2 Timothy 1:6 - Meaning and Application

Paul gives Timothy a reminder here and urges him to do his duty. Even the best people need reminders, because we all need to be stirred up about what we already know. Peter says the same thing when he writes to awaken pure minds by reminding them (2 Peter 3:1).

Paul first tells Timothy to stir up the gift of God that was in him. This is like poking the fire under the ashes so it burns again. The gift here means all the gifts and graces God had given Timothy to fit him for the work of an evangelist, including the special gifts of the Holy Spirit given through the laying on of the apostle’s hands. Timothy had to use those gifts, because gifts grow through use. “To the one who has, more will be given” (Matthew 25:29). The best way to increase such gifts is to use every chance to exercise them. Whether this gift was ordinary or extraordinary, and Paul seems to mean the latter, it would fade if Timothy did not stir it up.

Paul also seems to distinguish this from Timothy’s ordination, which was done by the hands of the presbytery, or church elders (1 Timothy 4:14). It is likely that Timothy received the Holy Spirit’s extraordinary gifts through Paul’s laying on of hands, and then was later ordained by the elders for ministry. The main thing that hinders usefulness and growth in our gifts is slavish fear. That is why Paul warns Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). Fear made the worthless servant bury his talent instead of using it (Matthew 25:25).

God has often told his people not to fear. Do not fear human faces. Do not fear the dangers that come with obedience. Instead, God has given a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. A sound mind means a calm, steady, sensible mind. The spirit of power gives courage and strength to face trouble. The spirit of love, love for God, carries us through resistance, just as Jacob endured hard labor for Rachel. Love for God lifts us above fear of people and whatever harm they can do. The spirit of a sound mind helps us resist the fears our own imaginations create.

This is the kind of spirit God gives his ministers, not a fearful one. It is a spirit of power, because they speak in the name of the One who has all power in heaven and on earth. It is a spirit of love, because love for God and for people’s souls should warm every part of their service. It is a spirit of a sound mind, because they speak words of truth and sobriety.

Paul then tells Timothy to expect suffering and get ready for it. “Do not be ashamed,” he says, “of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner” (2 Timothy 1:8). The gospel of Christ is nothing to be ashamed of. Neither are those who suffer for it. Timothy must not be ashamed of Paul, even though Paul is now in chains. He must not be afraid to stand with sufferers for Christ, even if he himself is not yet suffering.

The gospel is the testimony of our Lord, because through it Christ testifies about himself to us, and when we hold to it, we testify for him. Paul is called the Lord’s prisoner, meaning he is bound for Christ’s sake (Ephesians 4:1). We have no reason to be ashamed of either Christ’s testimony or his prisoners. If we are ashamed of them now, Christ will be ashamed of us later. So Timothy must share in the sufferings of the gospel, according to the power of God. That means he should expect suffering for the gospel’s sake, prepare for it, and be willing to take his place with suffering believers in this world.

He should not only sympathize with those who suffer for the gospel, but be ready to suffer with them. When the gospel itself is under pressure, anyone who hopes for life and salvation through it should be willing to suffer with it. We are best able to bear afflictions when we draw strength from God to face them. All Christians, and especially ministers, must expect persecution because of the gospel. And God will measure the trials to the strength he gives, as he promises in 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Paul then reminds Timothy what great things God has done for us through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:9, 10). This encourages him to suffer for it. The first reason is the nature of the gospel itself, with its glorious and gracious purpose. Paul often pauses when he speaks of Christ and the gospel, because his heart is so full of them. They are our salvation, and they should be our deepest desire.

The gospel is meant to save us. “He has saved us,” Paul says, speaking of God’s certain purpose, even though the full work is still being completed. God speaks of things not yet finished as though they already were (Romans 4:17). The gospel is also meant to make us holy. God called us with a holy calling, a call to holiness. Christianity itself is a holy calling. Everyone who will be saved later is being made holy now. When the gospel truly works in a person, it makes that person holy.

Its source is the free grace and eternal purpose of God in Christ Jesus. If salvation had been earned, it would be hard to suffer for it. But since it is given by grace and not by our works, we should not think suffering for it is too much. This grace was given to us before the world began, meaning in God’s eternal plan. It came in Christ Jesus, because every gift God gives sinful people comes through Christ.

The gospel is also the open showing of that purpose and grace. It came by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who had been with the Father from eternity and fully knew all his gracious plans. Through Christ’s appearing, those gracious purposes were made clear to us.

Did Jesus Christ suffer for this, and should we think it too much to suffer for it? By the gospel of Christ, death is destroyed. He has not only weakened death, but removed its power over us. By taking away sin, he has broken death’s sting, because “the sting of death is sin” (1 Corinthians 15:56). He has changed death’s place and power. What was once an enemy has become a servant, the doorway through which believers leave a troubled, sinful world and enter a world of perfect peace and purity.

Death no longer triumphs over those who believe the gospel. Instead, they triumph over death. So we can say, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). Christ has also brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. He has shown us the next world more clearly than it had been shown before, and he has revealed the blessed reward that follows obedience and faith. He has not only placed this hope before us, but offered it to us in the gospel.

We should value the gospel more than ever because it reveals life and immortality. In this, it stands above all earlier revelations. It is the gospel of life and immortality, because it shows them to us, leads us in the right way toward them, and gives strong reasons to seek glory, honor, and immortality.

Consider Paul’s example (2 Timothy 1:11, 12). He was appointed to preach the gospel, especially to teach the Gentiles, the non-Jewish nations. He thought it was worth suffering for, and Timothy should think so too. No one needs to be afraid or ashamed to suffer for the gospel. Paul says, “I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day.”

Good people often suffer many things for the best cause in the world, in Paul’s case, for preaching and holding to the gospel. They do not need to be ashamed, because their cause will stand for them. Those who oppose it will be covered with shame. Those who trust in Christ know whom they have trusted. Paul speaks with holy confidence, as if to say, “I stand on firm ground. I have placed a great trust in the hands of the best keeper.”

What should we commit to Christ? We should commit the salvation of our souls and their safe keeping for the heavenly kingdom. Whatever we place in his hands, he will keep. A day is coming when our souls will be called for. Then it will be asked, “What did you do with the soul committed to you? Did you offer it to God or Satan? Did you use it in sin’s service or in Christ’s service?” That will be a solemn day, when we must give an account of our stewardship (Luke 16:2), and also an account of our souls. If we commit our souls to Jesus Christ in active, obedient faith, we may be sure he is able to keep them, and they will be ready for our comfort on that day.

He then urges Timothy to hold fast to the pattern of sound words (2 Timothy 1:13). This may mean a short summary of the faith, a catechism, or a brief outline of Christian truth drawn from Scripture. Or, more fully, it may mean the holy Scriptures themselves. Having received them, Timothy must hold them firmly, remember them, and stay faithful to them. He must stand against all false teaching that corrupts the Christian faith. He is to hold fast what he heard from Paul.

Paul was inspired by God, so it is good to hold tightly to the sound words we have in Scripture, because we know they are God’s own words. This is sound teaching that cannot be rightly condemned (Titus 2:8). But we must hold it fast in faith and love. That means we must accept it as true and welcome it as something worth full acceptance. We must store it in a good heart, as in a safe chest. God’s word is like treasure hidden in the heart (Psalm 119:11).

Faith and love belong together. It is not enough to agree with sound teaching. We must also love it, believe its truth, and love its goodness. We should also pass it on in love, speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Faith and love are “in Christ Jesus.” Christian faith and love fasten on Jesus Christ, through whom God speaks to us and we speak to God.

Timothy, as a minister, must hold fast to the pattern of sound words for the good of others. The phrase may also be understood as “healing words,” because God’s word has power to heal. He sent his word and healed them. The same thought appears in (2 Timothy 1:14): “That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”

That good thing is the pattern of sound words, the Christian doctrine committed to Timothy in his baptism and early teaching as a Christian, and again in his ordination as a minister. The Christian doctrine is a trust placed in us. It is entrusted to Christians in general, and to ministers in particular. It is a very good thing, of priceless worth in itself and of great benefit to us. It is a precious treasure, because it reveals the unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8).

It is given to us to keep pure and complete, and to pass on to those who come after us. We must preserve it and not help to weaken its purity, lessen its power, or reduce its fullness. We are to keep it by the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Even those who have been well taught cannot hold on to what they have learned without the help of the Holy Spirit. We must not trust our own strength, but keep the truth by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit lives in all true ministers and believers. They are his temples, and he enables them to keep the gospel pure and uncorrupted. Yet they must still use their best efforts. The Spirit’s help does not cancel human responsibility. The two work together very well.