{"id":28029,"date":"2023-09-24T22:00:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T05:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-timothy-2_1-13-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-09-05T17:11:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T00:11:37","slug":"2-timothy-2_14-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-timothy-2_14-26\/","title":{"rendered":"If You Want to Be Used Greatly by God"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Timothy 2:14-26 \u00a0<\/strong>Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a02\u00a0Timothy\u00a02:14-26.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

2 Timothy 2:14-18 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a014-18: \u00a0The background behind these verses is that\u00a0Timothy\u00a0is still dealing with the threat of false teaching influencing his church.\u00a0 Individuals like Hymenaeus and Philetus were teaching that \u201cthe resurrection has already taken place” (v18).\u00a0 In so doing their teaching, like gangrene (v17), had already started to spread and affect some in Timothy\u2019s church, leading them astray (v18b).<\/p>\n

According to many scholars, these false teachers probably did not believe in actual physical resurrection but taught that the only resurrection one could experience was a spiritual, symbolic one.\u00a0 In teaching this they were denying the key Christian doctrine that Jesus physically rose from the dead and that future believers in Him would physically be raised one day as well (see 1 Corinthians 15).<\/p>\n

Against this background, Paul instructs Timothy to:
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0warn his church not to quarrel, since quarreling \u201cis of no value, and only ruins those who listen\u201d (v14);
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0do his best to present himself to God as a dignified workman of God who knows how to handle God’s Word correctly (v15); and
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0avoid godless chatter because indulging in it only has the effect of leading people away from Christ rather than toward Christ (v16)<\/p>\n

2 Timothy 2:19 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 19: Paul tells Timothy\u00a0not to be shaken or discouraged when some turn away from the church to follow these deceptions.\u00a0 Paul\u2019s encouragement to Timothy is based on the following reasons:
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0though people may change and be shaken, the \u201csolid foundation\u201d of God\u2019s truth will never change or be shaken.<\/strong>\u00a0 It stands firm (v19a);
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God already knows who really belong to Him (v19) and who don\u2019t (\u201cThe Lord knows who are his\u201d, which may be a reference to Numbers 16:5);
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0those who truly belong to the LORD will show it by turning from wickedness, and so if a person keeps on engaging in wickedness without any sign of wanting to change or repent, then God is not in that person (v19).<\/p>\n

2 Timothy 2:20-26 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 20-26:\u00a0 In verses 20-21 Paul lays down a precious principle worth memorizing.\u00a0 If you want God to use your life to make a powerful difference, make sure you get this principle.\u00a0 The idea is that\u00a0we all have a choice as to in what way and how much God will use us<\/strong>.\u00a0 If we want God to use our lives effectively and powerfully for His noble purposes, if we want to be ready for whatever work God has for us to do, we need to separate (\u201ccleanse\u201d) ourselves from engaging in thoughts, conversations, activities and purposes that do not glorify God (v20-21, what Paul refers to as \u201cignoble\u201d purposes).<\/p>\n

Practically speaking, that means:
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0not chasing after the things that immature people chase after (v22a);
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0pursuing the kind of character that pleases God (righteousness, faith, love and peace) together with others who have a similar passion and commitment for Jesus (v22b)
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0not engaging in foolish and stupid arguments that only result in quarreling (v23-24);
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0being kind to everyone, not resentful, able to teach (v24);
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0gently instructing those who oppose us (v25),\u00a0praying that they would come to their senses, escape from the devil’s deceptions, and return to God (v25-26).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from all this?\u00a0 When you meet people who are so convinced of what is false, be careful how you deal with them.\u00a0 Don’t quarrel with them.\u00a0 Be kind.\u00a0 Know God’s Word well so that you don’t let their chatter influence you.\u00a0 Explain your position gently and clearly without getting into silly arguments.\u00a0 And protect those who are in your spiritual care to be careful against false teaching.<\/p>\n

Father, I want to be an instrument used for noble purposes, holy, useful to my Master and prepared to do any good work.\u00a0 Please give me and my church wisdom to know how to deal with those who oppose us, not to get involved in quarrels and useless arguments, to know Your Word well and to gently instruct and warn those in our care.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a02\u00a0Timothy\u00a02:14-26.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

2 Timothy 2:14-18 (NIV)
\n14\u00a0\u00a0Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
\n16\u00a0\u00a0Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
\n17\u00a0\u00a0Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
\n18\u00a0\u00a0who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a014-18: \u00a0The background behind these verses is that\u00a0Timothy\u00a0is still dealing with the threat of false teaching influencing his church.\u00a0 Individuals like Hymenaeus and Philetus were teaching that \u201cthe resurrection has already taken place” (v18).\u00a0 In so doing their teaching, like gangrene (v17), had already started to spread and affect some in Timothy\u2019s church, leading them astray (v18b).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28029"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28032,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28029\/revisions\/28032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}