For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (verses 11-14) - How do we live

An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless – not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness – a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour … (verses 1-3) - Paul so often strings together such rich concepts, one after anothe

Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. (verse 11) - This sentence is a complete surprise. It’s also incredibly encouraging. Mark had been at the centre of one of the biggest ministry conflicts in the early church, a conflict that played out between Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas, “Son of Encouragement,” was one of Paul’s earliest Christian friends, taking Paul under his wing and welcoming him into the Christian community when most others

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (verses 16-17) - Paul starts this chapter with these words: “But mark this.” What follows is a whole list of character traits that will epitomize the last days (in which we have been living since the time of Christ), including “boastful, proud, abusive … without self-control … treacherous, rash, c

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (verses 1-5) - When Paul speaks to Tim

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (verses 20-22) - I’m not sure about your hou

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he com

May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus. (verses 16-18) - Paul wants Timothy to be strong and steadfast as he engages in the ministry of the gospel. He’s urged Timothy to follow his own e

And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. (verses 11-14) -

… (God) has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (verses 9-10) - I can’t quite pinpoint the moment when I came to faith in Jesus. Mom and Dad were true belie

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (verses 6-7) - For the past several years we’ve been in a new house with no fireplace. We miss it. Each of our previous homes had one and we’d regularly stoke it, getting a good blaze going. We actually had a huge supply of firewood just around the side of the hou

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus … (verse 1) - Once again Paul starts another letter. Once again, he gives his credentials. Once again, they are rooted not in him, but in the Lord. “Apostle of Christ Jesus” gives us, in a phrase, Paul’s primary calling in life. It takes us back to the scene on the Damascus Road when he was arrested by the Resurrected One – undeniably stopped in his tracks – and con

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God … I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ … (verses 11-14) - I am struck by the title Paul gives to Timothy in this closin

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (verses 6-8) - I preached on these verses about 20 years ago in the midst of a major life decision. I sensed the Lord calling me to “leave home,” to move on from the church where I’d grown-up, in which I’d served on staff for nearly 25 years. My livelihood was at stake. It was going to be a major tr

All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are fellow believers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them. - Once again we find spirituality in the ordi

I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favouritism. (verse 21) - “I charge you.” This is no throw-away line. It’s not an off-hand remark, nor is it simply a piece of warm-hearted advice. This is weighty instruction, indeed compelling command. It calls Timothy to understand that he is standing under open heavens, in the full view of the Father and the Son and all the angel

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. (verse 4) - Once again I’m reminded of the ordinariness of spiritual life. I return to Paul’s ongoing image for discipleship: “walk.” Such activity is completely down to earth, feet on the ground, one step after another, moving forward. It’s not about hero

If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For … godliness has value for all things. (verses 6-8) - This is a message for our times. Conspiracy theories are the godless myths and old wives tales of our day, so easily circulating even amo