That They Also May Obtain Salvation Which is in Christ Jesus

Paul’s admonition to Timothy is very much applicable to our lives today. Paul tells Timothy, the circumstances of your life are not the most important thing. The strife and constant wrangling, the drama that some people seem to thrive on, is not the most important thing. All of this is secondary to this one thing, “that they also may obtain salvation which is in Christ Jesus”. Everything is for this purpose, salvation in Christ Jesus as Paul said in

1 Timothy 2:3–6 “This is good and acceptable before God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and human beings, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself a ransom for all, the testimony at the proper time”

Fight the Good Fight of The Faith

1 Timothy 6:11–16
Paul turns from talking about false teachers who he describes in

1 Timothy 6:4b-5 “from which come envy, strife, slanders, evil suspicions, constant wrangling by people of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who consider godliness to be a means of gain”.

which is a section we often read over because everyone knows 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all evil …”.

But, if we can get past “the love of money”, Paul says:

“But you, O man of God”, “pursue”, “fight”, “take hold”, “I command you”, in

1 Timothy 6:11–14 But you, O man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patient endurance, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I command you, in the sight of God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you observe the commandment without fault, irreproachable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Rather than being overcome and worn down by the strife, and slanders, and constant wrangling, we are to overcome, we are to stand and “fight the good fight of faith”. Or as Paul also wrote in

Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Be Rich in Good Works

1 Timothy 6:17–19
In the world, people want to have “riches”, but in 1 Timothy 6:19 “what is truly life” is in the satisfaction of doing good. Are you able to have faith in God? Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:17 “put … hope … in God, who provides us all things richly for enjoyment” and in

1 Timothy 6:18 to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, sharing freely,

Guard What Has Been Entrusted to You

1 Timothy 6:20–21
We live in a age where knowledge is increasing at an ever faster pace, yet, what eternal value does it have?

1 Timothy 6:20 “Turn away from pointless empty talk and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge”

or as Paul said in

1 Corinthians 2:2,5 For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 5 in order that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Rekindle the Gift of God That is in You

2 Timothy 1:1–7
Paul reminds Timothy of his heritage. Faith in Timothy’s family began in 2 Timothy 1:5 “which lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice”.

We all may wish to have had that storybook perfect family, but it doesn’t often happen in our generation that we reach our adulthood with both parents living and serving God. And, this was so with Timothy where his mother, “Eunice—(was) a believing Jewess; but his father was a Greek, that is, a heathen (Ac 16:1). The faith of the one parent sanctified the child (2 Ti 3:15; 1 Co 7:14). She was probably converted at Paul’s first visit to Lystra (Ac 14:6)”.¹

But our life with God is not determined by our family line, our DNA, or the faith or lack of faith in our parents. Our life with God is determined by our acceptance and love for God. But even our relationship with God can wain so as Paul encourages Timothy so let it be in you that you “rekindle the gift of God”.

2 Timothy 1:6 for which reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.

But, you may say, no one has laid hands on me to give me a gift. Well, laying on of hands is one way that God confirms his word in your life but also know that in

Romans 10:13 For “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

And it is Jesus Christ who gives the gifts and He knows exactly what He made you and equipped you to do with your life so even if no man ever lays hands on you, allow the Holy Spirit to teach you and guide you to your place in the body of Christ. So, in

Ephesians 4:8 Therefore it says, “Ascending on high he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men.”

I Know in Whom I Have Believed

2 Timothy 1:8–18
If we have believed, we have come to a revelation of who Jesus Christ is and what he has done for us through his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. So, “There is one deposit (His revelation) committed by God to us, which we ought to keep (2 Ti 1:13, 14) and transmit to others (2 Ti 2:2); there is another committed by God to us, which we should commit to His keeping, namely, ourselves and our heavenly portion”.²

So, the result of His work is that we can entrust our life, and how we live the rest of it on the earth, into His care “until that day”, “the day of His appearing (2 Ti 1:18; 2 Ti 4:8)”.² As it says in

2 Timothy 1:12b “and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted until that day”.

Be Strong in the Grace That is in Christ Jesus

2 Timothy 2:1–7
Paul instructs Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1 to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” and in 2 Timothy 2:2 to “entrust these things to faithful people who will be competent to teach others also”. Many believe that they are doing Gods perfect will if they are preaching the gospel, but there is more than that. Jesus told his apostles to “make disciples” and this is exactly what Paul is also telling Timothy. In the end, it isn’t how good we are at preaching or teaching or ministry in spiritual gifts. The end is in our ability to “entrust these things to faithful people”. But it isn’t so much about the people as it is about being able to trust God to do a work in their life just as he has done a work in our own.

Are you willing to “entrust these things to faithful people”? If so, then,

Have you been able to “entrust these things to faithful people”? If not, maybe it is not an issue with the people around you. Are you willing to trust God and help them develop even through their missteps?