strifes about words,' ver. 14, and 'profane and vain babblings,' ver. 16. C.

Ver. 23. Questions originated by men who, however imbued with worldly wisdom, are 'unlearned' in the 'truth as it is in Jesus.' C.

Reflections.—Ministers have need always to depend on, and receive constant supplies from, the inexhaustible grace of Jesus Christ. And transcendent is their encouragement to depend on, confess, and honour him. He is raised from the dead; his purpose, his promise, his love, secure his people's salvation, when, in the most endearing manner, they kindly persuade them to depart from iniquity. They who bravely suffer for him in this world, shall for ever gloriously reign with him in the next; and in the last judgment he will proceed according to his promises and threatenings in his word. With great care and openness ought the gospel ministry to be committed to able and faithful persons. And with what careful disentanglement from secular affairs—what readiness to undergo the hardest labours or sufferings—what deep concern for the eternal salvation of believers—what desire to approve themselves to Christ, as faithful, diligent, and prudent—what zealous avoiding of dangerous errors—what exemplariness in practice—what care, by scriptural arguments and Christian tempers, to convince and reclaim the erroneous or unruly —ought they to begin and persevere in their work! Happy is it if by all these they become instruments of recovering souls out of the hand of the devil! Alas! how few, called ministers, have these things written on their heart, and exemplified in their conduct!