WORD From The Woods
2 Timothy 2:14-26
“Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
This is a really rich passage that we could spend a lot of time in! I hope you’ll take the time to really dig into it on your own. For this devotional, I just want to take a brief overview. Verse 15, is probably familiar to most of us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” It’s a verse that gets quoted a lot, but I don’t think we often stop to really comprehend the reality that Paul was communicating to Timothy. There are two sides to this concept of “presenting ourselves as approved workman.” As Christians, we should work hard to pursue Godliness and resist evil, and there is a lot in this passage to teach us how to do that. But, we also need to remember that as sinners we can’t actually do anything to make ourselves good enough to please God. It’s only through the redeeming blood of Christ that we can be presented to God as people who are holy and righteous, with no need to be ashamed! Verse 19 makes this clear, God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” The foundation that Paul is talking about is the firm foundation of our salvation built by the redeeming work of Christ! So, the reality is that our own work will never be enough, it’s the finished work that Christ already did for us on the cross and transferred to our account when we place our faith and trust in Him as Savior and Lord, that makes us approved workmen. And when we rest in that glorious reality, we are truly motivated to flee the kinds of youthful passions and sins that Paul motions at the end of this passage, by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Praise God for the redemption and sanctification that we have in our Savior Christ Jesus! To Him alone is all the glory and honor that we can then stand in Him as approved workmen who are not ashamed!
God Bless and have a great week! -Terry-
2 Timothy 2:14-26
“Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
This is a really rich passage that we could spend a lot of time in! I hope you’ll take the time to really dig into it on your own. For this devotional, I just want to take a brief overview. Verse 15, is probably familiar to most of us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” It’s a verse that gets quoted a lot, but I don’t think we often stop to really comprehend the reality that Paul was communicating to Timothy. There are two sides to this concept of “presenting ourselves as approved workman.” As Christians, we should work hard to pursue Godliness and resist evil, and there is a lot in this passage to teach us how to do that. But, we also need to remember that as sinners we can’t actually do anything to make ourselves good enough to please God. It’s only through the redeeming blood of Christ that we can be presented to God as people who are holy and righteous, with no need to be ashamed! Verse 19 makes this clear, God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” The foundation that Paul is talking about is the firm foundation of our salvation built by the redeeming work of Christ! So, the reality is that our own work will never be enough, it’s the finished work that Christ already did for us on the cross and transferred to our account when we place our faith and trust in Him as Savior and Lord, that makes us approved workmen. And when we rest in that glorious reality, we are truly motivated to flee the kinds of youthful passions and sins that Paul motions at the end of this passage, by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Praise God for the redemption and sanctification that we have in our Savior Christ Jesus! To Him alone is all the glory and honor that we can then stand in Him as approved workmen who are not ashamed!
God Bless and have a great week! -Terry-