Questions

Scriptural Reflection
2 Timothy 1:13–14; 2:1–7

This week we will finish the study of the Book of 2 Timothy in the New Testament.

Twice, Paul talks about the words that Timothy has heard from him:

(1) 1:13-14

a. Why does Paul refer to the words that Timothy heard from him as “a pattern of sound teaching”? What does a pattern mean?

b. Why does Paul specify that he is to keep them in “faith and love” and (according to Guthrie’s translation with which I agree — see Note below) in “Christ Jesus”?

c. Why then does he also call it a “deposit”?

d. How should he guard it? Why?

(2) 2:1-7

a. Apart from the command to guard, Paul also commands Timothy to entrust to others:

1. How important is it that he is to entrust to “faithful” men?
2. Why does Paul emphasize that those are words that Timothy has heard in the presence of many witnesses?

b. V. 2 is the second part of the sentence that begins with v. 1:

1. Why is this command prefaced with calling Timothy his son and with the encouragement that he should be strong in the grace of Christ Jesus?

c. Now Paul uses three metaphors to encourage Timothy to be strong and to pass on the sound teachings to others:

1. The first metaphor is that of a soldier:

• Paul uses the same Greek word in 2 Tim. 2:3 (translated "endure hardship") as in 2 Tim 1:8 (translated "suffering" (NIV)). What is the point he tries to repeat?
• What is the emphasis of this soldier metaphor?
• What is the message to you?

2. The second metaphor is that of an athlete:

• What is the emphasis of this metaphor?
• With the image of an Olympic athlete in mind, what is the message to you?

3. The third metaphor is that of a farmer:

• What is the emphasis (or emphases) of this metaphor?
• What does this metaphor mean to Timothy in his situation?
• What about you?

d. Instead of simply asking Timothy to take heed, what does Paul ask him to do with the above metaphors? (v. 7) Why?

e. How may we learn from this advice of Paul when it comes to our reading of the Scriptures?

(3) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Note:

“The meaning clearly is that faith and love follow from abiding in Christ.” (TNCT, The Pastoral Epistles, 146)

Scriptural Reflection
2 Timothy 2:8–18

As Paul urges Timothy to endure hardship with him, he now reminds him of the reason for his suffering:

(1) What is the reason for his suffering?

(2) He could have written a great deal about what the gospel is. Why does Paul simply say, “Jesus Christ raised from the dead, descended from David” is his gospel?

(3) The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the crux of the gospel obviously. Why then does Paul also emphasize His descent?

a. What does such an emphasis have to do with his chains?

b. For whose sake is he enduring everything? Why?

(4) “But God’s word is not chained”:

a. Can you cite examples from recent world history as proof of these words?

b. Have you experienced this truth yourself?

(5) Now Paul quotes another “trustworthy saying”. Read and re-read this hymn (which rhymes in the original language):

a. “If we died with Him, we will also live with Him”

1. Have you died with Him? (See Col. 3:3)
2. For those who died with Him, what is the glorious hope that they have? (Also see Col. 3:4)

b. “If we endure, we will also reign with Him”

1. This is another dimension of the glorious hope we have in Him:

• Do you truly believe this promise?
• Will it help you endure in times of sufferings? Why or why not?

c. “If we disown Him, He will also disown us”

1. What is meant by disowning Him? (See Matt. 10:33)
2. What is meant by Christ disowning us?

d. “If we are faithless, He will remain faithful”

1. What is meant by being “faithless”?
2. How will Christ respond to our being “faithless”?
3. Why will He respond to our being “faithless” so differently from our “disowning” Him?

e. “For he cannot disown Himself”

1. What does this mean?
2. How important is this to us, and especially to those who have to suffer for Christ’s sake?

(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
2 Timothy 2:14–26

This forms a unit in which Paul exhorts Timothy both positively and negatively in how to become an approved workman:

(1) First, by warning others and himself against quarreling:

a. What is meant by quarreling about “words”? (v. 14)

1. What reasons does Paul give?

b. What is “godless chatter”? (v. 16)

1. What are the reasons Paul give?
2. Whom does he give as examples?
3. What is their godless chatter about?
4. What is the result of their godless chatter?

c. How should the Lord’s servant distinguish himself in this respect? (v. 24)

1. How should he treat those who oppose him (and his teachings)?
2. Why? (vv. 25-26)

(2) The second thing to avoid is evil desires:

a. Why does Paul call the evil desires as evil desires “of youth”?

b. This is not a totally negative command

1. The negative is “to flee”. How important is this command?
2. The positive is to pursue…along with others:

• What is Timothy to pursue?
• Why does he need to pursue not on his own, but with others?
• Who are these people he should pursue along with?
• Are you pursuing these on your own?
• Do you have others with a pure heart to be your soul-mates in Christ?

c. As an encouragement to Timothy, what promise does Paul give in this respect in vv. 20-21?

(3) As a contrast to the false teachers, Paul urges Timothy to be an approved workman:

a. How should Timothy behave like an unashamed workman approved by God? (v. 15)

b. What is meant by to “correctly handle the word of truth”?

(4) In the midst of his instructions, and in contrast to the false teachers, Paul injects the following saying which seals the foundation on which we can stand firm in v. 19:

a. “The Lord knows those who are His.” How does such knowledge form a sealed foundation? (Note that conservative scholars, in general, see this word “know” as a timeless aorist.)

b. Why does such knowledge (or truth) need to be paired with our response of “turning away from wickedness” in order to form this sealed foundation?

(5) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
2 Timothy 3:1–9

Now Paul warns Timothy about the marks of the world in the “last days” which, in its broad sense refers to the time from the completion of Christ’s redemptive work to the time of His coming again, or in the narrow sense, the period immediately preceding His coming again. The list below does not appear to follow any particular order, but we shall try to reflect on each in groups asking these two questions:

(1) Of the above list, can you highlight three that are most representative of our age? Why did you pick them?

(2) Paul now charges Timothy with some very strong words: “Have nothing to do with them”. Why?

(3) Paul now points out that some of these traits are present in the false teachers (perhaps, especially that last one on the list), and they are compared to Jannes and Jambres (whom the early church fathers, like Oregin, refer to as two of the magicians who opposed Moses). Read Exodus 7:11-12, 22; 8:7 and 9:11.

a. In what ways are these false teachers like the two magicians of Pharaoh?

b. In what ways are they worse?

c. Since their folly will be clear to everyone, why would they be successful, especially in deceiving some of the women?

(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
2 Timothy 3:10–17

(1) Paul uses his own life as an example to contrast those of the false teachers. What would you say marked these things in Paul's life?

a. His teaching

b. His way of life

c. His purpose

d. His faith

e. His patience

f. His love

g. His endurance

(2) In terms of his sufferings and persecutions, look up the events that occurred  in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium and Lystra (see Acts 13:49-52; 14:4-7, 19-20). How do these sufferings and his response to them set him apart from the false teachers?

(3) Read and reflect on v. 12 carefully:

a. It sounds almost like a guarantee. Why?

b. Have you experienced persecution for Christ’s sake?

c. How would you face even more severe persecution?

(4) According to vv. 13-15, how should Timothy differ from evil men and imposters?

(5) Paul reminds Timothy that he can be confident of what he has learned because of the following:

a. Whom he learned from: Why is it important to know from whom we learn?

b. The source of his learning is the Holy Scriptures:

1. How does Paul define the Holy Scriptures in v. 16?
2. Who then is the true author of “all Scriptures”?
3. How useful is it? (see both v. 15 and v. 16)
4. If that is the case, what will become of a believer who does not study the Bible diligently?

(6) Who then is the true author of “all Scripture”?

(7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
2 Timothy 4:1–8

If you read vv. 6-8 carefully, you will get a sense that vv. 1-5 represent the last charge Paul is giving to Timothy and in a certain sense it is also the passing of the baton:

(1) What is this last charge Paul is giving Timothy?

a. Why does he emphasize “in season” and “out of season”? What does the latter mean?

b. Why does he caution him that he should do so “prepared”?

(2) What does preaching entail and what should the attitude be towards it ? How important is it?

(3) In giving Timothy this charge,

a. Why does Paul remind him that he is doing so in the presence of God and Christ Jesus?

b. What is the importance of mentioning that Christ Jesus is the judge of the dead and the living?

c. Why is the charge given in view of His appearing and His kingdom?

(4) What will be the increasing challenge for a preacher according to Paul?

a. What is the reason for this worsening attitude of listening to preaching?

b. How true is it of the people around you?

c. What about you?

d. What is Timothy to do in view of such a challenge? (4:5)

(5) As Paul faces his impending death, he shares with Timothy how he views his life of calling:

a. What is meant by a “poured” drink offering?

b. He looks at this poured offering as a soldier who has fought a good fight, and as an athlete who has finished the race:

1. What is the emphasis in each of these metaphors?
2. What marks a soldier who has fought a good fight?
3. What marks an athlete who has finished a race, like a marathon?

(6) Like writing an epitaph for himself, he ends with saying, “I have kept the faith”. Why does he make it sound rather tough? What did it take for him to keep his faith?

(7) If you were to die soon, could you say as Paul did that you have fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith? Why or why not?

(8) Paul genuinely looked forward to receiving the crown of righteousness:

a. Do you think he really knows what this crown is?

b. Why does he look forward to it?

c. Why is this crown also awarded to “all who have longed for His coming”?

d. Does it include you then? Why or why not?

(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Scriptural Reflection
2 Timothy 4:9–22

As Paul ends this letter, he addresses some very practical and personal matters:

(1) He urges Timothy to come quickly (to Rome), because only Luke is with him:

a. What good can Timothy do, given Paul’s impending capital punishment?

b. While Crescens and Titus needed to return to their ministry fields, Demas’s departure is branded a desertion. What might be the reason for his desertion at a time like this? Why does Paul say “he loved this world”?

(2) Why does Paul want to see Mark again? (See Acts 15:37-38)

(3)  Suppose this Alexander is the same one as in 1 Timothy 1:20:

a. What does “handing over to Satan” mean in 1 Timothy 1:20?

b. How should Timothy treat him?

(4) Paul recounts his first defense:

a. I believe Luke and others were there, but those who could put up a defense for Paul had deserted him. What might be the reason?

b. While he sounds a bit bitter, he also sounds thankful. Why?

c. Does he really expect the Lord to rescue him from his trial? Why or why not?

(5) As we read of his final greetings, describe the life of Paul in terms of:

a. His relationship with churches

b. His relationship with his co-workers

c.His calling by the Lord Jesus Christ

d. His relationship with his Lord and Savior

(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?

Note:

Paul has likely sent Tychicus to relieve Timothy so that he could go to Rome, and Tychicus was likely the carrier of this letter. Luke, as Paul’s companion and doctor, obviously stayed with Paul to look after his health.