2Timothy 2:8 Remember Jesus
Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the
point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for
the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ
Jesus, with eternal glory. 11
Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign
with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown
himself. 14 Keep reminding God's
people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it
is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a
worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
truth.
As
we continue on in Paul's 2nd letter to Timothy, we encounter a passage that has
several 'streams' of thought all sort of mashed together.
The
first occurs in vs 8: Remember Jesus
Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel. The technical word
for a sentence like this is Christology. In this brief sentence we see one of
the places in the Bible (and hence 1st generation Christian thought) where
Christology is expressed--and, while there is not much in the way of detail,
one thing becomes immediately evident: the message
being preached (aka "my gospel") is that Jesus wasn't merely a
good moral teacher, he wasn't merely a prophet, he was *both risen from the
dead and descended of David (aka his Messianic title). Risen from the dead, AND
descended from David are truths about the unique nature(s) of Jesus. To be
descended of David is a statement of his humanity (and royalty); to be risen
from the dead is a statement concerning his divinity.
The reason why this is
important is because it is so popular these days to think that the earliest
believers in Jesus felt that he was a great prophet--but only a great prophet;
that he died and stayed dead, but that his teachings were of such lasting
significance that it's AS IF he still lives on today. Such thoughts usually go
on to posit that it was LONG AFTER the fact, around the early 4th century that
the Church developed its "high" Christology of Jesus as *both Divine
(son of God) and Human (descendant of David). This is the sort of theory that
sounds nice until you read the Bible. And by that statement, it's not that I
expect NON-BELIEVERS to all of a sudden "see the light." Rather, it's
that even secular scholars grant that 99% of the New Testament was written
before the end of the 1st century. That fact alone should help us see that
people writing then wrote in such a way that it was evident that the Church was
already preaching a Jesus who was both DIVINE and HUMAN.
The second stream has
to do with Paul's statement in vs 9 for
which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But
God's word is not chained. The word of God is not chained. This verse is reminiscent
of other passages of the Bible such as Is 55:11 So shall my word be that goes forth out of
my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which
I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Just as the 1st stream contains great theological truth
(Christology) so does this stream... the power/efficacy of God's word. Modern
tyrants could use a history lesson. No one tried harder to obliterate the
Christian faith than the Roman Empire. But after hundreds of years of trying,
it finally lost with the conversion of Constantine in the early 4th c. There's
a reason for this. Even if every Christian were martyred, the word of God
itself cannot be. It cannot be stopped. Jesus promised that His Church would be
built and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. The word of God is on
a mission to intersect with people's lives, change them, and bring them into
God's kingdom. This should be encouraging to us...to know that we are part of a
movement that--even if persecuted--cannot be contained or stymied.
The third
stream is found in vss 11-13. Some feel that Paul is quoting an early hymn or
statement of faith (really, they're just about the same thing). This hymn is
one of encouragement, urging believers to remain true to Christ even in the
face of persecution. The point being, our enemies may kill the body but cannot
kill the soul...therefore, may we remain true to the one who holds our souls in
his hand; the one we will spend eternity with, etc.
The final
stream is in vss 14-15 which present to us the idea that in the church there
are minors and majors. Vs 14 is all about the minors: Keep reminding God's people of these things. Warn
them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only
ruins those who listen. How many times have we heard about congregational
splits or denominational squabbles based on some splinter of a matter that
really isn't that important. It's impossible to know what Paul might have had
in mind specifically, but easy enough to see how it can apply today. One of my
favorite "quarrels about words" has to do with Bible translations. At
the extreme there's a KJV-only crowd who believe that the text of the KJV is so holy that it's not only the most
reliable English translation (highly unlikely), but it's even more reliable
than the original Hebrew and Greek texts. This is an extreme example, but it's
clearly a modern scenario of quarreling about words.
The other half of the
stream, as found in vs 15 has to do with the majors: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who
does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Speaking
of the old KJV above, this verse is the one rendered "rightly dividing the
word of truth" in that translation. The people of God have one primary,
overarching mission that drives all other missions and that is to come together
around God's word and hear it RIGHTLY DIVIDED; rightly handled; rightly
proclaimed. Ministers have the duty to lead congregations in this, but
congregations and individual believers have the duty to seek/demand this. It is
the duty of every Christian to know--or be about the task of learning--the
Bible well enough to be able to say with confidence: yes, I am a member of a congregation that rightly divides the word of
truth. Part of this right division, again, means knowing the difference
between minors and majors... what are the things that well-meaning believers
can disagree about and still remain in Christian fellowship, vs those things
that cannot be compromised. And then, within the context of majors, how these
are to be presented and believed. God's LAW and God's GOSPEL are both majors;
both words of truth, but so many denominations obscure them (not rightly
dividing them). Very often this results in people who believe they've **earned
God's favor by their good works. One last thought here... the ability to
'rightly divide' doesn't happen overnight. This comes as a result of being
steeped in the faith; living a life of prayer and personal bible study along
with regular gathering around God's word in public worship.
Hmmmmm, so many
streams! Which to go with? Stay tuned!!
Cheers,
TM
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