The aim of this study guide is to help you get to the heart of what John Stott has written, and to challenge you to apply what you learn to your own life. The questions have been designed for use by individuals or by small groups of Christians meeting, perhaps for an hour or two each week, to study, discuss and pray together.
The guide provides material for each of the sections in the book. When used by a group with limited time, the leader should decide beforehand which questions are most appropriate for the group to discuss during the meeting and which should perhaps be left for group members to work through by themselves or in smaller groups during the week.
In order to be able to contribute fully and to learn from the group meetings, each member of the group needs to read through the section or sections under discussion, together with the passages in the letter to which they refer.
It is important not to let these studies become merely academic exercises. Guard against this by making time to think through and discuss how what you discover works out in practice for you. Make sure you begin and end each study by focusing on God in praise and prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you through your discussion together.
Introduction
On what grounds is it suggested that this letter may not in fact have been written by the apostle Paul?
How may these objections be answered? Who do you think wrote 2 Timothy?
How do we know that this letter was written from a prison cell? What implications does this have for the way we read it?
In what ways was Timothy ‘hopelessly unfit’ to assume a significant role of leadership in the church? Does this have anything to say to you?
‘The church of our day urgently needs to heed the message of this second letter of Paul to Timothy’. Do you agree? Why?
The charge to guard the gospel (1:1–18)
1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus (verse 1)
In what way is Paul making ‘a considerable claim for himself’ in verse 1? How can he justify this?
What do you think Paul means by the life which is in Christ Jesus (verse 1)? Have you begun to experience this? If so, can you put into words exactly how it happened?
2. Timothy, Paul’s beloved child (verses 2–8)
In what way is Timothy a ‘child’ of Paul? Do you have any ‘children’ in this sense? Who are you able to identify as your ‘parents’?
What does it really mean to wish someone grace, mercy and peace (verse 2)?
What are the ‘four major influences’ which had shaped Timothy’s life? Are you aware of similar factors at work in your own life?
‘… anyone who has been born and bred in a Christian home has received from God a blessing beyond price.’
What is the gift of God which Timothy received when Paul laid hands on him likely to have been? How do we know?
What spiritual gifts have you received? How do you know? In what ways might what Paul says to Timothy apply to you?
What two truths are ‘impossible to systematize into a tidy doctrine’? How are these reflected in the experience of Paul and Timothy? And in your experience too?
What are the ‘three main ways’ in which Christians are tempted to feel ashamed? How about you?
3. God’s gospel (verses 9, 10)
In what ways is salvation ‘far more than forgiveness’? Why is this so important for the way the gospel is proclaimed today?
How does Paul underline the truth that our salvation cannot come from ourselves and what we do?
What is the ‘doctrine of election’? How does it bring about ‘deep humility and gratitude’ as well as ‘peace and assurance’?
It is clear that people still die. So how can Paul claim that Jesus has abolished death? What does he mean?
‘One of the most searching tests to apply to any religion concerns its attitude to death’. Discuss your own experience of Christianity in relation to this statement.
What are the five stages, which the author identifies, ‘by which God’s saving purpose unfolds’?
4. Our duty in relation to God’s gospel (verses 11–18)
What do the terms apostle, preacher and teacher mean in relation to the gospel?
What is the particular significance of the term testifying (or ‘witness’) in verse 8? How does this apply to you?
Why does sharing the gospel involve suffering? In what ways have you found this to be true in your experience?
‘No man can preach Christ crucified with faithfulness and escape opposition, even persecution.’
In what senses is Paul’s teaching to be a pattern for Timothy?
Why does the gospel need to be guarded so carefully? In what ways does the truth of the gospel come under attack in your situation? How can you guard it?
What reassurance is there for those who doubt their ability to carry out their responsibilities in relation to the gospel?
The charge to suffer for the gospel (2:1–26)
1. Handing on the truth (verses 1, 2)
When Paul tells Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (verse 1), what exactly does he mean? Be as practical as you can.
What four stages in ‘the handing down of the truth’ can be identified here? How do we today fit into this sequence?
2. Metaphor I: The dedicated soldier (verses 3, 4)
What parallels between the soldier and the Christian does Paul highlight?
Can you think of things which, although ‘perfectly innocent in themselves’, actually hinder you as a soldier of Christ? What are you going to do about this?
3. Metaphor II: The law-abiding athlete (verse 5)
In what ways is the Christian life like a race?
What rules are there that we need to keep in order to win through?
4. Metaphor III: The hardworking farmer (verse 6)
What sorts of ‘harvest’ is Paul alluding to here?
In what ways do you find the Christian life to be ‘hard work’? Should it be like this do you think? Why?
5. The way to understanding (verse 7)
What ‘important biblical balance’ is set out here?
In what way is this verse ‘a good example of Paul’s self-conscious apostolic authority’?
Which do you tend to concentrate on in Bible study: ‘thought’ or ‘prayer’? What do you think Paul might say to you?
6. Suffering a condition of blessing (verses 8–13)
How is what Paul says here about Jesus so ‘full an account of the gospel’?
How does remembering what happened to Jesus help the Christian who is facing suffering?
In what sense did Paul’s sufferings help to secure the salvation of others? Have you experienced anything like this?
What does Paul mean by died with him in verse 11b? How does this apply to you?
What does he remains faithful mean in verse 13?
How would you answer someone who objected to the suggestion that there is something that God cannot do?
What is the ‘single lesson’ that Paul has been hammering home in verses 1–13? In what ways have you found this to be true?
7. Metaphor IV: The unashamed workman (verses 14–19)
In the area of Christian ministry, how can you tell the difference between a ‘good’ and a ‘bad’ workman?
What is the word of truth? What does it take to communicate it effectively?
What specific damage is caused by false teaching? What is ‘most revealing’ about these ‘two tendencies of heresy’? In what ways are you aware of these things today?
How does verse 19 help to fill out what Paul is saying here?
8. Metaphor V: The clean vessel (verses 20–22)
To what do the two different sorts of vessels in these verses refer?
‘No higher honour could be imagined than to be an instrument in the hand of Jesus Christ …’
What is the ‘essential condition’ which makes teachers useful to Jesus? Can you think of ways in which you could fulfil this condition more fully?
What does Paul tell Timothy to avoid? Why does he use a term as strong as shun?
What does Paul tell Timothy to pursue? Why does he use a term as strong as aim at?
Can you think of anything you should be avoiding which you are actually pursuing? Or anything you should be aiming for which you are in fact shunning?
9. Metaphor VI: The Lord’s servant (verses 23–26)
How would you answer someone who suggested that Paul is outlawing all forms of controversy in these verses? What does he mean then?
What experience have you had of ‘the combination of unbiblical speculations and uncharitable polemics’? Why does this do so much damage?
What characteristics of Christian leadership does Paul highlight here? Why are these so important?
What ‘link … between the moral and the intellectual’ is illustrated here? Can you think of examples of this from your own experience?
How is the devil’s activity characterized here? What does this perspective tell you about the work of the Christian teacher?
The charge to continue in the gospel (3:1–17)
1. Facing times of stress (verses 1, 2a)
What does Paul want to make sure that Timothy understands? Why does he lay such stress on this?
What are the last days? What is it about them that Timothy needs to know? How is this relevant to us today?
2. The evil men are described (verses 2–9)
What is the fundamental characteristic of the people Paul describes here?
What do the features Paul sets out have in common?
How is it possible to be religious and yet still demonstrate the characteristics listed in verses 2–4?
Is yours a ‘true religion’? How do you know?
What is ‘indeed astonishing’ about the sort of people Paul is describing?
What marks out the efforts of the false teacher?
What is so ‘remarkable’ about Paul’s discussion of Jannes and Jambres?
Can you think of any ‘fashionable’ falsehoods which have since faded away?
‘… there is something patently spurious about heresy, and something self-evidently true about the truth.’
3. Standing firm in the faith (verses 10–15)
What does Paul mean when he says that Timothy has observed him? Why is this important? How does it relate to the first half of the chapter?
How would you answer someone who suggested that Paul is being rather conceited in drawing attention to his virtues in verses 10–11?
What ‘good (though not infallible) general tests of a person’s sincerity, and even of the truth and falsehood of his system’ are highlighted here? How do these apply to you?
Why is persecution ‘inevitable’? In what ways do you experience this?
Why might Timothy need to be told to continue (verse 14) in what he has learned and firmly believed?
What reasons does Paul give for Timothy to do this?
How can we tell whether a new way of going about things is good or bad?
4. The origin and purpose of Scripture (verses 15b–17)
What ‘two fundamental truths’ about the Bible does Paul set out here?
How would you answer someone who claimed that only certain parts of the Bible were inspired by God?
How do we know what Paul means by all scripture (verse 16)?
In what ways is Scripture ‘profitable’? What recent examples of this have you seen in your own life?
‘… Scripture is the chief means which God employs to bring “the man of God” to maturity’. How does this work out in practice for you?
The charge to preach the gospel (4:1–22)
1. The nature of the charge (verse 2)
What would Timothy have understood by the instruction to preach the word?
Why does preaching need to be urgent? To what extent is this true of the preaching you do and/or listen to?
What else does Paul say about the sort of preaching he wants Timothy to undertake? How does what he says apply to you?
2. The basis of the charge (verses 1, 3–8)
What incentives does Paul give to encourage Timothy? How are these relevant for us today?
What does it mean to have itching ears (verse 3)? What is surprising about the way in which Timothy is to respond to this situation?
‘The harder the times and the deafer the people, the clearer and more persuasive our proclamation must be.’
3What is significant about the way Paul describes his own ministry?
Are you looking forward to the return of Christ? Why? What lies behind Paul’s enthusiasm for this event?
3. An illustration of the charge (verses 9–22)
What are the factors which have contributed to Paul’s sense of isolation?
What human needs does Paul reveal here?
How does Paul’s experience relate to what he has been asking Timothy to do?
‘In all our Christian life and service we should desire no other philosophy than this’. To what is John Stott referring? How true is this of your outlook on life?
