2 Timothy Overview • Staying Faithful to God’s Truth
AI was not used to generate this post.
How important is it that you understand and maintain faithfulness to God’s truth? If you are teaching others, how do you make sure you are teaching truth and sound doctrine while guarding against error? This is post #2 in the 2 Timothy blog series coordinating with our To Be Found Faithful Bible Study covering the book called Second Timothy in the New Testament. In the last article, we learned that in order to live faithfully to our God we have to make that choice every day. As we do so, we will stay fresh and green for Him as we are growing old. In this post, we will look at what it means to stay faithful to God’s truth.
Listen to this post as a similar podcast from our To Be Found Faithful Bible Study covering the book of 2 Timothy in the New Testament.
Pastoral Epistles
Paul’s three letters—1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus—are called “pastoral epistles” because they are mostly Paul’s counsel to his assistant who served in the pastoral function of the local churches in Ephesus and on Crete. The three letters address the issues facing local churches just like the one you are attending now—issues faced by the pastoral leaders as well as the members. Five major themes are woven throughout Paul’s instruction to Timothy and Titus.
- Teach and maintain truth and sound doctrine while guarding against error.
- Identify leaders who will faithfully teach truth.
- Guard the reputation of the church so that God may not be dishonored.
- Do good deeds demonstrating the truth you believe.
- Live dependently on Christ’s power for all of the above.
This post will focus on teaching and maintaining God’s truth while guarding against error.
While he was a prisoner in a Roman dungeon, Paul reflected on his life, which he viewed as a sacrifice to God. Paul knew he would be executed soon. His time of departure was near. Yet, his last letter wasn’t filled with complaints about his conditions. His heart was still burdened by his care for the churches and for his co-workers in the ministry. Nothing had changed in his heart and mind about Jesus or the gospel. Using his last bits of paper and ink, Paul emphasized to everyone within his sphere of influence that they should stay faithful to God’s truth. Paul emphasized this theme over and over in this short letter we call 2 Timothy.
Teach and Maintain Truth; Guard against Error.
When you read any of Paul’s letters, you will notice how careful he was to teach and maintain truth in everything he said or wrote. It was ever present on his mind.
Paul believed that the Lord Jesus entrusted to Him the task of spreading and preserving God’s truth as a treasure. This is what he wrote in 2 Timothy chapter 1:
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. (2 Timothy 1:13-14)
Whenever Paul encountered error infiltrating one of the beloved churches he had founded, he immediately went after it. There would be no burying his head in the sand. He would not ignore it and hope it would go away.
Identifying error
Any error that persists is like a spiritual infection in the body. You know how to recognize an infection in a physical body by its symptoms. The same is true regarding a spiritual infection. Any opinion or belief that contradicts established biblical truth can cause an infection in the Body of Christ. And like an infection in the human body, it always affects life so it must be addressed. A spiritual infection is usually fed by looking to the wrong places to get your heart needs satisfied. The results are disappointment, fear, resentment, and many other negative thoughts and behaviors. Or it can be fed by a poor understanding of biblical truth.
Read the “Healthy Living” blog series covering wrong places we go to get our heart needs satisfied and end up with a spiritual infection.
Teaching truth
That is why it is so important to identify quality teachers who will stay faithful to God’s truth. Paul wrote this in 2 Timothy chapter 2:
“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2)
Reliable people who are qualified to teach others the truth that Paul taught everyone in that church. That included Timothy himself:
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Correctly handling God’s word—the whole Bible. That is the word of truth.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Not everyone who is teaching Scripture will be handling it correctly and teaching it all as truth.
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:2-4)
Error leads people away from the truth and into spiritual infection. We see this everywhere in the news and social media.
In 2 Timothy chapter 3, Paul describes how women who never recognize and grasp biblical truth will be taken captive by whatever flashy teachings that come along. The result is that they live unsatisfied, unstable, error-infected lives. We see this in our world today also.
Staying Faithful to God’s Truth
Thankfully, the answer to all spiritual infections is the truth that has been given to us in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. The writings of the New Testament are the work of the Holy Spirit revealing himself to the apostles and other disciples of Jesus. The historical reliability of the Scriptures is an important issue, and they (the Scriptures) can be investigated to show that the biblical records are trustworthy. We can know that God’s Word is true and reliable. Knowing truth gives us a spiritual immune system that fights and prevents infection in our hearts and minds. Clinging to truth is the prescription for healthy living.
Clinging to truth has three parts:
- Dwell in the truth of God you can know.
- Humbly accept what you don’t know or understand.
- Discern any teaching that you read or hear through the complete revelation of God’s Word. Avoid the “look-imagine-see dragon” when viewing any verse.
These three parts help you to fight any kind of spiritual enemy or prevent their influence over you.
Read the blogs, “TRUTH Is the Prescription for Healthy Living” and “Tame the “Look-Imagine-See” Dragon” for the full explanation of these three parts that lead to grasping the truth of God’s word in your life.
The way to stay faithful to God’s truth and guard against error is to dwell in truth you can know, humbly accept what you don’t know or understand, and discern all teaching through the complete revelation of God’s Word.
Dear readers, we will never know all there is to know about God. There will always be some mystery about Him. But there is plenty revealed in the Bible to satisfy your desire to know Him truthfully and to know how to live your life in Christ truthfully.
In the next post, we will look at what it means to stay faithful without fear.
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.
Related Resources:
- 2 Timothy blog series
- TRUTH Is the Prescription for Healthy Living
- Tame the “Look-Imagine-See” Dragon
- 2 Corinthians 10 • Grasping Truth Protects You from Captivity
- Conquer the “Manipulation by Guilt” Infection
AI was not used to generate this post.