Recently I spent a number of weeks studying 2 Timothy in anticipation of teaching an overview of the book to an equipping class at our church. Being very familiar with this letter from Paul after many, many readings and after much meditation, I was pleasantly surprised to find several passages that caught my attention and made me dig a little deeper. I will devote several blogs to these studies and meditations.

This meditation will be more a theological study and here we are focusing on the doctrine of election that is prevalent in many of Paul’s epistles and is expressed here implicitly in 2 Timothy 2:9-10, where Paul says, “I suffer hardship for the gospel even to imprisonment as a criminal . . . For this reason I endure all (these) things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.” In other words, Paul was willing to endure any God-given hardship in order to preach the gospel to those who were chosen (eklektos), so that they would obtain salvation and spend eternity in glory in heaven.

THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION STATED

Briefly stated, the doctrine of election says that God, according to His own purpose and for His own glory, has, before the foundation of the world, chosen particular individuals for eternal salvation. Those God has chosen, and only those God has chosen, will certainly be saved and will certainly come to faith in Jesus and repentance from sin. God’s election of these individuals in eternity past is not conditioned on any action of these individuals or of any merit in them whatsoever but is conditioned only upon God’s free choice and His divine decree. While this election is a perfectly free choice of God, he has nevertheless ordained means whereby those people who are elect will come to faith in Christ and to repentance toward sin. The primary means for the salvation of the elect is the proclamation of the gospel.

It needs to be observed that Paul introduces no new doctrinal teaching in 2 Timothy, but this epistle is full of teaching and exhortation that flows from previous teaching in Paul’s other letters. Since election is a frequent theme of Paul’s letters, so 2 Timothy has election as an underlying theme. Thus election or “the chosen” is what we are studying here in 2 Timothy 2.

OBSERVATIONS

Careful observation of 2 Timothy 2:9-10 will reveal that the following doctrines are taught here in these verses:

• Because the world opposes Christ, preaching the gospel may result in stiff and often venomous resistance, including real hardship and suffering (“I endure all things”);
• There is a time in the life of the elect/chosen when they have not obtained salvation. (Note that Paul preaches the gospel so that the elect may obtain Obviously, they do not yet have what Paul is hoping they will obtain.)
• Salvation is not universal but is obtained only by the elect. This is obvious from the fact that the elect is a smaller group than the whole of mankind. Paul endures, not for everyone, but “for the sake of those who are elect.” Since there is a group that is elect, there is also a group that is not.
• Paul’s labor and perseverance in the gospel are maintained so that those whom God has chosen for salvation will hear the gospel and be saved. While Paul does not know, when he proclaims the gospel, which specific people in his hearing are elect, he knows without a doubt that God has chosen some people for salvation and that, by proclaiming the gospel, God may allow some of the elect to obtain salvation.
• All those who obtain salvation in Christ Jesus also receive eternal glory and will forever be in eternal glory. Therefore, when someone obtains salvation, they are at that moment guaranteed to be in eternal glory forever.
• Preaching the gospel is the primary means for allowing the elect to obtain salvation.

APPLICATION

The main application of this doctrine of election is to embolden our evangelism. We can be bold because we can be confident that God has chosen some people for salvation and that those people will be drawn by the gospel preached. Our proclamation is not in vain, for we know that there are some who will hear and believe. Therefore, we present Christ and Him crucified as the only means of salvation for sinners and as the only possible rescue from the wrath of God and we do so boldly and faithfully until all the elect have been called to faith.

SDG       rmb       1/27/2018

Recently I spent a number of weeks studying 2 Timothy in anticipation of teaching an overview of the book to an equipping class at our church. Being very familiar with this letter from Paul after many, many readings and after much meditation, I was pleasantly surprised to find several passages that caught my attention and made me dig a little deeper. I will devote several blogs to these studies and meditations.

In this writing I want to consider a major theme of 2 Timothy that appears over and over again in this epistle; namely, the theme of suffering for the gospel. Paul exhorts Timothy that he is to “join with me in suffering for the gospel” and in several places Paul urges him to “suffer hardship.” Perhaps the most jarring of the apostle’s exhortations in this regard is the one that comes in chapter 3, verse 12: “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” It is apparent that Paul fully expected Timothy to suffer greatly as he discharged his gospel ministry and he wants to prepare Timothy for the rigors of suffering and persecution. “Forewarned is forearmed,” so to speak. And so Paul pulls no punches as he declares to Timothy the very real perils of this most glorious of labors.

Of course, this is nothing new for the reader of the New Testament. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself had made it clear that His followers would be hated in this world even as He had been hated and rejected by this world. The book of Acts is full of the hardships, opposition and martyrdom that was experienced by the early disciples and there is no reason to think that persecution and suffering will diminish in this fallen and pagan world. As the world is proceeding from bad to worse, so the persecutions of believers will become more intense as this evil age unravels.

But what I wanted to consider is the huge disparity in the suffering that one part of the Body of Christ endures when compared to another part of the Body. Indeed, all believers will not be called to suffer the same hardships nor will they be persecuted in the same way or with the same intensity. Some will be called on to suffer greatly for the gospel and to endure withering persecutions for their faith in Jesus, while others will be called to a life of relatively light suffering, of easily bearable persecutions and of relatively pleasant circumstances. The church in India or China or Nigeria or Sudan suffers greatly while the church in America enjoys freedom and lives relatively free from any real persecution. I cannot understand why this is (Psalm 131), but the Lord knows and He is the one who ordains all these things and determines who will suffer and die for the gospel and who will believe with ease.

But all believers have made the same commitment to Jesus Christ. All believers have declared that there is no hardship and there is no persecution, indeed there is no circumstance that can arise in the life of a believer that will stop them from following Jesus. This is what it means to be a Christian, an unconditional commitment to Jesus. Our Savior has conquered death for us (“abolished death . . .” 2 Timothy1:10) and our task is to follow Him to the end NO MATTER THE PATH. Wherever He leads, we will follow, regardless and no matter. We will persevere to the end.

“It is the one who endures to the end who will be saved.” Matthew 10:22

SDG       rmb       1/24/2018

Recently I spent a number of weeks studying 2 Timothy in anticipation of teaching an overview of the book to an equipping class at our church. Being very familiar with this letter from Paul after many, many readings and after much meditation, I was pleasantly surprised to find several passages that caught my attention and made me dig a little deeper. I will devote several blogs to these studies and meditations.

“I have fought the good fight; I have finished the couerse; I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

Here we have what could be an appropriate epitaph for Paul, a summary of his life and ministry. In this blog I want to focus on the phrase, “I have finished the course.” Paul is getting ready to enter eternity, to lay aside his earthly tent and to go home to be with the Lord forever. In this process of preparing to leave earth for heaven, he assesses what he accomplished and how well he ran. In his evaluation and reflection, he declares that he has finished the race.

Now what does Paul mean by this expression and what exactly does he have in mind? What has distinguished his life from that of anyone else who has come to the place of dying? Don’t we all eventually finish our races and then enter eternity? What is significant about Paul and his departure?

If what Paul means by “I finished the course” is simply that he has arrived at the graveside (so to speak) and now it is time for him to die, then there would have been no significance to his statement at. We all eventually reach the end and cross the finish, so why does Paul express a satisfaction in a life lived to the full and lived to the end?

Paul means much more by this expression, “I have finished the course” than simply saying he has crossed the finish line like everyone else. Paul is talking about a life of accomplishment in the most important of all earthly endeavors. the spread of the gospel. His efforts have “resulted in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed . . . so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum he has fully preached the gospel of Christ.” (Romans 15:18-19) A huge swath of humanity has heard and responded to the gospel of salvation because of Paul’s life. He has labored “so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24) The Lord Jesus Himself has given Paul his assignment and as a steward of the gospel, Paul had labored with all his might to be faithful to that divine calling. Now the finish line is in sight. Soon his labors will cease and heaven will be his reward. Soon all opportunity for fruitful labor (Phil. 1:22) will be past and he will know his Savior’s rest.

So by “I have finished the course,” Paul means “I have completed the course the Lord laid out for me and all my work is done. I have accomplished what the Lord gave me to do. My duties are all fully discharged and my assignments are all turned in. I can already hear the Master saying to me, ‘Well done!’ “

The first application from this passage is that Paul gives us an example of how to finish well. Paul is not content with an earthly retirement and a few years of leisure before entering eternity. Rather Paul is determined to press toward the prize with all his might as long as he has breath and to breast the tape at full speed. Surely every believer should be seeking to be useful until their final breath and should run hard until the end.

I believe the second application here is that, since we do not know when our last breath will come, we should always be striving to finish our work, to accomplish our assignment and to be ready to go home. Do not waste time, but use your time to be more useful to the Kingdom and to Christ and seek to make a greater and greater impact for the Lord, so that, regardless of when you are called home, you will leave a thirty-fold, sixty-fold, hundred-fold fruit for those who follow.

Then you can joyously say with Paul, “I have finished the course.”

SDG       rmb       1/23/2018

In thinking about the religion of Catholicism, it occurred to me that all religion feeds pride or shame, depending on which side of the teeter-totter a person sits. Some people are prone to shame, and so a religion will bury them in deeper shame by showing them how they fail to keep their religious duties and how they are inherently covered with shame. Other people are more prone to the sin of pride and so use the religion to justify their feelings of superiority.

And this is in keeping with the design of religion. For it must be acknowledged that religions are designed by Satan to use the fallen flesh to destroy people and to trap them in a performance cycle that fuels the sin of pride – “I am better than you because I am more religious than you” – or that crushes with the misery of shame – “I am worthless because my religion tells me I am worthless.”

So there are those who are filled with pride and there are those that are filled with shame, but there is a third group that is probably the majority group, that bounces between shame and pride depending upon their circumstances and on who is around them; for it must be acknowledged that pride is most often puffed up shame. Pride is often a defense mechanism for feelings of shame and inferiority. Pride is very often a disguise, a costume worn by those who feel deeply flawed in their brokenness.

So what is the antidote? How can a broken human being trapped in a religious cage ever break free from shame and pride?

Can you hear the promises and the proclamations of Scripture?

“Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36

“It is for freedom that Christ set you free.” Galatians 5:1

“Surely I am Your servant . . . You have loosed my bonds.” Psalm 116:16

Christ is the answer! Christ is the One who removes sin and shame and death. Christ is the Savior. Christ is the liberator. The shackles are broken in Christ!

Confess your sin to the Lord (Psalm 32:5; 1 John 1:9) and acknowledge your iniquity and your guilt and your shame. Cry out to the Lord and ask for His mercy (Luke 18:9-14) and He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:6-7) and remove your sin and guilt and shame. The act of confession demolishes your pride, for you are acknowledging your sin and accepting your condemnation. But crying out to the Lord removes your guilt and your shame, for the Lord will forgive all those who trust in Jesus Christ and who call to Him for His mercy and grace.  It is against the Lord that you have sinned (Psalm 51:4) and so it is from the Lord you must receive forgiveness. It is sin that has brought your shame (Genesis 3:7, 8 – Adam and Eve make fig leaves for themselves to hide the shame of their nakedness and they hide from the Lord to escape His judging gaze), and the only way to remove the shame is to remove the sin. It is sin that has separated you from the Lord (Isaiah 59:1-2) and you can only be reconciled to the Lord if your sin is removed.

And the only way that sin can ever be removed is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. By faith in the Lord, your sins will be removed from you as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12) and your sins the Lord will remember no more (Jeremiah 31:34).

Religion will give you an endless cycle of works and will lead to shame or pride, but will never set you free; but faith in Christ crushes arrogant pride and replaces it with humility and relieves the burden of shame and replaces it with adoption into God’s family as an heir with Christ. Religion, whether Catholicism or Hinduism or Islam or Judaism or another one, dooms you to shame and pride, but Christ brings you joy and peace and hope.

Therefore, confess and cry out to the Lord and repent of your sin. Come to Christ.

SDG       rmb       1/8/2018