Daily Bread 2010 - 2 Timothy 3
Paul's Charge to Timothy
10You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Here is another classical passage from Paul, as he makes his final charge to his you protégé Timothy. In the beginning of chapter 3, Paul describes that in the last days there will be: those who are lovers of money, boastful, proud, disobedient, lovers of pleasure rather than God. And we see much hasn’t changed over 20 centuries. But Paul lays out the type of life Timothy should lead.
Paul makes a bold statement that everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. In order to stand up against this persecution, Paul tells Timothy to continue in what he has learned and become “convinced of”. I love that term “convinced of”, as it says that Timothy has experienced the power of God and freedom that comes when we are obedient to Him. As we experience the joy and freedom of the life God has for us in Christ, we become convinced that it is the only way to live. It is only as we experience this, will we want to convince others to have this same kind of life.
In Timothy’s case, he was convinced of this way of life from a very young age. Paul says from “infancy”, that he had known the Holy Scriptures. We know through another passage this was through the influence of his mother and grandmother. Paul then gives us a very valuable passage in regard to the purpose of the Scriptures. He says the primary purpose of the Scriptures (lit “graphos” referring in this case to the Old Testament body of sacred writings if you would like to read further on what this meant see this link http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/25/25-4/25-4-pp479-487_JETS.pdf) Is to make us wise unto salvation. And we see this is the primary purpose of both the OT and NT to lead us into relationship with God through Christ.
Dear Jesus as we seek to live lives that reflect whose we are in the Gospel, give us the full conviction of Your Holy Spirit as we listen and obey your still, small voice. Help us to continue in what we have learned from those who have passed on the faith to us, and begin to think of who we might likewise be a faith mentor for as you lead and guide us to live a life worthy of our calling. In Your Name we pray, Amen.
10You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Here is another classical passage from Paul, as he makes his final charge to his you protégé Timothy. In the beginning of chapter 3, Paul describes that in the last days there will be: those who are lovers of money, boastful, proud, disobedient, lovers of pleasure rather than God. And we see much hasn’t changed over 20 centuries. But Paul lays out the type of life Timothy should lead.
Paul makes a bold statement that everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. In order to stand up against this persecution, Paul tells Timothy to continue in what he has learned and become “convinced of”. I love that term “convinced of”, as it says that Timothy has experienced the power of God and freedom that comes when we are obedient to Him. As we experience the joy and freedom of the life God has for us in Christ, we become convinced that it is the only way to live. It is only as we experience this, will we want to convince others to have this same kind of life.
In Timothy’s case, he was convinced of this way of life from a very young age. Paul says from “infancy”, that he had known the Holy Scriptures. We know through another passage this was through the influence of his mother and grandmother. Paul then gives us a very valuable passage in regard to the purpose of the Scriptures. He says the primary purpose of the Scriptures (lit “graphos” referring in this case to the Old Testament body of sacred writings if you would like to read further on what this meant see this link http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/25/25-4/25-4-pp479-487_JETS.pdf) Is to make us wise unto salvation. And we see this is the primary purpose of both the OT and NT to lead us into relationship with God through Christ.
Dear Jesus as we seek to live lives that reflect whose we are in the Gospel, give us the full conviction of Your Holy Spirit as we listen and obey your still, small voice. Help us to continue in what we have learned from those who have passed on the faith to us, and begin to think of who we might likewise be a faith mentor for as you lead and guide us to live a life worthy of our calling. In Your Name we pray, Amen.
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