Rightly Dividing The Word of Truth (EP)

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth Excerpt

II Timothy is a book that encourages a Christian in his walk of life. It begins as many of Paul’s letters with a declaration of his penmanship and Apostleship. The book is addressed to Timothy who Paul had adopted as a son in the faith (I Timothy 1:2, II Timothy 1: 2, I Corinthians 4:17). There is no doubt that Timothy and Paul had a special relationship in the cause of Christ. Paul’s desire for Timothy’s continued faith and love for the church was at least in some small way a catalyst for the book of II Timothy.

Paul was in prison at the time of its writing (II Timothy 1:8) and he knew that he would soon be sentenced to die (II Timothy 4:6, 8). Even so, Paul spends his time in prison writing down his final epistle to Timothy. His message of exhortation and encouragement was sure to lead Timothy forward in his service to Christ even after Paul was gone. Paul’s timeless message of exhortation and encouragement not only inspired first century Christians to stand firm in the Faith, but encourages us to be strong and faithful in our daily walk with Christ today.

While the entire book of II Timothy is written to remind Timothy of his responsibility to teach the pure gospel to those around him, it is also filled with many “mini” lessons. It would be negligible to study the book of II Timothy and skip over the little lessons presented within its texts.

Mini-Lesson: A Good Home Life

The first mini-lesson Paul introduces in the text is the importance of a good home life. While this mini-lesson is made in passing, it is something that Paul felt much joy over, and something that we can learn from. In II Timothy 1:3-5, Paul makes a beautiful comment about Timothy’s upbringing.

Notice Paul’s statement.

“I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears that I may be filled with joy; When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in the also.”     
This is not the first mention of Timothy’s childhood found in the scriptures. It is recorded in Acts 16:1 that his mother was a Jewess who believed but his father was a Greek. The language in that verse compels the reader to understand that his mother was a believer while his father was not. This is not an uncommon situation. Oftentimes mothers become the spiritual teachers of their children, because of unbelieving husbands.

It is interesting to note that Paul mentions both Timothy’s grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice in II Timothy 1:5. Both of these women made a huge impact on the man Timothy had grown up to be. Their faith was strong, and they instilled a love for God into Timothy. We must learn from their examples and teach our children to be profitable in the Kingdom of God today. We are our children’s first and most important teachers. No matter what obstacles (i.e., unbelieving spouse) that stand in our way, we can and must teach our children to be obedient to God.

We are Not Fearful

God has given us so many things; life (Gen 1:27), His word (II Timothy 3:16, 17), and salvation (Hebrews 5:9), just to name a few. But, there is something that we have been given that Paul mentions to Timothy that we may not have considered.

Examine II Timothy 1:7.

 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” We, as his children, should not fear. Notice the following verses: “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” (II Timothy 1:8, 9).

As long as we are standing firm in the faith, we should preach, teach and act without fear. We should never be ashamed of our relationship with Christ, or His teachings. We have a duty to teach others, and to live the best life we can. We can learn so much from Paul’s admonition to Timothy. We too, can live without fear and speak with boldness those things which the scriptures teach.

We should honestly ask ourselves if we would stand beside someone who is in prison for teaching the gospel. Would we risk life and limb to teach the gospel? If we had been there, would Paul have reached out for us in his time of need? What about today; can we say that we live each moment in a manner that tells the world we belong to Christ? Hopefully, we can all answer those questions with a resounding, “Yes!”

Mini-Lesson: Fulfilling My Role

Paul was more than just a man. He was appointed a preacher, an apostle and teacher of the Gentiles (II Timothy 1:11). Like Paul, we also have a job to do. While we are not appointed into a specific role in the church –aside from being Christians, we are to be active in the Lord’s church (I Corinthians 15:8, Colossians 1:10, I Thessalonians 1:3.) God needs us to fulfill our roles within the church, whether that be teachers, evangelists or elders (Ephesians 4:11). If we don’t step up to spread the gospel, we are hindering the work of the church. We must follow Paul’s example and teach those around us.

Women are also required to teach, but they must do so in a way that is not contrary to God’s law. In 1994, The Getwell Church of Christ in Memphis, TN held the Spiritual Sword Lectureship; the topic was “Women to the Glory of God.” Many great and wonderful things were discussed at that time.
Women’s issues have always been greatly debated in the church and outside of the Lord’s body. The mere fact that the Getwell congregation devoted so much time in presenting these valuable lessons in 1994 truly speaks to their importance, if only more people were willing to spend that amount of teaching on these topics.

In the church, we have many excellent women speakers, teachers, and writers. In fact, there are some women that are so well-known that women and girls travel from all areas just to hear them speak. Some of these women regularly speak to hundreds of Christian women. But, women haven’t stopped there. Other women use their talents to edit Christian magazines like Christian Woman, or Virtuous and even more teach via their blogs on the Internet.

Some have questioned if women should be teaching on websites or blogs because their words can be read by the general public. This is a big issue, and worthy of an answer. Of course, there are differing opinions on this in the church of Christ, but what matters is not our personal opinions or our feelings on this subject. What’s important is what our standard, the Bible says.

Consider I Timothy 2: 11-12. The apostle Paul penned the words, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”

Those verses seem pretty cut and dry, but a Bible student realizes that she must dig a little deeper into the meaning of the verse, its context, and the original language.

Keith A.Mosher, Sr. explained I Timothy 2:11-12 this way in his lecture To Preach or to Teach? Biblical Positions for Women (Spiritual Sword Lectureship: Women to the Glory of God).
The English translation of I Timothy 2:12 has Paul saying, “I suffer not, nor… which is ouk-oude [Greek] in the original. This negative conjunction connects the thoughts of “teaching” and “usurping authority” as only that done over the male by the female so that one need not think Paul did not allow a women to teach under any circumstances nor allow her to ask questions in a class or in private.
Most conservative Christians would agree that women are not to preach from the pulpit, lead singing, or offer public prayers in the assembly, but what of teaching men the Way more perfectly, in a private setting?  Is she usurping authority over a man if he reads her writings or blog? Some would say yes. But, it could be said that she is teaching others and following the example of Priscilla that is given in Acts Chapter 18.

Notice Acts18: 24-28. Luke penned the words,

“And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught the things of the Lord diligently, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.”

Priscilla along with her husband, Aquila, heard a man named Apollos preaching in the synagogue. This man was fervent, sincere and diligent, but he only knew the baptism of John. Since it was apparent to Priscilla and Aquila that Apollos lacked essential knowledge, they realized that someone needed to teach him. And who did that? Priscilla and Aquila.

Christian women are required to teach; the question is in what setting. Guy N. Woods once stated when referring to Priscilla, [that] “There is, however, an essential difference between teaching and preaching. One cannot preach (acceptably at least) without teaching; one may, however, teach without preaching. What the Lord required of her [Priscilla], he does not forbid in them today. On the contrary, He commands it (I Titus 2: 3, 4). We are commanded to teach. We must teach others.

During a conversation about this topic a friend stated, “[A] Christian man reading a blog is no different than a male editor reading over a manuscript of one of the doctrinal books that so many wonderful Christian women have published…Also, if it bothers a Christian man’s conscience to read a blog then, he can choose not to read it. Everyone is required to teach God’s word, so we better be teaching.

Be Not Ashamed

Paul was not afraid to suffer for Christ nor was he ashamed of Christ. Notice II Timothy 1:12. “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”

Paul writes with boldness about his situation and his belief in Christ. He knew that when the books were opened and his life judged (II Timothy 4:1) he would be found faithful because he had been faithful to Christ. He goes on to encourage Timothy to “hold fast the form of sound words, which though hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 1:13). Paul shows by his life and through his teaching that he is a follower of Christ, and it is his desire that Timothy is the same.

It is no different for us today. We need to follow Christ fully. We must hold onto sound doctrine and teach it to others. It is up to us to guard the word of God and make sure that what we teach is pure, and what we allow to influence us is also the pure gospel.

Don’t Turn Away

II Timothy verses 15-18 conclude the first chapter of the book of Timothy. Paul reminds Timothy of those who had turned away from him in his time of need. Perhaps it was an embarrassment that led Phygellus and Hermongenes to leave Paul. No one will ever know what they did or didn’t do to Paul; the point is they left him in a time of need, and their names are recorded as ones who were not dependable (II Timothy 1:15).

In contrast, Paul also mentions the house of Onesiphorus as being extremely useful to him, and kind (II Timothy 1:16-18). It states in II Timothy verses 16, 17 that Onesiphorus was not ashamed of Paul’s imprisonment and that he refreshed him often. He further says that when he was in Rome, Onesiphorus sought him out diligently and found him. Onesiphorus wasn’t content to sit idly by while Paul was in prison. He showed him kindness, and in so doing helped Paul to be refreshed even in a time of great personal turmoil. Paul notes that this was not the first time that Onesiphorus had ministered unto him. He had also ministered to him in Ephesus, a fact which Timothy knew firsthand.