Page 75 - Pastoral Epistles I & 2 Timothy, Titus

All pastors need to read and reread 2 Timothy.

We need to lay a solid foundation so that you will not burn out or drop out of the race.
2 Timothy 2:1-26.

2 Timothy 1:15. You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me.

Chapter one ended with Paul telling Timothy that everyone in Asia had deserted him. In 1:16, Paul says that
someone named Onesiphorus and his family remained faithful, but everyone else is gone. Now, Paul is urging
young Timothy that he must be strong 2:1. But this is difficult to do when you begin to realize that everyone
around you has given up. It is as if Paul is saying … never mind what other people may be thinking or saying … or
doing. Never mind that you yourself may feel weak or shy or in danger. I need you to be strong and do the work
God has called you to do.

How can we be strong in grace? We are strong in grace when we trust in Jesus and His power instead of trying
to live for Christ in our strength.

Paul reminds Timothy and us that suffering hardships is just a normal part of what it means to be a soldier for
Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:8-13. Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is
8
my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s
9
10
word is not chained. Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may
obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
12
11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we
13
will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains
faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Let’s look at a phrase Paul uses in 10.
10 Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation
that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

Paul means that through his sufferings in preaching the gospel, many people would come to
salvation and inherit the eternal glory that is in Christ Jesus.
Many Christians get nervous when they hear the word “elect” and try to minimize or explain
away its meaning. Paul easily could have said, “I do all things for the sake of those who will
believe,” but that is not what he said. If we believe that the very words of Scripture are inspired,
we must deal with why he said, “the elect.”
John 3:27. A person can receive only what is given to them from heaven.
1 Corinthians 2:14. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the
Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are
discerned only through the Spirit.
Matthew 13:11. He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has
been given to you, but not to them.

73