READ 2 TIMOTHY 2


Illustration: Strong men don’t run away — Liam Neeson Taken meme: “He trained Batman, Obi-Wan, and Darth Vader; He is Zeus and Aslan … Why would you kidnap his daughter?” It’s inconceivable to think of him running away!

In a passage that begins with a call to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2:1), it seems almost contradictory for Paul to also exhort his son-in-the-faith to “flee” (2:22). Instead, we are reminded from Paul’s counsel here that the strongest of spiritual men and women display their greatest strength when they acknowledge the power of sin, the weakness of their flesh, and the wisdom of God’s command to flee! Indeed, a sign that they are “strong in grace” is that they “flee from sin.”

Those who would be “strong in grace” understand that God’s grace in no way excuses them from dealing with sin themselves. They know that if they are not careful, they might become dirty and dishonorable, unfit for the “use” of the Master. Notice that this is what Paul teaches in the two verses before our text, in verses 20-21 (READ).

See, God wants to “use” you for the “good work” (v. 21) of bringing His “opponents” to “repentance” and “the knowledge of the truth” (vv. 24-26). But to be this kind of “servant of the Lord” (v. 24), you must not “entangle” yourself with sin (like a soldier, v. 4); instead, you must “compete according to the rules” of God’s Word (like an athlete, v. 5) and “work hard” to enjoy this fruit (like a farmer, v. 6). Indeed, you must “cleanse yourself from what is dishonorable, and you will be an honorable and set apart vessel that the Lord can use (“useful”) whenever He needs to (“ready”).”

So, God wants to use you … Are you usable? Are you clean and honorable? Are you “strong in grace” by dealing with sin. Honorable and usable vessels deal with sin in their lives, by God’s grace, through three activities:


I MUST FLEE SOME THINGS — "FLEE YOUTHFUL PASSIONS"

“Flee” – to seek safety by flight; a purposeful, forgetting-all-else, “get me out of here” mentality

• Used of Jesus’ disciples at His arrest (Matthew 26:56)
  
• Used of those terrified men who watched the demon-possessed swine drown (Matthew 8:33)
  
• Used of the wolf-attacked hireling (John 10:12)
  
• Illustration: when I fled from the skunk outside the little red house as a TBC intern

“Lusts” – strong desires, particularly for that which is presently forbidden

“Youthful” – those things peculiar to the age of youth — Question: What might these be (cf. 2:23, 2:24, 3:1-7)?
 
Application:  I must understand the nature of youthful lust, that it is an enemy to be feared, not a stranger to be flirted with.  I must especially be aware of this in my youth.  Having understood its nature, I must then “run scared” until that time when the Lord gives legitimate, sanctified fulfillment to those lusts.


I MUST PURSUE SOME THINGS — "PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS, FAITH, LOVE, AND PEACE"

“Pursue” – to press hard after something; to seek after eagerly; to earnestly endeavor to acquire

• Used of determined persecutors (Matthew 23:34; Acts 26:11; II Timothy 3:12)
  
• Used of determined runners in a race (Philippians 3:12, 14)
  

“Righteousness” – that which is straight, right, conforming to the character (i.e., the will and Word) of God; esp. obedience to vv. 23-24

“Faith” – consistency, perseverance, and trueness that comes from believing in and conscientiously living in light of the revelation of God’s Word; faith in this passage would be the catalyst of v. 26

“Love” – self-sacrificial, volitional love that acts in the best interest on the object loved, without regard to personal cost; overcomes feeling and is consistent with righteousness and faith; love in this passage would be demonstrated by v. 25

“Peace” – harmony between individuals; peace in this passage would be to live v. 24

Application:  Rather than focusing on what is being denied to me (i.e., youthful lusts), I should focus on what has been graciously granted to me (i.e., righteousness, faith, love, and peace).  I should seek to cultivate these characteristics in my own life. In a sense, all four of these characteristics are the opposite of a “youthful lust.”

• Where a “youthful lust” seeks to undermine God’s will for one’s own timing, “righteousness” submits to God’s Word.
  
• Where “youthful lusts” seek to convince us that God is keeping something from us, “faithfulness” rests in the unchanging character of a loving, gracious Father who promises to richly bless His children; it then responds with steadfastness in its resistance.
  
• While “youthful lusts” would seek to selfishly “get” and “take,” agape “love” seeks to meet the needs of the other without considering the personal cost or sacrifice involved; it understands that “it has no rights.”
  
• And where “youthful lusts” create strife, envy, bitterness, selfishness, and anger, “peace” focuses on allowing the unity of the Spirit to be expressed in every aspect of one’s relationships.

 

I MUST PRAY FOR HELP — "WITH THOSE WHO CALL ON THE LORD FROM A PURE HEART"

“Call” – to invoke for aid; this suggests a true humility and a continuous, active dependence upon a greater power; cf. Hebrews 2:18; 4:15-16

“Lord” – the Master, who according to verse 21 is even our “Despot,” and we are his “slaves”

“Pure” – clean, undefiled, free from mixture with anything that soils or corrupts; blameless, innocent: this is, then, a humble and non-idolatrous attitude

“Heart” – denotes more than an external appropriateness; focuses on one’s inner man (i.e., who He is before God)

Application:  According to 2:1, there is “grace in Christ Jesus.”  But, since God only “gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6-10) I must humble myself and realize my own inability to consistently and righteously flee and pursue.  One manifestation of humility is an earnest, consistent prayer life.  God’s aid must be solicited, and often!

However, I must realize that God will not give grace to those who hypocritically refuse to use it.  My heart must be in keeping with my prayer.  If I ask God to give me His grace to aid me in my fleeing and pursuing, I must do so with confession and commitment, so as to receive that grace.  My heart must be clean before God, and a pure heart is attained by fleeing and pursuing. And so, we have a three-fold chain that will not be broken.  All three activities must be engaged in habitually.

Notice also that there is a mutual, corporate, partnering, accountability component to this activity of sanctifying prayer — I should pray “along with those” who call on the Lord with a pure heart!

 
Truly, then, let us therefore “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” by fleeing, pursuing, and praying. Then, we will be set apart, honorable, useful, and ready for the Master’s service!

QUESTION #6

God told the Israelites that He would conditionally bless them if they kept His commandments and walked in them (e.g., Leviticus 26:3-4; Deuteronomy 4:1, 6:24-25, 8:1). In “keeping His commandments,” is God referring to a general following after Him, knowing that the Israelites would sometimes disobey, but that God would still bless them if their heart was set on Him (dismissing their imperfection)? Or does God mean complete perfection here, even though He knew they couldn’t keep His commandments without spot (making them depend on God’s grace)? I know God requires complete perfection for eternal life with Him (and that’s where the gospel comes in), but these verses are more about material blessings for the Israelites. Was God just looking for their faith in His promises, ready to count their faith as righteousness like He did for Abraham?

RESPONSE

Acknowledgement — In every dispensation, the truth that our actions do bring consequences (positive and negative) has always been in effect. While God would not punish children for the sins of their parents (cf. Deuteronomy 7:10; 24:16; Ezekiel 18:19-32), the children would indeed be affected by the disobedience of their parents, either in continuing their sin or in facing the repercussions of it (cf. Exodus 20:5-6). Correspondingly, the same was true of an individual’s righteousness and obedience—it brought blessing. The New Testament continues to teach this truth, for example, in its reference to “reaping and sowing” (cf. Galatians 6:7-8).

Background — In essence, I think the question being asked here is, “Was the Mosaic Covenant/Law intended to provide salvation?” The easy and clear biblical answer to that is, “No!” Salvation has always been by grace alone through faith alone in God’s person and promises. Before the Mosaic Covenant, God’s relationship with Abraham in the unilateral, unconditional, eternal Abrahamic Covenant provided mankind with a picture of how one is restored to a relationship with God—by grace through faith (cf. Genesis 15:6). Abraham’s “amen” (the Hebrew word for “believed”) echoes throughout the rest of Scripture, testifying to the sufficiency of grace and faith (also cf. Habakkuk 2:4 and its reverberation throughout the NT). The “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11 reaffirms the timeless veracity of such classic NT texts as John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, and Titus 3:5. Obedience to the Mosaic Law (Deuteronomy 6:24-25) was supposed to be a manifestation of a heart of faithful love (Deuteronomy 6:5-6, 13-14).

So, then, what was the purpose and essence of the Mosaic Covenant?[i]

(1) Unlike the Abrahamic Covenant, the prototype of God’s dealing with sinful mankind by grace through faith, the Mosaic Covenant was bilateral in its nature and goal of the Mosaic Covenant—that is, both God and the people had commitments/responsibilities in this covenant relationship. It was also a conditional covenant, meaning that if the Israelites failed to live up to their end of the bargain, then God wasn’t bound to fulfill His (cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-28).

What was the condition of this covenant? God shared it with Moses when Israel first arrived at Mount Sinai, “The Lord called to Him out of the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant [Exodus 19-31], you shall be My treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel”’” (Exodus 19:3-6).

Tracing their spiritual progression, this nation was already a redeemed nation, for the Exodus and Passover was behind them. Now, the Lord desires to enjoy fellowship with them and engage them in mission—but to do so, they had to adhere to the Mosaic Covenant. The commitments and responsibilities of the Mosaic Law were given in order for Israel to become, not “saved” or “justified,” but a special and distinct and “priestly” nation. As we know, Israel drastically failed in this goal, and after hundreds of years of patient warning, God punished them with the curses He had promised during their captivity (and beyond). He also prophesied of a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31) that would replace the old, broken one and would become everlastingly effective.

The Mosaic Law itself contained language to describe what would happen if one treated it as a means of salvation. Perfect adherence and complete obedience was required, nothing less (James 2:10; Galatians 3:12 [Leviticus 18:5; Romans 10:5]); otherwise, failure to adhere to this covenant brought a curse (Galatians 3:10; from Deut. 27:26 [Jer. 11:3; Ezekiel 18:4]).

(2) In its failure, we actually discover, then, the ultimate purpose of the Mosaic Law (Galatians 3:19-26)—to serve as a guard, proving the sinfulness of every person and imprisoning them in its guilt (cf. Romans 7:5-13), and to serve as a guardian, pointing to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (cf. “shadow”: Hebrews 8:5; 10:1; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13). And in the New Covenant ratified by Christ’s blood, we are no longer under Law (Romans 7:1-4).[ii]

ENDNOTES

[i] “A covenant is a legally binding promise, agreement, or contract. Three times in the NT the word “covenants” is used in the plural (Gal. 4:24; Eph. 2:12). All but one of God’s covenants with man are eternal and unilateral—that is, God promised to accomplish something based on His own character and not on the response or actions of the promised beneficiary. The 6 biblical covenants include: 1) the covenant with Noah (Gen. 9:8-17); 2) the covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; see note on 4:13); 3) the covenant of law given through Moses at Sinai (Ex. 19-31; cf. Deut. 29, 30); 4) the priestly covenant (Num. 25:10-13); 5) the covenant of an eternal kingdom through David’s greatest Son (2 Sam. 7:8–16); and 6) the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 37:26; cf. Heb. 8:6-13). All but the Mosaic Covenant are eternal and unilateral. It is neither, since Israel’s sin abrogated it and it has been replaced by the New Covenant (cf. Heb. 8:7-13)” (The MacArthur Study Bible, p. 1710).
[ii] “Paul uses the two mothers, their two sons, and two locations as a further illustration of two covenants. Hagar, Ishmael, and Mt. Sinai (earthly Jerusalem) represent the covenant of law; Sarah, Isaac and the heavenly Jerusalem the covenant of promise. However, Paul cannot be contrasting these two covenants as different ways of salvation, one way for OT saints, another for NT saints—a premise he has already denied (2:16; 3:10-14, 21, 22). The purpose of the Mosaic Covenant was only to show all who were under its demands and condemnation their desperate need for salvation by grace alone (3:24)—it was never intended to portray the way of salvation. Paul’s point is that those, like the Judaizers, who attempt to earn righteousness by keeping the law receive only bondage and condemnation (3:10, 23). While those who partake of salvation by grace—the only way of salvation since Adam’s sin—are freed from the law’s bondage and condemnation” (The MacArthur Study Bible, p. 1796).