Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Paul charges Timothy, his son in the gospel trained in the Scriptures from childhood, to be strong in the grace found in Christ Jesus. That strength is not weakness but power received by relying on Christ, not on educational advantages, superior training, cleverness, or intellect. Its value lies in knowing God and Jesus Christ, for faith receives His word and puts it into practice unto sanctification and the fruits of the Spirit. Joined to the next verse, this strength equips him to receive, preserve, and faithfully pass on what he heard to faithful people able to teach others also, which is God's plan for spreading truth to save the lost. The same charge rests with still greater accountability on all who profess to know the way of life and guide others, enabling them to obey promptly like soldiers, endure hardness without entanglement in worldly affairs, and rightly handle the word of truth.
Address to Timothy
Paul's fatherly charge was spoken to Timothy as his son in the gospel when Timothy was a youth who had been trained in the Scriptures from childhood. To him the command to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus means not to be a weakling, for it is his privilege to have power and grace. That strengthening was given for his charge and special work.
The same charge lays still greater accountability on all who profess to understand the way to life and take up the responsibility of guiding others in it, for while every servant must improve what is committed to him, still more is required of teachers of truth. It is addressed to the messengers who bear the God-given message to the people in the last days, commanding them to be strong in that grace, to pass on what they have heard, and to endure hardness as good soldiers. It likewise calls young men and young women in home life to take up the work appointed them by that same strength, throwing off all inclination to sloth, taking hold of the light given and holding it fast, and cultivating the talent of imparting truth to those who can teach others, since those who do not impart will soon lose power to do the work for this time, and as their physical, mental, and moral powers are exercised in God's service heavenly angels are close by to help. Youthful workers like Timothy are therefore to be taught by experienced men of God's appointment how to read the Word and how to explain it to others, and as sons in the gospel to be strong in that grace, to commit what they have heard to faithful men, and to endure hardness as good soldiers, which defines the canvasser's duty in cultivating the talents God has given him, maintaining his connection with God, and helping always where he can.
Source of Strength
To be strong is not to remain a weakling but to take up the privilege of having power and grace by relying on the power of His grace. That strength is found in the grace located in Christ Jesus, and drawing upon it is what makes a person strong in God.
Such strength for labor does not come from educational advantages or superior training, nor from personal opinions, cleverness, or intellect. A worker's worth is not measured by schooling or other credentials but by drawing strength from the grace found in Christ Jesus. Knowing God is the source of that power for service.
A laborer's value and usefulness lie in the heart's capacity to know and understand God. That knowledge is the source of spiritual power, and faith is what receives God's word and puts it into practice. Trusting His promises in this way brings sanctification of character and the fruits of the Spirit.
To be strong is to grow beyond mere head knowledge into spiritual life by knowing the true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. It requires becoming a diligent student of the Scriptures, both reading and teaching the Word, with reading and teaching sustained together by prayer. God's grace is both essential to service and its fruit, so those who serve must first receive that grace and walk humbly with God. In human weakness His strength is made perfect, giving Christ's followers courage, perseverance, joy and inward peace, expressed in love for Jesus and for one another through which God's power is revealed.
Passing Truth Onward
The strength given is not for Timothy alone but, joined to the next verse, equips him to receive, preserve, treasure, and faithfully pass on what he heard among many witnesses to faithful people able to teach others also. What was learned is to be entrusted to faithful teachers who can teach it to others, and this entrusting of gospel light is God's plan for diffusing truth and bringing the lost to salvation. That same strength enables enduring hardship in serving Christ and developing abilities, studying God's word, preserving its teaching, and passing its principles on. As believers grow strong in this grace they can faithfully pass on the knowledge they have received to others.
The words have height and depth and breadth. Those enlightened by the Holy Spirit hold a most important talent and trust in their keeping. They are like the scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven who is as a householder bringing forth out of his treasure things new and old. Believers serve as agents through whom Christ communicates light, and are to use God-given gifts and opportunities to benefit others rather than for selfish gain, improving what is committed to them.
Using this strength means gathering up the fragments of all that was heard, using one's powers well in receiving teaching, preserving it faithfully, and committing it to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. It means not remaining a weakling but taking hold of given light and holding it fast, throwing off all inclination to sloth and cultivating the talent of imparting truth. This call lays hold on young men and young women in home life to take up the work appointed them. Such strengthening engages physical, mental, and moral power, and as talents are exercised in God's service heavenly angels are close by to help, for those who do not impart will soon lose power to do the work for this time. That charge and special work includes enduring hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Handling the truth requires handling inspiration better than Satan's servants who quote Scripture readily, by meeting Scripture with Scripture as Christ did. It requires awaking to search the Scriptures daily as the noble Bereans did, and studying with humble prayer for an understanding heart so as to teach the way of life more perfectly, with counsel, prayers, and example giving life. So ministers who teach unpopular truth are made strong to become qualified to point others to the way of life and to commit the truth to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. It also requires turning away from new and strange ideas based on human imagination, since salvation does not depend on such side issues.
Enduring Faithful Service
To be strong in the grace in Christ Jesus is to serve with faithful, prompt obedience like a soldier obeying his commander without hesitation. It is not to be a weakling, but to have power and grace as a privilege for the charge and special work given. That strength keeps the worker awake, grateful and active as a laborer together with Christ, and keeps him advancing in the work in constancy, perseverance and faithful duty. It makes him a diligent student who reads the Word and teaches it to others, sustained by prayer together, growing beyond mere head knowledge into spiritual life by knowing the true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. It equips him to treasure what was communicated, to gather up the fragments of all he heard among many witnesses, and to commit those truths to faithful men able to teach others also.
This same grace enables a minister to resist temptation, to fulfill the duties God has given, to grow in the knowledge of God and Christ, and to serve faithfully. As believers grow strong in it, knowledge of God and Christ is deepened, desire for faithful service is awakened, and power is given to witness to what has been received and to pass that knowledge on to others.
The strength is given for enduring hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ while faithfully passing on sound teaching learned from Paul. It belongs with avoiding entanglement in worldly affairs and with seeking God's approval as a worker who rightly handles the word of truth. This charge to be strong, to entrust what was heard to faithful men able to teach others, and to endure hardness as a good soldier rests with still greater weight on the messengers who bear the God-given message to the people in the last days.
It also gives zeal for speaking personally with those who oppose the truth, with commendable earnestness yet without becoming rash or discourteous. When challenged, the laborer so strengthened presents the truth as it is in Jesus rather than being drawn into controversy.
Courage in Daily Life
The strength drawn from the grace in Christ is for practical daily living, shaping believers into people who pray for the lost and labor to reach them. It moves them to uphold and support every effort to make the truth known. It binds them to serve together with courage and with gratitude.
To be strong in that grace is to keep the eye single to the glory of God, to maintain a well-balanced mind, and to stand firm as a rock in principle under the overseeing eye of God. It is to move onward from strength to strength and from grace to grace, gathering light in order to reflect it upon the pathway of others. It is to refuse to forsake the post of duty when slighted, unappreciated, or discouraged, seeking instead to honor Christ and to please Him as Captain by obeying His orders and leaving the result with Him. With the heart filled with love to God and to one another, it is to have courage in the Lord as partakers of Christ's sufferings who shall also share His consolation, rejoicing always even though sorrowful.
Paul charges Timothy, his son in the gospel trained in the Scriptures from childhood, to be strong in the grace found in Christ Jesus. That strength is not weakness but power received by relying on Christ, not on educational advantages, superior training, cleverness, or intellect. Its value lies in knowing God and Jesus Christ, for faith receives His word and puts it into practice unto sanctification and the fruits of the Spirit. Joined to the next verse, this strength equips him to receive, preserve, and faithfully pass on what he heard to faithful people able to teach others also, which is God's plan for spreading truth to save the lost. The same charge rests with still greater accountability on all who profess to know the way of life and guide others, enabling them to obey promptly like soldiers, endure hardness without entanglement in worldly affairs, and rightly handle the word of truth.
Address to Timothy
Paul's fatherly charge was spoken to Timothy as his son in the gospel when Timothy was a youth who had been trained in the Scriptures from childhood. To him the command to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus means not to be a weakling, for it is his privilege to have power and grace. That strengthening was given for his charge and special work.
The same charge lays still greater accountability on all who profess to understand the way to life and take up the responsibility of guiding others in it, for while every servant must improve what is committed to him, still more is required of teachers of truth. It is addressed to the messengers who bear the God-given message to the people in the last days, commanding them to be strong in that grace, to pass on what they have heard, and to endure hardness as good soldiers. It likewise calls young men and young women in home life to take up the work appointed them by that same strength, throwing off all inclination to sloth, taking hold of the light given and holding it fast, and cultivating the talent of imparting truth to those who can teach others, since those who do not impart will soon lose power to do the work for this time, and as their physical, mental, and moral powers are exercised in God's service heavenly angels are close by to help. Youthful workers like Timothy are therefore to be taught by experienced men of God's appointment how to read the Word and how to explain it to others, and as sons in the gospel to be strong in that grace, to commit what they have heard to faithful men, and to endure hardness as good soldiers, which defines the canvasser's duty in cultivating the talents God has given him, maintaining his connection with God, and helping always where he can.
Source of Strength
To be strong is not to remain a weakling but to take up the privilege of having power and grace by relying on the power of His grace. That strength is found in the grace located in Christ Jesus, and drawing upon it is what makes a person strong in God.
Such strength for labor does not come from educational advantages or superior training, nor from personal opinions, cleverness, or intellect. A worker's worth is not measured by schooling or other credentials but by drawing strength from the grace found in Christ Jesus. Knowing God is the source of that power for service.
A laborer's value and usefulness lie in the heart's capacity to know and understand God. That knowledge is the source of spiritual power, and faith is what receives God's word and puts it into practice. Trusting His promises in this way brings sanctification of character and the fruits of the Spirit.
To be strong is to grow beyond mere head knowledge into spiritual life by knowing the true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. It requires becoming a diligent student of the Scriptures, both reading and teaching the Word, with reading and teaching sustained together by prayer. God's grace is both essential to service and its fruit, so those who serve must first receive that grace and walk humbly with God. In human weakness His strength is made perfect, giving Christ's followers courage, perseverance, joy and inward peace, expressed in love for Jesus and for one another through which God's power is revealed.
Passing Truth Onward
The strength given is not for Timothy alone but, joined to the next verse, equips him to receive, preserve, treasure, and faithfully pass on what he heard among many witnesses to faithful people able to teach others also. What was learned is to be entrusted to faithful teachers who can teach it to others, and this entrusting of gospel light is God's plan for diffusing truth and bringing the lost to salvation. That same strength enables enduring hardship in serving Christ and developing abilities, studying God's word, preserving its teaching, and passing its principles on. As believers grow strong in this grace they can faithfully pass on the knowledge they have received to others.
The words have height and depth and breadth. Those enlightened by the Holy Spirit hold a most important talent and trust in their keeping. They are like the scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven who is as a householder bringing forth out of his treasure things new and old. Believers serve as agents through whom Christ communicates light, and are to use God-given gifts and opportunities to benefit others rather than for selfish gain, improving what is committed to them.
Using this strength means gathering up the fragments of all that was heard, using one's powers well in receiving teaching, preserving it faithfully, and committing it to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. It means not remaining a weakling but taking hold of given light and holding it fast, throwing off all inclination to sloth and cultivating the talent of imparting truth. This call lays hold on young men and young women in home life to take up the work appointed them. Such strengthening engages physical, mental, and moral power, and as talents are exercised in God's service heavenly angels are close by to help, for those who do not impart will soon lose power to do the work for this time. That charge and special work includes enduring hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Handling the truth requires handling inspiration better than Satan's servants who quote Scripture readily, by meeting Scripture with Scripture as Christ did. It requires awaking to search the Scriptures daily as the noble Bereans did, and studying with humble prayer for an understanding heart so as to teach the way of life more perfectly, with counsel, prayers, and example giving life. So ministers who teach unpopular truth are made strong to become qualified to point others to the way of life and to commit the truth to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. It also requires turning away from new and strange ideas based on human imagination, since salvation does not depend on such side issues.
Enduring Faithful Service
To be strong in the grace in Christ Jesus is to serve with faithful, prompt obedience like a soldier obeying his commander without hesitation. It is not to be a weakling, but to have power and grace as a privilege for the charge and special work given. That strength keeps the worker awake, grateful and active as a laborer together with Christ, and keeps him advancing in the work in constancy, perseverance and faithful duty. It makes him a diligent student who reads the Word and teaches it to others, sustained by prayer together, growing beyond mere head knowledge into spiritual life by knowing the true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. It equips him to treasure what was communicated, to gather up the fragments of all he heard among many witnesses, and to commit those truths to faithful men able to teach others also.
This same grace enables a minister to resist temptation, to fulfill the duties God has given, to grow in the knowledge of God and Christ, and to serve faithfully. As believers grow strong in it, knowledge of God and Christ is deepened, desire for faithful service is awakened, and power is given to witness to what has been received and to pass that knowledge on to others.
The strength is given for enduring hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ while faithfully passing on sound teaching learned from Paul. It belongs with avoiding entanglement in worldly affairs and with seeking God's approval as a worker who rightly handles the word of truth. This charge to be strong, to entrust what was heard to faithful men able to teach others, and to endure hardness as a good soldier rests with still greater weight on the messengers who bear the God-given message to the people in the last days.
It also gives zeal for speaking personally with those who oppose the truth, with commendable earnestness yet without becoming rash or discourteous. When challenged, the laborer so strengthened presents the truth as it is in Jesus rather than being drawn into controversy.
Courage in Daily Life
The strength drawn from the grace in Christ is for practical daily living, shaping believers into people who pray for the lost and labor to reach them. It moves them to uphold and support every effort to make the truth known. It binds them to serve together with courage and with gratitude.
To be strong in that grace is to keep the eye single to the glory of God, to maintain a well-balanced mind, and to stand firm as a rock in principle under the overseeing eye of God. It is to move onward from strength to strength and from grace to grace, gathering light in order to reflect it upon the pathway of others. It is to refuse to forsake the post of duty when slighted, unappreciated, or discouraged, seeking instead to honor Christ and to please Him as Captain by obeying His orders and leaving the result with Him. With the heart filled with love to God and to one another, it is to have courage in the Lord as partakers of Christ's sufferings who shall also share His consolation, rejoicing always even though sorrowful.