“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 3:5
In the previous chapter, Paul wrote (3:13,14,15) “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
Point One. Continue in what we have learned. Paul has made the point that we will suffer, will be persecuted. He is now encouraging us to stop thinking about new doctrines and interpretations of the Gospel. He is saying to us, like he’s said before, “fight the good fight!” We are to continue in the good that we have been, and have been doing.
Point Two. Remember from whom we learned. “Hey, you’ve learned it and known it . We won’t become deceived if we remember who we trusted when first we believed. We learned the scriptures and a way of life from someone, whether when as a child with our parents or as an adult from another to whom we found life. We knew it, so continue in it. We were assured of it once before, be assured of it now. We must not question ourselves and become lost.
Point Three. Remember that we’ve known the Word of G-d, which is able to make us wise. The Word of G-d is becoming alive within us, continue to allow Him to grow in us and make us wise in Him. We learned from the Scriptures that we are granted salvation by Y’shuaJesus’s death and resurrection, and we follow in faith. We shall not turn from that belief; we shall not turn from the truth of the Gospel.
Point Four. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” v.16. All Scripture. Not a small piece of it taken out of context. All Scripture. It is useable, profitable to us, for ministering within and without the church, to the saved and the unsaved. We are commanded to wash the feet of those with whom we share the communion of the Lord. This is washing of the dirt that comes from walking this imperfect world. We are not their saviour, but their helper in walking in the way of the cross. We also offer instruction to the unsave on righteousness. They may do occasional good things, but they lack true righteousness—they don’t know the Lord as their personal Saviour. We may offer instruction in righteousness that they might see themselves as lacking and turn to the Lord. We must always remember that one day All will kneel before the Lord and understand, and say, that Y’shuaJesus is Lord.
Point Five. “That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” v.17. As we continue in the way’s we’ve learned, walking with the Lord, we are being perfected. This perfection enables us to do more good works, to become more like Y’shuaJesus.
In view of all of these points, Paul now compels Timothy, and us—charges us—to Preach, Teach, Rebuke, Exhort. And we are to do it when we know we are “on duty” and when we think we are on holiday. The men and women of G-d are never truly on holiday; we are always on duty. We gaze longingly toward the skies watching and waiting for the Lord to return, all the while we are working.
Lord grant us the strength to fight the good fight, always knowing that one day we will feast with our Lord Y’shuaJesus.
Lord Bless, Keep, Shine.
JonahzSong 