seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Timothy 2:1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 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.
11 Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12 if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
13 if we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
we will also live with him;
12 if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
13 if we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
14 Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,18 who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
This is from the easy English site.Paul urged Timothy to preach the gospel. And he urged him to be ready to suffer for doing so. He writes about his own experience. He preached the good news of Jesus Christ and he had to suffer because of it. He was now in prison and in chains. He had not done any crime. But he suffered as if he were a criminal.
Paul was no longer free but that did not stop the spread of the gospel. No one can bind up the word of God. It is free to go wherever God sends it.
Paul is willing to suffer for the good news. That is because God saves those whom he has chosen by this gospel. So Paul is suffering for them so that they may believe in Christ Jesus.
There were some in that church who argued about words. This was a waste of time and effort. To fight about words can have no value for any one. It is of no use and it does no good. It could so easily be the cause of a split in the church. It could upset and damage the faith of some of the Christians.
This is such a serious matter that Timothy must warn them not to do it. He should look to God as witness to what he tells them. If they continue to fight about words, they will have to account for it to God. He will be their judge.
To argue about words is of no use at all. It is foolish and vain. There is nothing of God in it. It is against the truth of God. The only effect that it can have is to draw people away from the Lord. That is both those who say these things and those who listen to them.
It would be wrong for Timothy to argue with them. He would not be able to convince them to change their minds. He must not get involved with it. He must avoid all such talk.
What the false teachers say is like a disease. The disease spreads sores that eat into the body. What these teachers say is like that. It seems to eat into the minds and hearts of those who accept it. If these false ideas are allowed to spread, they will cause trouble in the church.
Hymenaeus and Philetus are two of the men who speak like this. They were, or had been, members of the church at Ephesus. Paul mentions Hymenaeus in the first letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 1:20). We know nothing about Philetus other than what Paul writes here.
These men have turned from the truth. They teach many things that are not true. Among these things, they say that the resurrection is past. But the Bible teaches that it is still in the future. The Lord Jesus will come again. Then those who have died as believers in him will rise from the dead. God will also raise up the rest of the people. All of them will have to come before God who will be their judge.
These men thought that when they believed they came to life again. They said that this was the resurrection. They did not believe that God would raise people from the dead. They thought that the body would remain in the grave.
Some people believed the errors that these men taught. They too were turning from the truth. The result of this would be that they would no longer trust in the Lord.
This is from bible_studys.org.
He is telling Timothy to seek out later ministers that had begun under his ministry, and encourage them to teach the pure gospel that he had brought. Paul was afraid that many of the doctrines would be affected too badly by the customs of the people who they were ministering to. Paul felt that his converts would follow his teachings better, when they were teaching others.
Paul is saying here, if we choose not to believe, it does not make the gospel any the less the Truth. The gospel is Truth, whether we believe it or not.
Every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God is True. He will keep every promise He has ever made, whether we benefit from it or not. It is our choice to believe and receive the promises, or not believe and be rejected of Him.
This is what I said earlier. Most misunderstandings of the Word of God come from people who have not truly studied the Word of God. The worst thing a person can do is to pick one or two Scriptures out of the Bible and base what you believe on that. Another problem is to just read one writer in the Bible, and base what you believe on his writings.
To avoid strife, do not discuss the Bible with people that do either of these things. They are not well rounded in the Scriptures. A person must study the entire Bible thoroughly too truly understand its meaning.
The Holy Spirit must be your guide as you study the Word to open your understanding. You will never know all there is to know, but this will give you a working knowledge.
Now this one... this chapter... it's a little hard to understand without the back story. As I recall.... There was a political group that wanted to get rid of the Roman occupation of Jerusalem. They saw Jesus drawing huge crowds and they thought He was the answer to their problem..... They figured He would bring together their army and run Rome out. After all Jesus was a descendant of Jacob [Israel] from the line of the great king David. On top of that.... He beat Rome on the cross. They heard that Jesus walked out of the tomb. Lots of citizens reported seeing Him. It was even said that He cooked a fish dinner for his buddies before Ascending into the clouds like Elijah! Everyone knew Elijah was taken up into the clouds... and this guy Jesus did that too. On top of that.... He said He was coming back.... and they took that to mean.... "get ready.... we're going to war!"
There were people who put off their wedding plans. Men were sticking around town waiting.... rather than tending to the flock or working the crops. They were there.... sword and dagger on the ready... waiting on Jesus to return... waiting.... waiting.... waiting....
When Jesus didn't return right away.... they started to give up. They started to put down their sword and dagger and go home.... deflated... depressed.
Now there were a lot of little home churches in all the towns around Jerusalem. The Gospel spread like a good virus throughout the area and a lot of people came to Believe. But when Jesus didn't come back right away... as humans would interpret it.... in their life time..... they started to doubt He would return... and some actually chose to give up. They still had the Spirit inside them..... because they Believed... but they shut it down... thinking it was just high hopes.
Now some of the teachers in some of the outlying area started to change the Gospel so the people would continue to work together. They decided to tell the people that they missed it. That Jesus had come and they had been busy and they missed it. Remember... Jesus did tell them that they should be ready for Him.... that He would "come like a thief in the night". So in order to "help" the new Christians keep the faith.... they twisted the Gospel to fit their needs. Oh Brother.....
So Paul is instructing the young guy, Timothy, to take those morons on. He instructed Timothy to remind them that Jesus gave them a timeline... and He gave them several hints about what would change or how to mark a point in time. One such reminder might have been that a distinct number had not been written on each forehead. According to one of the documentaries.... they were to be reminded of that... the visual signs of the Resurrection were real and would occur.
I will admit.... sometimes it might very well seem that Jesus already came... and I missed it. At times it seems that Jesus might have led the troops against Hitler... after all the descendants of Jacob [Israel] that Hitler slaughtered had been stamped with an individual number. There is also talk about peace agreements in the Middle East... which should be interpreted as a sign... and the current Jerusalem was given back to the descendants of Jacob [Israel] after a world war. Problem is... it's the breaking of an agreement... not the establishment of the agreement... followed by an earthquake that makes the rocks sing out.... and they haven't happened yet. It's easy to give up.... and they were battling a huge Roman occupation.... it would have been easy for them to just decide to close down that Spirit when Jesus didn't return on their timeline.
God sculpted each and every one of us. He counted the hairs on our heads. He controls time... so while He was sculpting us He could look to the last chapter of our story.... He knew how each of us would end our story. He knew that I would be an old woman in front of a computer on this day... with some online Bible chapters, some online commentary... and a big head. He knew I would be sitting here this morning.... He knows how my story will end even though I really don't have a clue. Unlike Santa Claus who has to rely on what we did..... God knows what we will do. God knows if we will stay on the path... or if we will wander. God knows if we will accept the nudge to put us back on the right path. He's not hiding anything from us.... He's just letting us decide how our own story goes.... but He's God... and He knows what we're going to do.... and how all the changes we make will work out.
My cousin's wife is a thumper.... she has a whole bunch of stored up scripture she has been dying to use on someone. Recently, during a social media discussion on the differences in our political belief... she started to get "holier than thou" with Hubby. She's from North Carolina.... a Franklin Graham convert.... I'm more a Billy Graham convert [for comparison purposes]. She started to go to the Biblical reasons she chose her party.... and demanded to know... "have you ever read the Bible? Do you not even have a clue what it says"...... Social Media... being social... is open for everyone... and when she said that.... I posted "I do!!!!" and I haven't heard from her since.
I've been working on bringing the Gospel to hubby for almost 36 years.... I'm not about to let someone bring a perverted mess into the argument., confusing everything. I wonder... how many times has this woman knowingly or unknowingly twisted the words of the Bible to fit the conversation?
Paul warned Timothy that some people would twist the Gospel to make it fit their situation.... and it was up to Timothy to keep that from happening...
Timothy had to be ready to untwist it.
