“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

THEREFORE.

When you see that word in Scripture, you ask “What is it there for?”  The usual answer means on the basis of all that has gone before, what is the conclusion.

For instance, in chapter one, but particularly toward the end of the chapter–some have deserted Paul, and only Onesiphorus had sought him out–Paul calls for Timothy and through him the rest of the body of Christ to deepen their resolve to serve Christ.

–-Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  I confess not to know what this means.  It’s one of those wonderful spiritualities that we toss around which sounds great, makes excellent material for hymns and uplifting choruses, but doesn’t actually tell us anything. Or, let me rephrase that: After all our singing it and quoting it, we still have difficulty getting a handle on what exactly it means.

I know some of what the “grace that is in Christ Jesus” means.  John said the Law came by Moses, but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). He said Jesus was “full of grace and truth” (1:14).  In short, Jesus was all love, pure love,  love throughout, from top to bottom, from the outermost to the innermost. He was solidly love.  After all, “God is love.”

So, how can we “be strong” in that grace?  I can devote myself to Him, constantly draw near to Him, sit at His feet as Mary did and worship Him, and obey His teachings. Is that what this means? Or, is Paul saying: “Now that you are living in the grace of Jesus, stand up tall and be strong”? Be courageous, outspoken, bold, faithful.

Or, is it all of the above?

–The things you have heard from me, teach them to faithful men who can in turn pass them along.

That’s what we do.  It’s why we have the Gospel today. In every generation there have been faithful men and women who have passed along the Scriptures, the gospel, the revelation.  We owe such a debt to countless disciples of Jesus, for the most part known only to Him, people who labored long and well, under great hardships, and frequently paid a severe price for their devotion to the Lord, His gospel, His word.

And so we have the Gospel today, and we have it intact.

Now, I must look around and find faithful ones coming after me and make sure to teach them sound doctrine and encourage them to do the same. “Pass it on.”

–Endure hardship with me. It’s what good soldiers do. It’s what athletes do. It’s what farmers do. And it’s the reason some people wash out as soldiers, fail as athletes, and give up as farmers. They could not do the hard work for the long road.

Soldiers endure hardship against an enemy, to win a battle.  Athletes endure hardship to gain supremacy over themselves, to win a prize. Farmers endure hardship against nature, to win a crop.

Soldiers must be free to come and go as they are needed (vs. 4). Athletes must be focused to play by the rules (vs. 5). Farmers must be first to receive the benefit of his crops.

The other day I wrote a whimsical note on Facebook, saying “It is no secret what God can do; what He did to Jesus, He’ll do to you.”  Everyone who responded thought I’d gotten the line from that old Stuart Hamblen gospel song (“It is No Secret”) wrong, for it says “what He’s done for others, He’ll do for you.”  I replied that I meant what I said. Someone responded, “Yes, He will bless you.” So, I decided to say what I meant: “The Lord sent Jesus to the cross, and He doesn’t mind letting His beloved suffer for purposes that He alone knows.” I quoted the line from Acts 14:22, “It is through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom.”

The old gospel chorus that goes “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before” has a certain truth to it. But sometimes, being with Jesus means we suffer hardship. We must not ignore that or dismiss it as an aberration. For disciples of Jesus Christ, tribulation is not just “par” for the course; it is the course.

–Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

We wonder if Paul might have overspoken.  Even if the Spirit gave Timothy “understanding in everything,”  He doesn’t seem to do that so completely today. We end up having professors and preachers filling books with their understanding on these matters and disagreeing mightily.

Or, perhaps it’s Paul’s prayer that the Spirit will grant Timothy–and us–understanding in these matters.

Teach us, Lord. Give us understanding.

–Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead….

Paul mentions four aspects of the Lord for Timothy (and us) to keep in mind: Jesus Himself, His resurrection, His earthly pedigree (descendant of David), and “as presented by” Paul in his preachings/writings.

1) We remember Jesus.  But not the way we do Abraham Lincoln or Socrates or Napoleon, men who lived and died and are now off the scene, leaving us to study their lives and analyze all they left behind. The church is no “Jesus Memorial Society.” He is much with us, and we have His word on it (Matthew 28:20).

Jesus is universal. He is Lord.

2) We remember His resurrection. This single act, more than any other thing, is Heaven’s confirmation on all Jesus claimed and taught and promised.  If He is still decomposing somewhere in the earth, nothing He taught has any significance as the most important teachings are thus proven wrong. “But now is Christ risen,” Paul exclaims, “the firstfruits of those who sleep” (I Corinthians 15:20). And nothing is as it was.

Jesus is immortal.

3) We remember His lineage.  He is a descendant of David.  Why does that matter?  It means He is the fulfilment of all those incredible prophecies of old. “His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom…..” (Isaiah 9:6-7).  The blind beggar of Jericho got this. When word came that “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by,” Bartimaeus began calling, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Luke 18:38).

Jesus is historical.

4) We remember Jesus through the gospel preached by Paul.  This is significant. Some would strip out the gospels and build their religion on those four testimonies of Jesus. And, let us admit, it does have a certain attractiveness about it. Paul arrived afterwards to systematize the Lord’s teachings and integrate them with their Old Testament roots for which we are eternally grateful.  If he went beyond the bounds and blended in his own thinking–“I do not allow women to speak in church”–then, we just have to deal with it. No one said any of this should be simple.

Jesus is personal.

Universal, immortal, historical, and personal. He’s quite a Savior.

–for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.

“Suffer for the gospel with me,” Paul invited Timothy–and us–in 1:8.  I don’t know anyone who has willingly taken him up on that offer.  Perhaps Paul remembered the account of Luke in Acts 5:41 where Peter and the other apostles are flogged and ordered to quit preaching Jesus. “So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His Name.”  We are speechless in the presence of such devotion.  Later, Paul, who was well-acquainted with suffering for Jesus in his own right, was to say, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

I may be chained, Paul said, but the gospel isn’t.

A missionary leader once said, “We hear of certain countries being closed to the gospel. But no country is closed to the gospel. They are only closed to traditional ways of spreading that gospel. But prayer is not limited. The Holy Spirit goes where He will.  And as God’s people come and go throughout the world–in business, education, as tourists–the gospel is spread.”

–“For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”

Some love to cite this verse as evidence that some are predestined to salvation (“chosen”) while others are predestined to hell.  It’s a misinterpretation of this scripture.  Paul often refers to believers–those who have professed faith in Jesus, been baptized, and are called saints–as still journeying toward salvation and in other places, as having completed the journey (and are seated “in the heavenlies”–Ephesians 2:6).  In Romans 8:30, believers are said to already be glorified, which literally speaking would mean they have received their new heavenly bodies. This is such a certainty, a “done deal,” Paul is saying, that we can speak of it in the past tense. And yet. The Apostle Peter says, “…receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (I Peter 1:9).

“The chosen” refers to those who have been redeemed through faith in Christ and those who will eventually be saved.  But we must not try to make this (or  any text) say more than was intended.

Paul says his sufferings have a purpose. God is using him and his experiences. How? Perhaps through his witness, through his prayers and intercessions, and through his writings. One thing we do know: God hates to waste suffering.  Just  as stress on a muscle builds it stronger, Christians who suffer often look back and see the purifying and strengthening effect it had on them. We suffer while in the midst, but later look back with deep appreciation.

–It is a trustworthy statement: If we died with Him, we shall live with Him; if we endure, we shall reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.

“If we died with Him, we shall live with Him.”  You have died with Christ, haven’t you?  This is a spiritual reality taught through Scripture, that when our Lord was on the cross, we were there also. “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live….”   Live with Him? That’s what we do. Paul said, “For me, to live is Christ.” Now and forever, with Jesus.

“If we endure, we shall reign with Him.”  The word “endure” here does not mean to suffer, but “to remain under.”  If we stay on the job, if we are faithful to the end. Some of us are great about taking an assignment, then abandoning it when the work gets difficult.  The rewards are for the faithful.  Reign with Him?  We reign “in life” with HIm in spiritual ways, and in the Heavenlies with Him after this life in ways we are still to discover. (Scripture makes a big deal of remaining “at the plow,” on the job, under the load.  Just as faith–an overriding confidence in Jesus–is required to pray or give or serve or forgive or confess Christ in the  first place, it’s likewise a huge element in remaining in place on a difficult job when to leave would be easier.)

“If we deny Him, He will deny us.”  We hear the echo of our Lord’s words: “Whoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny Him before My Father who is in Heaven” (Matthew 10:33).  What does this say about eternal salvation? That those who truly know Jesus will own up to it and confess Him.  I think it was Bonhoeffer who said “secret discipleship is a contradiction in terms, for either the discipleship will kill the secrecy or the secrecy will kill the discipleship.”

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.”  Our disobedience does not annul HIs authority or cancel out His truth.  Listen to some “former believers” attack the Christian faith and you get the impression that they think because they no longer believe something, it’s no longer true.  Paul asked, “What then? If some did not beleive, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?” He answers his own question: “May it never be! Rather, let God be true and every man a liar” (Romans 3:3-4).  God’s truth is not on speculation; He is not up for a vote. He is unchanging, consistent, the Almighty.

–Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless, and leads to the ruin of the hearers.

History is saturated with examples of Christians beating up one another over a word here a word there. Word-quibbling should be an Olympic sport, it’s been so popular through the ages. In Paul’s earlier letter to Timothy, he said of such people, “…he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind…..” (I Timothy 6:4-5).

Someone asked me this week what was my understanding of the time when hell was created. I The

 

 

(a work in progress)