The Ohio Independent Baptist, July 1973

STRENGTH OF DOCTRINE FOR PREACHERS (A Study of II Timothy 2:2) II Tim. 2: 2 is vitally essential to he Christian faith and of the utmost mportance in these times, yet seldom aught and all too infrequently de- 1eloped in writing or sermon. Yet his is the divine instruction which nsures a succession of spiritually ,trong men for the administration of he Word of God - men who are tble, competent, and faithful, men vho may be trusted to teacli and >reach sound and wholesome doc– _rine, men whose lives will support heir teaching. This held good for fimothy in his day, it holds good for 1s today. The question is: are we eaching and training, and laying 1ands on men who are competent ·or the task of taking up the responsi– >ility from our hands? 1n the context, Paul lays down tmple and adequate instructions as o what kind and character of men ire to occupy the place of leadership 1nd what is expected of them. See: Tim. 1 :4-11; 3: 1-13; 4: 6-16; 5: 17- 25; 6:20-21; II Tim. 1:8, 13-14; ~:1-26; 3:14-17; and the grand sum– nary in II Tim. 4: 1-5. In II Tim. !:2, Paul considers Timothy's future tnd the vital need for men like him n each succeeding generation, to :arry on in his place. The imperative n vs . 1, "You, on your part, son rimothy, be strong . . . !" initiates he command and lays the ground for he ch arge. The present tense of the mper ative verb says "You must ceep on being strong", and this is upported by the prepositiona l phrase hat follows: " in the grace that is in : hrist Jesus." The strength h as its ,ource in the gr ace of God which lies n hrist Jesus the Lord. Thi s source s always open to us - an eternal ,ource with an inexhaustible supply of strength to enable us for His • lerv1ce . fHE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST Consider carefully from vs. 2 three characteristics of this essential suc– cession of strength: (1) It is a strength of true and faithful doctrine: Paul says, "and the things which thou hast heard from me . . ." This significant statement with the aorist verb "hast heard" and the emphatic pronoun "me" ( i.e. "me alone"), leaves no doubt as to the precise na– ture of the doctrine to be transmitted by Timothy and by all faithful ser– vants who follow him - so, by Gospel preachers today. The very words of the Apostle Paul ; the words of his Epistles, which convey the revelation which he himself received from our Lord Jesus Christ - this is what con– stitutes sound doctrine. Here is the basis for true Christian theology. The theology of the teacher and preacher of the Holy Scriptures is Pauline. The doctrinal statement of the faithful lo– cal church is Pauline. The beliefs of the true Christian are Pauline. There are some who have looked upon Paul's teachings as the danger– ous and deceptive reasonings of an over-religious zealot. Others have tried to show that Paul was influenced by the pagan mystery religions. Still others insist that Paul's religion was derived from contemporary Judaism . Liberal theologians oppose his theo– logy, and attempt to prove the non– authenticity of his writings. But we need not fear Pauline doctrine. It is true, sound , wholesome Christian doc– trine. It is most interesting to note that the aorist verb "heard" (Grk. eikousas ) is constative, and with the prepositional phrase " from me" (par' emou) , gathers up and accumulates all that Timothy heard from P aul in their years together. "Among many witnesses" is literally "thro11gl1 many witnesses", and denotes the fact that Cec'a, v there are many who will vouch for the message and testify with Paul that the doctrine is true - the full Gospel truth. (2) It is a strength of true and faithful doctrine that is to be committed to faitbf ul men: The statement continues, "The same commit to faithful men". The KJV has used "the same" for the plural demonstrative pronoun "these'' , but the plural " these" better relates to its antecedent "the things" in the first clause. There is no doubt as to the course of the faithful servant of God in this vital succession. The charge to the Gospel preacher is clearly and peremptorily set forth by the expres– sion "commit thou" (parathou, the aorist middle imperative). More liter– ally, the charge is "do thou commit!' ' This is the verb form of the same word used as a noun in 1:14 ( K.JV "committed") , and I Tim. 6:20 (KJV "committed" ) , in which passages the reference is actually to the great Gospel deposit given by God into Timothy 's care and to be guarded well by him. Now Timothy is to pass it on as a deposit into the hands of other true and faithful men like him– self. We might render the charge : "These things do thou deposit with faithful men . . ." This is wha t we are responsible for doing in our day, and let us not take this duty lightly, for the responsibility rests squarely upon us. We cannot , dare not , thrust it aside as less important than some other duty or duties. The imperative is vital in this suc– cession of strength . We are duty– bound to deposit the blessed Gospel message and the administration of the Word of truth into the hands of oth·ers - but these others must be men who are faithful and true, loyal and competent. This is not a succes– sion of apostolic doctrine that goes back to the Apostles and is estab– li shed through the laying on of hands, from one to the other, down through the centuries, with all ordinations that are not in that line null and void. It is a succession of genuine apostolic doctrine entrusted by G od to spiritu– a ll y mature and strong men , and held firml y in their hearts with courage and conviction. And they a re men who are able and competent to teach others like themselves these very things. (3) This is a strength of true and faithful doctrin~ committed to faith– fuJ men who are able to teach others: Let us take careful note of this last clause - "Who shall be able to teach others also." The fu ture tense verb "sh all be" ( esontai) points ahead to all those who follow on in the path {Continued on page 15) y JULY, 1973 11