Page 20 - Pastoral Epistles I & 2 Timothy, Titus

18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made
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about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a
good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the
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faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be
taught not to blaspheme.
God’s truth requires the believer to live responsibly. There are serious consequences for those who turn away
from God’s truth and His calling.

V18. What does it mean to fight the battle well?
The good fight is the struggle all Christians engage in when our efforts are focused on serving God, honoring God,
and accepting responsibility for living lives that reflect personal holiness.
Paul talks about how this was part of his own life in 2 Timothy 4:7.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Look at 1 Timothy 1:20.
20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught
not to blaspheme.
Paul “handed these two men over to Satan.” They were apparently not willing to repent of their sin, and Paul,
therefore, disciplined them and forced them to leave the church.

It is a dangerous practice to allow sin to remain in the lives of the church without asking people to repent. Yet
this discipline is sometimes overlooked in many churches because it is difficult to identify and seems hurtful to
most people who witness the discipline, and yet this is what Paul asked Timothy to do.
Has your church ever used this as a form of discipline, and if so, who would be willing to tell us about it? What
was the sin? How was it accepted by the sinner and by the church?

 The main point of chapter one is: walking in the truth of the Gospel changes people’s lives. Our behavior
changes. We become more involved in the church. And we are more likely to eliminate the sin in our lives.
Many people quickly forget that we are not supposed to compare ourselves to another person – we are to
compare ourselves to Jesus.

I want to know one thing, the way to heaven: how to land safe on that
happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very
end he came from heaven. He has written it down in a book! Oh, give me
that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge

enough for me. Let me be: “A man of one book.”
– John Wesley 1703-1791

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