I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 2 Timothy 4:1–2: (ESV)
Second Timothy is a letter from the Apostle Paul to a younger pastor. The letter represents what may have been Paul’s last words to Timothy before being martyred in Rome, although Paul asks Timothy to come and visit him. Seeing as Paul knows his death is imminent, the letter is emotionally charged. Paul the mentor has basic instructions for his mentee, Timothy, regarding how he should spend his life while Paul recognizes that his is already spent. Paul’s life is over, but the goals and principles that motivated his life continue without him, and Timothy must keep the torch.
The Big Idea of 2 Timothy
The big idea of Second Timothy may be stated as follows: Keep the Faith as I have. This is the summary charge that Paul gives Timothy, although there is much content behind it.
An Outline of 2 Timothy
1:1-18: Don’t Be Ashamed of the Gospel
In the first chapter, Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel. He opens by describing his gratitude to God for Timothy’s sincere faith, shared with his mother and grandmother, that has resulted in a gift from God that needs to be fanned into flame. Despite Paul’s sufferings, there is no need to be ashamed. Timothy must follow Paul’s teaching and not get sidetracked by the difficulties, including personal betrayal by some of Paul’s traveling companions.
2:1-26: Be Strengthened and Approved
Paul exhorts Timothy to be strengthened in grace in chapter two. Timothy must work hard and enlist others to multiply his efforts. It is essential to remember Jesus Christ. He makes all the suffering in ministry worth it. People need to be reminded of God’s faithfulness and charged not to get into conflict about pointless or untrue things. For Timothy to be prepared for good ministry, he must devote himself to God and avoid those things which would disqualify him from being used by God as a pastor to lead His people.
3:1-17: Continue Growing Toward Perfection
As time goes on, sinners will continue to sin, but Timothy must continue in what he has heard, learned, and received from Paul. Rather than cultivating only the appearance of godliness and becoming disqualified regarding the faith, Timothy must continue to recur to Scripture as God’s resource for him to be made complete and equipped for every good work.
4:1-22: Fulfill Your Ministry
As he finishes the letter, Paul makes an emotionally charged appeal to Timothy to fulfill his ministry. This means that Timothy must preach the word. He must be ready at all times and in all places. People will not always want to give a hearing, but Timothy must do it anyway. Paul will be gone soon, and Timothy must continue the same work that Paul has taught him to do. Timothy should come visit Paul soon if at all possible since only Luke is with him, with the rest having left for various reasons. Paul expresses confidence all the way to the end of the letter in Jesus Christ and his power to bring Paul safely into his kingdom. In the meantime, Paul wants to see Timothy and send greetings to other beloved saints.
Benefits of 2 Timothy
Second Timothy has often been referred to as Paul's last words. Indeed, Paul makes clear that he expects to die soon (2 Tim. 4:6). Therefore, Paul seems most concerned that Timothy has clear instructions for how to go about the ministry in which Paul installed him at Ephesus.
One feature of Second Timothy that stands out is Paul’s concern with the future over against the present. So much of what may derail Timothy in his ministry lies in placing more emphasis on the immediate future than on Christ’s future appearing. The future looms large in Paul’s perspective. Paul wanted to bring it to bear on Timothy and we should feel the same weight ourselves. How often do we find ourselves distracted from what is really important by things that, in the final analysis, are not? We are in constant danger of being fooled by the urgent to treat it as important. But the most important things are those that have the most profound and long-lasting consequences. That is why Paul is concerned for Timothy to look out for himself and his people. He must pursue and preserve sound doctrine, integrity, wisdom, and faithfulness, and he must lead others to do the same.
A quick calculation reveals that we are the 83rd generation since the time of Paul and Timothy.[1] That number strikes me as surprisingly low. The word of God has been passed down from mouth to ear, on down through the generations to our own time. Is keeping the faith any less urgent or important today as it was then? I submit that it is not. It clearly is not. We have learned and become convinced of the doctrine and practice that have been passed to us. We know from whom we learned it. Whatever circuitous route it may have taken, we also know just like Timothy that the sacred writings are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. We, too, have been shown that all Scripture is inspired and profitable so that we might be complete and equipped for every good work.
Our generation will end soon enough. Another is already rising to take our place. Will we be faithful to entrust what we have learned to those who come after, or will the Lord have to work in spite of our faithfulness rather than through it? May God see fit to work through us rather than in spite of us. May we all who have heard and learned Christ be faithful and diligent to pass the same things to the generation coming after us, so that they too may become, by God’s grace, lovers of God rather than lovers of self.
[1] This calculation assumes that a generation is defined by the time it takes for a person to go from infancy to elderly status, about 70 years.