Giving the truth to others
2
📚You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.2 📚And the things you have heard from me with many witnesses present, those same things entrust to faithful men 📖 who will be able to teach others also.
2:2 This is the way God has planned for His truth to spread throughout the earth. Paul taught Timothy (2 Tim 1:13); Timothy was to teach others and they, in turn, would teach still others. Compare Matt 28:19-20.⚜
3 illustrations encouraging hard and faithful work
3 📚You, therefore, endure hardship 📖 as a good soldier 📖 of Jesus Christ. 4 📚No man that goes to war entangles 📖 himself in the affairs of civilian life, that he may please the one who has chosen him to be a soldier. 5 📚Also if a person competes in athletic contests 📖, he does not gain the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. 6 📚The hardworking farmer must be the first to get a share of the crop.
2:6 1 Cor 9:10; Gal 6:9; John 4:36; Ps 126:5-6. Paul’s emphasis here is on “hardworking”. Compare 1 Cor 15:58.⚜
7 📚Consider what I say. May the Lord give you understanding in all things.
The gospel Paul preached and why he suffered for it
8 📚Remember 📖 that Jesus Christ, among the descendants of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel 📖, 9 📚for which I suffer trouble, as if I were a criminal, even to the point of chains. But the word of God is not chained.
2:9 See 2 Tim 1:12. This is one error in thinking (among many) that opponents of the gospel believe. They think they can bind God’s Word by locking up God’s servants, or destroy the gospel by destroying them. Actually by such methods they are often unwitting instruments for the spread of the gospel (Phil 1:12-14; Acts 8:3-4). Striking a seed-bearing plant scatters the seed.⚜
10 📚So I endure everything for the sake of God’s chosen 📖 ones, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory 📖.
2:10 Paul (an example set forth by God for us) did not live for himself or face sufferings for his own sake, but for Christ. Compare 1 Cor 9:19-23; 10:33—11:1; Acts 20:24.⚜
A trustworthy saying
11 📚This is a faithful saying:
For if we died with him 📖,
we will also live with him.
12 📚If we endure 📖,
we will also reign 📖 with him.
If we deny him, he will deny 📖 us also.
13 📚If we are faithless, he remains faithful;
Useless and dangerous teaching
he cannot deny himself.
14 📚Remind them of these things, and solemnly declare in the presence of the Lord that they must not quarrel about words 📖, which is useless and ruins those who hear it.
2:14 Here are two duties of a pastor or teacher – reminding and warning. The people of God need both Acts 20:31; Rom 15:15; 1 Cor 4:14; 15:1; Gal 5:21; 2 Thess 3:15; 2 Pet 1:12-13, 15; 2 Pet 3:1.⚜
15 📚Make every effort to show yourself approved 📖 to God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed 📖, using the word of truth 📖 rightly 📖.
2:15 Here is excellent instruction for every preacher, pastor, evangelist, or teacher.⚜
16 📚But avoid profane, empty babblings, for they will result in more ungodliness.
17 📚And their teaching will spread like gangrene 📖. Among these are Hymenaeus and Philetus. 18 📚They have veered away from the truth 📖, saying that the resurrection has already taken place. And they upset 📖 the faith of some. 19 📚Nevertheless the foundation of God stands firm, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his 📖”; and, “Let everyone who utters the name of Christ keep away from wickedness”.
2:19 Whatever false teachers may do they will not be able to destroy Christ’s true Church or His people. God knows how to keep the foundation firm and His people believing (Matt 16:18; Luke 22:31, 33; 1 Pet 1:4-5; 2 Pet 2:9).⚜
Different kinds of vessels
20 📚But in a large house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some valuable and some of no value. 21 📚So if a person cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a valuable vessel, sanctified, and useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.
2:20-21 In the visible church in the world there are different kinds of people. Some belong to the Lord, and He knows who they are. Some do not belong to Him, and He knows who they are too (compare Matt 13:24-30, 36-43, 47-50). Here Paul compares these two kinds of people to two kinds of vessels or articles in a house. Compare Rom 9:21. Paul in the preceding verses has been speaking of false teachers and the need to turn away from wickedness. False teachers and those who practice wickedness in the church are like dishonorable vessels. God’s true people must have nothing to do with them (2 Tim 3:5). If we want to be the kind of honorable “vessels” God wants us to be, we must do what He tells us in this verse. If we do not, we are in danger of being corrupted – 1 Cor 15:33.⚜
Things to flee or avoid
22 📚Also flee from youthful cravings, but follow righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart 📖.
2:22 See 1 Tim 6:11; 2 Pet 1:3-9. There are some things we should flee as from a great danger. Others we should pursue. Some evil desires are very strong in young men. The best way to deal with them is to stay clear away from opportunities to satisfy them, and to flee if they appear.⚜
23 📚But avoid foolish and ignorant debates, knowing that they engender quarrels.
2:23 Verses 14,16. God’s servants should never allow themselves to be distracted from their main task and should not engage in quarreling at all.⚜
24 📚And the servant of the Lord must not quarrel 📖, but be kind to everyone, able to teach 📖, and patient 📖.
Satan’s terrible power
25 📚He should humbly 📖 instruct those who oppose him, hoping that perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them into a knowledge of the truth, 26 📚and that they may wake up 📖 and escape from the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.