Category: 2 Timothy

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

My point here is to focus on the word “all.”

While the Bible was written a book at a time, over a very long period, it has amazing continuity. Genesis through Esther is the chronological history of God’s Old Testament people and introduces is to them and the grace by which they became God’s family. They reveal the blessings and responsibilities of that status. The poetry books (Job through the Song of Solomon) speak to how we live as the people of God – how we handle trouble, how we worship, and how we love. The prophets (Isaiah – Malachi) urge God’s people to faithfulness and promise a time when the family of God will be open to everyone – not just Israel – an opportunity God Himself would make possible. The Gospels show God working to make this blessing possible in the story of Jesus and the book of Acts shows how it all came to pass. The letter literature encourages God’s people to live up to their calling, and, like the prophets of the Old Testament, point to the struggle of early Christians to do so. The final book of the Bible again speaks of this struggle, but also reveals the blessings of victory.

Of course, throughout the narrative there are more points than I have mentioned here, but you see, all the Bible fits together as a cohesive whole, and that’s why I encourage everyone to read the Bible through – every year. You can’t see the big picture and marvel at the divine mosaic of God’s revelation if you aren’t getting acquainted with the whole book. As Bible scholar Keith Stanglin writes: “Only when readers have been permeated with biblical literature will they be able to see the intertextual connections in Scripture and then be able to make the connections to the faith and life of the church.”

If you’ve never read the Bible through, today is a good day to begin. Four chapters a day (less than 20 minutes) will get you through by the end of January next year. If you have trouble, come back to this blog. You will find information on nearly every chapter of the Bible here – as well as summaries and outlines of every book.

Mike Tune

“Preach the Word!”

Those three words inform us that there is something concrete, not open to conjecture or emendation, comprising the Christian message. It’s not the only text. In other texts Paul refers to that body of teaching as “the truth” (Romans 1:18,25; 2:8) and elsewhere refers to a teaching that can be perverted and defended. It is also called “the gospel,” a message comprising much more than the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus but covering also how Christians ought to conduct their lives (Philippians 1:27).

It is that message, with the hope it offers mankind, that has occupied the bulk of Paul’s life and for which now, at the end of this letter, he is suffering so much. He senses the end is at hand – and he will be right. It has been a difficult road, but I think the disappointments he has faced will be nothing compared to the one awaiting him if Timothy, for whom he cares like no one else on earth, abandons the faith.

It is a real possibility.

And yet, no matter the disappointments – as bad as they are and will be – it has all been worth it. A crown of righteousness and the heavenly kingdom await.

This last letter of Paul’s is a reminder that no matter what happens here, the story is not over. God will have the last word, and our hope extends to that day when he will say: “well done.”

“Preach the Word!”

Those three words inform us that there is something concrete, not open to conjecture or emendation, comprising the Christian message. It’s not the only text. In other texts Paul refers to that body of teaching as “the truth” (Romans 1:18,25; 2:8) and elsewhere refers to a teaching that can be perverted and defended. It is also called “the gospel,” a message comprising much more than the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus but covering also how Christians ought to conduct their lives (Philippians 1:27).

It is that message, with the hope it offers mankind, that has occupied the bulk of Paul’s life and for which now, at the end of this letter, he is suffering so much. He senses the end is at hand – and he will be right. It has been a difficult road, but I think the disappointments he has faced will be nothing compared to the one awaiting him if Timothy, for whom he cares like no one else on earth, abandons the faith.

It is a real possibility.

And yet, no matter the disappointments – as bad as they are and will be – it has all been worth it. A crown of righteousness and the heavenly kingdom await.

This last letter of Paul’s is a reminder that no matter what happens here, the story is not over. God will have the last word, and our hope extends to that day when he will say: “well done.”

I read 2 Timothy with a degree of sadness and hope. Timothy has been Paul’s “right arm” for two decades. In 1 Timothy, we find him in spiritual trouble. By the second letter, he is even more so.
To think that someone like Timothy, who has been such a faith builder to others, could, himself, have a crisis of faith is astounding – so much so that commentators routinely ignore this obvious context. But it’s there.

What could have led him so far astray?

“Crisis” for a start. Here is Paul, his mentor, who, though an incredibly successful missionary, bears the scars of decades of deprivation, opposition, and persecution. Even now, he sits in an underground hole in Rome awaiting execution. How can God allow this and if God allows it for Paul, what might he allow for Timothy?

“Distraction” is another cause. Often Christians get so balled up in minor matters of polity that, on realizing their error, they find the whole process of serving God just too elementary. Surely there is more to Christianity than this!

There is also “fear.” Timothy and Paul have given their lives to the spread of the gospel and nurturing faith in others. All it’s gotten Paul is execution. When their contemporaries have embraced Christianity, gotten on with their lives, and probably worry little about getting old or how they will live when they can no longer work, Timothy likely has little material security to show for a lifetime of effort. What’s to happen to him?

Then one final thing: “age.” Did you wonder in the reading about 2:22? “Flee the evil desires of youth”?

I’ve written earlier that Timothy was no kid. He’s a more than middle aged man, going through everything that middle aged men go through. We want to be younger, recapture that vibrancy and excitement of our youth. It’s why we get those hair plugs, try those “skinny jeans,” flirt with younger women, and buy Corvettes (ok, we buy Corvettes because we can finally afford them, but come on, they’re really a young man’s car).

But there’s hope. Paul believed it for Timothy. He prayed it for him.

I want to believe Timothy pulled through, that Paul was right, and I find fulfillment in a text we will read later, probably written by Luke in Hebrews (yes, I kinda think Luke wrote Hebrews) in 13:23. “I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.” By the grace of God, Timothy pulled out of his funk. There’s hope for us all.