2 Timothy 1:1-12

1:1 | As Paul writes his final letter from a prison cell, his focus is not on his circumstances, but on the promise of life in Christ (Titus 1:2). Any Christian’s earthly circumstances pale in light of the glory of eternity (2 Cor. 4:17).

1:2 | Timothy’s father was a Greek and apparently was not a believer (Acts 16:1). Paul entered into that void and became a spiritual father to the young man.

1:3-6 | Four times in this passage, Paul uses a form of the verb “to remember” – remember, being mindful, remembrance, remind (Acts 22:3, 23:6; 24:14-15; 26:4-5). No Christian is an island. All God’s people stand on the shoulders of those who have preceded them.

1:3-4 | Although Paul desperately longed for Timothy’s encouragement and company, he focused upward (I thank God) and outward (I remember you in my prayers being mindful of your tears), not just on himself.

1:5 | The greatest gift parents and grandparents can give their children is the heritage of genuine faith. An important question for any Christian to ask is: if you were standing on the threshold of eternity and looking back over your life, would you be able to see that your faith lives on in others, especially your family members?

1:6-7 | Fear usually enters in when a person focuses on his or her situation and abilities rather than on God’s sovereignty and attributes (Ps. 56:3; Isa. 12:2). Following fear to its logical conclusion will obliterate all opportunities for service. But recalling one’s spiritual heritage and friendships, as well as God’s calling and gifting, can spur Christians forward. To stir up means to rekindle or reignite a fire (1 Thess. 5:19).

1:7 | All open doors offer two choices: to walk by faith or to be controlled by fear (“timidity”). Persecution, infighting, and false teaching all threatened the Ephesian church that young Timothy shepherded – and will threaten Christians in the last days. The fearful will drop out. But those who grab hold of the courage (power), compassion (love), and self-control (sound mind) that God makes available will stand fast until God completes His work in them (Acts 1:8).

1:8 | Christians will suffer for Christ in some way in this life. But it is far better that one’s faith be marked by suffering than by shame at Christ or those who proclaim Hi. Paul did not want Timothy to misunderstand his imprisonment – Paul understood who he served, and he was unashamed.

1:9-10 | God saves us for the purpose of furthering the gospel, not as a reward for our works. Good works are a response to God’s work in the life of a believer (Eph. 2:8-9). Paul uses the perfect tense here (has saved) to indicate that although believers have been saved already, and the results of that salvation continue into the present (Rom. 8:28; Eph. 1:4).

1:10 | Abolished means “rendered inoperative.” Christ’s saving work not only relieved believers of the fear of eternal death (the separation of the soul and body from God – what Scripture calls “the second death”) (Rev. 2:11; 20:6,14; 21:8), but He removed the terror of physical and spiritual death. Death can no longer separate God’s people from His love (Rom. 8:35-39); Jesus replaced it with life and immortality.

1:11-12 | The repeated use of the personal pronoun I indicates Paul’s desire that Timothy learn from Paul’s life – doing as Paul did, and not just as Paul instructed.

1:12 | Even when facing execution, Paul’s hope and joy never wavered because he knew the power of Christ to faithfully deliver him into eternity (1 Pet. 4:19). Paul had both a living faith and a faith unto death.