You have followed my teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, persecutions that I endured. Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me. 12 In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. 14 But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, 15 and that from infancy you have known [the] sacred scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Paul explains that faithful church leaders will follow his example and endure whatever persecutions and suffering that result from preaching the gospel. His experiences and attitude represent the essential characteristics of an apostle (vv. 11-12). God will deliver the righteous from all trials (Ps. 34:20). Followers of Christ will suffer persecution (Jn. 15:20) if they reject godless ways and worldly desires and live temperately, justly and devout lives (v. 13; Tit. 2:12). False teachers are like non-believers who live in ungodly ways. Paul exhorts Timothy to believe in and remain faithful to what he was taught by his Jewish mother Eunice, his grandmother Lois, and by Paul himself (v. 14; 2 Tim. 1:5). Timothy has known the scriptures, the OT, from childhood which he now understands within the framework of salvation as revealed through faith in Jesus Christ (v. 15). All inspired scripture is necessary for the proclamation of faith and for living the faith.
Almighty God, through your grace, may the words we read in
sacred scripture open my hearts and illuminate our minds so that we may grow in
understanding and knowledge. Help us to meditate
on Your Word so that we may gain wisdom and discern what is truth. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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