Chapter One

Inscription and greeting (1–2). Thanksgiving, prayer, and exhortation of the apostle (3–7). You must not be ashamed of the testimony about Christ (8–12). On the preservation of the teaching entrusted to Timothy (13–14). The example of Onesiphorus (15–18).

2 Timothy 1:1. Paul, by the will of God an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, 2 Timothy 1:2. to Timothy, my beloved son: grace, mercy, peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord. The apostle was in chains while writing the epistle. Nevertheless, he did not lose heart at all and continued to consider himself “an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.” In expressing this conviction, he has in mind his opponents, who, pointing to his constrained position, said: “What kind of apostle is this? An apostle should always be free to proclaim the will of the One who sent him...” The apostle responds to this in advance by pointing to “the will of God,” which apparently leads Paul by special paths, even through afflictions, to the achievement of the goal set for him. On the other hand, the apostle indicates that he possesses “the promise of life in Christ Jesus,” that is, he hopes that Christ at His second coming to earth will grant him eternal blessed life (Col 3:3-4; Gal 6:8). Therefore, he, without despair, endures all manner of suffering and deprivation.

2 Timothy 1:3. I thank God, whom I serve from my ancestors with a pure conscience, that I remember you unceasingly in my prayers night and day, 2 Timothy 1:4. and I long to see you, remembering your tears, that I may be filled with joy, 2 Timothy 1:5. calling to mind your genuine faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that it is in you also. These verses are better translated thus: “I feel thanksgiving toward God—whom I serve from my ancestors—with a pure conscience (that is, not feigned but genuine thanksgiving), because I remember you unceasingly in my prayers, night and day, longing to see you,” and then following the Russian text. By these words the apostle encourages Timothy, who, separated from his teacher and guide, probably sometimes fell into doubts concerning the success of his activity in Ephesus. The apostle remembers his tears, which Timothy shed when parting from him; he remembers his genuine faith, which constitutes, so to speak, an hereditary treasure in Timothy’s soul, and sincerely gives thanks to God for his beloved student.

2 Timothy 1:6. For this reason I remind you to kindle the gift of God that is in you through my laying on of hands; 2 Timothy 1:7. for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. “For this reason”—that is, because you possess a genuine faith. “The gift of grace”—that is, the capacity for your high hierarchical service—first and foremost steadfastness of faith, then wisdom, courage, humility, and love. All these are an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, who is sometimes represented in Scripture as fire (cf. Rom 12:11; Acts 2:3). Timothy should not extinguish this fire—otherwise he will disappoint the trust of the apostle who ordained him. “God gave us”—that is, to preachers of the Word of God especially. “Not of fear.” A strong one, like a lion, has nothing to fear.

2 Timothy 1:8. So you must not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord Jesus Christ, nor of me His prisoner; but suffer with the gospel of Christ by the power of God, The apostle urges Timothy to banish from himself a fainthearted shame before the proclamation of the Gospel. “The testimony of the Lord,” that is, the Gospel, which Christ brought to men and the preaching of which the apostles continued. According to the interpretation of the holy Fathers, there is here also an indication of the death of Christ, by which Christ confirmed the truth of His preaching. “Nor of me, His prisoner.” Association with a criminal is usually not maintained; men even try to forget about him, so as not to fall under suspicion themselves of unreliability. “Suffer with the gospel”—suffer for the benefit of the gospel (the Gospel). “By the power of God”—that is, in accordance with the power, or using the power of God, which is contained in the Gospel itself.

2 Timothy 1:9. He saved us and called us with a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own intention and the grace that was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, Besides the power contained in the Gospel itself, God’s grace and God’s love will help Timothy; remembering them, Timothy can free himself from all hesitation in deciding whether it is worth his effort to proclaim the Gospel. “With a holy calling.” God’s call is holy, essentially different from human invitations (cf. Matt 22:3). “Before the ages began.” In saying that grace “was given before the ages began,” the apostle evidently has in mind not pre-temporal existence (the participle indicates a historical fact), but the most ancient prophecy concerning the salvation of men from sin—that is, Gen 3:15. Christ, in the apostle’s understanding, is that promised Seed of which it was said to Adam and Eve as the Savior of mankind. However, He was given only as a hope (cf. Isa 9:6).

2 Timothy 1:10. and now has been revealed by the appearance of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, The apostle speaks of how the promise of salvation is now fulfilled through the appearance of the “Savior,” who abolished—more accurately: placed death outside the possibility of action, though He did this in principle only; its final destruction is to occur at the last judgment (1 Cor 15:26). “And brought”—made so that we clearly see life and immortality. “Life”—this is eternal life in Christ. “Immortality”—with this expression the apostle more precisely defines the concept of “life.” “Through the gospel”—this phrase refers to the beginning of the verse: “and now has been revealed...” The apostle means that grace was revealed through the preaching of salvation, which the preachers appointed by Christ after His resurrection carried throughout the world (John 20:21; Eph 2:17; Heb 2:3).

2 Timothy 1:11. for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. 2 Timothy 1:12. For this reason I am suffering as I am; but I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. By pointing to himself as an example of a firm preacher of the Gospel, the apostle says that “his deposit” (the pledge entrusted to him) is already kept for him by God in heaven. Thus he expresses his confidence in the reward awaiting him in heaven: this reward already constitutes, so to speak, the apostle’s own property (cf. 1 Tim 6:18; Matt 5:12).

2 Timothy 1:13. Hold the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 1:14. Guard the good deposit by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. One may translate: “as a general outline of sound teaching, keep that outline which you received from me, remaining in faith in Christ—as your Savior—and in love for Him” (faith in and love for Christ will not allow Timothy to deviate from sound teaching and thus grieve Christ). “Guard the good deposit,” that is, this same sound teaching. “By the Holy Spirit,” that is, by kindling in yourself the gracious gifts of the Holy Spirit that are in Timothy, as in every good Christian. With such spiritual burning Timothy is safe from the danger of losing the precious treasures of sound words.

2 Timothy 1:15. You know that all those in Asia have abandoned me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 2 Timothy 1:16. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, 2 Timothy 1:17. but when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me. 2 Timothy 1:18. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And you know well all the ways he served me in Ephesus. To further move Timothy toward faithfully guarding the teaching imparted to him by Paul, the apostle expresses his sorrow at what all the Asian (most likely Ephesian) Christians have done, having abandoned the apostle helpless into the hands of his enemies. Perhaps those who had influence among the Christians of Asia Minor needed to go to Rome and testify on behalf of the apostle before the Roman authorities to secure his release from Roman custody. These Christians should have appeared in Rome and given testimony in the apostle’s favor, but they apparently hastened to keep their distance from him. Even Phygelus and Hermogenes, who were known in some way, did not help the apostle. Timothy should not imitate them. On the other hand, the apostle cannot without sincere gratitude remember Onesiphorus, who, according to tradition (Acts of Saint Thecla), had a house in Iconium and received the Apostle Paul there. This Onesiphorus found the Apostle Paul in Rome, apparently when the apostle was already in actual imprisonment, when access to him had been completely cut off for Roman Christians. Here, as much as he was able, he served the apostle. Earlier, when Onesiphorus was in Ephesus, he had rendered many services to the Church of Ephesus (the word “to me” is not found in some manuscripts), which Timothy knows well, as bishop of the Church of Ephesus. Since the apostle wishes the mercy of God not to Onesiphorus himself but to “his household” or family, and asks mercy for Onesiphorus from the Lord “on that day,” that is, on the day of the Last Judgment, it is clear that Onesiphorus was already dead at the time the epistle was written. “May the Lord grant him.” Not without reason do many see in these words evidence that the Apostle Paul believed in the efficacious power of prayer for the dead: the desire he expressed, being directed to Christ, is nothing other than a prayer.