Paul moves into the fifth example in his series of illustrations in this second chapter. This illustration is familiar to a lot of people, and the latter half of this week’s passage has often been quoted to encourage believers to study the Word.
You can see this passage in 2 Timothy 2:14-15:
Much like Paul’s first letter to Timothy, this second letter contains a series of instructions on how to deal with false teachers. In the previous passages, Paul has encouraged Timothy to stand strong in the faith, especially as one living and serving in a pagan world. As Paul begins this passage, he continues that encouragement, but in light of the false teachers that have apparently been a problem for Timothy since the first letter was written.
This passage can be broken into three parts, or three exhortations, from Paul to Timothy.
Remind them
This passage begins with the phrase “Keep reminding them of these things.” This raises two questions: Remind who? And remind them of what? The context reveals the answer to the first question. The word “them” (or “God’s people” in the NIV2011) is not found in the Greek. That leaves us to pull the answer from the surrounding text. And the answer is the Christians under Timothy’s leadership.
The second question is a bit harder to answer. While Paul could be referring to the contents of the entire letter, it’s just as likely that he means the “trustworthy saying” that he just shared in the preceding verses. Either way, Timothy’s flock must be reminded of the Gospel, it’s cost, and what that means for their lives.
Warn them
Along with the reminder, Timothy is to also warn the people he works with. When Paul wrote Timothy the first time, he describe the false teachers as full of anger and holding on to disputes (1 Timothy 2:8) and with an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words (1 Timothy 6:4-5). Here again, Paul states that these battles do nothing constructive and only serve to divide and destroy those who listen. In fact, the word “ruin” is the Greek word “catastrophe,” and literally means to overturn or subvert. In other words, these quarrels lead to catastrophic consequences and overturned lives for those caught up in them.
What kinds of fights over words might the Ephesian church be struggling with? That is unclear. They may have been giving esoteric and cultic meanings to biblical phrases, claiming that they were practicing Christianity rightly. Since the false teachers were likely Gnostic in their heresy, then perhaps the battles were over the differences between Gnosticism and Timothy’s teaching. This may be a possibility, especially in light of the fact that the resurrection is mentioned in verse 18, and the Gnostics denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Regardless, Paul is not telling Timothy to retreat when faced with false doctrine, or to remain silence and therefore condone what the false teachers were suggesting. No, he’s suggesting that Timothy and the believers avoid a pointless, prolonged discussion that will only serve to confuse the issue even more. A solid presentation of the truth is far better than a continual denial of foolishness.
Present yourself
In a stark contrast to the false teachers and their arguments, Paul encourages Timothy to do his best, to be diligent, in presenting himself to God as one approved. This means that Timothy has been tried and tested, and has been found to be genuine. The KJV translated the phrase “do your best” as “study.” But this is not the meaning of this passage. Paul is not telling Timothy to get more learning. Rather, Paul is telling Timothy to make every effort, to be persistent in his zeal for the Lord. While careful study of the Bible is a must, that is not the intent of this passage. The faulty translation of the KJV has lead to generations of misunderstanding.
Paul uses the image of a workman. A good workman is known by the quality of work that he does. When we lived in northeastern Indiana, we lived near an Amish community that was well known for their cabinetry and carpentry skills. That is the idea here. Timothy is to be a workman whose work is high quality!
If Timothy works in such a way, and develops the reputation for being such a workman, there will be no need for him to be ashamed. A workman who does a shoddy job, or who gives no effort to the task has every reason to be ashamed. Not so for the one who has made every effort to do his best and to do the job well. My grandfather used to always tell me that a job worth doing is worth doing well. That’s the idea Paul is conveying here.
In contrast to the word battles of the false teachers, Paul tells Timothy how to be the unashamed workman. He is to accurately handle the word of truth. The word of truth is obviously the complete body of Christian teaching, found in the gospels and in Paul’s teachings. What Timothy had easy access to is much less than we take for granted in having the entire New Testament. To accurately handle is to study, to know and to share the word of God effectively. The Greek word used here means to “cut a straight path.” The KJV translation, “rightly dividing,” again falls short of communicating Paul’s intent here. Instead, this is a call for Timothy and other workmen to be good exegetes of Scripture. In other words, Timothy must know the word of God well enough to expound and interpret if correctly for his listeners.
The instructions and encouragement that Paul gives to Timothy in this passage have been an encouragement for generations of believers, and will be for many more until the return of Christ. As a minister, my goal is to correctly handle the word of truth as I study it and prepare messages and lessons for those who listen to me each week. But even more fundamental is my personal knowledge and understanding of the Bible. In order to communicate the truth clearly, I must understand it myself. That requires diligence, and for me to give my best efforts.
And, thankfully, I have the Holy Spirit available to guide me as well.
Question: How’s your workmanship? Do you have anything to be ashamed of? You can leave a comment by clicking here.