(1:6-18)

And for this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains; but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me, and found me—the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. (1:6–18)

     During the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1900), extreme nationalist Chinese fomented a campaign of terror against officials of foreign governments, Christian missionaries, and even Chinese Christians. After they surrounded a certain mission station, they sealed all exits except one. They placed a cross in the dirt in front of the opened gate and told the missionaries and students that anyone who walked out and trampled the cross would be spared. According to reports, the first seven students who departed trampled the cross and were sent on their way. The eighth student, a young girl, approached the cross, knelt down, prayed for strength, carefully walked around the cross, and was immediately shot to death. The remaining 92 students, strengthened by that girl’s courageous example, also walked around the cross to their deaths.

The second section of 2 Timothy 1:6–18 focuses on the believers’ not being ashamed of Jesus Christ. Paul founds this appeal on the motivations for serving Christ he has presented in verses 1–5. Those six motivations were to generate in Timothy the pervasive attitude of not being ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ, the underlying attitude that is indispensable for effective ministry in the kingdom. The positive expression of that attitude is courageous, unapologetic witness to and obedience of Him, no matter what the cost or consequences. It is the attitude that refuses to equivocate, vacillate, or compromise and that does not hesitate to be confrontational when necessary.

David expressed the attitude of courageous witness in these words: “I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, Thou knowest. I have not hidden Thy righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation; I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great congregation” (Ps. 40:9–10). He would always speak for the Lord without restraint or reservation. Another psalmist declared, “My mouth shall tell of Thy righteousness, and of Thy salvation all day long; for I do not know the sum of them. I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord God; I will make mention of Thy righteousness, Thine alone” (Ps. 71:15–16). Still another psalmist testified, “I will also speak of Thy testimonies before kings, and shall not be ashamed” (Ps. 119:46). Nothing could withstand the commitment of those saints to speak of God’s grace and righteousness.

No matter how gifted a person may be, or how well trained, biblically literate, astute, or articulate, and no matter much opportunity or privilege he may have, if he lacks spiritual courage and commitment, he will not speak and act effectively for the Lord.

Paul is calling for a level of commitment that says, “I don’t care what the world thinks, says, or does. I know what God has mandated for me to be and to do, and that is what I determine, by His power, to be and to do. Whatever the consequences, I will boldly stand for Christ.” The apostle specifically mentions that theme three times in this passage (vv. 8, 12, 16), because it is the heart of his message to the young pastor Timothy. It is a call for him to have an uncompromising, unflinching commitment to proclaim Jesus Christ, regardless of the danger or difficulty.

As Christians, most of us must confess to being ashamed of the Lord at some time or another, afraid of what people might think and of how their opinions might affect our popularity in school, our social standing, or our success in business. Perhaps we were afraid they would wonder why our lifestyle is often inconsistent with our faith. Yet we must also confess that the risks we have faced were much less serious than those Timothy faced, which included physical persecution, imprisonment, and possible death.

The most familiar example in the New Testament of being ashamed of Christ is Peter’s denial during Jesus’ trial before the high priest Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council. All the disciples fled when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:56), but Peter returned and followed “Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest” (v. 58). While waiting there, he three times denied being Jesus’ disciple or even knowing Him (vv. 70–74). As soon as a cock crowed, “Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, ‘Before a cock crows, you will deny Me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly” (v. 75).

That vivid account makes Peter’s denial an easy target for reproach. But, as mentioned above, every Christian knows that he, too, at times has been guilty of denying the Lord, though perhaps not as publicly or dramatically. The encouraging truth we gain from Peter’s experience is that, just as we can be ashamed of the Lord as he was, we also can be forgiven and restored by the Lord as he was. When, after the resurrection, Peter three times affirmed love for Him, Jesus three times acknowledged that the love was genuine, although weak, and He charged Peter with care of His flock, the church (John 21:15–17). A few weeks later, during the feast of Pentecost, Peter fearlessly proclaimed before a great crowd in Jerusalem,

Peter continued to preach the gospel in Jerusalem without compromise and without fear. Peter was brought before the very Council where his Lord was falsely charged and outside of which he had denied Him. But on this occasion Peter was a different man. When he was commanded to stop preaching, he declared with John, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19–20).

As with Peter, it is only when we move from shame and fear to ardent conviction and bold commitment that we become useful in the Lord’s service.

It is possible that Timothy had become somewhat fearful or apathetic in his ministry. The difficulties and opposition he encountered at Ephesus, both from within and without the church there, may have taken a toll on his courage. His spiritual fire may have cooled. In this second letter to Timothy, Paul gives only one commendation, saying, “I am mindful of the sincere faith within you” (1:5). The remainder of the letter is devoted to exhortation. Although he does not accuse Timothy of sin, he gives many admonitions (see 1:8; 1:13; 2:1, 15, 22; 4:1–2, 4:5).

During His earthly ministry, Jesus made clear the cost of discipleship for those who are faithful and unashamed. “Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men,” He said, “I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32). He then gives the sobering converse of that promise: “But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (v. 33). In Mark’s account, Jesus spoke the same truth even more poignantly: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).

A person who refuses to openly proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior gives evidence that he does not belong to Christ, no matter what claim is made for being a Christian. True discipleship is costly. A nominal Christian who will not even “confess [Jesus] before men” surely will not pay the price that faithful, ongoing discipleship can incur. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me,” Jesus said, “and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it” (Matt. 10:37–39). The mark of a true follower of Christ is willingness to put his very life on the line. From the prospect of eternity, however, that is a small price. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” Jesus asked rhetorically, “For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36–37).

The English word martyr translates the Greek martur, which simply means witness. But because so many early Christians paid for their witness with their lives, martyr eventually acquired that special meaning.

The cost of discipleship did not begin with New Testament saints. Countless saints under the Old Covenant, and even before the Old Covenant, willingly and gladly suffered because of their unswerving faith in the Lord. Consequently, “God is not ashamed to be called their God” (Heb. 11:16). Some “were tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground” (11:35–38).

Like those saints, the great Reformer John Hus was not ashamed of his Lord and for it paid the ultimate physical price. In 1415, when he was a pastor in Prague, this “morning star of the Reformation,” as he is often called, was arrested, condemned, and sentenced to burn at the stake for preaching the true gospel. As the flames engulfed his body, he quoted Psalm 25:2, praying, “0 my God, in Thee I trust, do not let me be ashamed; do not let my enemies exult over me.” He was not afraid of dying, only of being ashamed of his Master.

Even if they have not heard the gospel, all men are accountable before God, “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:19–20). For those who have had the immeasurable blessing of hearing the way of salvation, of having “knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” yet refuse to trust in Him, “the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Peter 2:21).

It is characteristic of the unsaved person to be ashamed of Christ, “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so” (Rom. 8:7; cf. 5:10; Col. 2:21). Therefore, when a believer is ashamed of Christ he is acting like an unbeliever. The shame that marks the unbelieving soul should never mark a Christian, but tragically it sometimes does. The shame may be obvious and public or it may be subtle and private, but the Lord always knows of it and is grieved.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that “it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Heb. 2:10–11). Quoting the magnificent messianic Psalm 22, he reinforces that truth, saying, “I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren” (v. 12). The Lord redeemed us through His suffering, through which He became “sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). He “gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Gal. 1:4).

A Christian’s being ashamed of the Lord is caused by a shameless self-interest that is unwilling to pay the price of faithful disciple-ship. Throughout church history, the Lord’s name has suffered reproach because of the sinfulness of His people. Yet, despite our many sins, including our shame of Him, the sinless and righteous Lord is not ashamed of us! He does not hesitate to call us brethren (cf. Heb. 2:11), even when we are ashamed to call Him Lord.

Speaking directly to Timothy, and indirectly to all believers, Paul sets forth eight means by which a Christian may guard against being ashamed of Christ. They are: renew your gift (1:6); consider your resources (v. 7); accept your suffering (v. 8a); remember your calling (vv. 8b—10); realize your duty (vv. 11—12a); trust your security (v. 12b); affirm your doctrine (vv. 13–14); and choose your associates (vv. 15–18).

RENEW YOUR GIFT

And for this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (1:6)

     As already mentioned, it seems likely that Timothy’s fervor and devotion had cooled to some degree. Paul’s first admonition, therefore, was for this young pastor to renew his divinely inspired commitment to proclaim and defend the gospel and to faithfully shepherd the believers God had entrusted to his care.

For this reason refers to the “sincere faith within” Timothy commended in the previous verse. The product of sincere faith is faithful service, and the heart of faithful service is ministering our gift unreservedly for the Lord, the gift which He distributes “to each one individually just as He wills” (1 Cor. 12:11). Apart from ministering our gift in the service of the Lord, our life on earth is worthless. Our sole purpose as Christians is to obey and serve the Lord through the gift with which He has uniquely blessed each of us, so that the body may be built up to be effective in evangelism.

Paul wanted to remind Timothy of something he already knew. Anazpureō (to kindle afresh) literally means “to keep the fire alive,” to fan the embers into flame and not let them die out. It carries the same idea of constancy as does the apostle’s declaration, “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31). We need to continually bury self-will in order to continually allow Christ’s Holy Spirit to work His will through us. Just as every believer, like Paul, needs to wake up each day and bury self, every believer also needs each day to continually kindle afresh the gift of God he has received. The negative expression of that command is “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). Under the Spirit’s guidance, and in His power, we must regularly exercise the gift we have received from God, lest it atrophy from neglect and disuse.

Gift translates charisma, which denotes a specific expression of charis (“grace”) and therefore carries the idea of a grace gift. It refers to the general categories of spiritual gifts that Paul explains in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. God sovereignly bestows these enablements on believers according to His own divine will, totally apart from any personal merit, qualification, or seeking. Therefore, “since we have gifts [charismata, plural of charisma] that differ according to the grace [charis] given to us,” Paul admonished believers in Rome, “let each exercise them accordingly” (Rom. 12:6).

In the present passage, Paul uses the singular charisma in the same way as Peter does in his first letter: “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God; … so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:10–11). In both instances the apostles are speaking of each believer’s unique spiritual giftedness, which may encompass several specific gifts.

A believer’s divine giftedness is inseparable from his divine calling. At salvation, each Christian’s grace gifts are bestowed on him uniquely to equip him to serve God in the specific area or areas of ministry to which he has been called. The grace gifts are divine enablements for effective service of the Lord. Timothy’s giftedness prepared him not only for preaching and teaching but also to “do the work of an evangelist, [in order to] fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim. 4:5).

That gift of God for preaching the Word already is in you, Paul reminded Timothy. It was received at salvation but had not come to full fruition; it was not being employed to the full extent of Timothy’s calling and of the Spirit’s power. In chapter 4 he explains explicitly what he means by to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you. “Preach the word,” he admonishes; “be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2).

Through the laying on of my hands may mean that Paul laid his hands on Timothy at the time of his conversion, which corresponded to the time of receiving his unique spiritual giftedness. Or it may mean that Timothy’s spiritual endowment was extraordinary, being received, or perhaps enhanced at a later time, through the … hands of the apostle, as well as through “the laying on of hands by the presbytery” (1 Tim. 4:14), and “in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you” (1 Tim. 1:18).

But Paul’s basic admonition to Timothy, and to every believer, remains unchanged. Divine giftedness is to be continually rekindled, fanned into flame, in order that Christ may fully work out His will for us and through us. The very fact that we have giftedness from God demands its full and constant use. And the fact that every believer has a divinely bestowed gift means that every believer has a divinely equipped ministry.

Whatever specific gifts our giftedness may embrace, they are continually to be exercised in God’s power for the extension of His kingdom, for the building of His church, and for the glory of His name. If a believer has the gift of prophecy, it should be exercised “according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness” (Rom. 12:6–8). And in every case, he should not be “lagging behind in diligence, [but be] fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (v. 11).

Although Timothy’s gift was given to him by God through the Holy Spirit and placed within him, it could not become evident or begin to function until he was commissioned to minister. In a similar though not as unique a way, every believer must genuinely and unreservedly devote himself to serving the Lord in the energy of the Spirit before his giftedness can become truly evident or effective. When our heart’s desire is to please the Lord, the Lord will guide us by that desire into the specific areas of service for which He has gifted us. The Lord does not mock His children. He lovingly bestows desires that correspond to His gifts.

When we begin to function in the area in which God has gifted us, our boldness in His service will grow, because we know we are doing what He has appointed and equipped us to do. Nothing gives a believer more courage and more protection from being ashamed of Christ than knowing he is in the Lord’s will and is operating his gift in the power of the Holy Spirit.

CONSIDER YOUR RESOURCES

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. (1:7)

     A second means for guarding against being ashamed of Christ is to consider our divine resources. The Greek verb (didōmi) behind has not given is in the aorist active indicative tense, showing past completed action. God already has provided for us the resources.

The Lord may withhold special help until we have special need. Jesus told the Twelve, “When they deliver you up, do not become anxious about how or what you will speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what you are to speak. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matt. 10:19–20). But God provided everything we need for everyday faithful living and service when we first believed.

From a negative perspective, we can be sure that any spirit of timidity we might have is not from God. Both testaments speak of a fitting and proper fear of God, in the sense of awe and reverence. But deilia is a timid, cowardly, shameful fear that is generated by weak, selfish character. The Lord is never responsible for our cowardice, our lack of confidence, or our being shameful of Him. The noun deilia (timidity) is used only here in the New Testament and, unlike the more common term for fear (phobos), carries a generally negative meaning.

The resources we have from our heavenly Father are power and love and discipline. When we are vacillating and apprehensive, we can be sure it is because our focus is on ourselves and our own human resources rather than on the Lord and His available divine resources.

Dunamis (power) denotes great force, or energy, and is the term from which we get dynamic and dynamite. It also carries the connotation of effective, productive energy, rather than that which is raw and unbridled. God provides us with His power in order for us to be effective in His service. Paul did not pray that believers in Ephesus might be given divine power but that they might be aware of the divine power they already possessed. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened,” he wrote, “so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:18–20). Through Christ we have the resource of God’s own supernatural power, the very power He used to raise Christ from the dead.

Although Old Testament saints were not indwelt by the Holy Spirit in the same degree of fullness that New Testament believers are (cf. John 14:17), they did have the resource of God’s Spirit providing divine help as they lived and served Him. They understood, as Zechariah declared to Zerubbabel, that their strength was not by human “‘might nor … power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6).

It is of utmost importance to understand that God does not provide His power for us to misappropriate for our own purposes. He provides His power to accomplish His purposes through us. When our trust is only in Him, and our desire is only to serve Him, He is both willing and “able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Eph. 3:20).

God also has given every believer the resource of His own divine love, which, like His power, we received at the time of our new birth. In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul exulted, “The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5).

The love we have from God is agapē, the volitional and selfless love that desires and works for the best interests of the one loved. It is not emotional and conditional, as philos love often is, and has nothing in common with erōs love, which is sensual and selfish. The love we have from God is constant. It does not share the ebb and flow or the unpredictability of those other loves. It is a self-denying grace that says to others, in effect, “I will give myself away on your behalf.” Directed back to God, from whom it came, it says, “I will give my life and everything I have to serve you.” It is the believer’s “love in the Spirit” (Col. 1:8), the divinely-bestowed love of the one who will “lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). It is the “sincere love of the brethren” by which we “fervently love one another from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22), the “perfect love [that] casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). It is the love that affirms without reservation or hesitation: “If we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8). Above all, it is “the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:19).

Our spiritual lives are measured accurately by our love. If our first love is for self, our life will center on seeking our own welfare, our own objectives, our own comfort and success. We will not sacrifice ourselves for others or even for the Lord. But if we love with the love God provides, our life will center on pleasing Him and on seeking the welfare of others, especially other Christians. Godly love is the first fruit of the Spirit, and it is manifested when we “live by the Spirit [and] … walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22, 25).

Sōphronismos (discipline) has the literal meaning of a secure and sound mind, but it also carries the additional idea of a self-controlled, disciplined, and properly prioritized mind. God-given discipline allows believers to control every element of their lives, whether positive or negative. It allows them to experience success without becoming proud and to suffer failure without becoming bitter or hopeless. The disciplined life is the divinely ordered life, in which godly wisdom is applied to every situation.

In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul uses the verb form of the term, admonishing, “I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment [sōphrone], as God has allotted to each a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3). In his first letter to Timothy (3:2) and in his letter to Titus (1:8; cf. 2:2), he used the adjective form to describe a key quality that should characterize overseers, namely, that of being prudent and sensible.

When we live by the godly discipline that our gracious Lord supplies, our priorities are placed in the right order, and every aspect of our lives is devoted to advancing the cause of Christ. Because of his Spirit-empowered discipline, Paul could say, “I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:26–27).

The great spiritual triumvirate of power, love, and discipline belong to every believer. These are not natural endowments. We are not born with them, and they cannot be learned in a classroom or developed from experience. They are not the result of heritage or environment or instruction. But all believers possess these marvelous, God-given endowments: power, to be effective in His service; love, to have the right attitude toward Him and others; and discipline, to focus and apply every part of our lives according to His will.

When those endowments are all present, marvelous results occur. No better statement affirming this reality can be found than in Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, to whom he said,

ACCEPT YOUR SUFFERING

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel (1:8a)

     A third means for guarding against being ashamed of Christ is accepting the consequences of being faithful. Consequently, Paul advised Timothy to prepare himself for misunderstanding, animosity, and rejection.

Therefore refers to the divinely bestowed gift and resources Paul has just mentioned in the two previous verses. “In light of those immeasurable blessings,” the apostle was saying, “you have no reason to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of [Paul] His prisoner. Do not be afraid to name the name of Christ or to be known as my friend and fellow minister.”

At the time this letter was written, probably in A.D. 66, being a Christian not only brought almost universal criticism but frequently persecution, imprisonment (as Paul was then experiencing), and even death. To be associated with the Lord, or with Paul, His prisoner, could be costly in the extreme. It is interesting and significant that the apostle did not consider himself primarily to be a prisoner of Rome but rather of Him, that is, of the Lord Jesus Christ, who had sovereign control of his life. He could say, “I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17).

But being a prisoner not only resulted from his being faithful to Christ but also resulted in the promotion of the cause of Christ. He told the church at Ephesus, “I, Paul, [am] the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles” (Eph. 3:1). To believers at Philippi he said, “Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear” (Phil. 1:12–14).

Paul would not ask Timothy to do what he would not. Join with me, he said, in suffering for the gospel (cf. 2:3). Join with … in suffering translates the single, compound Greek word sunkakopatheō, which here is an active imperative. Paul called on Timothy to share his own greatest desire, his supreme purpose in life: to “know [Christ], and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10).

It is important to note that Paul is speaking about suffering for the gospel, not about suffering punishment for our sinfulness. We should give “no cause for offense in anything, in order that the ministry be not discredited” (2 Cor. 6:3). “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you,” Peter explains. But “by no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler” (1 Peter 4:14–15). Rather, “Let those also who suffer according to the will of God,” Peter went on to say, “entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (v. 19).

But when we live a godly, moral life before our family, our fellow students, our fellow workers, or our neighbors, we can expect hostility in some form or another, because their immorality and ungodliness will be more apparent by contrast. When we confront their sin and testify to their need for repentance and salvation, we will be resented.

Later in this letter, Paul echoes Jesus’ promise that “in the world you have tribulation” (John 16:33), assuring Timothy that, “indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). Suffering is the inevitable cost of godly living.

But suffering for Christ is more a privilege than a sacrifice, more a blessing than an ordeal. “Even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith,” he told Philippian believers, “I rejoice and share my joy with you all” (Phil. 2:17). He could say with humble honesty, “In everything [we are] commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left” (2 Cor. 6:4–7).

We should share that selfless attitude with Paul and with the apostles in Jerusalem, who “went on their way from the presence of the [Jewish] Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41).

REMEMBER YOUR CALLING

according to the power of God, who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, (1:8b–10)

     A fourth means for guarding against being ashamed of Christ is simply to remember our holy calling from our heavenly Father, who, as Paul has just declared, shares His divine power with His children.

These few verses are a study of soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, in miniature. The apostle was not, of course, teaching Timothy new truths, but simply reminding him of the cardinal, well-known truths of the gospel, truths that should motivate every believer to faithfulness, to courageous witness and living for Jesus Christ.

Remembering these truths and placing our confidence in the God who has given them enables us to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience” (Col. 1:10–11).

Because of the power of God, we can say with Paul, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). We can testify with Peter that we “are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). The all-powerful God who has saved us has equally sufficient power to keep us. If we were “reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10).

God’s power does not always manifest itself in our lives in obvious ways. When Paul had prayed three times that God would remove a certain affliction, “a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet” him, God answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:7–8). Without hesitation or disappointment, Paul replied, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (vv. 9–10).

Our loving heavenly Father is both willing and “able to keep [us] from stumbling, and to make [us] stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 24). In light of that truth Paul prayed for believers at Ephesus, where he had ministered faithfully for a number of years: “[May God] grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:16–19).

God sovereignly designed salvation, and He sovereignly initiates, sustains, and completes salvation. He has forgiven us, justified us, and delivered us from sin and Satan, from death and hell. In every sense and in every tense—past, present, and future—God is our Savior.

That is a major theme in the pastoral letters. The Almighty is frequently called Savior (1 Tim. 1:1; 2:3; 4:10; Titus 1:3; 2:10; 3:4), as is Jesus (2 Tim. 1:10; Titus 1:4; 2:13; 3:6). Likewise, the saving work of God in Christ is presented together in several places (1 Tim. 2:3–6; 4:10; 2 Tim. 2:8–10; Titus 2:11–14; 3:4–7).

The God who has saved us also has called us with, or to, a holy calling. Paul is not speaking of God’s calling unbelievers to repentance and salvation but of His effectual, saving call of believers, those who have been saved, to holy living and, ultimately, to eternal and perfect holiness (cf. 1 John 3:2).

Just as the Lord did not save us according to our works but by His grace, neither has He called us to live according to our works, but according to His own purpose (the plan) and grace (the means of operating the plan). Just as that inexplicable truth is the foundation of the saving gospel, so it also is the foundation of God’s sustenance of those He has saved. He will keep all the elect until they reach glory. Jesus made clear that the divine purpose, working through divine grace, would reach complete fulfillment. He promised,

God “chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph. 1:4; cf. 1 Peter 1:2), that is, that we should live according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. Our destiny was determined and sealed before the world began. Because we now belong to Christ, we can praise and thank our heavenly Father that He has loved us, just as He has loved His only Son, “before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). He has chosen us and loved us “in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:11).

But this divine plan from all eternity only now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Most often in the New Testament (see, e.g., 1 Tim. 6:14; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13), epiphaneia (appearing) refers to Christ’s second coming. But here it obviously refers to His first coming, when He abolished death.

Katargeō (abolish) literally means to render inoperative. It is not that death no longer exists or that believers are promised escape from it, unless they are raptured. But for believers, death is no longer a threat, no longer an enemy, no longer the end. Quoting first from Isaiah 25:8 and then from Hosea 13:14, Paul exulted, “When this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” (1 Cor. 15:54–55). “Since then the children share in flesh and blood,” the writer of Hebrews explains, “He Himself [Christ] likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14).

More than simply abolishing death, at His first appearing Christ brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. It was not until the Son of God became incarnate in Jesus Christ that God chose to reveal the full truth about eternal life and immortality. Bringing them to light means making them known. That is our area of expertise. We know the immeasurable reality of eternal, immortal existence. That also is our joy and hope in Christ.

REALIZE YOUR DUTY

for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, (1:11–12a)

     To illustrate the next two means for guarding against being ashamed of Christ, Paul draws from his own life and ministry. The first of those two means is realizing one’s duty, about which Paul had the strongest personal conviction. Using the same words (in the Greek text) as he had in his first letter (1 Tim. 2:7), Paul reminded Timothy, I was appointed a preacher and an apostle.

The Greek eg_ (I) is in the emphatic position, strengthening the meaning to “I myself.” Was appointed refers, of course, to Paul’s divine commission, which he dramatically received on the Damascus Road, after which the Lord informed Ananias, a faithful disciple in Damascus, that Paul “is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (Acts 9:15). At least twice, Paul publicly testified to that calling, first on the steps of the Roman army barracks before a large crowd in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3–21) and, some years later, before the Roman governor Festus, King Agrippa, and his wife Bernice in Caesarea (Acts 26:2–23).

Saul, as Paul was known before his conversion, did not plan to become a Christian. When he first encountered Christ, he was the chief persecutor of the infant church (see Acts 8:1–9:2). Nor, after his conversion, was it his own plan, or any other human plan, for him to be a special ambassador for Jesus Christ. On the beach near Miletus, he reminded the elders from Ephesus that he had received his ministry solely “from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24; cf. Col. 1:25). In his first letter to the church at Corinth, he stated that truth in even stronger terms. “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of,” he said; “for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16).

Paul first mentions his commission as a preacher, as a proclaimer, or herald, who officially and publicly announces a message on behalf of a ruler—in Paul’s case, the Lord Jesus Christ. He also was commissioned as an apostle “of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (2 Tim. 1:1; cf. 1 Tim. 1:1) and a teacher. Preacher emphasizes his function in ministry, apostle emphasizes his authority, and teacher emphasizes his interpreting the message he authoritatively proclaimed.

It was for this reason, that is, his threefold divine calling, that he also [had to] suffer these things, a reference, in general, to his “suffering for the gospel according to the power of God” (v. 8) and, in particular, to his loneliness (1:4) and his “imprisonment as a criminal” (2:7; cf. 1:8). He suffered because he faithfully preached the fullness of the gospel of salvation, because he proclaimed that truth with divine authority, and because he interpreted that Word with divine insight. Very often, the price of devotion to divine duty is affliction by the world.

These things also applied to the long list of afflictions Paul mentions in his second letter to the church at Corinth, in which, “in foolishness,” he boasted “according to the flesh” (2 Cor. 11:17–18). Speaking sarcastically about certain “false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ, [who] disguise themselves as servants of righteousness” (vv. 14–15), he asked rhetorically,

Faithful ministry in the Lord’s service is always bittersweet. It brings suffering and joy, disappointment and gratitude. It is like the little book representing judgment that John took “out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter” (Rev. 10:10).

But for Paul, as it should be for every believer, suffering was a small price to pay, because his joy always outweighed his suffering, and his satisfaction always outweighed his disappointments. “For to me, to live is Christ,” he rejoiced, “and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). “Even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith,” he testified later in that letter, “I rejoice and share my joy with you all” (2:17). He gave similar testimony to believers at Colossae, saying, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col. 1:24). The worst suffering we endure is not comparable to our future glory (Rom. 8:18).

Charles Spurgeon gave a vivid illustration of the overriding satisfaction that comes from selfless, godly service.

Duty can bring the deepest pain or the highest joy. Spiritual duty unfulfilled brings untold dissatisfaction, regret, and anguish, no matter how easy unfaithfulness may be. On the other hand, spiritual duty fulfilled brings untold satisfaction and happiness, whatever the cost of faithfulness. The Christian who is obedient to his duty under the Lord can say with Peter, “If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God” (1 Peter 4:16).

TRUST YOUR SECURITY

but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. (1:12b)

     Summing up his previous testimony, and again using his own experience, Paul gives a sixth means for guarding against being ashamed of Christ: trusting in spiritual security.

Paul was not ashamed of his Lord, for, he says, I know whom I have believed. Oida (know) carries the idea of knowing with certainty. It is used frequently in the New Testament of God’s own knowing and of man’s knowing by direct revelation from God or by personal experience. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used that verb in assuring His hearers, “Your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him” (Matt. 6:8). John repeatedly uses it of Jesus’ knowledge. He records that “He Himself [Jesus] knew what He was intending to do” (John 6:6), and that “Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him” (v. 64; cf. 8:14; 11:42; 13:11).

Whom refers either to God the Father (v. 8) or to Jesus Christ (vv. 9–10). In either case, the basic meaning is the same—Paul had firsthand, intimate, saving knowledge of God.

Pisteuō (I have believed) is in a perfect tense, indicating something that began in the past and has continuing results. As already pointed out, the object of Paul’s certain knowledge was not a thing, or even God’s truth, as important as that is, but rather God Himself. It was not Paul’s divinely revealed theology, but the One who revealed to him that theology, in whom he believed. He was, in John’s words, a spiritual father who had come to know the Eternal One (1 John 2:14).

I am convinced, he testifies, that He [God] is able [dunatos, lit., is powerful enough] to guard what I have entrusted to Him. Phulassō (to guard) was a military term used of a soldier on watch, who was accountable with his own life to protect that which was entrusted to his care. He was convinced not only by divine promises but also by God’s constant faithfulness, already exhibited to him in such measure that he could testify from personal encounters and experience. He asked rhetorically,

Paul trusted his absolute security in God. He had been through years of relentless temptations, trials and testings, opportunities and hardships. He had seen the power of God at work again and again, both in him and around him. He had seen the Lord save and heal and protect and guide and encourage (cf. 2 Tim. 4:14–18). He had encountered Christ personally on the Damascus Road and had been “caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak…. And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me—to keep me from exalting myself!” (2 Cor. 12:4, 7).

His confidence did not come from a creed or a theological system or a denomination or an ordination. It came solely from a close, unbroken relationship with God, to whom he unreservedly gave his life, going about his divine mission with no concern for his own welfare, safety, or life. Without the least reservation, all of those things were entrusted to Him until that day. His only “ambition, whether at home or absent, [was] to be pleasing to Him” (2 Cor. 5:9).

Later in the letter Paul identifies that day, saying, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8). It is the day when believers will stand before the bēma, “the judgment seat of God” (Rom. 14:10), where “each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work” (1 Cor. 3:13), in order “that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10).

Like Peter, Paul knew with perfect certainty that he was “protected by the power of God through faith for a [completed] salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). He had utter confidence in Jesus’ promise regarding His sheep: “I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:28–29). When our life belongs to Jesus Christ, nothing in this world, not even all the demons in hell or Satan himself, can touch us!

AFFIRM YOUR DOCTRINE

Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. (1:13–14)

     A seventh guard against being ashamed of Christ is affirming and holding onto right doctrine. Although our ultimate confidence is in Christ Himself, His truth is also of great importance. It is, in fact, absolutely required for faithful living as well as for certainty of our security. If we belong to Christ, we will be secure, but if we neglect His truth, our confidence in that security will wane. Many Christians, perhaps most, do not have the courage of their convictions simply because they have no clear convictions. Before you put your life on the line for what you believe, you must believe it.

During a radio interview some years ago, I said, “What is particularly tragic about the many scandals that plague evangelicalism today is the fact that so many churches, and so many individuals who call themselves Christian, have little concern for biblical truth and biblical standards of living. In the name of love, understanding, and peace within the church and with society, almost any theology is accepted, or at least not challenged, no matter how much it may contradict Scripture.”

Much of the professing church is atheological, that is, without any significant theological convictions. Like the world around them, many people who go by the name of Christ believe that to hold and teach absolute doctrines is to be unloving, antagonistic, and even “unchristian.” They fit Paul’s description of those in the last days who “will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3–4). When you examine those today who deride doctrine, you discover they are also like those in the last days who Paul says “will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power…. [They are] always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:2–5, 7). Sound doctrine leads to holy living, and the absence of it to unholy living.

Standard translates hupotupōsis, which was used of a writer’s outline or an artist’s rough sketch, which set the guidelines and standards for the finished work. The Christian’s standard is God’s Word, which encompasses the sound words which you have heard from me [Paul], an apostle of Jesus Christ. In Scripture we have God’s own truth and standards, all we need or should want to have. It is the only divinely inspired, divinely revealed, absolute, unique, perfect, and sufficient truth. In it is found everything necessary for salvation and for living out the saved life. Later in this letter Paul commends Timothy, saying, “From childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:15–17).

Courage in Christian ministry, as well as in Christian living in general, is not possible apart from strong biblical convictions. But Paul gives necessary balance to his counsel. Strong convictions are to be held and taught in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. When we defend God’s Word in a self-righteous, unloving spirit, the resulting controversy and opposition are not caused wholly by the offense of the truth itself but also by the offensive and unspiritual way in which we proclaim it. We are to defend God’s Word in the faith, that is, with the right attitude of confidence toward God; and we are to defend it in love, with the right attitude of kindness and compassion toward unbelievers and toward poorly taught and immature believers. “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ” (Eph. 4:15). Although we must not have a doubting or a dead orthodoxy, neither should we have a loveless, cold, and insensitive orthodoxy.

The Holy Spirit’s indwelling all believers is a cardinal New Testament doctrine. Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus promised the disciples, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16–17). Immediately before His ascension He promised again, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). “You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you,” Paul declared in his Roman letter. “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Rom. 8:9). He rhetorically asked Corinthian believers, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16; cf. 6:19).

Therefore, just as God has power to guard what we have entrusted to Him (v. 12), He also gives us power to guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which He has entrusted to us. Theologians would say this depicts both sides of our security, the keeping power of God and the Spirit-energized perseverance of the saints. At the close of the previous letter, Paul gave a similar command: “0 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you,” specifically warning him to avoid “worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’” (1 Tim. 6:20).

The deposit of our lives with God is secure. The question is, How secure is His deposit of truth with us? Christian colleges, seminaries, pastors, and other church leaders who deviate from Scripture, defecting to “a different gospel” and wanting “to distort the gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:6–7), will face a dreadful day of reckoning before God. The most solemn responsibility that any believer has, especially those the Lord has called to be preachers and teachers, is to uphold and defend the integrity of His Word.

CHOOSE YOUR ASSOCIATES

You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains; but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me, and found me—the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. (1:15–18)

     An eighth means for guarding against being ashamed of Christ is that of carefully choosing one’s associates, a means which Paul here implies. In these four verses he contrasts fellow workers who were ashamed of the gospel with those who were not.

“Do not be deceived,” he warned the church at Corinth; “Bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33). If we associate with spiritually courageous Christians, our own courage will be strengthened. On the other hand, if we associate with those who are ashamed of Christ and His gospel, we will soon be tainted by that shame.

The first group Paul mentions included all who are in Asia [who] turned away from him. They were ashamed of Paul because they were ashamed of the gospel he preached and defended, and they became even more ashamed and fearful when he was imprisoned for the faith (cf. v. 8). Timothy was aware of [that] fact, because he had been pastoring for some years in Ephesus, a city in the Roman province of Asia. Once Paul was imprisoned, many of the men who had been with him, including all who [were] in Asia, were afraid of being found guilty by association. Because their first priority was self-preservation, they had nothing more to do with the apostle, who not only had ministered with them but to them.

To be rejected by the world is not pleasant, but to be deserted by fellow workers in the service of Christ is particularly painful. To have those you have spent your life spiritually nurturing turn away from you, and sometimes even against you, is heartbreaking in the extreme.

Paul had given himself without reservation to those men from Asia. Like the Galatian believers, they were Paul’s spiritual children, with whom he would be in “labor until Christ [was] formed in” them (Gal. 4:19). It was no wonder that he expressed at the beginning of this second epistle his deep longing to see Timothy, one of the few who had not deserted him (2 Tim. 1:4).

Among the deserters were Phygelus and Hermogenes, about whom we know nothing but their cowardice. Because Paul says nothing more to identify them, we can assume they were known to Timothy. And because he bothers to name them specifically out of the many others, it seems likely that they were well known in Asia, that they were close to Paul, and that they were leaders who had shown promise. They probably would have been the last ones to be suspected of cowardice, ingratitude, and being ashamed of Christ and of Paul.

Although Paul no doubt continued to love those men who proved they did not love Him, his love would not allow him to hide their defection. “Those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:6). Likewise, the Lord’s people are to discipline those among them who are immoral and unfaithful. Even elders who “continue to sin” are to be rebuked “in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be fearful of sinning” (1 Tim. 5:20).

The second group Paul mentions stands in stark contrast to the group from Asia. Paul ended his rebuke of those men by naming names, and he begins this commendation also by naming a name. He prays, The Lord grant mercy to [those in] the house of Onesiphorus, who, like Phygelus and Hermogenes, were known to Timothy. Because Paul asks Timothy to greet them (4:19), this family obviously lived in or near Ephesus.

Onesiphorus had befriended Paul while he was in prison. He often refreshed Paul and was not afraid of his chains, that is, of his being a prisoner. He regularly visited the aging apostle and ministered to his needs, without fear and without shame. When this friend first came to Rome, perhaps on business, he eagerly searched for Paul until he found him, suggesting that the search involved considerable time, effort, and possibly danger.

In deep gratitude, Paul again prays that the Lord [would] grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day, the same day of believers’ judgment for works he mentioned in verse 12 and refers to again in 4:8. Onesiphorus’s devotion to Paul had begun many years earlier. He had proved his courage and faithfulness by the services he rendered at Ephesus, when the apostle ministered there.

Like Onesiphorus, Martin Luther, the leading instrument of God in the Reformation, possessed such godly courage in great abundance. One biographer, Roland Bainton, writes of him: “Luther had set his face to go up to Jerusalem and would not be turned aside. He would enter Worms though there were as many devils as tiles on the roofs…. He disregarded all human considerations and threw himself utterly upon God” (Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther [New York: Abingdon, 1950], 181).