Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. Again, I appreciate the prayers that are being offered up on my behalf as it seems things are getting along better, but there is still a continual up and down as I do find areas in my life that I need to work on, but they shall all be overcome with the help of God.
Tonight, we’re going to continue our Trinitarian commentary with a look at 2 Timothy 2:19. To get the context for this verse however, we are going to start at verse 14. Let’s go to the text:
14Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.19Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
Paul is exhorting Timothy on how to live and how to handle those who cause division in the church. He is to be a student who is well studied and knows sound doctrine, something I wish more pastors knew today. It’s my conviction that there are a lot of pastors who have no business being pastors. They have no study in sound Christian doctrine but just an idea that they were “called to preach.”
Paul also warns him about those who are teaching doctrine that is heretical. We know this because it has destroyed the faith of some. We are in an age where heresy needs to be dealt with as more and more people are falling prone to it. Now I realize there are teachings that are just aberrant and some that we can justifiably divide over, but Christians need to learn about essential Christian doctrine.
Timothy need not fear however because Timothy is in the covenant which is the point of our passage tonight. We are told that the Lord knows those who are his. Paul also says that everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness. The Lord knows who belongs to him and those will be they who also have lives of righteousness.
The first reference comes from Numbers 16 with the rebellion of Korah where God knows who belongs to him. In the same way, those who are pretending to be teachers of righteousness but are really apostates will be found out. Korah’s followers aren’t praised much in the NT. They’re just as much condemned in Jude.
What is of interest is the idea of the Lord knowing those who are his. The Lord as we have said most often refers to Jesus. I believe further mandate is found for this based on those who confess the name of the Lord, which is echoing what we have seen in Philippians 2 and Romans 10.
What this would mean is that the Lord of the covenant would then be Jesus, which would of course make Jesus be considered to be within the divine identity of YHWH. If my interpretation is correct, and I don’t see reason to think it isn’t, then we have a very high Christology indeed.
We shall continue 2 Timothy tomorrow.