2 Timothy 1:8-18 • Staying Faithful without Shame
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Do you view the gospel as a treasure worth more than any substitutes you could choose instead of Jesus? Paul was convinced that the truth about Jesus is our greatest treasure. You can be convinced of that too regardless of what the culture says about Jesus or Christianity. In the last article, we looked at how to stay faithful to God without fear regardless of our circumstances. This is post #4 in the 2 Timothy blog series. In this post, we will learn why we can stay faithful to God without shame.
Finding Treasure
Several years ago, a homeless tortoise shell cat sat across the street, looking at our house. Two months later, she came to our back door and looked inside. We opened it, put out some treats and milk for her, and after 3 weeks she decided to come inside & stay. We gave her a new name—Pokey. We gave her love and protection from the scary world outside. She found in us a treasure that was worth more than the substitutes she had while looking in from the cold outside. It was worth committing her life to, and believe me, she fully enjoyed it!
Have you felt a need for love and protection from a scary world like that? I did. Jesus Christ took me in more than 50 years ago. As a college girl nibbling on some treats given to me by a campus ministry, one night I recognized the treasure Jesus offered to me—a relationship with Himself and all that comes with it. I jumped on it. God adopted me and brought me into a place of blessing and love and acceptance. It has been so worth it.
Two thousand years ago, God took in a rebel named Paul, gave him the treasure of Himself and sent him out to invite others to receive that treasure also. Some of those who responded lived in the region of Ephesus on the west coast of modern Turkey. Since Timothy was in Ephesus when he received this letter from Paul, it helps to have a little background of a place to understand the people and how that might affect Timothy’s ministry to them. The Ephesians were well-acquainted with treasure.
Ephesian treasure
Two words described Ephesus—prominent and obsessed. It was a prominent place because of its location and population. It was obsessed as a center for spiritualism in the Roman world filled with magic, psychics, astrologers, and palm readers. The people had a huge fear of evil powers that could make their life miserable. Anything they could count on to defeat the enemy so they could live a “successful” life was worth a try.
For the Ephesians, life was all about who had power. And, their identity came from their power sources. That was reflected in their treasure chests. Then, Paul introduced them to Jesus. They found out that their own treasure was worthless compared to what Paul offered them.
Paul spent 3 years in Ephesus, teaching daily. While there, God did extraordinary miracles through Paul (Acts 19:11-12). God targeted their need by demonstrating to those superstitious, obsessed people that He was more powerful than their magicians and other religious substitutes. He knew what they really needed—Himself!
Because God targeted the Ephesians’ need, many followed Jesus and became disciplemakers as they went to their towns and planted churches all over western Turkey, multiplying Paul’s ministry. Ephesus stayed prominent—with a new identity as one of the leading centers of Christianity for hundreds of years. And many Ephesians became obsessed with a new purpose and object of worship—Jesus.
God’s treasure
Jesus Christ is God’s real treasure. Knowing Him is greater than anything we could possibly substitute for Him. Paul is in prison—again. This time he knows he has no hope of being released. But he was not ashamed.
Be Unashamed in an Honor-Shame Culture
Do not be ashamed
Paul wrote this to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 1:
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. (2 Timothy 1:7-8)
Three times in this chapter Paul uses the word “ashamed.” Shame is a feeling arising from something that has been done, not necessarily by oneself but by a hated cause such as Christianity or someone with whom one associates who has been discredited—Paul or the Jesus he proclaims. The Greek word translated “ashamed” does not imply that Timothy was ashamed, but it is rather an admonition to not start being ashamed.
Why would Paul say to not be ashamed of the Lord Jesus or of Paul? Why would Timothy be tempted to be ashamed? To answer those questions, I found this explanation of the culture at the time.
One of the most difficult things for ancient history students to get their heads around when first exploring the subject is the place Mediterranean societies gave to honor and shame. Honor was universally regarded as the ultimate asset for human beings, and shame the ultimate deficit—so much so that academics frequently refer to Egyptian, Greek, and Roman societies simply as “honor-shame” cultures. Much of life revolved around ensuring you and your family received public honor and avoided public shame. (John Dickson, Humilitas: A Lost Key to Life, Love and Leadership, pp. 83-95
Paul was not ashamed
Consider the pressures on Timothy that might pull him toward shame. Persecution. Local opposition. Roman threats. Intimidation. Association with anyone in prison.
Paul was not ashamed to be in prison. His perspective was that he was Christ’s prisoner, not Rome’s prisoner. He wrote this,
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. (2 Timothy 1:12)
Paul knew Christ, was convinced that Christ was able to keep him and his soul for the day of salvation. His Lord Jesus knew exactly where he was and wanted him there for now. There was no reason for shame. Timothy could have the same confidence in Christ. The treasure they had in Jesus Christ was more powerful and valuable than anything and worth guarding.
Guard the Treasure
The good treasure entrusted to you
“Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” (2 Timothy 1:14, NIV)
The Greek word translated “good deposit” means something that is “beautiful, precious, magnificent.” Some translations use the word “treasure.”
We all love the idea of treasure in a treasure chest. Some of us have mementos in a special little box that contain treasures from our past that remind us of who we once were and who we are now. Do you have one of those? My husband has one. I don’t know what is in it, but every once in a while, he will pull something out of it that reminds him of all the pieces that make up who he is.
Guard the treasure
When Paul said, “Guard the good deposit,” he was really saying “Guard the treasure.” From the context, we can see that the treasure is the sound teaching of the gospel wrapped up in Jesus Christ.
“So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He 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, but 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. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. (2 Timothy 1:8-11)
The truth about Jesus is treasure and your power to get through anything. We have an incredible power source—the power of God. In fact, the Greek word for power, dunamis, is where we get our word dynamite and is often translated as “miracles” in the New Testament. The power of God is in the gospel message embodied in Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Don’t be ashamed of that treasure. Guard it!! Protect it!
How do you do that? You stay true to sound teaching. Don’t back off from it when encountering opposition. Rely on the Spirit’s power to help you do that.
Stay true to the gospel
We are responsible to adhere to and teach sound doctrine as well as live a godly life based on that sound doctrine. We can do this through the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is a cooperative effort. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is given to every believer at the moment of salvation (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13). He is directly involved in both aspects of guarding the deposit of the gospel, namely, holding to sound doctrine (John 14:26) and living a godly life (Galatians 5:16-21). If you know the truth and are guarding it, you won’t be ashamed.
So practice the truth of 2 Timothy 1:7 to help you tell others the good news about Jesus and to guard against ever being ashamed of it.
In the next post, we will look at what it means to stay faithful in a hostile world no matter the cost.
Let Jesus satisfy your heart with His faithfulness. Then, make the choice to stay faithful to Him for the rest of your life.
All of the above information is covered in the To Be Found Faithful Bible Study covering the book of 2 Timothy in the New Testament.
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