2 Timothy 1:15-18 – Discerning between friends and foes

 A scan of verses 15-18 gives us the impression that as if these verses are out of place. But on careful reflection we will see that Paul had his reason for putting them here in this letter to Timothy. If his protégé was to successfully guard the Gospel, he had to be careful with the people he aligned himself with.

Here we see two groups of people being described here. We see there were those who were ashamed of the Gospel and those who weren’t. The first group comprised of people in Asia who left Paul during his most trying times. He mentioned the names of two specific persons, Phygelus and Hermogenes. Paul was actually warning Timothy against them. This group of people was obviously ashamed of the Gospel and Paul. These were the deserters when the time gets tough.

However, a person who belonged to the other group was Onesiphorus. Verses 16-18 are dedicated to him. He was the runaway slave of Philemon and Paul was responsible for his conversion. Onesiphorus took care of Paul, refreshed him and stood by him unashamedly. He eagerly sought Paul out when he went to Rome. Furthermore, he did much service to the saints at Ephesus. Here Paul commended him to Timothy and prayed for God’s mercy to be upon Onesiphorus.

In our journey with Christ we are surrounded by people. Some of them have good intentions but lack the substance. There are also those who harbor selfish ambition and working for self-aggrandizement. It’s here that the call of Paul to Timothy becomes relevant to us. We need to be discerning, pray much and learn to distinguish between those who are helpful to us in the ministry and those who are not. It will help us to decide who we allow to influence our lives.