Context
2 Timothy 2:1-13 is a model for discipleship. As Paul is giving Timothy a vision of taking ownership of apostolic ministry after him, he gives some characteristics to strive for. He uses the imagery of a good soldier who must be focused, an athlete who must be disciplined, and a farmer who must be hardworking. In this passing down of vision, Paul gives Timothy a charge in verse 2, “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” Paul has spent many years teaching Timothy who was himself a faithful man, and he is now telling him to invest what he has learned into other faithful men, who will then entrust them to the next generation. This is what we call discipleship, and it was Jesus’ own vision to build his Church. In Matthew 4:19 Jesus calls his first disciples, and he gives them a command and a promise, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The command is to follow Jesus and the promise is that he will make them into fishers of men. In other words, they were to teach what they had learned to other men, who would then teach others. Here at Highview, one of our Church’s desires is to not have a Church that is a mile wide and an inch deep, but to have a congregation that knows and follows Jesus as disciples. We define discipleship as a life-on-life relationship teaching people to know and follow Jesus with the purpose of them replicating the process with others. The vision of discipleship and faithful ministry is given to Timothy in this passage.
Commentary
Paul encourages Timothy to be “strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 2:1) Everything that Timothy is being asked to do, from guarding the good deposit entrusted to him, to teaching others as he has been taught in discipleship, requires the strength and grace of the Lord. Ministers have no adequacy in themselves to do what God has sked them to do. It is the grace of God that equips us and empowers us to serve.
The imagery of the solider, the athlete, and the farmer are very fitting here. Soldiers and athletes don’t just appear; however, they are trained to do their profession. “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” (2 Tim. 2:4) A soldier, like a disciple of Jesus, has the focus of pleasing only God and doesn’t allow themselves to get distracted by silly, irrelevant things. “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” (2 Tim. 2:5) An athlete, like a disciple, must discipline themselves with accountable actions and habits. Followers of Christ know that God sees all, and our integrity is of highest importance. We do not want to appear to “win” on the outside only to be disqualified because of impurity on the inside or in secret. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) “It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.” (2 Tim. 2:6) A farmer, like a disciple, must labor intensely with all the grace that God affords them as they strive towards the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Lastly, in verses 8-13 Paul encourages Timothy with the gospel to “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.” (2 Tim 2:8) Our motivation behind making disciples cannot be rooted in anything other than the glory of Christ Jesus. If there is anyone who has suffered for a cause, endured much for a cause, and was disciplined all the way to the end, it was Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary. Paul wants Timothy to remember Christ Jesus and let his faithfulness to us be his motivation behind striving to serve in this way. Paul was so motivated by the gospel and the faithfulness of Jesus that he was willing to endure prison for it. (2 Tim. 2:9) He finishes with a sobering reminder that was most likely a common saying for first century Christians – “If we have died with him, we will also live with him;” (2 Tim. 2:11) This described the reality with those who have trusted Jesus as Lord and savior are united with him in his death, burial, and resurrection. As Galatians 2:19-20 says, our old selves are crucified with Christ, and we now live by faith in the one who died and rose for us. “If we endure, we will also reign with him;” (2 Tim. 2:12) This is a reference to a time in which the Bible says followers of Christ who were faithful to endure in faith until the end will reign with Jesus in his millennial kingdom. (Rev. 20:4) “If we deny him, he will deny us;” (2 Tim. 2:12) A safe, private possession of faith in Jesus without a public profession of faith in Jesus is most likely not saving faith. Jesus says in Matthew 10:32-33, “so everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” But the hope we have in the gospel is the faithfulness of Jesus. We can be assured that when our faith becomes weak or even fails, God will remain true to his promises to us through Christ because his character is faithful and “he cannot deny himself.” (2 Tim. 2:13)
Key Points
- • The vision of discipleship (V. 1-2)
- • The characteristics of a disciple (V. 3-7)
- • The example of Jesus (V. 8-13)
Discussion/ Application Questions
2 Timothy 2:1–2
1. Who around you can you entrust the gospel as you see they are faithful?
2. Are you one who is able to teach or one who needs to be taught so that later you will be able to teach?
3. Are you in a D-Group? D-Groups are same gendered 3-5 person groups that are intentional about discipleship. Why or why not?
4. What would be necessary for you to become equipped to teach others?
5. What are some things you do to disciple your family? Do you entrust the gospel to your children and teach them the things of God?
6. How could you become more intentional to disciple your family?
2 Timothy 1:3–7
7. How is your spiritual walk with the Lord going? Are you in the spiritual disciplines being a good soldier? What is one spiritual discipline you can focus on being better this year?
8. What are “civilian affairs” that cause you to get distracted? How do you refocus?
9. When it comes to integrity and having consistency in your private and public life, what are measures of accountability that you have in place? How do we grow our hearts to desire to live above approach?
10. As Paul encourages Timothy to think over what he says (v. 7), are we taking time to meditate on Scripture throughout the week? Would the group be willing to share how they are meditating on Scripture throughout the week?
2 Timothy 2:8–13
11. Paul encourages Timothy with the gospel in these verses. Are we encouraging others around us with the gospel? How do you encourage yourself with the gospel?
12. Is your motivation to make disciples grounded in the glory of God or to rack up numbers? How do you know the difference?
13. How differently would we engage mission if we believed the word of God was not bound?
14. What is the evidence that we have died with Christ?
15. Discipleship is taking up your cross and following Christ daily. How can we die with Christ this week as we live with him?
Prayer Guide
Pray for our church that we would be faithful to Christ’s vision of discipleship as we seek to make disciples who make disciples. Pray that more discipleship groups would start and more of them would replicate disciples. Pray that we would be focused, disciplined, and hardworking.
Pray for our city that it is impacted by the gospel of Christ Jesus who was risen from the dead. Pray that, because the church of Jesus Christ is unashamed to endure with him, many would also be raised with him.
Pray for our world that faithful men and women entrusted with the gospel will go to the nations to build Christ’s Church. Pray that the process of discipleship would reach the ends of the earth and that we would be consistent to send disciples to continue this work.