2 Timothy 1:8–18

1:8 The verse begins with a prohibition: “do not be ashamed.” “Therefore” means that the command is grounded in what Paul has said in verse 7. Because God has given Timothy not a spirit of cowardice but a Spirit of power and discipline, Timothy must not be ashamed. Paul is concerned with the way in which shame can undermine faithfulness to Christ (note the word “ashamed” in verses 8, 12, and 16). The American Heritage Dictionary defines shame as “a painful emotion caused by the belief that one is, or is perceived by others to be, inferior or unworthy of affection or respect because of one's actions, thoughts, circumstances, or experiences.” The Spirit of Almighty God will not coexist with that kind of shame but drives it out. Therefore, Timothy must not be ashamed.

Paul suggests at least two reasons why Timothy might feel shame: (1) because of the gospel, “the testimony about our Lord,” and (2) because of Paul, a “prisoner.” In Paul’s day, many people looked down on Christians for their message about Jesus. Skeptics shamed Paul at Mars Hill when he began to preach about the resurrection, proving that the gospel is indeed “folly to those who are perishing” (1 Cor. 1:18). Apart from grace, the world thinks Christians to be rubes for believing what they believe. Paul knows that there is plenty of shame for those who would believe and preach the gospel.

There is also plenty of shame to go around for those willing to identify with gospel preachers. We can imagine how the unsanctified mind would have regarded Paul, in prison for preaching the gospel. It would have appeared foolish to throw one’s life away on a fairy tale about a dead Jew named Jesus. It would surely have been difficult to associate with a man so shamed for the name of Christ. To do so would be to invite such shame upon oneself.

It is striking that Paul does not call himself a prisoner of Rome. Instead he calls himself a prisoner of the Lord. Paul regards his shame not as his own but as Christ’s. He belongs to Jesus, not the Romans. If the Romans despise his message, it is because they despise his master, Jesus. Paul sees his sufferings as nothing other than the sufferings of Christ lived out again in Paul’s own body (Gal. 2:20). Being ashamed of Paul the Lord’s prisoner is tantamount to being ashamed of Jesus—the one for whom Paul is imprisoned. And so he tells Timothy not to be ashamed of him, the Lord’s prisoner. On the contrary, he commands, “Share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.” The proof that Timothy is not ashamed must be revealed in his willingness to suffer.

The stakes are high in this text—associating with the imprisoned apostle could be risky. In the following verses, therefore, Paul describes for Timothy all that has been accomplished by the “power of God.”

1:9 Many commentators regard verses 9–10 as an early Christian hymn or confession (e.g., NA²⁸), but that conclusion is by no means certain (e.g., UBS⁵).¹ What is certain is that Paul introduces these two verses in order to remind Timothy of what the power of God has accomplished, things that Timothy himself has already experienced. If the power of God is sufficient to save sinners as described in verses 9–10, then certainly the power of God will enable Timothy to suffer together with Paul.

The clause at the beginning of verse 9 specifies God as the one who “saved us.” Verse 10 defines this salvation as rescue from “death” and the giving of “life and immortality.” God’s salvation involves both rescue from death and the giving of eternal life (Rom. 6:23). God breaks through hard hearts by calling his people to himself. This “holy calling” is effectual in the sense that it infallibly summons forth a response of faith (cf. “calling” in Rom. 8:30; 9:11, 24; 1 Cor. 1:9; Gal. 1:6; Eph. 4:1). God “calls” sinners to himself not because they deserve it or because they request it—it is “not because of our works.” By nature, sinners are dead in their trespasses and sins. They do not seek for God, but he certainly seeks them, “because of his own purpose and grace.” Elsewhere, Paul links “calling” with God’s predestining “purpose” of grace (Rom. 8:28); this predestining purpose is likely what Paul has in mind here as well (cf. Eph. 1:11).

The implication is that salvation through Christ is not rooted ultimately in human effort or ingenuity but in the purposes of God from all eternity. In this way, salvation is all of grace. Paul specifies that God’s grace has been given to his people “in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (cf. Titus 1:2). Before the world began—even before anyone ever sinned—God’s predestining goodness was aimed squarely at sinners to save them.

1:10 This verse begins with a clause further expounding the “grace” mentioned in verse 9; this grace has been “now . . . manifested” through the redemptive work of Christ. Because of Christ, God’s grace is no mystery. Its manifestation means that it has “become public knowledge” (BDAG, s.v. phaneroō). God’s gracious purposes are not the ephemeral musings of a distant deity. He puts flesh and blood on his plans to save his people “through the appearing,” that is, the incarnation, “of our Savior Christ Jesus.” That appearing achieved salvation through his cross and resurrection. Through the cross, the Savior “abolished death.” This does not mean that sinners no longer experience death; rather, their death sentence will be upended by their subsequent resurrection. Jesus’ resurrection amounted to the nullification of his own death. Likewise, his resurrection guarantees that the disciple’s death will be nullified as well. This promise of “life and immortality” has been brought near to sinners through the message of the “gospel,” which is being proclaimed in the world.

1:11 “For which” looks back to the gospel mentioned at the end of verse 10. The Lord Jesus himself appeared to Paul and “appointed” him to be a “preacher and apostle and teacher.” Each of these titles indicates that Paul’s ministry was primarily to focus on the explication of the truth about Christ. As a “preacher,” Paul proclaimed that message. As an “apostle,” he was appointed by Jesus himself to be an inspired and authoritative bearer of that message. As a “teacher,” Paul explained the meaning of God’s revelation in Christ. In this sense, every aspect of Paul’s ministry existed in order to set forth the gospel message, a message that brings “life and immortality” to all who believe in it.

1:12 The first phrase of this verse links back to the “gospel” mentioned at the end of verse 10. A literal rendering might read, “on account of which [gospel] I suffer these things.” “These things” refers to Paul’s imprisonment mentioned in verse 8. As in verse 8, Paul says that he has been imprisoned for preaching the gospel. But even though he is in a shameful place (prison), Paul declares that he is not ashamed. Why? Because his confidence and trust are in Christ: “I know whom I have believed.” Paul knows Christ, and so he has confidence in ultimate vindication. There is therefore no reason to be ashamed of his present circumstance.

Paul’s confidence is not in his own ability to weather the storm. On the contrary, Paul writes, “I am convinced that he [God] is able.” The power of God made Paul an apostle and preacher of the gospel, and that same power is now sustaining him in his misery. The very power of God is keeping Paul from being ashamed. He is confident that even if his captors take his freedom—or even his life—God is going to raise him up. This is what Paul means by saying that Christ can “guard” the life that has been “entrusted” to Paul. Paul knows that his life is not subject ultimately to the whims of his Roman captors; his life is hidden with Christ in God. Everything that he loses will be given back to him—and then some—on the last day (i.e., the day of resurrection).

1:13–14 For Timothy, ministry without shame means being willing to associate with and suffer with Paul. But in these two verses, it also means being willing to stay faithful to Paul’s message. Paul calls that message “the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me” (v. 13) and “the good deposit entrusted to you” (v. 14). In both of these expressions, Paul accents the given-ness of the gospel message. It has discernible content and contours. It is more of a bounded set than a centered one. One’s teaching can either conform to the gospel “pattern” or depart from the same. One’s teaching can be taken either from the “deposit” or from somewhere else. In short, Paul asserts an apostolic standard that must guide Timothy’s teaching ministry.

Paul issues two directives vis-à-vis this apostolic standard. He commands Timothy to “follow” the apostolic standard and to “guard” it. The first command (“follow”) could also be rendered as “hold fast” (Gk. eche). In this context, to “hold fast” means to commit oneself to a matter of “transcendent importance” (BDAG). In this case, the item of transcendent priority is the gospel message. Thus holding fast to the pattern of sound words indicates Timothy’s pastoral duty to preach and to live the apostolic standard before God’s people.

Paul is interested not merely in what Timothy says but also in how he lives it out. Holding fast to this gospel must occur “in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” In order to preserve Paul’s teaching, Timothy must exercise faith toward God and love toward others (cf. Matt. 22:36–40).

The second command (“guard”) refers to Timothy’s pastoral duty to protect the standard from corruption by false teachers (cf. 1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 4:15). Here the standard is called “the good deposit”—an expression that parallels that of 1 Timothy 6:20 and refers to the apostolic message entrusted to him. Timothy’s responsibility is not only to preach the message but to defend it (cf. Titus 1:9). This means that pastoral ministry necessarily involves confrontation, which Timothy is to undertake “by the power of the Holy Spirit.” It is not Timothy’s own resourcefulness that qualifies for the task but the presence of the Spirit who first indwelled Paul and now dwells powerfully within Timothy as well.

1:15 “You are aware” means that Paul is referencing an event with which Timothy is well-acquainted. In this case it is that a group of believers, “all who are in Asia,” has deserted Paul. It is difficult to identify this group of people with any certainty. “Asia” refers to the western part of modern-day Turkey, what was then the western part of the Roman province of Asia. But who are the “all” that Paul mentions? And when did they leave him? Some have suggested that “all” refers to all of the believers in Asia, but this seems unlikely. It is more likely that Paul has in mind members of some smaller group in Asia, all of whom have left Paul. Although we cannot definitively identify this group, it is possible that Paul mentions Phygelus and Hermogenes because they are among its leaders.

Paul says that they have “turned away” (Gk. apostrephō; in this context “turn away from by rejecting” [BDAG]). We might even render the term “reject” or “repudiate,” indicating that these men have not left Paul for some small reason. They have done so because they were ashamed of him. They are negative examples of what Paul instructs Timothy to do, which is not to be ashamed. When the going got tough, they got going: they deserted Paul. Their faithfulness to Paul—and thus to his gospel ministry—was only as deep as their willingness to suffer. And there was not much depth there at all, so they left him.

1:16–18 In contrast to Phygelus, Hermogenes, and “all” who were in Asia, there was Onesiphorus. Onesiphorus was not ashamed of Paul or his gospel. For this reason, Paul asks for divine mercy on his behalf. But notice that Paul refers not only to Onesiphorus but also to his entire “household,” which likely refers to his family. Why would Paul focus on Onesiphorus’s family in this invocation of divine mercy? It may be that both Onesiphorus and his family have paid a price for Onesiphorus’s association with Paul. Perhaps Onesiphorus has already died. This would explain Paul’s reference to the last judgment (v. 18) and would also mean that Onesiphorus’s family are the only ones left for Paul to pray for. The exact details are not clear, but what is clear is that there was a price for associating with Paul, and Onesiphorus’s entire family may have paid it. Onesiphorus and his family sacrificed to be merciful to Paul, and now Paul is praying for them to receive mercy. In writing this, Paul may have in mind the words of Jesus himself, who pronounced, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matt. 5:7).

Onesiphorus’s unique honor was that he was not “ashamed” of Paul’s chains. On the contrary, Onesiphorus sought Paul out, associated with him, implicated himself in Paul’s shame, and took care of Paul’s needs while he was imprisoned in Rome. When everyone else had refused Paul’s shame, Onesiphorus embraced it—even at the risk of his own family. Onesiphorus is an exemplar of ministry without shame in his faithfulness to Paul not only in Rome but also in Ephesus, which Timothy knows about as well.