2 Timothy 1
v.3
I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers 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.
It is easy to imagine what joy it would give Paul, then a prisoner, and forsaken by nearly all his friends, and about to die, to see a friend whom he loved as he did this young man. Learn hence, that there may be very pure and warm friendship between an old and young man, and that the warmth of true friendship is not diminished by the near prospect of death.
v.5
I have been 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.
In Acts 16:1, it is said that the mother of Timothy was “a Jewess, and believed;” but her name is not mentioned. This shows that Paul was acquainted with the family, and that the statement in the Epistle to Timothy was not forged from the account in the Acts . Here is another “undesigned coincidence.” In the history in the Acts , nothing is said of the father, except that he was “a Greek,” but it is implied that he was not a believer. In the Epistle before us, nothing whatever is said of him. But the piety of his mother alone is commended, and it is fairly implied that his father was not a believer. This is one of those coincidences on which Paley has constructed his beautiful argument in the Horae Paulinae in favor of the genuineness of the New Testament.
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.
The idea is, that Timothy was to use all proper means to keep the flame of pure religion in the soul burning, and more particularly his zeal in the great cause to which he had been set apart. The agency of man himself is needful to keep the religion of the heart warm and glowing. However rich the gifts which God has bestowed upon us, they do not grow of their own accord, but need to be cultivated by our own personal care.
v.7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline.
The Greek word denotes one of sober mind; a man of prudence and discretion. The state referred to here is that in which the mind is well balanced, and under right influences; in which it sees things in their just proportions and relations; in which it is not feverish and excited, but when everything is in its proper place. It was this state of mind which Timothy was exhorted to cultivate; this which Paul regarded as so necessary to the performance of the duties of his office. It is as needful now for the minister of religion as it was then.
For to many He gives a spirit of fear, as we read in the wars of the Kings. A spirit of fear fell upon them. Exodus 15:16? That is, he infused terror into them. But to you He has given, on the contrary, a spirit of power, and of love toward Himself. This, then, is of grace, and yet not merely of grace, but when we have first performed our own parts. For the Spirit that makes us cry, Abba, Father, inspires us with love both towards Him, and towards our neighbor, that we may love one another. For love arises from power, and from not fearing.
Indeed subsequent grace assists man’s good purpose, but the purpose itself would not exist if grace did not precede.
One of the signs of a healthy use of disciplines is how you feel when you don’t do them. If you feel guilt [when you don’t do it], then you need to rethink it. Guilt is not a profitable motivation for the spiritual life.
v.12
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
v.14
Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you - guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
One of the best methods of preserving the knowledge and the love of truth is to cherish the influences of the Holy Spirit.
That good thing which was committed unto you keep,— how?— by the Holy Ghost which dwells in us. For it is not in the power of a human soul, when instructed with things so great, to be sufficient for the keeping of them. And why? Because there are many robbers, and thick darkness, and the devil still at hand to plot against us; and we know not what is the hour, what the occasion for him to set upon us. How then, he means, shall we be sufficient for the keeping of them? By the Holy Ghost; that is if we have the Spirit with us, if we do not expel grace, He will stand by us. For, Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain. Psalm 127:1 This is our wall, this our castle, this our refuge. If therefore It dwells in us, and is Itself our guard, what need of the commandment? That we may hold It fast, may keep It, and not banish It by our evil deeds.
v.15
You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
See more in Barnes on 2 Timothy 1 15 2Timothy1 v 15
Paul’s opponents have spread in the province of Asia, and the situation has become much worse since Paul wrote 1 Timothy (2 Tim 1:15). Paul could be discouraged; like Jeremiah in the *Old Testament, his life is to end while God’s people are turned away from him, and he will not live to see the fruit of his ministry. His consolation, however, is that he has been faithful to God (4:7-8), and he exhorts Timothy to follow in his paths no matter what the cost. (That the letter was preserved almost certainly indicates that Timothy did persevere.) The letter is dominated by the themes of persecution from outside the *church and false teaching within, and Paul’s final exhortation to a young minister is to focus on the Scriptures and the sound teaching to be found in them.
v.16
May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.