Based on this passage what is the overall definition or qualification of:

Transcription

1 BUT AS FOR YOU T h e Me ss a g e o f II Tiim oth y L ESSON FOUR: S UFFER FOR THE G OSPEL T EXT Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2:14-26) Based on this passage what is the overall definition or qualification of: Sound Teaching Unsound Teaching E X PLA II Timothy, L4, p. 1

2 NATION Paul now gives the last three of six images in chapter 2 which enlarge on the teaching ministry that Timothy (and by extension we) have been called to. Image Four: The Unashamed Workman (2:14-19) Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." In this image Paul makes three general points: 1) the kind of work that a Christian workman does is teaching; 2) There are two types of workmen (approved and unapproved); 3) The difference between the two is how they handle the word of truth, the good deposit, Scripture (from Stott, p. 66). Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed Timothy, and we, are commanded to present ourselves as approved or tried and true teachers (recall that we all teach people about Christianity based on our lives even if we don t formally teach as elders). The chief qualification for being approved is that we are rightly handling the word of truth or more literally cutting straight the bible. The Greek word ορθοτοµεω (orthotomeo) envisions the prospect of building a road that cuts straight through the countryside. Our teaching is to both accurate and plain, correct and easy to follow. It should keep the main thing the main thing. In contrast to the approved workman is the unapproved workman who is prone to quarrel about words and there by to have..swerved from the truth. Examples are give of Hymenaeus and Phileteus who have seriously contradicted Paul s teaching (cf. Acts 17:32). Paul changes tack here slightly since swerved (αστοχεω) is take from an archery context meaning to miss the target. Unapproved workmen miss the target of the truth of the gospel, the good deposit. Stott notes the relationship of the two images for the workman, The word of truth is a target. As he shoots at it, he will either hit it or miss it. The word of truth is a road. As he cuts this road through the forest, he will make it either straight or crooked. As a result of what he does, that is how he teaches, other are bound to be affected, for better or for worse. (p. 68) The result of missing the mark of truth is disastrous, it only ruins the hearers and will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. It leads people away from God and it poisons the body of Christ, the community of believers. How well are you doing at being an approved workman? Where do you sense you need to learn how to cut it straight or hit the target more? Image Five: The Clean Vessel (2:20-22) Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the II Timothy, L4, p. 2

3 master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Paul now introduces his fifth image relating to how the gospel is to be not just guarded but also passed on to others. In order to pass it on (and to have it received), one must be a clean vessel. Paul begins, now in a great house referring to Christ s household, the visible church, there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. So who are the gold and sliver/honorable/ cleansed vessels and who are the wood and clay/dishonorable/dirty vessels? In light of the context it seems best to interpret these with a view toward teachers and the content of their message. An approved workman, an honorable vessel of gold and silver is someone who is taking care to get the message correct, a true teacher. An ashamed workman, a dishonorable vessel of wood or clay is someone who has departed from the true, pure message of the gospel. Paul intrinsically links the state of our teaching with the state of our moral conduct, of our lives. In order to be cleansed and thus set aside as useful and ready to serve, we must not only hold on to the correct teachings intellectually, but put them into practice in our lives. Paul uses two contrasting images of flee[ing] youthful passions and pursue[ing] righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Both of these verbs are present active imperatives which means that the fleeing and the pursuing which are commanded are to be of the sort that characterize an ongoing lifestyle. We are to lead a lifestyle of fleeing and pursuing, to be constantly doing the. The words themselves are visceral, flee as one would from imminent physical danger, pursue in the same way that pursuers chase those that they are seeking to persecute. They are strong words. The point here is more than mere moralism teach the right things and do the right things. It is impossible to actually teach the gospel correctly if that same gospel is not working in one s own life. We are not called to help people know about Christ, but rather to actually know Christ better. There is no way to introduce people to someone that we don t know well, whom we don t understand. Correct teaching, i.e. a correct understanding of the gospel, is by definition only correct as it works itself out in our lives. What do you need to be fleeing more energetically? (overt sins, but also more subtle sins of legalism and idolatry are included) What do you need to be pursuing more passionately? (receiving Christ s righteousness, trusting more/receiving more from Christ by means of faith, seeing God s love for your which allows you pass this same love to others, the sense of peace that comes from resting on Christ alone for both forgiveness and our righteousness instead of our works; are we pursuing a lifestyle of repentance?) What has the most dramatic influence, either positive or negative, on your fleeing or pursuing? Image Six: The Lord s Household Slave/Servant (2:23-26) Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. II Timothy, L4, p. 3

4 Like the Master we serve, our conduct as his household servant should mirror him. Although we must interact with those who promote error and false doctrine, our response is not subject to the sort of rancor which is seen public debates. Paul s instruct to have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies seems to beg a larger question, what exactly are these controversies to be avoided? Clearly Paul doesn t mean for Timothy or us to refrain from all controversy since guarding and passing on the good deposit and contending for the truth (4:7) will at times put us at odds with society, and perhaps even at times with others in the church who would misinterpret or minimize the gospel (cf. Galatians 2:11-14 when Paul disputes Peter). The larger context of the word used here (ζητησις) for controversies gives us the idea of useless speculation, or in Calvin s phrase, quarrelsome speculation. It is the kind of quarrelsome speculation which is foolhard, unprofitable, uninformed and which leads to groundless doctrines. Stott rightly suggests that these controversies arise when we forsake revelation (Scripture) as the basis for our doctrine, or seek to move beyond what Scripture has to say and thus rely on speculation (cf. Stott, p. 77). In this case, the result is not a greater appreciation of God and his work, or being transformed by the renewing of our minds, but rather the type of controversy that leads to irrelevant issues becoming major issues of contention. In contrast, the one who serves the Master as a servant in his household must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. The Master himself is the model, unwilling to crush a bruised read or snuff out a smoking wick (cf. Mt. 12:20), he nonetheless contended for the truth even in the face of intense opposition. In doing so he displayed these characteristics and now calls upon us to do likewise. See Stott, p. 80 for a good summation of how the images work together. How does the message we are to pass on (the gospel) impact the manner in which we are to pass it on? (how well do you do at guarding the truth while loving those who oppose your message?) T IMOTHY S CHALLENGE ( AND!) AND O URS!) Take some time with your small group to choose one of the questions sections and discuss your responses. T HINGS TO REMEMBER Paul, languishing in a Roman dungeon awaiting his final trial which will lead to his execution, is writing to his beloved spiritual son Timothy. Timothy had traveled with Paul for about 15 years and had been sent as the pastor/bishop to Ephesus, a strong church that had fallen on hard times. Paul s charge to Timothy is Paul s last letter in the NT. II Timothy, L4, p. 4

5 Chapter 1 Reminding us of our need for strong, spiritually centered relationships, Paul opens his letter greeting Timothy as his beloved child and reminds Timothy of his spiritual heritage through is mother and grandmother. Paul exhorts Timothy to use the gift of the Holy Spirit constantly and to great effect in carrying out h is duties. Doing this will entail or result in: o Not being ashamed of the gospel o Suffering for the gospel E x t e n d e d e x p l a n a t i o n o f t h e g o s p e l o Following the sound teaching of the gospel o Guarding the purity of the gospel Paul concludes the chapter by citing the example of Phygelus and Hermogenes who have turned away from the gospel demonstrating that it can happen. He also cites Onesiphorus as an example of one who has held on to the gospel as seen in his aid and comfort to Paul. Chapter 2 Paul further instructs Timothy that in contrast to those who have fallen away he must be strengthened by God so that he can pass on the gospel that he is to guard (follow, and suffer for) to future elders, who will also teach others. Doing this will require that Timothy be single -minded even in the face of danger (soldier), that he discipline himself according the principles of the gospel (athlete) and that he be patient and diligent knowing that growth takes time (farmer). Paul then cites examples for how to pass on the gospel from Christ s life (his person and his work) where there is power, his own life as Paul continues to serve and preach the gospel, and the common experience of believers as we experience God s care and steadfastness toward us. II Timothy, L4, p. 5