Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. (II TImothy 2:1-5, KJV)
Paul begins the second chapter with the conjunction “Therefore.” In doing this, he is telling TImothy to “be strong” because of what he said in Chapter 1. What did Paul say in Chapter 1 that should prompt Timothy to be strong? I see at least three things.
The first is Timothy’s faith and God’s priceless gifts. Immediately after Paul’s salutation, he reminds Timothy of his faith and the upbringing and grounding in God that his faith has given him. “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (II TImothy 1:5-7, KJV) What were those precious gifts? “the spirit of…power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
The second point relates to the circumstances under which Paul was writing the letter. Many scholars believe that Paul wrote this letter to Timothy during his second imprisonment in Rome. Three times in chapter 1, Paul mentions prison, suffering, afflictions or chains: “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;” (II Timothy 1:8, KJV); “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (II Timothy 1:12, KJV); and “The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:” (II Timothy 1:16. KJV). Paul was telling TImothy that because of his faith and service to Christ, he was suffering in ways similar to how Christ suffered. So Paul didn’t want TImothy to be discouraged or get caught off guard,when he was called upon to suffer for Christ’s sake. Suffering for Christ is our reasonable duty since Christ died for us.
The third point is God’s grace that is bestowed not only on Timothy, and Paul, but on everyone who is saved. Paul writes “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:” (I Timothy 1:9&10, KJV). This passage echos the thoughts of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, of which Timothy was the minister.
“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:5-10; KJV)
Our Christian life all comes down to God’s grace, which is wrapped up in Jesus Christ, who through his sinless life, death and resurrection secured our salvation. We need to live strong in that thought. However, it’s not our strength. It is Christ living in us. As Paul said in his letter to the church in Galatia, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, KJV).
Have you ever heard the expression, “the elephant in the room?” In the picture above, you can’t miss the elephant in the room, even though it is upholstered with the same fabric as the curtains hanging at the window. The picket fence in the room would be no hinderance to a real elephant, if that animal wanted to get out of the room. Thus the phrase and the image are obviously meant to be facetious allegories of a situation or truth that many people wish to avoid. The truth of Galatians 2:20 that many people hope to avoid is the idea that we must die to ourselves to partake in the eternal life offered in Christ by grace through faith. The elephant allegory may be facetious, but the truth that stands behind it is sharply and unmistakably real and has devastating consequence for those who avoid the truth in this world. They will not avoid it in the next one.
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