2 Timothy 2:1

Lenski gave "Join in suffering what is bad" as the heading of this chapter.[1] This is especially appropriate for the first 13 verses, and the last half of the chapter (2 Timothy 2:14-26) lays out appropriate guidelines to be followed by Timothy in dealing with disorders then descending upon the church. The impending persecution, perhaps already underway, the proliferation of noxious heresies, the emergence of evil teachers and the creeping terror emanating from the central government continue to loom in the background of this letter. In the previous chapter, Paul had mentioned two well known defectors, countered by the mention of Onesiphorus who remained faithful; and dominating this whole epistle is Paul's urgent appeal for the faithfulness of Timothy no matter what might need to be suffered in connection with it.

As a great encouragement to Timothy, the last half of the chapter points out that there is no need to fear for the church, which is securely anchored against all errors and misfortunes. It is founded upon solid rock, and neither time nor savage persecutions will be able to destroy it.

Thou therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which thou hast heard from men among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:1-2)

Be strengthened in the grace ... Such passages as this admonish men to be strengthened; as White said:

Those who are exhorted to be strengthened are not merely passive recipients of an influence from without. The act of reception involves man's cooperation with God.[2]

The very grace that is designed to strengthen Christians is "in Christ." When believers are baptized into the Lord, their constant duty ever afterward is to maintain their identity as Christ and in Christ, a duty that enlists the full employment and constant cultivation of the total religious life of the individual. If men would be strengthened by the grace "in Christ," their continual prayers and devotions, their unceasing study and perseverance, must be orchestrated in such a manner as to build up in Christ the true spiritual life of the Christian.

The things which thou hast heard ... This is a reference to the total gospel message as Timothy had been so long accustomed to hear it proclaimed by Paul. The school of scholars who find here any reference to "the succession of apostolic doctrine through apostolic men,"[3] find what is not in the passage at all. As Hendriksen put it:

This expression undoubtedly refers to the entire series of sermons and lessons which the disciple had heard from the mouth of his teacher during all their association from the day when they first met.[4]

Among many witnesses ... This is not a reference to the people who heard Timothy confess Christ, nor to the witnesses of his being ordained to the ministry (in any exclusive sense), but it is a reference to all the many thousands encountered upon the mission fields where Paul and Timothy had proclaimed the gospel.

[1] R. C. H. Lenski, Interpretation of Paul's Epistles ... to Timothy (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1964), p. 777.

[2] Newport J. D. White, Expositor's Greek New Testament, Vol. IV (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 160.

[3] A. C. Hervey, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), Vol. 21,2Timothy, p. 19.

[4] William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, 2Timothy (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1957), p. 246.