2 Timothy 2:15

‘Give diligence to present yourself approved to God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.’

Positively he is to ‘study zealously’ to present himself before God as one who is ‘accepted after testing’, that is, as one who is the genuine and well-proved article. He must recognise that what he believes and teaches must pass the test of the inspection of God. He must be like the workman who can watch confidently while his work is subjected to examination, in order for it to gain approval. And he will do this by ‘cutting a straight road’ (see the same verb in Proverbs 3:6; Proverbs 11:5 LXX) with regard to the word of truth, and avoiding any diversion. Thus ‘rightly handling’ it, and not going off at a tangent.

For ‘the word of truth’ compare Ephesians 1:13; Colossians 1:5 where it represents the Good News of salvation as contained in the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15-16) and the teaching of Jesus. Note the contrast with the gangrenous ‘word’ of 2 Timothy 2:17 and the connection with ‘the truth’ from which the false teachers have erred (2 Timothy 2:18).