2 Timothy 1:6-11

2 Timothy 1:6 to 2 Timothy 2:13. Appeal to Timothy for Courage in Face of Difficulties.

(a) 2 Timothy 1:6. Direct Appeal, based on Timothy's Ordination Gift. The false teachers have created a situation demanding courageous treatment. Timothy has not failed (the Greek tense in 2 Timothy 1:8 implies do not begin to be ashamed), but he plainly needs enheartening. Paul appeals for strong action on three grounds. The first is the character implied in Timothy's ordination gift. The spirit of power, love, and self-discipline therein conveyed should suffice (a) to save him from becoming ashamed of his testimony, and (b) to enable him to take his share in suffering hardships for the gospel's sake, with a strength of which God's power is the measure. This power, guaranteed to Timothy in his ordination, is no less than that which wrought for our salvation and high calling. It depends, moreover, not upon our own deeds but upon God's eternal purpose, and its magnitude is witnessed in the Incarnation and the Resurrection.

2 Timothy 1:6. the gift, etc.: 1 Timothy 4:14 *.

2 Timothy 1:9. who saved: 1 Timothy 1:1 *. not. works: a characteristically Pauline passage (cf. Titus 3:5).

2 Timothy 1:10. abolished: rather, brought to naught.