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2 Timothy

While 2 Timothy also refers to the false teachers and urges sound doctrine, the focus is almost entirely on Timothy. Timothy is the man! Paul’s writing here is intensely personal. It is his last will and testament, “written,” as Calvin said, “not merely in ink but in Paul’s life blood.”[1] Passion and urgency ooze from Paul’s pen as he addresses Timothy. The purpose of the letter is to charge Timothy to persevere in the ministry of the gospel—to fill the apostle’s immense gospel sandals. Paul will urge Timothy in various verses to “fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Timothy 1:6 ESV), to “guard the good deposit” (2 Timothy 1:14 ESV), and to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2 ESV).[2]

1. David W. Torrence and Thomas F. Torrence, ed., 1st and 2nd Timothy, Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. 10 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964), p. 289.

2. Gordon D. Fee, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1984), pp. 13, 14.

—R. Kent Hughes  

Source: Content taken from 1-2 Timothy and Titus: To Guard the Deposit © 2012 by R. Kent Hughes and Bryan Chapell. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

The second letter to Timothy is the most personal of the three [pastoral epistles (1-2 Timothy, Titus)]; it claims to be the apostle’s farewell message to Timothy shortly before his anticipated execution (2 Timothy 1:1; 2:2; 3:14; 4:1, 6). In addition, he recalls Timothy’s tears, the faith and ministry of his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:4), and his personal knowledge of the apostle’s teaching, lifestyle, and sufferings (2 Timothy 3:10). He begs Timothy twice to come to him, especially before winter will make the navigation impossible (2 Timothy 4:9, 21). He then mentions no fewer than seventeen friends by name, adding either news of them or requests or greetings to them.

—John R. W. Stott

Source: Stott, John. The Message of 2 Timothy. The Bible Speaks Today. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021.

The “last days” in Scripture refer to the final period of redemptive history that began with Jesus’ first coming and will extend until his return (Acts 2:17; Hebrews 1:2). This is a time of increased opposition and ungodliness (2 Peter 3:3), as well as gospel advance among all nations (Isaiah 2:2–5). Paul reminds Timothy, “In the last days there will come times of difficulty” (2 Timothy 3:1 ESV), which recalls his similar teaching concerning “later times” in 1 Timothy 4:1. Timothy must be spiritually alert and remember that those who oppose the truth will not ultimately prevail (2 Timothy 3:9).

—Brian Tabb

Source: Content taken from 1–2 Timothy and Titus: A 12-Week Study © 2017 by Brian Tabb. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Paul had come to serve God with “a clear conscience.” There were times, of course, when his conscience convicted him of sin, and he had to confess it. But overall as he looked at his life, he had “a clear conscience.” This was essential in Paul’s having “fought the good fight” (cf. 2 Timothy 4:7 ESV). In his first letter he had advised Timothy to “wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander” (1 Timothy 1:18–20 ESV; cf. 1 Timothy 6:12). Hymenaeus and Alexander had violated their consciences in respect to the faith they claimed to have, and so they became apostates. They ignored the flashing lights of conscience as they departed from the Word and shipwrecked their souls. But Paul kept “a clear conscience” in respect to the faith of his forefathers. This is invaluably instructive! The old warrior is chained in a dripping, winter-cold dungeon awaiting the executioner’s axe, and as he surveys his life—his conversion and then the kaleidoscope of sermons preached, shipwrecks, confrontations, deliverances, stonings, beatings, and victories—his conscience is absolutely clear. There is no guilt, no weight of unresolved sins, nothing to confess. He has been true to the gospel and his calling. He was not sinless, but he was blameless, and he was faithful. 

—R. Kent Hughes 

Source: Content taken from 1-2 Timothy and Titus: To Guard the Deposit © 2012 by R. Kent Hughes and Bryan Chapell. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

In 1 Timothy, Paul in effect says, “Guard the doctrine, which is our message from God”—in 2 Timothy, Paul in effect says, “Guard the testimony, which is our life from God.” In 1 Timothy, Paul seems to say, “Shoulder arms! Polish the metal! Ammunition ready!”—in 2 Timothy Paul seems to say, “Onward march! Face front, shoulders square, keep step with our leader, who is Christ!”

The walk is as necessary as the weapon. The sons of Samuel Wilberforce, a great nineteenth-century British pastor, said of their father, “After a while father gave up preparing his discourses and simply prepared himself.” Diligently guard your witness.

–Henrietta Mears

Source: This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The vice list in 2 Timothy 3:2-4 includes several references to misplaced or disordered love. Paul says that people will be “lovers of self, lovers of money,” and “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (ESV). At its root, sin is preferring or loving something created by God more than God himself. It is not sinful for people to desire to be happy or to meet their own needs. Self-love refers to selfishness or narcissism, when self-interest trumps all, when self becomes a god. The love of money is materialism, making money and possessions into a god. Money is useful, but it makes a terrible master, leaving its subjects devastated and empty in the end (1 Timothy 6:9–10, 17–19). “Lovers of pleasure” are hedonists who seek to gratify their physical cravings for sex, food, or the latest buzz at all costs. Such people “serve their own appetites,” and “their god is their belly” (Romans 16:18; Philippians 3:19 ESV). God created us to love, enjoy, and admire him forever. No substitute god—self, money, or pleasure—can satisfy our deepest longings.

—Brian Tabb

Source: Content taken from 1–2 Timothy and Titus: A 12-Week Study © 2017 by Brian Tabb. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

If you sense that God is calling you to do something far beyond your natural capabilities, you can take heart from Timothy’s life. In truth, God always calls us to minister beyond our natural endowments, no matter how great they are. You may be naturally eloquent, but your giftedness will never be sufficient to preach the Word. You may be merciful by nature, but that is not enough to be able to live out the full call of God to be merciful. Take heart! God’s call is always too great for us to do by ourselves. But if he calls you, he will equip and enable you to do it. 

—R. Kent Hughes 

Source: Content taken from 1-2 Timothy and Titus: To Guard the Deposit © 2012 by R. Kent Hughes and Bryan Chapell. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.