Commentary on 2 Timothy 0.1–2.24

Prologue. He writes another letter to Timothy, so that by his own example he might stir up to martyrdom one already instructed in church discipline and in what the hope of the promise is; and because it will come to pass that some will turn from sound teaching, because it seems hard to them, to fables, that is, to human inventions. Chapter 1. (Verses 1–2.) “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, beloved son.” He indicates that he was called an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God for this purpose, to teach what and how great a promise there is in the future in the faith of Christ, so that by his preaching he may bring increase in saving people by the Lord’s discipline. For those are fit servants who by their diligence and faithfulness increase their masters’ business. He writes this to him as to a most dear son so that he may become an imitator of this, handing on the same things to others; so that through a line of successions there may unfailingly be a fit teacher, through whom the truth asserted may gain many for the promised life. “Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” He wishes him the grace of the Father, in mercy, to be with him, and that of Christ Jesus our Lord, because God bestows his grace through Christ, so that the grace of both is one.

“I give thanks to my God, whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience, that I have unceasing remembrance of you in my prayers, night and day greatly longing to see you, remembering your tears, so that I may be filled with joy, recalling the sincere faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you also.” Since it is right to remember good people, he gives thanks to God because he was mindful of Timothy, a wonderful man, so that this very thing too is a gift of God; for one who thinks about good men is not without merit. And because the God of the Christians is the same who was the God of the Jews, he testifies that he gives thanks to God whom he served from his forefathers. For since his ancestors hoped for what he had begun to preach, their faith is one. And because he succeeded to his parents’ service, and was in them still when they served God, he rightly says, “whom I serve from my forefathers.” How? “With a pure conscience,” he says; for even when he once persecuted the church, he did it out of love of God, not out of malice. For in a similar way it is written in the letter to the Hebrews that Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes to Melchizedek, because, it says, Levi was in Abraham’s loins when he offered tithes to Melchizedek (Heb 7:9–10); so too he says he served God from his forefathers, as Levi is said to have offered tithes in his great-grandfather. For Levi’s father is Jacob, his grandfather Isaac, his great-grandfather Abraham. So he declares that he is very mindful of Timothy and longs for him eagerly because he remembers his tears, which he had shed out of love for the apostle, as is understood, when he departed from him. Not undeservedly, then, does he long for the one who loves him, so that he may be filled with joy at their common gladness, because of the sincere faith which he indicates was in his grandmother and his mother, and most surely in him too. So all this affection is because of the faith which was inviolate in them. (Verses 6–7.) “For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and sobriety.” He indicates that he recalled the sincere faith of his parents in order to make him stronger. For who, hearing the praise of those in which he himself shares, would not grow, adding spirit to such strength? So he rekindles in himself the gift of God’s grace received through the ordination of the presbytery, when he warms his spirit with alertness of mind, rejoicing in himself as one rejoices in the newness of ordination. Then he added: “For God,” he says, “did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power.” For the renewed man comes out of fear, receiving the spirit of joy because of justification; for every unrighteous person is in fear, not strong but weak, not in love but in hatred, not in soundness of mind but wounded by error. But if he is free of these, through faith he will be strong and beloved and sober.

“Do not, then, be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner.” He teaches that constancy must be held and that one ought not to tremble in confessing. For there is nothing in it to be ashamed of; for though Christ was seen as a man, yet by his deeds he appeared as God; though he was crucified, yet he rose from the dead and, while many watched, a cloud receiving him, ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9). So it is a matter not of weakness but of power; for where weakness is supposed, there power appears. So he is foolishly thought weak who is proved to have conquered. In the same way there is nothing in the apostle either that pertains to shame; for if he is said to be humbled by afflictions and beatings, on the other side he confounds his detractors, because he is seen to be wonderful at a nod in signs and wonders; so that it is understood that he is humbled not by weakness but by will, for a certain advance in merits. For God allows his servants to be humbled by the wicked for this reason, lest he seem to give them rewards unjustly.

“But share in the labor of the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us.” Since death was conquered by the power of God so that we might be saved, it is fitting accordingly that we make some return in part to the Redeemer. For because we cannot answer to all his benefits, let us at least carry out his embassy faithfully and earnestly. “And has called us with his holy calling.” It is a holy calling when men are chosen to govern God’s holy people; and an elder is called to holiness who is chosen as a leader of holiness. “Not according to our merits.” It is true; for if you inquire precisely, no human being can seem worthy to be the vicar of Christ; for all whom he chose had previously been sinners. As far as comparison with the rest goes, then, these have been found worthy; but as far as the thing itself goes, all are unworthy. “But according to his purpose and the grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time.” Since God long ago decreed by his condescension to save sinners (for God foreknew what would happen in man before he made him and he sinned), he predestined how he would be restored, at what time, through whom, and by what means they could be saved; so that this gift may be seen to be granted neither by the merit of those who are saved nor of those through whom they are called, but by the grace of God, through faith in Christ. (Verse 10.) “But now made manifest through the illumination of the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.” He testifies that the gift of God, which before the ages of time lay hidden in mystery, was made manifest by the incarnation and coming of Christ, when people began to receive the remission of sins.

“Who destroyed death and illuminated life with eternity through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher of the gentiles.” He shows by what means Christ saved his people, saying that he destroyed death, which was man’s enemy, so that he could not rise from the underworld; then he illuminated life with eternity, so that, rising from the dead, one can no longer die. For a life that is bounded by time is dark, as it sleeps, as it is ignorant, as it behaves badly. And he shows how life is illuminated: because through the gospel eternity is given to believers, as the teacher of the gentiles preaches.

“For which reason I also suffer these things.” Preaching the gift of God, he suffers the devil as an enemy, who stirs up afflictions against him because he rescues the people from his jaws. “But I am not ashamed.” Secure in this, that a great reward is promised for tribulations, he is not ashamed but glories in afflictions. “For I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that he is able to guard my deposit until that day.” This is what he says: in what hope and confidence in the Savior’s magnificence he is secure, because what he entrusts to him is safe. And what does he entrust to him but his salvation? So that he, suffering for him here, may find salvation with him when he begins to judge; so that, punishing the unbelievers, he may pronounce him worthy of eternal life.

“Holding the pattern of sound words which you heard from me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus, guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.” He calls his precepts, together with his deeds, the pattern of saving teaching, which he commands him to follow, so that he may guard them with the Holy Spirit’s favor. (Verses 15–16.) “For you know this, that all who are in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.” Those he names were full of deceit; for they feigned friendship with the apostle, so that by clinging to him they might learn things from which to bring false charges against him, or to set others on. After they saw that they were exposed, they withdrew from him. “May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain.” This refreshment is to be understood in two ways: he refreshed him with his comfort in the hardship of custody, and he ministered whatever was needed, whether to him or to the needy. For in the hope of what has been promised he was not ashamed to come and seek out a man held in custody; but those he mentions above, because they were ashamed of the cross of Christ, deserted the apostle in his need.

“But when I was in Rome he sought me diligently and found me. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.” When the apostle came to Rome, having appealed to Caesar, he was kept under guard by soldiers; then Onesiphorus, for love and with great diligence, sought out the teacher and found him. His visit was so welcome to the apostle that he commends him to the Lord, that he may find mercy with the Lord on the day of judgment; so that, as he found the apostle by seeking him, so, seeking mercy, he may find it with the judge. For he prays that the Lord, the Father of heaven and earth, may grant him to find grace with the Lord of the human race, that is, the Son. This is like the passage in Genesis: “And the Lord rained sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven” (Gen 19:24). “And how much he ministered to me at Ephesus you know better.” Since some are wont to serve persons rather than causes, wishing to gratify the great, the apostle therefore shows the general goodness of Onesiphorus, lest he perhaps seem to have commended himself to a person by ministering to the apostle, since it was known that he was generous to all.

“You, then, my son, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me through many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” He commands him to be constant and robust in teaching the grace of God which was given in Christ Jesus; and not only in grace but also in the mysteries concerning Christ. He wants the secret things handed on to faithful and worthy men who can teach others, not indiscriminately to the common and careless; for a teacher must be chosen with great care.

“Labor as a good soldier of Christ Jesus; for no one serving as a soldier of God entangles himself in worldly affairs, so that he may please the one who enlisted him.” What he says is plain: that no one can serve two masters (Matt 6:24); for worldly business must serve avarice, and unless men have lied they cannot have carried it through. It is, then, a sin, but a light one. But the churchman proves himself to God for this reason, that, devoted to him, he may fulfill the office he pledged, careful in God’s affairs, a stranger to worldly business; for it is not fitting for one man to have a double profession.

“And if one competes, he is not crowned unless he has competed lawfully.” He wants God’s soldier to be so trained in God’s works, or in the office assigned him, that he may attain the merit of glory: watchful with his whole mind in divine services, spurning present things, loving heavenly things; for he has proved himself for this, that laboring here he may be rewarded in heaven.

“The laboring farmer ought to be the first to partake of the fruits. Understand what I say; for the Lord will give you understanding in all things.” Holy Timothy was of such abstinence that he restrained himself even from lawful things; for he wants this understood: that he abstained from sharing in the treasury, although the Lord decreed that those who proclaim the gospel should live by the gospel (1 Cor 9:14). Therefore the apostle commands that he who is first should take first, and then distribute to the rest.

“Remember that Christ Jesus has risen from the dead, from the seed of David, according to my gospel, in which I labor even to chains, as a robber; but the word of God is not bound.” Since there would be many sons of the devil who would deny that the Son of God was incarnate, he recalls this, because they try deceitfully to assert this under the name of the apostles. He added “according to my gospel” to exclude the false talk of an evil mind; for heretics are not to be believed about the apostles more than the apostles themselves testifying about their own preaching, which preaching he complains he carries on with labor. For he was troubled with afflictions and prisons because he offended both Jews and gentiles, as they thought, by preaching incredible things: he had the Jews angry because of the law, which he taught had ceased; and he made the gentiles his enemies because he preached one God in Christ. Hence they treated him as a robber, binding him and shutting him up, in case he might keep silent, not knowing that the word of God could not be bound. Indeed, often shut in, he caused not loss but gain; for he did not lack people to preach to in prison, so that those he could not freely invite to the faith he fed with the word of God while in chains.

“Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with heavenly glory.” To save by his preaching people predestined to life, he was subjected to deadly dangers, knowing that he would have profit from the salvation he sought for them.

“A faithful saying: for if we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him.” He indicates that one can attain to the immortality and glory of Christ if we remain in the form of baptism, where all offenses die; so that, renewed, we may flee all the old vices and crimes, so that, following the footsteps of our author, we may be seen to be dead to sins. But if this is added to the case, that we bear tribulations and afflictions for the Lord’s name without complaint, enduring these we shall reign together with him; for it is right that one who suffers reproaches and deadly dangers for him should appear glorious in his kingdom. “If we deny, he too will deny us.” It is true, for if we have not confessed him before men, then he too will say to us at that hour of the coming judgment: “I do not know you” (Matt 25:12). This signifies punishment.

“If we do not believe, he remains faithful; he cannot deny himself.” No one can take away from the Lord what he has. For who is stronger than he, through whom all things came to be? Nor can anything be added to the perfect; because one who believes him gives him nothing, just as one who does not believe in him takes nothing from him. Whatever is done, then, tends to our profit, so that we may not remain in ignorance. For he is not made firm by us, since he is firm of himself and in himself.

“Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord. Do not fight with words; for it is useful for nothing but the subversion of the hearers.” He warns that contentions are to be avoided, and that precepts are to be given under the fear and terror of God, because contention can breed doubt in those not yet firmly established. For in contention such objections are commonly raised, with the sharpened blade of ill will, as to unsettle the minds of beginning brothers.

“Take care to present yourself approved to God, a workman not shameless, rightly handling the word of truth.” Since there are some who say that contention profits the hearers, but the apostle, knowing that it rather harms, commands that each take care to make himself approved by spurning altercation, calling those who rely on contentions shameless. For contention necessarily wrings out something, indeed many things, said against conscience, so that one loses inwardly in the mind and goes away victor outwardly. For no one allows himself to be beaten, even if he knows that what he hears is true; but he handles rightly, and with a good conscience, who speaks to the willing and the peaceable. So there should be conference among God’s servants, not altercation.

“But avoid profane novelties of words; for they advance greatly toward emptiness, and their talk spreads like a cancer.” He continues the same point, that contentions are to be avoided; for it is not fitting for men of one faith to have contention, but in discussion let them bear with one another and agree with what is well said; and if something seems unacceptable, let it be passed over in peace. For opponents and dissenters are wont to provoke one another, of whom one is catholic and the other profane. This, then, is the catholic to whom the apostle commands that he spurn and turn aside from empty fables; he ought to be quiet, so that he always utters words from conscience, and does not allow impious words to be brought out in his presence. For they give some an occasion to advance to worse; for there are those who, hearing profane things, conceive an evil thought; and therefore contention is harmful.

“Among whom are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have strayed from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and have overturned the faith of some.” Now he discloses the names of those on whose account he warns that contentions are to be avoided, whom he marks out as profane and impious, straying from the truth; for they denied what is the chief point for Christians, that they believe they will rise from the dead in the future. These, as we are taught from another writing, said that resurrection takes place in children; and they did not lack people who gave their assent, perversely, against the faith they had received in the beginning.

“But the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: The Lord knows those who are his; and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” The foundation of God is faith, which contains what God has promised, and this faith cannot be broken by the inventions of the faithless and heretics; for although they deny the things to come which we believe, God will nevertheless give what we believe he will give, his promise bearing witness. So the seal of God’s promise is our faith, which confirms God’s words; on the day of judgment God will recognize those who have his sign, dissenting from the iniquity of the faithless and heretics, which thinks to weaken God’s promise; for nothing is so wicked as to oppose the faithfulness of God. And so it was said by Moses to Dathan, Abiram, and Korah, when they presumed to offer sacrifices against God’s command (Num 16:5): “The Lord knows,” he says, “who are his.” By this saying he shows what ruin awaits those who would overturn God’s words.

“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for honor, some for dishonor.” By this saying he indicated that there are different people in the church: some good and outstanding men, whom he wants understood by gold; some merely good, whom he marks by silver; and others not good, whom he calls vessels of wood and earthenware. I think this is doubtful to no one; for in the church of the Corinthians the frequent speech of the rebuking apostle proves it. And now it is plain in our own church, and it is shown by plain readings to have been so in the temple at Jerusalem, in which was the type of the church. For there were the Sadducees there, from whose root came Hymenaeus and Philetus; and having spoken of their wicked opinion, the apostle at once added this, that it is no wonder that dissenting people are seen in the church. For in the church of the Corinthians, of which I spoke, there were also some who dissented and denied the resurrection. But mad Novatian, to flatter his own error, hands down that this is to be understood otherwise: that the great house is believed to signify the whole world, which holds a diversity of people; although it is plain that the apostle used the example of the house of a rich and wealthy man, which, however abundant it may be, still has vessels of wood and earthenware; in this way the church too, although it is called holy, nevertheless has the vicious and those of perverse opinion, as I mentioned above. He shows that these are worthy of dishonor, yet not to perish, but to be purged by fire, because in some respect they are necessary to the house. But Novatian, lifted up with pride, so as to defend the truth and general holiness of his own church, decreed that it must be understood in this way, as though the church were itself without blemish and had all its members purified, for the reasons for which he accuses us, the innocent. But what need was there in this place to say anything about the world, or why should he affirm that the world signifies the great house? For the Lord says to the apostles: “You are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world” (John 15:19). How then are those to be shut up within the world who are said not to be of the world? And the same apostle says: “What have I to do with judging those outside?” (1 Cor 5:12). For in one house all are under one name; for all are reckoned by the one name of their Lord; but the world contains people of different professions, so that they profess to have different gods and lords. So he does not call the world the great house, but the church, in which all are under the name of one Lord.

“If anyone, then, purges himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Lord, prepared for every good work.” Now another heresy is convicted by its own deceit, which asserts that certain souls are evil by nature and cannot be compelled to good; whereas he says here that the evil can be changed into good and the filthy purified. For Hymenaeus and Philetus could have cleansed their understanding if they had wished, so as to become a sanctified vessel, prepared for honor.

“But flee youthful desires.” Youthful desires are contrary things; for they are worldly pleasures, which are enslaved to all allurements; and therefore they are to be fled by the servant of God. “But pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” He bids him pursue these, which seem out of the way and harsh to youthful age. For one who chooses righteousness does nothing contrary to it; and one who loves faith keeps the commandments; and one who follows love is humble toward all; and the guardian of peace provokes no one to a quarrel.

“But avoid foolish and ignorant questions, knowing that they breed quarrels.” Senseless questions are partly those of unbelievers, partly those of heretics: on the side of unbelievers, those which force moderate people into a quarrel; for they are altered by the excessive contradiction of their impiety, and in anger say something against their purpose. For some of the heretics are wont to feign patience (although they cannot hear anything harsh from a catholic) in order to commend their wicked talk; therefore one must keep away from them.

“But the servant of the Lord ought not to quarrel, but to be gentle toward all, apt to teach, patient, modest, correcting those who think otherwise, if perhaps God may give them repentance to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses out of the snares of the devil, by whom they are held captive at his will.” These need no interpretation, for they are plain. Yet he has declared how much modesty profits; for if this is pleasing in certain heretics, because they seem humble, how much more praiseworthy and fruitful will it be in a catholic, if he is gentle, in whom both useful understanding and gravity worth imitating are seen!