To
motivate Timothy to be diligent, Paul showed him that blessings in ministry
never come easy. The blessings of ministry success always extract a price. To affirm
all that he had said, Paul drew on the experiences of the Lord Jesus (verse 8);
his own life and testimony (verses 9-10); and the common Christian experience
(verses 11-13).
No
Christian worker would ever forget Jesus Christ! Hence, the call by Paul to
Timothy to remember Jesus Christ would seem insulting. However, Paul knew that
having the Lord in clear view was the best way to keep Timothy focused and
diligent in the task. The Gospel is about Jesus Christ, so Paul specifically
told Timothy to remember Jesus Christ. He was to remember the Lord’s
resurrection and ancestry. To recall His resurrection is to remember His work:
He died and rose again. To recollect His ancestry is to remember His Person: He
was a descendant of David. Here two roles of the Lord Jesus Christ are
implicitly portrayed: He is not only our Savior but also our King. And if Christ’s
death is the gateway to His life, then suffering will be the gateway to glory.
In
verses 9 and 10, Paul then went on to use his own experiences to illustrate
that suffering was a necessary part for the advancement of the Gospel. He
endured hardship and imprisonment as a criminal. Though he was in chains, he
insisted that the Word of God was never bound. He still had the liberty to
freely proclaim it. His imprisonment and the trial afforded him many
opportunities to share the Gospel. It also motivated others to spread the
Gospel. Hence, the Gospel is not chained in that sense.
Here
a pertinent question needs to be asked. Who are “the chosen”? Who are the
people whom Paul was referring to? The
chosen is best seen as the people who would respond to the message of the
Gospel. The response of people to the Gospel largely depends on two things:
God’s divine initiative and the human agency that God uses to bring the good
news. Here Paul was not claiming that he could save. He was only collaborating
with God in sharing the Gospel so that those who would respond to the message,
could obtain salvation and eternity. In doing this work of the Gospel, he was
prepared to endure the hardship that accompanied the task.
Finally
Paul illustrate his point with Christians who shared the common spiritual experience.
Here Paul gives another of his five trustworthy statements in the Pastoral
letters. We see two pairs of axioms:
1. If
we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we endure, we shall also
reign with Him;
2. If
we deny Him, He also will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful,
for He cannot deny Himself.
We
must keep in mind here that Paul was motivating Timothy to be engaged in the
work of the ministry, and to remain faithful to the task. Since the task would come
with hardships, Timothy could do with lots of endurance. He was calling for
Timothy to serve the Lord with his whole heart. Why? Because in dying to self,
he would find life through Christ; and in enduring suffering, he will find
triumph through Christ. The second pair of epigram anticipates the dreadful
consequence of denying Christ and being faithless. A person who denies Christ
should expect Him to reciprocate with a similar response. He would deny the
person in return. The last part of this second epigram, which states that God
remains faithful even if we are faithless, poses a difficulty. It simply means
that the faithless will find Christ faithful to His warnings of consequences
awaiting those who are faithless, for Christ is true to Himself and He will
never deny His own nature.
What’s
the take then? As Christians we need to endure and serve the Lord faithfully
and diligently. Despite the obstacles, let’s remain steadfast in the task. As God
is faithful let’s also remain faithful.
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