'2 Timothy' Tagged Posts

2 Timothy 4:2 might be rightfully called “The Preacher’s Mantra.” Every faithful gospel preacher knows it and strives to live by it–“Preach the word!” After my Uncle John died, my Aunt Leitha set up a scholarship at Freed-Hardeman for young men who were training to be gospel preachers. I vividly recall seeing her at the lectureship one year as she was speaking to one of the recipients. With that twinkle in her eye, she reminded the lad, “Whatever you do,…

The idea of Inspiration means different things to different people. Some speak of gifted artists as being inspired. Some think of inspiration as a sudden or brilliant thought or solution. But these are not the idea Paul intends to convey in the text. When Paul spoke of inspiration, he used a Greek compound meaning “God-breathed.” Paul believed that in reading the Scriptures, one should hear the voice of God as though God were speaking directly to him. This is true…

Today’s text contains Paul’s final use of this phrase (cf 1 Tim 1:15, 3:1, 4:9; Titus 3:8). So, what does Paul say in respect to this “faithful saying?” “If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him” (v 11) Of this, renown scholar and expositor William Mounce wrote, “Most agree that this first line refers to a believer’s baptism and the new life that follows” (Pastoral Epistles, 516). Paul’s writing elsewhere agrees with this assessment. In Romans 6,…

“… the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also” (2 Tim 1:5). My life is the sum of my decisions. This is not to say that the decisions of others have no effect on me, neither are my own decisions made in a vacuum. While reviewing literature for our Wednesday night adult class, I looked at Tim Lewis’s marvelous book, “The Domino…