Suffering for the Gospel

2 Timothy 1:1-18

Key Verse 1:8

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 

 2To Timothy, my dear son:
      Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Encouragement to Be Faithful 

 3I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 

 8So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 

 13What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. 

 15You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 

 16May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.

Read verses 1-2. What does “the promise of life” refer to? What does Paul mean by “grace, mercy, and peace”?   

*the promise of life refers to the promise of eternal life, God’s life that came through Christ.  Jesus came to give us life to the full, a new life in his kingdom.  

*Grace, mercy, and peace refers to the content of the life Jesus came to bring.  In this life we have grace which helps us to overcome our weaknesses and sin problems.  We have mercy which saves us from God’s judgment.  We also have peace in our relationship with God and with others.  Apart from this life, there is only death and misery.  

Read verses 3-5. What does “lived” or “lives” (in you) indicate about the work of faith (in Christ Jesus)?

*There is living faith and dead faith.  Living faith is faith that produces obedience and action to serve God.  Dead faith is lipservice, and is to doubt.

Read verses 6-7. The phrase “For this reason” suggests that there is a connection between the [sincere] “faith” [described in the previous passage] and the “gift” [of God] mentioned in verses 6-7. How are the two related? What does the expression “fan into flame” indicate about the gift that is already in a believer? 

*The 2 are related in that when one puts faith in God, then God gives that person the gift of the Holy Spirit.  

*We need to fan into flame the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This means we need to obey God and then we will experience God’s almighty power working through us each day.

Read verses 8-12. The gospel offers the promise of life that is in the Lord. Yet why would anyone be ashamed to testify about the Lord?  Why should we not be ashamed of the gospel or afraid of suffering for it? 

*Some people are ashamed to testify to the Lord because of a fear problem or because of not living a life of obedience to the gospel.  The gospel will bring us a lot of suffering since it convicts evil people of their evil deeds.  So we’ll be persecuted by them for our bold witness to Jesus’ death and resurrection.  

*We should not be ashamed because it is true and real.  The gospel is not a joke.  It looks like a joke to worldly people, but it is God’s way to save sinners.  Also, because if we are not ashamed then we’ll be rewarded in heaven.

Read verse 13. What is a “doctrine”? Why is it important to keep sound doctrine “with faith and love in Christ Jesus”?

*Sound doctrine refers to what we believe as true.  Doctrine refers to the principles that the Bible lays out.

*If our doctrine goes bad, then our Christian living goes bad also.  Faith and love in Christ Jesus are the necessary keys to living according to right doctrine.  If we just have doctrine but we don’t believe in Jesus or love him, then we only know about Christ in our head, not in our heart.

Read verse 14. Why should one “guard” the good deposit? Who is helping us to guard it? 

*We should guard it because its valuable and it can be lost easily.  The devil came to steal what God has given us.  We must be on guard always and fight the good fight of faith.

*the Holy Spirit is helping us

Read verses 15-18. What does this passage tell us about the practical meaning of joining [with others such as the Apostle Paul] in the suffering for the gospel? 

*It encourages us when we go through the same sufferings together with our fellow coworkers in Christ