2 Timothy 1:3-7: Without Ceasing I Have Remembrance
2021-12-11
2 Timothy 1:3
Paul took several verses thanking God for Timothy. In most of his epistles, he made habit of mentioning his prayers for others in his letters to them.
Thanking God is a part of Paul’s service to God. The Lord is the one “I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience.” In Acts 23:1-8, Paul said that he lived in good conscience before God. He had given up everything to become an apostle of Christ and suffered many things. Even before he was saved, he was a Pharisee, which was more doctrinally correct than other sects of the Jewish religion, believing in the resurrection. He would have believed the most like his elect forebears from the Old Testament.
Paul’s prayers are “without ceasing.” This should be the habit for every believer: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He emphasized this by saying he prays for him “night and day.” Also, “I have remembrance of thee in my prayers.” Timothy is Paul’s “dearly beloved son.” He is on Paul’s mind, as he has genuine concern for him. They had been through a lot together. They were truly as close as a father with his son.
2 Timothy 1:4
Paul was “greatly desiring to see thee” (2 Timothy 1:4). Paul knew that his life was coming to a close, but he apparently was optimistic enough that he could see Timothy again, because he told him to come before winter (2 Timothy 4:9, 21).
The apostle was “mindful of thy tears.” We often get the idea that men should not cry, or that weeping is a sign of weakness. On the contrary, our Lord Jesus Christ wept over the pain of losing Lazarus even though He was about to rise Him up from the dead (John 11:35). He saw the people’s pain and was moved by it. Other men also wept: Esau (Genesis 27:38), Jacob (Genesis 29:11), all of Israel (Numbers 14:1; Judges 2:4), Ruth, Orpah, and Naomi (Ruth 1:9, 14), and many others. A phrase like “they lifted up their voices and wept” can be seen throughout the Bible.
What was the reason for Timothy’s tears? As a servant in the Lord, here are some possibilities. Paul had many tears because of the “lying in wait of the Jews” (Acts 20:19). This was very personal to Paul, because he had “great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:2-3). He wanted the Jews to be saved because they were his kinsmen and they also were the ones who were entrusted with the Word of God, but mostly rejected Christ. Timothy might have had similar sorrow.
Also, Paul warned the Ephesian elders of false prophets that would infiltrate the church to get followers for themselves: “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31).
The contention between Paul and the Corinthians caused Paul to great emotion: “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you” (2 Corinthians 2:4). He loved the Corinthians, even though they challenged him at every turn.
We can see that there is a lot of tragedy in ministry. People reject you even when you love them. This was likely Timothy’s experience as well.
Paul would “be filled with joy” at such a meeting with Timothy, because of their strong relationship. Paul was rejected or forsaken by so many others (as we will see in future sections). He would also have joy because Timothy could be comforted amid his own tribulation.
2 Timothy 1:5
Paul’s joy would be full in such a meeting with his protégé, because he has good remembrance of Timothy and the work that the Lord had done in his life (2 Timothy 1:5).
Timothy had “unfeigned faith.” He was sincere. This attribute was in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. We know from Acts 16:1 that Eunice was a Jewish believer. We can see how important a mother’s role is raising spiritual children.
When you read about the kings of Judah, the mother of the king is often named when the king is introduced. Rehoboam’s mother was an Ammonitess (2 Chronicles 12:13). He had sometimes where he submitted to the Lord, but he also forsook the law of the Lord. Just imagine, the “my son” addressed in Proverbs was this man. All of that was undone because of his father’s choice of wives. Ahaziah was another, who did wickedly like Ahab of Israel, because his mother was Athaliah the daughter of Omri (Ahab’s father).
2 Timothy 1:6
Paul talked about his remembrance of Timothy before the Lord. Now, Paul is bringing back Timothy’s remembrance to “stir up the gift of God” (2 Timothy 1:6). The phrase “gift of God” is used a handful of times throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament, it refers to the reward of one’s labor (Ecclesiastes 3:13; 5:19). In the New Testament, it has a more spiritual meaning. The gift of God can refer to the Holy Spirit (John 4:10; Acts 8:20), eternal life (Romans 6:23), singleness/being unmarried (1 Corinthians 7:7), and faith (Ephesians 2:8).
Concerning Timothy, the gift of God is in him (“which is in thee”) and is something he is to stir up (“thou stir up the gift of God”). There are two components: he has the gift, but he also must stir it up. To stir up is to awaken. In both 2 Peter 1:13 and 2 Peter 3:1, this stirring up is paired with remembrance, just as it is here. Timothy needs to remember he has this gift of God, and he must use it.
This gift of God was “in thee by the putting on of my hands.” Whatever this gift was, at first it seems like it cannot be any of the other mentions in the New Testament, because Paul somehow was a means for him to receive this gift. Timothy was already a believer when Paul met him (Acts 16:1). He would have had the Holy Spirit, eternal life, and faith. However, as we explore the subsequent verses, it becomes apparent that it must involves a special calling involving these things in synthesis with Gospel proclamation and teaching. He was not given the spirit of fear (v. 7) and he is to not be ashamed (v. 8) in the face of persecution.
What does it mean for him to get this special calling to proclamation by “the putting on of my hands”? This is Paul investing much time in mentoring and praying for the young man, which included placing his hands on him in prayer. As elders of the church had done this for Timothy (1 Timothy 4:14), Paul himself also did this.
2 Timothy 1:7
Given all the tasks Timothy was to do as a missionary and church planter, we can see how daunting it was, from a human perspective. One could understand why one could be fearful. However, in Christ, there is no fear. He did not give us “the spirit of fear” (2 Timothy 1:7). He gave us the Holy Spirit, and He is afraid of nothing. Three characteristics are given of the Holy Spirit: “of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
The Holy Ghost is synonymous with power. It is He that “moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). Of Mary, the angel told her, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). The incarnation of Christ was brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit.
It is by the power of the Holy Ghost that we preach the Gospel: When Jesus was giving His disciples the Great Commission, He tells them, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The Trinity has power. When Peter preached to Cornelius and his company, he said, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (Acts 10:38).
The power of the Spirit contrasts with a spirit of fear: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:13). By faith, we have joy, peace, and hope, all of which comes from the Spirit’s power. We have peace amid the storms of the world.
Likewise, He is the Spirit of love: “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5). Hope is more than thinking something may be a possibility. Hope is anticipation of the certain and a confident expectation. We have hope because we are certain in God’s love. This certainty comes from the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
Moreover, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18; context 1 John 4:16-19). We know that perfect love of God by the Spirit. Knowing this, we no longer have the fear that is in the world. We have confidence on the day of judgment, and no fear of torment. Fear and love are mutually exclusive. We have fear if we are not confident in the love of God.
He is also the Spirit of a sound mind. The man with the Legion (Mark 5:1-20) was crazy because of evil spirits, but when he was delivered of the spirits, he was “in his right mind” (Mark 5:15).
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). Note the word “again”; as saved people, we were afraid and kept in bondage by sin and evil. We were enemies of God. Now that we are saved, we are a part of God’s family. We used to be enemies, but now we are children of God.