“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15.

‘Paul urged Timothy to instruct his people both positively and negatively. Positively, he was to remind them of the truth of the Gospel and the need of perseverance, as he had just set it forth in the faithful saying of verses 11-13. Negatively, he was to warn them about the dangers of the false teachers. Their teachings were worthless and divisive, having no redeeming value, destroying those who listened to them (vs 14). Paul’s main charge against the false teachers was that they were argumentative, warring over words, dividing and perverting people with their talk. They were a sickness, like a creeping gangrene that ate at the flesh of the church (vs 17). He singled out two of the leaders of the heresy, Hymenaeus and Philetus. Hymenaeus was one of the pair that Paul had earlier put out of the church (1 Tim 1:20). The fact that he was still having an impact on the church indicates the difficulty of the situation Timothy was facing in the Ephesian congregation. Paul pointed out a specific tenet of their false teaching: they maintained that the resurrection had already occurred (vs 18). This probably meant that they claimed believers were already perfected in the Spirit and thus already shared the life to come. Such was a common belief in later Gnostic system systems. It was often accompanied by a libertine lifestyle. This may have been the case at Ephesus and possible source of Paul’s concern over the guilt-ridden consciences of some within the congregation (3:6)
Paul urged Timothy to avoid the useless, godless argumentation of the false teachers. They had missed the path, straying from the truth (vs 18). In contrast, Timothy was to make every effort to win God’s approval by not being ashamed of the Gospel (1:8,12,16) and by ‘correctly handling’ literally means ‘cutting straight’ and was used such things as fitting stone masonry, plowing straight furrows, and cutting a path. Paul may have intended a contrasting image. The false teachers had missed the path altogether; Timothy was to cut a straight path for his people in his faithful presentation of the truth of the gospel.’

Source: ‘Paul and his letters.’ John B. Polhill