(3:10-14)

But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me! And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; (3:10–14)

As mentioned in the Introduction, Paul had three overriding priorities in his life: to know Christ, to defend Christ’s truth (Scripture), and to minister in Christ’s name. A major part of both of his letters to Timothy focuses on the second priority, defending God’s revealed truth.

There is much relational preaching today that attempts to make people feel better about themselves and about how God might feel about them, but there is little forceful defense of the full truth. As in most periods of church history, strong and effective defenders of the faith are at a premium. Not many pastors and teachers cry out for doctrinal and moral purity, for right belief and right living.

The New Testament church faced the same deficiency. “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation,” Jude admonished, “I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 3–4).

Paul here continues to focus on Timothy’s service as a strong and loyal defender of the faith, pointing up two necessary qualifications for such a defender: having a strong example as his spiritual mentor (vv. 10–13) and having strong convictions built into a spiritual foundation (v. 14). A third qualification, strong adherence to scriptural authority and sufficiency, will be discussed in the following commentary chapter. Because Timothy already had observed these qualifications, their mention here is by way of reminder and summary. Timothy should have no excuse for not being strong and triumphant in battling apostasy, because he had been privileged to observe the noblest soldier in battle—Paul.

A STRONG EXAMPLE AS SPIRITUAL MENTOR

The conjunction but marks a contrast and a change of emphasis. The faithful character and ministry of Paul are contrasted with the ungodly character and ministry of the false preachers and teachers (the “men,” v. 2) mentioned in verses 1–9. The apostle tells his son in the faith that, unlike those heretics, “you followed my life and ministry.” Paul reminds him of the character of that ministry to lead up to the command in verse 14 to “continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of.” That is the key command in this section. Timothy had the best training by spending several decades with Paul. He knew firsthand what it took to combat error and to preserve the truth. This was no time to fail under the pressure of difficulty.

Except for the Twelve and the other disciples who were taught by Jesus Himself during His incarnation, no Christian has had a greater example and mentor than Timothy had in Paul.

Often more than we realize, we are influenced by those we have lived with, worked with, and served with. Sometimes the influence is for good, sometimes for bad. Sometimes it is conscious and direct and sometimes unconscious and indirect. For that reason it is of inestimable importance that, insofar as we are able to determine it for ourselves, we should take great care in choosing those we associate with, especially if they are in positions to influence us spiritually.

In contrast to the false teachers (vv. 1–9), Timothy had observed closely the power of the truth. Parakoloutheō (followed) literally means to accompany and was used metaphorically of conforming to something as a matter of conviction. In ancient Greece, philosophers used the word to describe the close relationship between a teacher and his disciple, or student. It meant “to study with at close quarters” or “to take as an example to follow.” William Barclay says of this term,

It means to follow a person physically, to stick by him through thick and thin, to be by his side in fair weather and in foul. It means to follow a person mentally, to attend diligently to his teaching, and fully to understand the meaning and the significance of what he says. It means to follow a person spiritually, not only to understand what he says, but also to carry out his ideas, and to be the kind of person that he wishes us to be. (The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1957], 224)

That comprehensive meaning certainly represents what Paul had in mind. He meant for Timothy to pattern his beliefs, his thinking, and his lifestyle after him. Although in more detail, he was telling his disciple, beloved friend, and spiritual son what he had told believers in Corinth some ten years earlier: “I exhort you therefore, be imitators of me” (1 Cor. 4:16). “For this reason,” he continued, “I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church” (v. 17). Even at that earlier date, he had great confidence in Timothy. Just as he had trusted him to minister faithfully in Corinth he now trusted him to minister faithfully in Ephesus.

Like all of us, Timothy had temptations to weakness and vacillation, and he may have been in such a struggle when Paul wrote him this second letter. Still, the apostle was certain that, with proper encouragement and reliance on the Lord, Timothy would regain his former commitment and zeal.

In the Greek text, the definite article precedes each of the descriptive nouns in verses 10 and 11, grammatically connecting each to the possessive pronoun my and thereby giving it repeated emphasis. The idea is, But you followed my teaching, [my] conduct, [my] purpose, and so on.

Every church, Christian college, Bible school, seminary, and other Christian organization should be led by and, in turn, reproduce leaders who not only are orthodox in doctrine and moral in lifestyle but also are courageous and committed defenders of the faith. They should be willing to follow the Lord and lead His church in dangerous times and circumstances and at any cost steadfastly hold up the banner of God’s divine revelation in Scripture.

The nine leadership qualities, or characteristics, mentioned in 3:10–13 can be divided into three categories: ministry duties (teaching, conduct, purpose, v. 10a), personal virtues (faith, patience, love, perseverance, v. 10b), and difficult experiences, summarized by persecutions and sufferings (vv. 11–13).

MINISTRY DUTIES

my teaching, conduct, purpose (3:10a)

Didaskalia (teaching) is a general term referring to instruction, or “doctrine,” as it is sometimes rendered. The reference here is to the specific, divinely inspired, apostolic teaching that Timothy had heard expounded so often and so carefully by Paul (my), his beloved mentor. A few verses later he reminds Timothy that “all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching [didaskalia], for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (v. 16). This teaching included all “the things which [Timothy had] heard from [Paul] in the presence of many witnesses,” truths he, in turn, was to “entrust to faithful men, who [would] be able to teach others also” (2:2).

Because he was “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (1:1), Paul’s teaching was apostolic teaching and therefore divine teaching. The time would soon come when Timothy’s hearers would “not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they [would] accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (4:3). For that reason Paul had just commanded, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (vv. 1–2).

Timothy had observed and was to continue following Paul’s conduct, his lifestyle, his pattern of daily living. Like Paul’s, Timothy’s living had been consistent with his teaching. He had lived what he preached.

That combination is imperative for any effective ministry. God is able to bring good out of any preaching and teaching of His authentic Word. Even though some preachers and teachers “proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, rather than from pure motives,” Paul nevertheless rejoiced that “whether in pretense or in truth,” Christ was proclaimed (Phil. 1:17–18). Yet the work of Christ is subject to ridicule and is seriously hindered when an ungodly life contradicts a godly message. Only the Lord knows how much damage to His kingdom and to His name is caused by the moral failure of those He entrusts with proclaiming and demonstrating the gospel.

A third ministry duty Timothy had observed in Paul was that of having a godly purpose. A leader’s purpose relates to his personal motive for service, the driving passion of his heart. Paul was under compulsion, confessing, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16). Yet his was an inner compulsion, a voluntary yielding of all that he had to the Lord, to the Lord’s worship, the Lord’s service, and the Lord’s people. He was not forced by God to minister but willingly and gladly served everywhere just as he had at Ephesus. He reminded the elders of that church, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials, … how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:18–21). Wherever Paul ministered, he could say what he said to them: “I testify to you this day, that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God” (vv. 26–27). He continually discharged his responsibility to proclaim, without compromise or deflection, the gospel of Jesus Christ and the full counsel of God’s Word.

That driving inner force creates a life of integrity and faithfulness, a life in which professed truth is lived truth. Such things as creature comforts, self-love, self-fulfillment, self-promotion, and self-preservation had been of no consequence to Paul, nor should they be to Timothy. The single great motive of their lives was the unreserved passion to fulfill the purpose of their divine calling to the glory of God.

PERSONAL VIRTUES

faith, patience, love, perseverance, (3:10b)

Paul also wanted Timothy to continue in faith. As noted in the discussion of 2:22, pistis (faith) is here better rendered “faithfulness,” as it is in referring to God in Romans 3:3 and to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 (cf. 1 Tim. 2:15; 4:12). The apostle is not referring to saving faith but to the faithfulness and trustworthiness of those who are already saved. The idea is that of faithfully living the truth that is professed.

A second personal virtue of Paul known to Timothy was patience, which translates makrothumia, rather than hupomone, the more common term for “patience” in the New Testament. Makrothumia carries the additional ideas of steadfastness and long-suffering. Paul is speaking of the resolute and persistent spirit of the servant of Christ who never gives up and never gives in, regardless of the cost. Such patience is more than an attitude; it is a determined way of life and is a certain mark of the Christian who lives in uncompromising devotion to his Lord and to the work of the kingdom.

Because God Himself is loving, no devoted servant of His can be without love. This is the volitional, purposeful, unselfish love (agape) that is superior even to faith and hope (1 Cor. 13:13) and is the first fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). We are to “walk in love, just as Christ also loved [us], and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (Eph. 5:2). We are to “love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). Love, in fact, is so crucial to the Christian life that “the one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (v. 8); and, on the other hand, “the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (v. 16). Jesus’ final petition to the Father on our behalf was “that the love wherewith Thou didst love Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26).

As noted above, hupomone is commonly translated “patience,” but in this context the idea is more that of perseverance, not so much with difficult people (as earlier in this verse, “patience,” makrothumia) as with difficult circumstances.

Hupomonē carries the idea of remaining under, and it sometimes is translated “endurance.” In 2 Corinthians 6:4, Paul reminds his readers of his own “endurance [hupomonē], in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses.” The writer of Hebrews reminds every believer of the “need of endurance [hupomonē], so that when [we] have done the will of God, [we] may receive what was promised” (Heb. 10:36), referring to “great reward” from the Lord (v. 35).

DIFFICULT EXPERIENCES

persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me! And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (3:11–13)

Like Paul, Timothy should be made stronger and his preaching made more effective because of his persecutions and sufferings for the sake of Christ.

Diōgmos (persecutions) is from the verb diōkō, which has the literal meaning of putting to flight. Because of their refusal to compromise or cease proclaiming the gospel, both Paul and Timothy often had been put to flight as fugitives from the persecutions of both Jews and pagans.

Before his conversion, Paul himself had been the greatest persecutor of Christians. Known then as Saul and “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, [he] went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1–2). He later confessed before a Jewish multitude in Jerusalem, “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons” (Acts 22:4).

But the persecutor became the persecuted. Soon after his conversion, while he was preaching the gospel in Damascus and probably after his three years in Arabia (Gal. 1:17), “the Jews plotted together to do away with him” (Acts 9:23). From that day on, persecution was an almost constant companion. In Pisidian Antioch, where many Jews believed the gospel, others there “were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming” (Acts 13:45). Many years before he wrote the second letter to Timothy, Paul could say of his own sufferings, as compared to certain Christian leaders who boasted “according to the flesh, …”

Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if insane) I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. (2 Cor. 11:23—27)

Besides suffering “from such external things,” he also suffered because of “the daily pressure upon [him] of concern for all the churches” (v. 28).

Timothy often shared sufferings with Paul. He was with the apostle “when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, [and] came there likewise, agitating and stirring up the crowds” against him (Acts 17:13; cf. vv. 14–15). He was with Paul in Corinth, when unbelieving Jews “resisted and blasphemed” the gospel (18:6).

Timothy was with Paul during many, if not all, of the sufferings that happened to [him] at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra. Those three cities were in Timothy’s home province of Galatia, the first place during Paul’s missionary journeys where Luke mentions hostility against him (see Acts 13:45, 50). Lystra was Timothy’s hometown, where he doubtless saw Paul heal the man who had been born crippled and where he witnessed the apostle’s being stoned and left for dead (Acts 14:8–10, 19). During his first encounter with Paul and for the next several decades, Timothy had the unparalleled privilege of living beside and working with this man of great courage, resolution, and character.

When this letter was written, Timothy himself was facing opposition and ridicule, the normal preludes of sufferings. As far as we know, he did not suffer to the same degree as his mentor, but with the apostle he could say to those to whom he ministered, “If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer” (2 Cor. 1:6). He also could say with Paul, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18) and, “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” (2 Cor. 12:10).

While in Athens, Paul sent Timothy, his “brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ,” back to Thessalonica, “to strengthen and encourage” believers there, in order that “no man may be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know” (1 Thess. 3:2–4).

Yet, “with all those persecutions I endured, Paul continued, I can say that out of them all the Lord delivered me!” He could proclaim with David, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Ps. 34:19). He could say with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us” (Dan. 3:17). Timothy knew God had delivered Paul, and that knowledge should have reinforced his own courage to stand against the apostate teachers and persecutors.

Paul and Timothy were not exceptions, because all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. That also was Jesus’ promise. “If the world hates you,” He said,

you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, “A slave is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. (John 15:18–21)

Self-centered Christians who serve the Lord halfheartedly seldom have to pay a price for their faith. They are of little threat to Satan’s work because they are of little benefit to Christ’s.

It is those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus [who] will be persecuted. The faithful believer should expect persecution and suffering for Christ’s sake. Not every godly believer will be maligned, imprisoned, tortured, or martyred for his faith. Even Paul did not face unrelieved mistreatment. But all faithful believers should expect opposition from the world and realize that, when opposition becomes severe enough, they will suffer for their faith, just as did Paul and Timothy.

Persecution of the godly will continue until the Lord returns, because evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. These are the very evil men and impostors Paul has vividly described in the first nine verses of this chapter.

Ponēros (evil) refers to malignant character or activity. In the parable of the sower, Jesus used the word to describe Satan, “the evil one [who] comes and snatches away” the good seed of the Word that is sown in the heart of a hearer (Matt. 13:19). Impostors translates goes, which literally refers to one who wails or howls. Because sorcerers, wizards, and magicians commonly used wails in their incantations, the term was sometimes used to describe such people, and hence was used of any deceivers or impostors. If the Jannes and Jambres of verse 8 were among the magicians of Pharaoh’s court, impostors obviously could here carry the meaning of sorcerer. But Paul’s warning to Timothy applies to impostors of any sort who pervert God’s Word.

Such enemies of Christ will proceed from bad to worse. Paul does not specifically state whether the regression is internal or external, and it seems likely he was referring to both. As men themselves proceed from bad to worse, so does their influence on others.

Paul has already given assurance that there are limits to how effective these enemies of the faith can be. They “will not make further progress” (v. 9a), because their stupidity eventually becomes apparent to those who know the truth. “Their folly,” like that of Jannes and Jambres (v. 8), “will be obvious to all” (v. 9b). While they are deceiving others, and being deceived by their own wicked foolishness, the people of God will eventually expose them for what they are.

STRONG CONVICTIONS BUILT
INTO A SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; (3:14)

A second characteristic of effective defenders of the faith is that of strong convictions being built into a solid spiritual foundation. More often than not, such leaders have been reared in a family where God’s Word was loved and exalted, in practice as well as in principle.

That was Timothy’s heritage. Near the beginning of this letter, Paul reminded him “of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well” and admonished him “to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you” (1:5–6). He now repeats that admonition, saying, in effect, “Unlike the evil men and impostors about which I just gave warning, you, however, are fundamentally different. Whereas they are unbelievers and are characterized by self-love and its many related sins (vv. 1–9), you belong to the Lord and have emulated the godly virtues I have through God’s grace (vv. 10–11).”

Like many other verbs in this epistle (see, e.g., “abstain,” 2:19; “flee,” “pursue,” v. 22; “refuse,” v. 23), continue translates a present active imperative, which has the force of a command. Have learned is from mantanō, which is related to mathētēs (“disciple”) and carries the connotation of intentional learning by inquiry and observation. Timothy had not learned from Scripture and from Paul incidentally but by intent. He had pursued and become convinced of the truths of Scripture—fixed, nonnegotiable truths that are not subject to compromise or dilution. It was those strong convictions, held with equally strong tenacity, that made Timothy a worthy prospect to follow in the footsteps of Paul.