GOD’S WORKER
GOD’S WORKER
2 TIMOTHY 2:14-19
God deserves our best.
Paul is fond of contrasting mere words with real power (eg 1 Corinthians 2:4; 4:19f.; 1 Thessalonians 1:5). When people become Christians, this means more than mere outward profession. It is true that what Christians say is important. They are to bear witness to Jesus. But it is even more important that they should have a witness to bear, that they should be showing in their lives the power of the Spirit of God. It is in this spirit that Paul urges Timothy to do his best to be “a worker who has no need to be ashamed” (2:15). There is nothing pretentious about “worker.” It is a down-to-earth word (used often to refer to agricultural laborers), and points to the fact that honest work is an essential for Christian service. It does not matter if we have no mystical visions, but it does matter if we do not produce hard work in the service of our Lord. So Paul warns Timothy once more against “disputing about words” (2:14), and “godless chatter” (2:16). The false teachers with whom Timothy was confronted were evidently long on talk but short on performance. It is a temptation in the way of every Christian.
Paul singles out one specific error, namely, that of holding “that the resurrection is past already” (2:18). This could no doubt be made to look superficially attractive, for there is a sense in which it is true (Colossians 2:12; 3:1), but clearly these teachers were affirming it in a different sense. They were interpreting it in a “spiritual” sense which excluded any future resurrection of the body. This is the kind of error which Paul combats so magnificently in 1 Corinthians 15. It must always be opposed because “Christianity without a resurrection ceases to be a living faith” (Guthrie). The consequence of such teaching was that some were unsettled. But Paul is not dismayed. He knows that “God’s firm foundation stands” (2:19), and he sees this in two Old Testament passages, Numbers 16:5,26. His confidence is in God.
Notes 2:14: For “disputing about words” see 1 Timothy 1:4,7; 6:4,20; 2 Timothy 2:16; 3:7f.; 4:4; Titus 1:10; 3:9. 2:15: “rightly handling” means literally “cutting straight” but whether the imagery is from cutting a road (Proverbs 3:6; 11:5), cutting stones or cutting a furrow, is not clear. In any case the stress is on “straight” rather than “cutting.” 2:17: Hymenaeus is probably the one mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20.