2Ti 1:2 I am writing to Timothy, my dear son. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.
2Ti 1:3 Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.
2Ti 1:4 I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.
2Ti 1:5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.
2Ti 1:6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.
2Ti 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:1-7
1:1 Paul introduces himself at the outset of the Letter as an apostle of Jesus Christ. He had been commissioned to special service by the glorified Lord. This appointment was not by men or through men, but directly through the will of God. Also, Paul speaks of his apostleship as being according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. God has made a promise that all who believe in Christ Jesus will receive eternal life. Paul's call to be an apostle was in harmony with this promise. In fact, if there had been no such promise, there would have been no need of an apostle like Paul.
As Vine puts it: “It was according to the divine purpose that life, which was in Christ Jesus in the eternal past, should be given to us. It was consistent with this purpose that Paul should become an apostle.”
V. Paul Flint expounds the five references to life in this Epistle as 2Ti 1:1, the promise of life; 2Ti 1:10, the presentation of life; 2Ti 2:11, the participation of life; 2Ti 3:12, the pattern of life; and 2Ti 4:1, the purpose of life.
1:2 Timothy is addressed as a beloved son. It cannot be definitely proved that Timothy was actually converted through the ministry of Paul. Their first recorded meeting is found in Act 16:1 where Timothy is described as already being a disciple before Paul came to Lystra. At any rate, the apostle looked on him as a beloved son in the Christian faith.
As in 1 Timothy, Paul's greeting consists of grace, mercy, and peace. It was pointed out in the commentary on 1 Timothy that when writing to churches, Paul characteristically wishes for them grace and peace. When writing to Timothy, he adds the word mercy. Guy King has suggested that grace is needed for every service, mercy for every failure, and peace for every circumstance. Someone else has said, “Grace to the worthless, mercy to the helpless, and peace to the restless.” Hiebert defines mercy as “the self-moved, spontaneous loving kindness of God which causes Him to deal in compassion and tender affection with the miserable and distressed.”
These blessings flow from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Here is another instance where Paul honors the Son just as he honors the Father.
1:3 In his characteristic style, Paul next breaks into thanksgiving. As we read this, we should remember that he was writing from a Roman dungeon. He had been imprisoned for preaching the gospel and was now treated as a common criminal. The Christian faith was being actively suppressed by the Roman government, and many believers had already been put to death. In spite of all these adverse circumstances, Paul can begin his Letter to Timothy with the words, “I thank God!”
The apostle was now serving God with a pure conscience, as his Jewish forefathers had done. Although his forebears were not Christians, they were believers in the living God. They worshiped Him and sought to serve Him. They held “the hope and resurrection of the dead,” as Paul pointed out in Act 23:6. That is why he could further say, in Act 26:6-7 a: “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. To this promise [of resurrection] our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain.”
Thus Paul could speak of his service for the Lord as being according to the example of his ancestors. The word he uses for serve refers to loyalty and allegiance. He acknowledged the true God.
Next Paul speaks of his unceasing remembrance of Timothy in his prayers, night and day. Whenever the great apostle spoke to the Lord in prayer, he would be reminded of his beloved, young co-worker and would bring his name before the Throne of Grace. Paul knew that his own time of service was rapidly drawing to a close. He knew that Timothy would be left alone, humanly speaking, to carry on his witness for Christ. He knew of the difficulties that would face him, and so he prayed continually for this young warrior of the faith.
1:4 How it must have touched Timothy's heart to read these words! The Apostle Paul had what Moule called a “home-sick yearning” to see him. This was certainly a mark of special love and esteem, and it speaks eloquently of the graciousness, tenderness, and humility of Paul.
Perhaps it was the last time they parted that Timothy broke down. His tears had made a deep impression on his elder co-worker. Hiebert suggests it was when Paul had been “torn from him” by the police or Roman soldiers. Paul could not forget, and now he longs to be with Timothy again so that he might be filled with joy. He does not rebuke Timothy for those tears, as though they were unmanly, or as though there was no place for emotions in Christianity. J. H. Jowett used to say: “Tearless hearts can never be heralds of the passion. When our sympathy loses its pang, we can no longer be the servants of the passion.”
1:5 In some way or other, Paul had been reminded of Timothy's genuine faith. His faith was sincere, true, and did not wear a mask.
But Timothy was not the first in his family to be saved. Apparently, his Jewish grandmother Lois had heard the good news of salvation and accepted the Lord Jesus as Messiah. And her daughter Eunice, also a Jewess (Act 16:1), had become a Christian. In this way, Timothy had come to learn the great truths of the Christian faith, and he represented the third generation in that family to trust the Savior. Nothing is said in the Scriptures as to whether Timothy's father was ever converted.
Although salvation cannot be inherited from believing parents, it certainly is true that there is a household principle in the Scriptures. It appears that God loves to save entire families. It is not His will that there should be a missing member.
Notice that faith is said to have dwelt in Lois and Eunice. It was not there as an occasional visitor, but as an abiding presence with them. Paul was persuaded that that was the case with Timothy also. It was a genuine faith that Timothy would maintain in spite of all the trials which he might have to face in connection with it.
1:6 Because of his godly family background and his own faith, Timothy is urged to stir up the gift of God which is in him. We are not told what the gift of God is. Some take it to mean the Holy Spirit. Others understand it to mean a special ability conferred by the Lord for some form of Christian service, for instance, the gift of an evangelist, pastor, or teacher. It seems clear that Timothy had been called into Christian service and had been given some special enablement. Here he is encouraged to kindle the gift into a living flame. He should not become discouraged by the general failure around him. Neither should he become professional in his service for the Lord and lapse into a comfortable routine. Rather, he should be concerned to use his gift more and more as the days grow darker and darker.
This gift was in Timothy through the laying on of the apostle's hands. This is not to be confused with the ordination service which is practiced in clerical circles today. This means exactly what it says—that the gift was actually given to Timothy at the moment Paul laid his hands upon him. The apostle was the channel by which the gift was conferred.
The question will immediately arise, “Does this take place today?” The answer is that it does not. The power to confer a gift by the laying on of hands was given to Paul as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Since we do not have apostles in that same sense today, we no longer have the power to perform apostolic miracles.
This verse should be studied in connection with 1Ti 1:18 and 1Ti 4:14. Putting these three verses together, we find that the following is the order of events, as expressed by Vine. By prophetic utterance, Paul was guided to Timothy as one raised up for special service. By the formal act on the apostle's part, the Lord bestowed a gift on Timothy. The elders recognized what the Lord had done by laying on their hands. The latter action was not an act of ordination, conferring a gift or ecclesiastical position.
Or, as Stock summarizes, “The gift came ‘through’ Paul's hands, but ‘with’ the presbyters' hands.”
1:7 Facing martyrdom himself, Paul takes time out to remind Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of fear or cowardice. There is no time for fearfulness or timidity.
But God has given us a spirit of power. Unlimited strength is at our disposal. Through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, the believer can serve valiantly, endure patiently, suffer triumphantly, and, if need be, die gloriously.
God has also given us a spirit of love. It is our love for God that casts out fear and makes us willing to give ourselves for Christ, whatever the cost may be. It is our love for our fellow men that makes us willing to endure all kinds of persecutions and repay them with kindness.
Finally, God has given us a spirit of a sound mind, or discipline. The words a sound mind do not completely convey the thought. They might suggest that a Christian should be sane at all times, free from nervous breakdowns or other mental ailments. This verse has often been misused to teach that a Christian who is living close to the Lord could never be afflicted with any kind of mental ills. That is not a scriptural teaching. Many mental ills can be traced to inherited weaknesses. Many others may be the result of some physical condition not connected in any way with the person's spiritual life.
What this verse is teaching is that God has given us a spirit of self-control or self-mastery. We are to use discretion and not to act rashly, hastily, or foolishly. No matter how adverse our circumstances, we should maintain balanced judgment and act soberly.
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