2 Timothy 1: Encouragements & Exhortations

[Preliminary Note: The reader is encouraged to note the many specific things that Paul exhorts Timothy to do throughout this letter, some very specific, some indirect. Note the reasons behind encouragements as well as the number of times he warns about coping with opposition. It is a very realistic letter.]

[Chapter 1 Synopsis: Encouragement for Timothy through Paul praying for him, and an exhortation to stir up his gift and hold onto the gospel]

• v.1-2 Greetings
• v.3-5 Paul praying for Timothy
• v.6-14 Appeal to Adhere to his Calling
• v.15-18 Contrasting Examples of Disloyalty and Loyalty

v.1-2 Greetings

v.1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

v.2 To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

[Note: Paul the apostle called by God, to his young protégé Timothy.]

v.3-5 Paul praying for Timothy

[Passage Synopsis: praying for Timothy is a joyful experience as he remembers him and his family]

v.3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

v.4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.

v.5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

[Note: He thanks God for Timothy whenever he prays and remembers all about him joyfully, including his godly family.]

v.6-14 Appeal to Timothy to adhere to his Calling

[Passage Synopsis: boldly fire up God’s gift in you, even though suffering, that’s the gospel from the beginning of creation, so hold on to the gospel, guard it with the Spirit’s help]

v.6-8 Exhortations to Timothy

v.6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

v.7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

v.8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

[Note: So stir up God’s gift in you, the Spirit wants you bold …and not ashamed.]

v.9-12 This is God’s masterplan and why Paul is as he is

v.9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

v.10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

v.11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.

v.12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

[Note: According to His own plan from before the world began, now revealed in Jesus, God calls us to holy living; this is the gospel Paul was given, and which is why he was suffering as he was – but He will keep him.

v.13,14 More exhortations to Timothy

v.13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.

v.14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

[Note: So what I shared with you, hold on to, hold on to it with the help of the Spirit.]

v.15-18 Contrasting Examples of Disloyalty and Loyalty

[Passage Synopsis: most left me in Asia, but not Onesiphorus]

v.15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

v.16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.

v.17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me.

v.18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.

[Note: You know I was abandoned … though not by all.]

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: