The Haunted House

“By the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2Tim 1:14).

Do the “Paranormal Activity” movies absolutely scare the pants off you? Love the classic comedy “Ghostbusters” and can’t wait for the remake? Confession time. I do. Guilty as charged. I’m a sucker for just about any story where the house is haunted. Did you realize that Paul was not afraid of no ghost?

Okay, when I say “ghost,”. I’m NOT talking about some spooky disembodied specter that squirts ectoplasm. The apostle loves him some Holy Ghost. That’s what the King Jimmy Bible calls the Third Person of the Godhead. When it comes to the Spirit of God, lets just say Paul is a fan. A BIG fan! And why shouldn’t he be? The Holy Spirit lives in every follower of Jesus, guiding and empower each one of us. 

In his second letter to Timothy, the apostle tells his pastoral apprentice, “By the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (v14). Our house is haunted. Haunted by God’s Spirit. With Him living in us, we can fight off any threat to our faith. Yeah, our house is haunted. But there’s no reason to freak out. It’s a VERY good thing. 

Don’t forget where Paul is as he writes to Tim. He’s on Death Row at Rome’s notorious Mamertine Prison. This is no penal extended stay. It’s where the empire sends prisoners before execution. The apostle is a dead man walking and he knows it (2Tim 4:6-7). He desperately wants to see his buddy one last time (2Tim 4:9, 21). These are the last words Paul writes before his death. This note is his last ditch effort to reassure the young pastor of what God can do in and through Tim. Specifically through the Holy Spirit.

The apostle reminds us that every believer is empowered “by the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us” (v14). Just a quick refresher on the Spirit of God. The Spirit is a Who, not a what. He’s the Third Person of the Trinity, not some impersonal force mentioned by Yoda. Just as the Father gives the Son to save us, the Son gives the Spirit to lead us, and the Spirit gives us His gifts to serve others (Gal 5:22-23). The night before His murder, Jesus told His crew how the Spirit will encourage us and remind us about His truth (Jn 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-14). The Holy Spirit gets the least ink of the Godhead but He likes it that way. His main role is to make our Savior famous, not Himself.

The Spirit of God doesn’t just swing by and stay for a long weekend. He “dwells within us” (v14). He doesn’t just do this for super saints and megachurch pastors. The Holy Spirit turns every single follower of Jesus into God’s temple (Rom 8:9; 1Cor 3:6; 6:19). God called His shot through OT prophets (Ezek 36:27; Joel 2:28-32). After Christ’s resurrection, members of the first church were hanging out together when the Spirit roared into the room and appeared as flames above each one of them (Acts 2:2-3). Talk about a house warming party!

God’s Spirit moves in for the long haul. Paul uses a Greek term here (Gr. enoikeo) which means to live inside, reside, inhabit, stay, or remain in a particular location longterm. It literally means “in house” or “in home.” The word describes living inside some place and having a powerful influence. In other words, this is an inside job. Jesus uses His Spirit to change believers from the inside out. But He’s no short-term tenant. He doesn’t use you like human AirBnB or VRBO. He “dwells within us” (v14). He makes Himself at home. He unpacks His bags. 

Paul tells Tim how the Spirit doesn’t just move in and stay behind the closed door of the spare bedroom. He’s on the move throughout our whole being. Our house is haunted by the Holy Ghost. The only ones who need to be afraid of His haunting are sin, death, and Satan. And they should be totally spooked! This Spirit of God is same Person who raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 8:11). In the words of Jeremy Camp…

The same power that rose Jesus from the grave

The same power that commands the dead to wake

Lives in us, lives in us

The same power that moves mountains when He speaks

The same power that can calm a raging sea

Lives in us, lives in us

He lives in us, lives in us

When the Holy Ghost haunts our house, the enemies of God get the willies!

With the Spirit of God setting up shop in you, Paul instructs us to “guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (v14). Do these words sound familiar? Well, they should. Just a couple of verses back the apostle tells Tim, “I am convinced that He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (2Tim 1:12). In other words, Paul trusts in who Jesus is, what He has done and will do in and through him. Now he turns it around and commands his protege protect the eternal treasure God has committed to him. According to Alexander MacLaren, the apostle connects our Spirit-powered faithfulness to God’s supernatural faithfulness and protection.

Maybe you’re like me and would like to know what exactly is this “good deposit entrusted to you” (v14)? Google this verse and you’ll see that the internets are chockfull of ideas about what Paul is talking about. The original text here drops the word paratheke, which means something valuable given for faithful safekeeping. A treasure to be managed, protected, and defended. 

Let’s not overcomplicate things, shall we? We can be pretty sure the apostle’s talking about the Gospel. Think of protecting this precious cargo in two ways. First of all, do everything possible to fend off attacks on your faith with the supernatural power of God’s Spirit. The faith of every follower of Jesus is under constant assault. From Satan. From the world. From our own flesh. We fight back with the truth of Who Jesus is and Who we are in Him. That’s why we can’t forget our spiritual armor like our faith shield, salvation helmet, and Spirit sword, AKA God’s Word (Eph 6:10-17). My trust in Christ is under threat of constant terrorist attack. God’s Spirit is the ultimate Homeland Security. He WILL protect this house!

The second idea here is to carefully guard the core of the Good News itself. Don’t compromise it. Don’t complicate it. Don’t add to it. Don’t subtract from it. As Tullian Tchividjian says, “Jesus+Nothing=Everything.” God has given Paul, Tim, and every other believer the privilege and assignment to tell the world about Christ. As the ultimate expression of love, God sends Jesus to us with the gift of eternal and abundant life (Jn 3:16). And in the most lopsided trade of all-time, our Heavenly Dad made His sinless Son take every ounce of our filth and disobedience so that we could obtain the complete and total righteousness of God (2Cor 5:21). It’s what folks like to call the Great Exchange. 

We guard the Gospel by not letting anybody jack around with its simple and beautiful message of grace. God saves us. We can’t earn it so we shouldn’t get all cocky and talk smack about it. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). Once Jesus comes to my rescue, I don’t have to work to stay saved. He’ll finish the job (Phil 1:6). But as an expression of my overwhelming thankfulness and worship, I live obediently to His leadership and lordship. My only hope of doing that is through the rippling resurrection power of His Spirit living in me.

You may never be up for watching “Poltergeist” or an evening of “The Shining.” Scary movies about haunted houses aren’t for everybody. I get it. But when it comes to guarding God’s treasure of grace in you and me, there’s no reason to chicken out. Who you gonna call? The Holy Ghost, that’s Who!

Spiritual Health and Wellness

“Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1Tim 1:13).

With healthcare costs going into orbit, there’s a HUGE emphasis these days on staying healthy. If we don’t get sick in the first place, we don’t have to shell out the copay and the insurance company doesn’t have to pony up the rest. It’s all about health and wellness. You know the drill. Eat right. Get some exercise. (Don’t freak out. This isn’t some never-ending open enrollment meeting.)

So what in the Wide World of Sports does the frustrating world of health insurance have to do with Paul’s second letter to Timothy? So glad you asked. The apostle writes his spiritual son a prescription for a healthy lifestyle in Jesus. “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (v13). Eat right by consuming a high protein diet of God’s Word. Get some exercise as you trust Jesus and serve others. It probably comes as no surprise that they are the keys to a lifestyle of spiritual health and wellness.

But Paul’s not writing to Tim from some squeaky clean doctor’s office or ultramodern research hospital. He’s in jail. On Death Row to be specific. There’s no doubt he realizes his days are numbered (2Tim 4:6-7). He writes with a couple of important purposes. First, the apostle begs the young pastor to drop everything and come see him before its too late (2Tim 4:9, 21). Second, he writes critical instructions to his protege just in case they never see each other again (2Tim 2:1-4:5). 

Paul tells Pastor Tim, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me” (v13). The folks at the ESV make an interesting choice in using the word “follow” here. The original language is a command which is probably better translated as hold tightly or hang on securely. Whatever this is, don’t lose it, don’t drop it, don’t fumble it. Get a firm grip and don’t let go!

The apostle instructs his young friend to grab on to “the pattern of sound words” (v13). Here’s where the picture of spiritual wellness becomes clear. First of all, Paul talks about a “pattern” and uses the Greek word hupotuposis, which is literally a description of an outline or sketch. Tim has a basic outline of what to do. He doesn’t get a specific point-by-point to-do list. Think of it as rough instructions that apply to any and all circumstances. When we’re following Jesus and walking in His Spirit, there’s a LOT of freedom in how we do it. It’s a general prescription for spiritual health.

Tim is to follow the outline of Paul’s “sound words” (v13). And by “sound,” he uses a word (Gr. hugiaino) which certainly can mean accurate and correct. But it carries the idea of healthy and thriving. You see, it’s a medical term often thrown around by the apostle’s personal physician Luke. Dr. Luke knows all about wellness. He quotes Jesus’ words to the religious do-gooders at Levi’s big party, “Those who are well (Gr. hugiaino) have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Lk 5:31). 

Later in the good doctor’s bio of Christ, he describes how the Lord healed a Roman army officer’s civilian staff member without even making a house call. “When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well (Gr. hugiaino)” (Lk 7:10). Since Luke is currently the only person visiting him in prison (2Tim 4:11), it makes sense that Paul is using medical terminology.

In his prequel to Tim, the apostle describes our Savior’s teaching as “the sound (Gr. hugiaino) words of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Tim 6:3). There’s that phrase again. “Sound words.” Words of wellness from the Great Physician. The message of the Gospel is anything but a 98-pound wimp. The grace of Jesus is here to pump…you up! These are healthy words. Thriving words. Buff words. Words with six-pack abs.

The apostle reminds his protege how these are the same healthy words “that you have heard from me” (v13). Paul didn’t just think good thoughts. He said good stuff. Mentoring requires not only demonstration but explanation. Do it and then describe it. Give the “why” behind the “what.” If you’re the student in a discipling relationship, don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t know the reason why something is done. Actions do speak louder than words, but words explain your actions. Just like a good doctor with great bedside manner not only tells you to cut back on the french fries but why you should do it.

The two keys to spiritual wellness are “the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (v13). Faith is trusting totally in the Son of God as our cosmic Hero who came to our rescue. The Second Person of the Godhead left heaven to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. He lived the life of 100% obedience to God’s commands that when we failed to do so. He died the death for our disobedience in our place. He rose to new life we certainly don’t deserve. And we trust Him to lead us by following His guidelines to an overflowing life.

But there’s a powerful connection between faith and love. Think of it like a spiritual drug interaction. Did you realize that trust in Christ produces love for people? So it’s no mistake that Jesus went out of His way to command His followers to love one another (Jn 13:34-35). And when the Lord and the human authors of Scripture talk about love, they’re not simply talking about the warm and fuzzy feelings you see greeting cards. Agape is like Boston’s song “More than a Feeling.” While there is certainly emotion involved, it’s a whole lot more. It’s love in action. Love that sacrifices. Love that does. Love that goes. 

Jesus clearly demonstrated His love for us by living and dying for us when we still a total dumpster fire of sin (Rom 5:8). Because of trusting in His ultimate act of love to us, we sacrificially love and serve the people He puts in our path. He calls me to a love-is-a-verb lifestyle. Someone once called it a “Me Third” attitude. God first. Others second. Me third. I worship God by getting my eyes off the doofus in the mirror and look around for whoever needs a hand. 

Our ultimate source of wellness is found “in Christ Jesus” (v13). Unlike the skyrocketing price of medicine, your spiritual healthcare costs are NOT going up. That bill was paid in full and paid in advance. Our Savior screamed it from the cross, “It is FINISHED!!!” (Jn 20:30, emphasis added). Believe it or not, there’s just one single word here (Gr. tetelestai). It’s no coincidence that this is the very same word someone in the first century would write on a receipt once the bill had been paid. Think of it as “PAID IN FULL.” There’s no payroll deduction or shared costs in God’s plan. He picks up the full tab for anyone and everyone who trusts in the sinless Son of God. Now THAT’S what I call universal health care!

Paul encourages Timothy to continue pursuing fitness by following this prescription through a healthy diet of the Gospel and getting plenty of exercise trusting Jesus and loving others. While there have been limitless breakthroughs in medicine since the apostle wrote his friend, these are timeless principles for holy health. So hang on tight to the words of spiritual health and wellness the apostle talks about. You know you’re trusting Jesus when you’re serving others. 

Trust Issues

“which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know Whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (2Tim 1:12).

Some people have serious trust issues. Some don’t trust the government. Many don’t trust the media. Others don’t trust their boss. And nobody trusts a politician. You certainly couldn’t blame the Apostle Paul if he had a boatload of trust issues. For Pete’s sake, he’s deep inside the dungeon of the Roman Death Row. He’s all alone except for his old buddy Dr. Luke (2Tim 4:11). 

As the clock ticks down on the final days of his life, Paul writes to his spiritual son Timothy (2Tim 1:2; 4:6-7). Despite all that’s happened, he makes it crystal clear that his faith in God has never been higher and never been stronger. Jesus has called him to take His message to the world, “which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed for I know Whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (v12). The apostle remains convinced of God’s goodness. He trusts God and continues trusting in what God can do through him.

(Disclaimer: There’s a TON of awesome stuff here in this short little verse. Paul’s suffering for Christ. The apostle’s total lack of shame for his faith. His absolute certainty that the Lord is coming back for a spectacular encore. But we’re going to set all that aside in order to drill down on what it means to believe in Jesus and what our Lord has entrusted to us. You good with that?)

The apostle’s trust in Jesus is the whole reason he’s in the joint and why he’s suffering. Despite the stigma of being a dead man walking, he’s anything but embarrassed. Paul makes it clear that “I know Whom I have believed” (v12). Not WHAT he has believed. WHOM he has believed. The man from Tarsus doesn’t trust an ideology, philosophy, or religion. He doesn’t put his faith in a political system or financial plan. He trust in a Whom. (By the way, I’ve added a capital “W” to the original ESV translation. I make it a habit to go large on any pronoun about the Person of God.)

That Whom is God. Specifically the Son of God. The Second Person of the Godhead. You may know him better as Jesus Christ. Seventeen hundred years before our Founding Fathers slapped “In God We Trust” on our money, Paul had placed his complete confidence in the who Jesus is and what He has done. While doctrine is important, it doesn’t save. While theology is critical, it doesn’t save. Only Jesus does. Only God does. That’s why Paul trusts in a Person. Jesus.

Whom or what do you trust? Leaning hard on that great career, are you? Are you living vicariously through your children? Counting heavily on your 401k? Maybe you’re going all in on the next election (you HAVE seen who’s running, haven’t you?). There’s a chance you’ve realized there must be more than running the rat race. Remember, if you win that race you’re just the fastest rat on the track. Some of us have turned to religion. But by definition, religion is simply trusting in my own performance in order to earn God’s approval. That’s never going to work for me. My board scores barely got me into community college. If we trust in anything other than Jesus, we have serious trust issues.

Paul tells Tim that with his own death on the doorstep he has no doubt in “Whom I have believed” (v12). He uses the Greek verb pisteuo, which means to trust, place your confidence, rely on, or have faith in someone or something. It comes from the same root word that’s often translated “faith” (Gr. pistos). A cool way to rephrase this might be “Whom I have faithed” (v12) or even “Whom I have totally trusted” (v12). 

There’s also a little sumpin’ sumpin’ going on in the grammar too. The apostle uses the past perfect tense. In biblical Greek, this describes a completed action with ongoing results. Paul leaned hard on Jesus a few years back. It changed his life forever. The completed action of salvation. The ongoing results of becoming more like Christ every single day. Now don’t confuse this with some sort of wonky “once saved, always saved” idea. The apostle stays in a continual attitude of dependance on our Savior. A better way of saying it is “IF saved, always saved.” Completed action. Ongoing results. And when I say “ongoing,” I mean eternally ongoing!

So what does Paul believe about Jesus that makes an eternal difference? First and foremost, the apostle knows he can’t save himself. He spent the first part of his life trying to do just that (Phil 3:4-6). Turns out what he hoped would be his golden ticket of personal performance was nothing more than a big steaming pile of worthless works (Phil 3:7-8). The former Pharisee suddenly realized that God’s Law doesn’t save you any more than an MRI can heal you. All it does it diagnose the problem (Rom 3:20). As Mike Lee says, the law is a mirror. It shows me that my face is filthy but doesn’t have the power to clean me up.

We’re invited to trust in Who Christ is and what He’s done for us. You see, Jesus left the lap of luxury in the heavenly palace and come to our rescue. He made a spectacular dumpster dive into the slime of our sin and did what we could never do for ourselves. He lived the perfectly obedient life to the law we totally fail to live (Mt 5:17). He took the punishment of what should have been our death on a cross that we should have died (2Cor 5:21; 1Pet 2:24). He walked out of the graveyard, rising to a spectacular new life we don’t deserve (Eph 2:5). We believe in what He did that we could never dream of doing for ourselves.

While every follower of Jesus wants a deep and abiding faith, the most important part is in the Object of our trust. There is nothing more trustworthy in the universe than Christ. It’s better to have a weak faith in a strong object than the other way around. You may believe with every fiber of your being that the Detroit Lions are going to win the Super Bowl. But your amazing faith won’t get them the Lombardi Trophy, no matter how strongly you trust it will happen. (Please tell me you don’t REALLY think the Lions will win it all!) Strong faith in a weak object gets you zip, zilch, zero. And if you’re trusting the Lions, believe me, you’ve got serious trust issues. 

While Paul places his trust in Jesus (and NOT the Lions!), Christ is also trusting in the apostle. “I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (v12). The apostle knows that it’s a stone cold, lead pipe lock that his Savior has his back until the day He returns. Specifically, Christ handpicked Paul to spread the word about how God was throwing the doors open to His kingdom to Gentiles all over the planet (Acts 9:15). Chances are you’re not Jewish. If that’s the case, you don’t hear the Gospel without the message Jesus entrusted to Paul. 

Paul trusting Jesus seems like a no-brainer. But Jesus trusting Paul? Who saw THAT coming?!? Certainly not Paul. Why would the Son of God entrust His number one enemy, known back in the day as Saul of Tarsus, with such a critical responsibility? First of all, God doesn’t think like we think and He doesn’t work the way we work (Is 55:8). He specializes in making what would appear to be foolish chances with foolish people in order to show off (1Cor 1:27-28). God places His power in cracked human pots so the world will know it’s Him making it happen and not us (2Cor 4:7). Jesus wasn’t trusting in what Paul could do for Him. He was trusting in what He could do in and through Paul! 

So if Christ can take Saul the murderer and transform him into Paul the missionary, what could He do in and through you? He may not be calling you to a worldwide assignment of Gentile evangelism or writing a huge chunk of the NT, but Jesus can use you in a big way. Shine His light and spread His salt everywhere you go. You do that by loving people where they are. At home. At work. In the neighborhood. Have your doubts that He can use you? Feel like a nobody and a nothing? Remember, God began this whole thing by creating everything from nothing (Gen 1). We may be just the person He’s looking for. He’s not trusting in what we can do for Him. He is trusting in what He can do in and through us!

Reppin' My Savior

“for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher” (2Tim 1:11)

A change of address doesn’t change your assignment. Just ask Paul. He may behind bars but that doesn’t get in the way of doing what Jesus picked him to do. What exactly is that? The man from Tarsus reminds his friend Timothy that it’s because of message of Jesus “for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher” (v11). Because the Lord personally selected him and assigned him, he must be exactly where the Lord wants him. The apostle may be on Death Row but he is still announcing, still reppin’, still teaching about Jesus. His change of address hasn’t changed his assignment.

It’s critical to understand exactly what’s going as Paul writes these words. He’s locked up Caesar’s SuperMax, the notorious Mamertine Prison in Rome. This is where the empire incarcerates dead men walking. It’s temporary housing for those facing execution. The apostle is a dead man walking. The New Testament book we call 2nd Timothy is simply a letter from the Green Mile. It’s a note from a follower of Jesus who knows he’s about to die to his spiritual son, a young preacher named Timothy. 

Paul realizes death is right around the corner (2Tim 4:6-7). He has two important purposes for this letter. One, he desperately wants Tim to hit the road ASAP and see him before it’s too late (2Tim 4:9, 21). Two, he wants to pass the baton of spiritual leadership and encourage his protege to continue spreading the Gospel (2Tim 2:1-4:5). The apostle has the ultimate sense of urgency. It’s crunch time. The clock is ticking down. He’s focused like a laser on his mission. His change of address hasn’t changed his assignment. He’s still announcing, still reppin’, still teaching about Jesus. 

Right out of the chute, Paul wants us to know this mission wasn’t his idea. He was “appointed” (v11). The man from Tarsus uses a word here (Gr. tithemi) that describes setting something or someone in a specific place for a specific purpose. For you grammar nerds out there, this verb is in the passive tense. In other words, Paul isn’t self-appointed. He’s God appointed. 

If you haven’t heard the story, flashback about 30 years before he found himself in this Roman cell to the highway just outside of Damascus. Back in those days, folks knew him as Saul. He was on another black ops mission to search and destroy the followers of Jesus. That’s when the resurrected Jesus blindsides Saul (Acts 9:1-9). This divine mugging transforms Saul the murderer into Paul the missionary. A little later in Dr. Luke’s account of the story, the risen Christ shows up to tell another disciple in Damascus all about what He’s doing in and through Saul. “He is a chosen instrument of Mine to carry My name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). From Jesus’ enemy to Jesus’ emissary. The apostle formerly known as Saul literally never saw it coming.

According to Paul, the Lord picked him as His personal representative to fill three specific and interrelated roles, “preacher and apostle and teacher” (v11). Christ gives the former Pharisee the authority to be His announcer, His rep, and His explainer. Since that fateful day outside Damascus, Paul has devoted his life to do just that. Three long tours of the Mediterranean Rim telling everyone who will listen about God’s gracious invitation to the world through the radical risen Rabbi/Carpenter from Nazareth. 

It hasn’t exactly been a day at Disney World (2Cor 11:23-28). Prison. Beaten nearly to death. Floggings. Canings. Stonings. Shipwrecks. Even contract on his life. But no matter what happened, it didn’t change his assignment. Wherever Paul went, he was still announcing, still reppin’, still teaching about Jesus.

Christ handpicked Paul as His “preacher” (v11). The apostle dusts off a Greek word (Gr. kerux) that doesn’t get used much in the NT. Just three times. In the Greco-Roman world, it describes a herald, proclaimer, or public messenger speaking on behalf of royalty. A modern day equivalent would be a presidential spokesperson. We’re talking about an announcer with authority. Anytime Paul has the chance to speak before crowds, he tells them about Jesus. That’s basically all Dr. Luke writes about in the Book of Acts starting in chapter 9. Call Paul the Good Newscaster. 

Now I know there’s a huge percentage of folks who break out in a cold sweat at the thought of public speaking. Jesus may not be calling you to step up to the mic at Jerry World. (Then again, He might just do that. Who am I to say?) But are you willing to live out loud for the Lord? I’m not talking about spending your spare time knocking on doors and passing out pamphlets. Do you readily drop Jesus’ name when talking with friends? Don’t worry about answering crazy questions about dinosaurs on the ark or the temperature in hell. Just tell them about the One who came to your rescue. Say it loud. Say it proud.

Jesus selected Paul as His “apostle” (v11). The word in the original language (Gr. apostolos) really doesn’t have a good modern day equivalent. An apostle wasn’t originally a churchy word. Back in the first century, this was a official representative, a special messenger, or one who is sent with authority on behalf of another. If you were in the presence of an apostle, it was if the one who sent them is standing right there. If any of Jesus’ apostles was in the room, it was as if He was there. That’s the kind of oomph He gave them.

So what’s the difference between an apostle and disciple? Seems like folks just use them interchangeably. Well, a disciple is one who comes close so they can follow and learn. The word “apostle” literally means one who is sent away for a purpose. Think of it this way, Jesus invited people to follow Him as disciples. Later He sent them out as apostles under His authority to spread the message of grace.

The best definition of a capital “A” Apostle is somebody who’s laid eyes on the resurrected Jesus. Remember Paul’s run-in with the risen Christ? So there’s a pretty good chance anybody you meet who claims that title doesn’t check that particular box. BUT there are modern day, lower case “a” apostles. These are people with a passion for planting churches and working on the front lines of the faith. Could God be tapping you on the shoulder to do just that?

But while we’re all not apostles, we’re all sent in His name for a purpose. Jesus first invites us to follow Him. There comes a point when it’s time to go and tell others about him. In His last meal with His posse before His execution, Christ tells them, “As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you” (Jn 20:21). What we don’t see in our English translations is the appearance of the verb form of apostle here (Gr apostello). Just as His Dad sent His Son as the Ultimate Apostle, He’s sending us to rep Him too. 

Third, Christ drafted Paul as a “teacher” (v11). The apostle drops the Greek term didaskalos, which paints the picture of instructor and even a rabbi. This is somebody who causes others to learn. A person who creates a an environment of learning. They invite questions. They provide analysis. They encourage application. A teacher of the Gospel explains the message of Jesus and helps folks apply God’s truth to their everyday lives. 

It’s not to say that deep doctrinal teaching isn’t important. It is VERY important. But ultimately God’s truth changes us from the inside out. It transforms our minds (Rom 12:2). It performs delicate spiritual surgery (Heb 4:12). It makes us more like Jesus (Jn 17:17). Great teachers communicate the Bible creatively and passionately. The great Howard Hendricks is famous for saying, “It’s a sin to bore people with the Bible.” You can be sure Paul was never boring. Okay, there was the time the kid fell asleep and fell out of a window during one of his sermons, but that probably had to do with the fact that the apostle was still preaching after midnight (Acts 20:7-13).

It’s interesting that Paul wrote nearly the identical description of Jesus’ commission on his life back in the prequel to this letter. “For this I was appointed a preacher (Gr. kerux) and apostle (Gr. apostolos) (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher (Gr. didaskalos)of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1Tim 2:7). Preacher. Apostle. Teacher. He was doing it then. He’s doing it now. The apostle may be on Death Row but he is still announcing, still reppin’, still teaching about Jesus. His change of address hasn’t changed his assignment.

It’s the same for you and me. His call on my life isn’t limited by my zip code. It isn’t constrained by my career. Wherever I am, I can drop His name and speak publicly about my Savior. I can be sure that He sends me as His rep no matter where I go. I can help others by explaining who Jesus is and what He’s done. My change of address doesn’t change my assignment.

When God's Light Shines

“and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2Tim 1:10).

There have always been heated rivalries. The Hatfields and McCoys. Duke and Carolina. Red Sox and Yankees. Team Edward and Team Bella. But there’s one pair of rivals that goes way back. I mean WAY back. Back to Creation. Who are they? Darkness and light. You may have heard about them. There’s only one problem with their feud. It’s really not much of a rivalry at all. Light is undefeated. It wins. Every. Single. Time. Like I said, not much of a rivalry when you get down to it. Kinda like the Cubs and Cardinals. On the other hand, I guess anybody can have a bad century. But I digress.

Light has been kicking darkness’ backside since God first flipped on the switch in the beginning (Gen 1:3). Here in his second letter to Timothy, Paul tells his young protege how our Heavenly Father kicked on the most powerful light in the universe when His Son took human form. From the darkness of a Roman dungeon, the apostle writes of how our salvation “has now been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (v10). 

When God’s light shines, God’s light wins. Every. Single. Time.

Think we’re overstating the dazzling brilliance of what Paul says? Believe it or not, a closer look at the original language reveals that the apostle mentions light not once, not twice, but THREE times! Think of it as God flipping on three supernatural light switches. The Greek words the ESV translates as “manifested,” “appearing,” and “brought to…light” all carry the idea of shining brightly. That makes sense when you remember that Jesus Himself announced, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). The apostle’s point to Tim is that when Christ stepped into the spotlight of history, He made everything clear. It’s almost like we stumbled around in the dark and were feeling our way around. Suddenly, Jesus appears and God’s plan shines like the lights of Time Square. In the bright light of the Lord, the darkness of death dies. 

When God’s light shines, God’s light wins. Every. Single. Time.

Exactly what is Paul describing when he writes that “which now has been manifested” (v10)? The key is in the previous verse. So before moving forward, take a quick look in the rearview mirror. He’s talking about the overflowing grace which “He gave us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2Tim 2:9). Did you realize that God’s grace is prehistoric? That wasn’t fully clear until the radical Rabbi/Carpenter made the scene in first century Palestine.

God’s amazing grace was “manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus” (v10). Here’s the first light switch in verse 10. “Manifested” is the Greek verb phanero’o, which means to make known, reveal, make evident, cause to be seen or appear, or become visible. It comes from the root word phos, which describes something that shines or glows. Look familiar? It should. That’s where we get our words like photo, photosynthesis, and phosphorus. 

Allow God’s Word to shine a little light on this word. Paul tells his Ephesian friends, “When anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible (Gr. phanero’o)” (Eph 5:13). Late one night, Jesus tells one of the religious hot shots of the time named Nicodemus, “Whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen (Gr. phanero’o) that his works have been carried out in God” (Jn 3:21). Before our Savior gave sight to a man blind from birth, He says to His crew that God hadn’t punished the dude for any sin, but so that “the works of God might be displayed (Gr. phanero’o) in him” (Jn 9:3). In other words, just wait and see what happens when the Lord flips the light switch in this guy’s life for the very first time.

When God’s Light shines, God’s light wins. Every. Single. Time.

Paul goes on to say that God fires up His floodlight “through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus” (v10). We come to the second divine light switch. “Appearing” (Gr. epiphaneia) is from the same root word as “manifested.” This particular term describes an outward show or something becoming conspicuous. Once again, it means to shine a bright light. When the human authors of the Bible use it when talking about a visible manifestation of the divine. More specifically, they only use in the NT to describe Jesus’ physical Incarnation as the God-Man (2Tim 4:8) or His spectacular encore we call the Second Coming (2Th 2:8; 1Tim 6:14; 2Tim 4:1, 8, Titus 2:13). If you think things shined on His first appearance, it’s really gonna dazzle when our Hero returns. Our future’s so bright, we’re gonna need shades.

When God’s light shines, God’s light wins. Every. Single. Time.

The apostle wants his readers to know God has revealed Jesus to be so much more than simply an awesome self-help teacher, new age philosopher, or miraculous healer. He’s “our Savior Christ Jesus” (v10). As Savior, the Son of God has come to our rescue. After saving a local mafia boss in Jericho, the Lord announces at a dinner party in His honor how He “came to seek and to save the lost” (Lk 19:10). 

Jesus saved us because we couldn’t save ourselves. He fulfills every one of His Father’s commands we could never dream of obeying (Mt 5:17). Jesus saves us by living the perfect life we failed to live, dying the death for our sin we should have died, and rising to the new life we don’t deserve. He trades His perfection for our rebellion (2Cor 5:21). God shines His light on Jesus as the Savior who makes the greatest search and rescue mission the universe has ever seen. Think of the Second Person of the Godhead like a lighthouse in the darkness of the raging storm.

When God’s light shines, God’s light wins. Every. Single. Time.

The radical Rabbi/Carpenter is also the “Christ” (v10). You do realize that Christ isn’t Jesus’ last name. He’s NOT the son of Joseph and Mary Christ. Christ is His title. It means the Anointed One. He’s anointed BY His Father. He’s anointed WITH the Holy Spirit (Lk 3:21-22). As the Anointed One, Jesus operates with all the power and authority of the Trinity. The title Christ is the NT equivalent of the OT Messiah. This is the long promised Hero to come out of the Jewish people and come to the world’s rescue. God first introduced the idea of Messiah just after the Fall (Gen 3:15). He builds on the covenant promise to people like Abraham (Gen 12:1-3; 17:1-8) and David (2Sam 7:9-17). 

As the Messiah/Christ, Jesus is the point of the entire Bible. In other words, Scripture tells just one grand story that some folks call the Metanarrative. Christ is THE Big Hero of the THE Big Story. Not Noah. Not Joseph. Not Moses. Not David. Not Solomon. They are each broken and flawed people in desperate need of a Savior just like you and me. 

Did you know that Jesus Himself said He was the Hero of God’s Story? He tells the religious elite how the Scriptures “bear witness about Me” (Jn 5:39). He goes on to say that when Moses wrote the first five books of the OT, “He wrote of Me” (Jn 5:46). If that’s not enough, the resurrected Jesus leads two dudes from Emmaus on what may be the greatest Bible study of all time. “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Lk 24:67). God’s Word shines the spotlight on Christ and Christ alone. 

When God’s light shines, God’s light wins. Every. Single. Time.

Jesus doesn’t just bask in the limelight. He also “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (v10). Paul drops a word (Gr. katargeo) the ESV translates as “abolished.” It describes not just destruction but also a replacement by something better. One expert in the original language says it’s a nonphysical destruction by means of a superior force coming in to replace the force previously in effect, such as light destroying darkness. Did you catch that? “Such as light destroying darkness.” I see what he did there.

Just as light destroys the dark, Jesus brings “life” (v10) to destroy death. We’re talking about an exchange that’s a serious upgrade! As the folks on the Ginsu Knife commercials like to say, “And that’s not all!” This is no garden variety, run-of-the-mill, let’s-get-this-over, boring life. Christ made it totally clear that He came not only give us life but life that is lavish overflowing (Jn 10:10).

This incredible new life that Jesus brings isn’t some short-term deal either. He delivers “immortality” (v10). Once again, it’s a flashback to Christ’s midnight convo with Nicodemus. Whoever trusts in God’s Son will “not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). And Jesus brings His followers immortality, there’s no waiting. This is an eternal life that starts right here, right now!

When God’s light shines, God’s light wins. Every. Single. Time.

We flip on the third switch of verse 10 here when Jesus “brought…to light” these blessings life and immortality. Paul uses another light word: photizo. It means to shine, enlighten, light up, or cause to fully understand by illumination. Jesus’ best buddy John says Christ is “the true light, which gives light (Gr. photizo) to everyone” (Jn 1:9). John also describes how when God eventually brings heaven to earth, “the glory of God gives it light (Gr. photizo)” (Rev 21:23). Once Jesus returns, we obviously won’t have to worry about which light bulbs to buy. 

When God’s light shines, God’s light wins. Every. Single. Time.

With all of the lights on, we can now see everything clearly and plainly. It all makes sense. Through Jesus, light wins and darkness loses. Through Jesus, life wins and death loses. In case you had any doubt, Paul lets us know it all went down “through the Gospel” (v10). “Gospel” is a word (Gr. euaggelion) that literally describes good news or a great message. It’s like finding out the best possible info via a push alert on your phone or a bulletin on TV. This just in! Jesus punches the lights out of sin and death for you and me and so we can spend eternity with Him. This is REALLY Good News! 

When God’s light shines, God’s light wins. Every. Single. Time.

Three supernatural light switches. As Paul flicks each one here in verse 10, the light of God defeats death and darkness each and every time. Click. Click. Click. That certainly makes sense. Sin loves the shadows. It hides in the darkness like the monster under your bed. It suddenly loses it’s power when the room fills with light. That’s VERY Good News! Check out the paraphrase in The Message. “But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus” (v10 The Message). 

Let God's light shine in you. Let God's light shine through you. Let Jesus' work on your behalf be obvious to those around you. There's a great song you may have sung as a kid that goes like this. "This little Light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." Great idea but there's just one little problem. It's not a little light. It's God's great big light. The Apostle Peter tells us that God made us His own so that we "may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1Pet 2:19). Don't hide your light or turn down the dimmer (Mt 5:15). Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.

When God’s light shines, God’s light wins. Every. Single. Time.

Prehistoric Grace

“who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2Tim 1:9).

Let’s turn back the clock. Back before there were laptops and smartphones. Back before America was a twinkle in our founding fathers’ eye. Back before the cross. Back before the dinosaurs. Back before Adam and Eve snuck their sinful snack. Let’s turn back the clock before there was even a clock. 

Did you realize that’s when God saved you? According to Paul, it was God “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (v9). Maybe you thought he saved you during Vacation Bible School when you were seven. Or maybe during the altar call at the bonfire on the last night of Christian youth camp. I’ve got news for you, it was WAY before that. So long before that you and I had absolutely nothing to do with it.  

Forget Jurassic Park. God rescued me with prehistoric grace.

Here in 2nd Timothy, Paul writes to his protege as the clock ticks down on the apostle’s life. The apostle sits on Death Row at the notorious Mamertine Prison in Rome. He fires off one final note as he walks the Green Mile (2Tim 4:6-7). Paul begs Tim to hit the road and come see him one final time before it’s too late (2Tim 1:4; 4:9, 21). In this last minute call for help, he reminds us of how God came to our rescue and called us long before we could ever answer. 

The prisoner/apostle tells Tim how it is God “who saved us and called us to a holy calling” (v9). “Saved” has become such a part of the Christianese lingo that we’ve lost so much of it’s original meaning. It’s the Greek verb sozo, which describes a rescue from danger or bringing someone out from certain death. When Peter tried waterskiing without a boat and began to sink, he yelled to our Savior, “Lord save (Gr. sozo) me!” (Mt 14:30). We desperately needed saving after our first parents believed the lie of a satanic snake and thought God was holding out on us (Gen 3:1-7). The result? God’s perfect creation is broken and we’re the ones who did it. The universe needs fixing and we need to be rescued. One look at the internet every morning reminds of that horrible truth.

While the crime scene tape was still up in Eden, God promised to send a Hero to help us. He would send One who would eventually crush Satan’s skull (Gen 3:15). The rest of Scripture tells the Big Story of our Big Savior. That’s entire point of Bible. God the Father would eventually send His very own Son to save our bacon. The Second Person of the Trinity would leave the luxury of the heavenly palace and make the ultimate dumpster dive into the deep end of our sin. It’s the greatest search and rescue mission the universe has ever seen. Who saved us? God saved us.

Our Creator didn’t just drag us onto the bank and walk away. He wasn’t done with us. He also “called us to a holy calling” (v9). Seems straight from the Department of Redundancy Department, doesn’t it? A closer look at what Paul has to say reveals a very powerful and personal invitation to a very important assignment. God has “called” you and me. The original text uses a word (Gr. kaleo) which means to invite, summon individually, or select for a specific task or new relationship. God’s call isn’t some random invitation. This is no piece of metaphysical junk mail randomly addressed to “occupant.” 

Jesus personally asks us to join Him in His one-of-a-kind work. “A holy calling” (v8). You might think Paul is just talking about priests, nuns, bishops, preachers, and pastors. You know, professional Christ followers. Did you realize there’s really no secular/sacred divide when it comes to work? As believers, you and I are just as much on the receiving end of God’s holy calling as anyone wearing a collar, habit, pointy hat, or blow-dried mullet.

In other words, God has a job for us to do no matter what kind of job we have. We’re to be shiners of His light and spreaders of His salt whatever we do and wherever we go. We’re ALL called. Every single follower of Christ. You. Me. Us. Them. We’re all ministers. Paul’s buddy Pete likes to tell every believer, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called (Gr. kaleo) you out of darkness and into His marvelous light” (1Pet 2:9). No seminary degree required. Kinda changes your approach to work, doesn’t it?

While every follower of Jesus actually works for God, He doesn’t save us “because of our works” (v9). Think you’re up to saving yourself? All you have to do is follow everyone of God’s rules, laws, and commands. If you’re keeping score at home, there are 613 in the Old Testament. Add to those another 1,050 commandments in the New. And make sure you maintain 100% obedience. According to Jesus’ kid brother James, whoever “fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” (James 2:10). Raise your hand if you’ve got a perfect score. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? I didn’t think so.

So what’s the point of God’s commands if they’re not a to-do list for self-salvation? Think of His law as a diagnostic tool like an MRI or X-Ray. These amazing medical machines can’t cure you, but they certainly can tell the doctor what’s wrong. Paul tells believers in Rome, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:20). The law of God diagnoses our sin sickness. Our prognosis is terminal. 

There’s only one cure. What God’s law diagnoses, God’s Gospel heals. Or in Paul’s words, we’re only saved “because of His own purpose and grace” (v9). The word we translate as “purpose” (Gr. prothesis) literally describes something put in place prior or set down before everything else. It’s the idea of a publicly announced plan or something placed in full view for everyone to see. Think of a mission statement you see on a lobby wall in a business. God saves us because it’s His publicly announced mission. It’s His purpose. It’s His plan. You gotta love it when a plan comes together!

He comes to our rescue as a result of His “grace” (v9). Here’s yet another word we throw around the church that it loses it’s oomph. Grace is God’s totally undeserved and overflowing goodness to us. Remember, we’re rebels against His kingdom who deserve punishment (Eph 2:1-2, 12; Col 1:21). But while we were still shaking our fists in rebellion, Jesus came to save us (Rom 5:6, 8, 10). God isn’t some Scrooge when it to His grace. He loves to “show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:7-9). I need to stop bragging about what I’ve done and start celebrating at what He’s done!

God cooked up this crazy plan of saving us by His grace a long time ago. So long ago that there was even any time. This happened when “He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (v9). Just in case you missed His jaw-dropping generosity the first time, here it is again. The Great Giver lavishes it on us (v9). He gives us His Son (Jn 3:16). His Son gives us His life (1Jn 3:16). The Father and Son give us the Spirit (Jn 14:15-31). And because He gives, we’re to give. Stop being so stingy. With your time. With your talents. With your treasures. He gave them to us so we could give them away. We’re blessed to be a blessing.

Jesus did for us what we could never ever do for ourselves. While we’re complete failures at God’s rule-following, He’s a total Rock Star. In His most famous sermon of all-time, Christ announced He didn’t come as some sort of cosmic loophole to the law, but to do what we couldn’t. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17). Paul says it this way. God is BOTH the “Just and the Justifier” (Rom 3:26).

What does this mean? I can’t save myself. I would have a better chance of trying to jump to the moon (and I’ve got the vertical leap of a hippo!). But when I place my trust in Jesus, everything changes. He lives the perfect life I can’t. He dies the death for my sin I should have died. He rises to the new life I don’t deserve. That’s what God “gave us in Christ Jesus” (v9).

This all went down “before the ages began” (v9). Paul’s original phrase here (Gr. pro chronon aionion) gets translated several different ways:

“Before the world began” (KJV, NKJV).

“Long before the world began” (NLT).

“Before the beginning of time” (NIV).

“From all eternity” (NASB).

“Before times eternal” (BBE).

“Before the times of the ages” (YLT).

In other words, this all happened before God invented the measurement of time and started the clock. If you’re wondering, that’s a long time ago. A VERY long time ago! This is prehistoric grace!!

This isn’t the only place where the Bible talks about how God got to work saving us before the clock starting ticking. A few years back, Paul wrote to his Ephesian friends about God’s prehistoric grace. “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph 1:4, emphasis added). He didn’t just choose us B.C. but B.T. And by B.T., I mean “before time.” You see, when your the Eternal Creator and the Inventor of time, you can do this kind of thing.

What He started before He started the clock, He promises to finish before time runs out. “God knew what He was doing from the beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity He restored. We see the original intended shape of our lives there in Him. After God made that decision of what His children should be like, He followed it up by calling people by name. After He called them by name, He set them on a basis with Himself. And then, after getting them established, He stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what He had begun” (Rom 8:29-30 The Message).

Forget Jurassic Park. God rescued me with prehistoric grace.

Embrace the Disgrace of Grace

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God” (2Tim 1:8).

Every family has one. At least one! That one weird relative who causes the rest of you to cringe when they roll up to the reunion. Your uncle in black socks and sandals. Your crazy cat lady cousin. Maybe it’s their awful sense of humor or their bad case of B.O. Every family has somebody who brings more than their share of funk to the dysfunction. By the way, if you don’t know anyone in your family like that, there’s a pretty good chance it might be you! 

In a letter to his own spiritual son, Paul tells Timothy not be embarrassed. “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God” (v8). Never be embarrassed to tell people about Jesus. Never be embarrassed by your friendship with those who suffer for telling people about Jesus. God gives you the power to suffer when telling people about Jesus. 

Embrace the disgrace of grace.

Before we go any further, let’s back up just a bit. In order to know how to apply any passage in the Bible to our lives, we have to understand how and why it was written in the first place. What we call the book of 2nd Timothy is actually not a book at all. It’s a letter from the Apostle Paul to his protege Tim. The author is behind bars at the notorious Mamertine Prison in Rome. He’s on Death Row (2Tim 4:6-7). Paul hopes to see Tim one last time before his execution (2Tim 1:4; 4:9, 21). The apostle uses this letter to encourage the young pastor to carry on the mission of boldly telling the world about Jesus after his own death.

Paul begins verse eight with “Therefore.” As the great Bible expert A.T. Robertson used to day, “Anytime you see the word ‘therefore,’ you have to stop and ask what is it there for?” You see, “therefore” is a conjunction or a connecting word. If your my age, you have to ask the musical question, “Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?” “Therefore” is the little Greek word oun. It introduces a logical result of what came just before it. You can translate it with words like so, accordingly, then, consequently, or in conclusion.

So it’s important to check the scriptural rearview mirror at this point. In the previous verse, Paul reminds Tim that “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2Tim 1:7). By dropping “therefore,” the apostle connects that idea to the next one. There’s no reason a coward for Christ. Live life fearlessly in God’s power, love, and focus. 

“Therefore do not be ashamed” (v8). Paul connects any fearful spirit I might have about following Jesus with any embarrassment I might feel about my faith. That’s the reason “therefore” is there for. The apostle then uses a word translated “ashamed” in just about every version of the Bible. The Greek verb epaischunomai paints a picture of someone who has a sense of guilt or remorse, reluctance, disgrace, or embarrassment about someone or something. It’s the opposite of being bold and wanting everyone to know. You hesitate. You have second thoughts. You lack courage to have your name mentioned in the same sentence. 

Two different Gospel writers drop a quote from Jesus using this very same word. “For whoever is ashamed (Gr. epaischunomai) of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed (Gr. epaischunomai) when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mk 8:38; Lk 9:26). If I give Him the Heisman now, He’ll be embarrassed of me when He returns for His spectacular encore.

In a letter to Roman believers, Paul makes an incredibly bold statement about his commitment to Christ’s message of grace. “For I am not ashamed (Gr. epaischunomai) of the Gospel” (Rom 1:16) The apostle only uses this word a grand total of five times and three of those are here in his letter to Tim. The man from Tarsus suffers in the slammer for His Savior, “but I am not ashamed (Gr. epaischunomai), for I know Whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (2Tim 1:12). When Onesiphorus visited Rome to help Paul in prison and he “not ashamed (Gr. epaischunomai) of my chains” (2Tim 1:16).

The apostle tells Tim NOT to be embarrassed to be associated with two specific things. “The testimony about our Lord, nor of me His prisoner” (v8). Do you treat the Gospel like it a hand grenade with the pin pulled out? Do you avoid talking about it, sharing it, or even claiming it? Maybe you don’t feel qualified to answer all the questions. That’s okay. Neither do I. Just do what Jesus’ first followers did. Simply tell folks about His resurrection. Did you realize it’s the breaking news of the Book of Acts (Acts 2:22-36; 3:13-18; 4:10-12, 33; 5:29-32; 10:27-37; 17:23, 30-32; 23:6; 24:14-16; 25:19; 26:12-18, 23)?

Don’t feel up to arguing about a literal seven-day Creation? Does making the case for Noah’s boat-building skills and worldwide flood make your head hurt? Relax. Take a page out of the apostle’s playbook and talk about “the testimony of our Lord” (v8). God made a perfect universe. We broke it. Jesus left the comforts of heaven and came to our rescue. He lived the completely obedient life we failed to live. He died the death for our sin we should have died. He rose to the glorious new life we don’t deserve. That’s the Gospel. That’s “the testimony of the Lord” (v8). No reason to be embarrassed of that. He did for us what we could never dream of doing for ourselves.

Paul tells Tim there’s no reason to be ashamed his mentor’s death sentence for telling people about Jesus. Notice just Who’s responsible for his being behind bars. The apostle says he is “His prisoner” (v8). And by “His,” he means Jesus. Sure, Paul had his enemies every place he preached. They put a hit out on him. A quick read of Acts will tell you that. But he knows the One who’s really behind it all. That’s His Lord (Eph 3:1; 4:1; Phil 1:13). The apostle goes so far as to conclude“what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel” (Phil 1:12). He might be in Caesar’s prison but he is Jesus’ prisoner. No matter where I am, I am still His. God puts me where I need to be to tell others about Him. 

Paul doesn’t want Tim to be embarrassed by their friendship. He might be in the slammer but, I mean, the dude did go on to write a boatload of the New Testament. No reason to put distance between yourself and Paul. But I have confession to make. There are other followers of Jesus who make me cringe more than a little. Sometimes it’s a blow-dried televangelist. Sometimes it’s a confrontational street preacher. And I’m sure there are more than a few believers who wouldn’t claim me either!

We need to remember that the Family of God has more than it’s fair share of goofballs, freaks, and weirdos. Don’t believe me? God uses an endless parade of screwballs and misfits throughout the pages of Scripture. Rich Mullins once said, “The thing I like most about the Bible are all the weirdos in it.” Drunken Noah passes out naked in his tent (Gen 9:21). Isaiah stripped and walked around buck naked (Isaiah 20:2). King David embarrasses his wife when he dances in his underwear (2Sam 6:16-22). Then there’s Jesus’ weird bug-eating cousin John the Dunker (Mt 3:4). Paul tells the Corinthians how God specializes in handpicking “what is foolish to shame the wise” (1Cor 1:27). It kinda makes your family reunion look like a episode of Downton Abbey.

But a little social awkwardness is really nothing compared to the possibility suffering for your faith. Paul encourages Timothy to “share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God” (v8). There’s a pretty good chance the apostle actually invented a whole new term that the folks at the ESV translate as “share in suffering (Gr. sugkakopatheo).” It’s a compound word that literally means “together bad suffering.” Following Jesus is a team sport. We don’t do it alone. We laugh and cry together (Rom 12:15). And even when we feel like we’re flying solo, Christ promises to always be there (Mt 28:20). He gives us His Holy Spirit as an unlimited power source to endure whatever comes our way. 

Here’s the bottom line. God’s family is no different than yours or mine. It’s full of in-laws, outlaws, and scofflaws. There are going to be uncomfortable and cringe-worthy moments. But we need to stand with each other as a family when times get tough. ESPECIALLY when times get tough. And they ARE going to get tough! We can count on Jesus to give us the strength we need when we need it. In the meantime, let’s embrace the disgrace of grace. 

No Fear!

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2Tim 1:7).

“No Fear!” You’ve probably seen it on the back window of a pickup truck, the back of a t-shirt, or on skateboard. It’s actually a brand focused on folks who love extreme sports like BASE jumping, rock climbing, or windsurfing. It’s all based on taking adventurous chances and hanging your life out over the edge. It’s radical. Rebellious. High risk, high reward. 

But long before anyone pulled on the first wing suit and jumped headfirst off a cliff, a man named Paul wanted us to know Jesus calls His followers to live an extreme life of no fear. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (v7). In the final months of his own life, the apostle writes to his protege Timothy. With his own death on the doorstep, Paul encourages Tim to go for it. God has given each one of us His gifts. Don’t be shy. We’re to use them with courage, with power, with love, and with focus. 

No fear!

If you’re familiar with the little book of 2nd Timothy, you know it’s really not a book at all. It’s a letter from one friend to another. From a mentor to a student. From a spiritual father to his spiritual son. A real letter from a real person in a real place to another real person who’s dealing with real problems. This is no pie-in-the-sky-sweet-bye-and-bye, warm and fuzzy fable. 

Paul writes from prison. Specifically, from Death Row. History tells us he’s a dead man walking in Rome’s notorious Mamertine Prison. The apostle knows full well his appointment with the executioner is right around the corner (2Tim 4:6-7). His conscience is clear and he has no regrets (2Tim 1:3). He desperately hopes to stoke the fire of Tim’s faith in his own final days (2Tim 1:6). You see, the hotter our faith in Christ burns, the more our fear of failure fades.

No fear!

Paul begins by reminding Tim, “For God gave us not a spirit of fear” (v7). In other words, let’s begin by talking about what He did NOT give us. Specifically, fear. This isn’t the usual Greek word for fear (Gr. phobos). Instead, he pulls the wrapper off a shiny new term we don’t see anywhere else in the entire Bible. It’s deilia, which describes a a shameful lack of courage, cowardice, or timidity. It comes from a root word meaning dread. 

This is the kind of fear that freezes us in our tracks. Fear that freaks us out to the point that we don’t do anything. Fear that immobilizes. It’s certainly okay to do the wise thing and analyze the situation. We need to do that. But when analysis becomes paralysis, we’ve got a problem. Let’s be clear. I’m talking directly to the dude who’s hands on the keyboard right now. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve failed to act because of a lack of courage or confidence. 

The apostle reminds you, me, and Tim that anytime we have a “spirit of fear” (v7), it didn’t come from God. Don’t miss that. Not. From. God. Well, if it’s not from our wonderful Heavenly Dad who only gives good gifts (James 1:5, 17), then who’s the source? You get three guesses and the first two don’t count. I’m pretty sure we can pin this one on Satan. Yup, that’ right. The devil. Jesus Himself said our enemy’s number one mission is to “steal and kill and destroy” (Jn 10:10). I can’t think of a better way to short circuit the overflowing life Christ has for us than to freeze us in fear and doubt.

Before we move on and look at what God does give each one of Jesus’ followers, let’s not forget we worship One who is lavishly generous. He is the Great Giver. Paul drops a word here we translate as give (Gr. didomi) which means to entrust something of advantage or benefit, furnish, supply, assign, grant, bestow, or invest. It’s giving something of value, like depositing money with a banker. Let’s review just a few of His blessings. God gave us a fabulous universe to enjoy. He gave us life. The Father gave His Son for us. His Son gave His life for us. His Son gave His Spirit to us. His Spirit gave His gifts to us. The Great Giver gave and keeps on giving. And He wants us to be generous givers in His image.

Specifically, God gives us the Triple Crown of “power and love and self-control” (v7). In other words, God’s gifts are to be used with courage, with power, with love, and with focus. Don’t by shy in using them. Don’t doubt that God can use you. Don’t hesitate when you can do something good for someone else. And when you do, be focused with His gifts in order to do the most good. Power. Love. Self-control.

No fear!

“Power” (Gr. dunamis) is absolutely one of Paul’s favorite words. It seems like you’ll find it on just about every page of his letters to believers in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colossae, and Thessalonica. Interestingly, he doesn’t use it when writing his personal notes to Titus or Philemon. Only Timothy. Apparently Tim was timid. He clearly didn’t feel very powerful. I know there are plenty of times I don’t exactly feel like a tower of power myself. But remember, God didn’t give us a wimpy spirit. That’s just the enemy up to his devilish dirty tricks.

The Lord preps us for a life of fearless love. Once again, the apostle uses another one of his go-to terms: agape. This is far from a warm and fuzzy feeling. While there’s certainly an emotional side to it, God calls us to love that does. A love in action. A love with legs. Jesus tells His posse how we’re to follow His loving example of service and sacrifice. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:34-35). It takes courage to love like He does. That’s why He gives us His spirit of fearless love.

Last and certainly not least, God pours into us a spirit of “self-control” (v7). Various translations can’t really decide exactly how to express the Greek word here (Gr. sophronismos). “A sound mind” (KJV, NKJV, YLT). “Self-discipline” (NIV, NRS, NLT). “Sound judgment” (HCSB). “Sobriety” (Douay-Rheims). It describes a calling to soundness of mind, moderation, coming to your senses, or even the curbing of desires. It’s a compound word that literally means “a rescued mind.” 

When God gives me spirit of self-control, my emotions are no longer running the show. I’m not simply doing only what I FEEL like doing. I’m doing what I KNOW I should do. God’s Spirit rescues my mind and produces His fruit in my life. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23). It’s anything but reckless. This spirit focuses His love and power in my life. Instead of being an random sprinkler, He mades me a firehose of fearlessness.

There are plenty of folks who are hooked on the adrenaline rush of extreme sports. You can have hang gliding, helicopter skiing, and parkour. Listen to Paul’s advice. There’s nothing more radical than leaning into God’s spirit “of power and love and self-control” (v7). Take the leap. I dare you.

No fear!