hotcoffee
New Member
2 Timothy 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
The plain English commentary says:
Paul served and worshipped God. In this, he followed what his ancestors had done. As Jews, they had worshipped and served the one true God. He does not regard the worship of God by the Jews as bad. But it is not complete because they do not believe in the Lord Jesus.
Before he believed in Christ, Paul had a clean conscience. He believed that he was doing what God wanted him to do. He tried to keep all of the law of God. He did much that was wrong. But he did not know then that it was wrong. Now he knows the Lord Jesus and he has repented of all those acts.
When Paul prays to God, he always prays for Timothy. It was his habit to pray to the Lord at night and in the morning.
Before he believed in Christ, Paul had a clean conscience. He believed that he was doing what God wanted him to do. He tried to keep all of the law of God. He did much that was wrong. But he did not know then that it was wrong. Now he knows the Lord Jesus and he has repented of all those acts.
When Paul prays to God, he always prays for Timothy. It was his habit to pray to the Lord at night and in the morning.
I've been thinking about Paul's imprisonment. Before meeting Jesus, Paul took great pride in killing Christians. That was his mission. He saw them a dangerous because [like idol worshipers] they believed in something different than the pure Jewish faith. At that time, he didn't think of Christianity as the completing of the work, he saw it as a perversion.
Paul visited the powers that were in Rome at the time, and procured permission to go out and rid the world of the Christians. He gave his word that if he was granted this power to kill, he would do it. Then, in their eyes, he defected and joined the Christians. That's why he was imprisoned and that's why he figured they were going to kill him.
Now he was in a cold damp prison. There was no yard time. There was no television to take his mind off of his circumstances. He was, for all he knew, on death row.
He was thinking about the good people he knew and the good things he had done. No doubt Timothy had responded to the first letter [1 Timothy]. Paul was responding to his letter and this time instead of telling Timothy to stay in Ephesus, he was looking forward to seeing Timothy.
