II Timothy 2, God's Grace

 

II Timothy 2 God’s Grace

God worked through the many teachers in the early church, protecting His message so that it did not get changed as it was passed from person to person, from one generation to the next. The early believers had no written New Testament, but they depended on the spoken gospel message as it was taught to them by others. The process is called mentoring, and through it God’s message is taught to people who in turn will teach others. Although Paul was nearing the end of this earthly life, his ministry would continue because he mentored Timothy. Eventually Timothy would die too, so he would need to commit the message to “faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” In that way, the message would move across the world and across the centuries. We are believers today because faithful people have been teaching others, so the message continues. God has given us that responsibility.

Paul warned Timothy that false teachers would attempt to distort the gospel message. The best weapon against false teaching is the truth of God’s word, in the hands of diligent workers who have no need to be ashamed of it or their handling of it. Believers who are “rightly dividing the word of truth” know God’s Word have not changed from Timothy’s Day to today. We ought to diligently study the Bible so that we can know and share its truths with others correctly.

Paul explained that believers have a responsibility to be pure. No matter what a person’s past, God will forgive. Once someone believes, the Holy Spirit enters their life to help them deal with the continual temptations of the sinful nature. Some situations are more tempting for a person than others are, and in such cases the believer’s best resource may simply be to flee. The “youthful lusts” here are not just sexual desires, although these are included. The area of temptation that causes us the most difficulty may be the one from which we must simply run. God is not dishonored when we flee temptation. He is dishonored when we give in.

Paul taught Timothy how to deal with those who oppose the church. The same goes for parents who are dealing with “opposing children. Timothy was not to give up on them, and parents should not give up on their contrary children, because they don’t know “if God will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth. We must entrust our rebellious children to God.

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

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Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible. Through the Bible by J. Vernon McGee.