2 TIMOTHY 2:15-21 - TESTED, TRIED, AND PURIFIED

2 TIMOTHY 2:15-21

TESTED, TRIED, AND PURIFIED

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Susie: If you’ve ever been a member or leader of an AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed) club, you will recognize this verse. This Christian club for kids emphasizes the study and memorization of scripture in a fun atmosphere with games, challenges, and badges to earn. But studying the Bible and internalizing its truths should not end when we become adults. In fact, it should intensify.

Susan: I did not have the opportunity to participate in AWANA or even Sunday School as a child, so I am making up for lost time.

Susie: Does studying to be approved by God mean we have to earn our salvation by learning His word?

Susan: No, absolutely not. Salvation is by grace through faith and not dependent upon any work we can do ourselves. It is only Jesus’s work on the cross that is acceptable to God for our salvation. However, it brings God pleasure when His children purposefully pursue intimacy with Him.

Susie: “Approved” can also mean “tested by trial.” Those who are avidly seeking intimacy with the Lord through the study of the Bible will be tested, tempted, and tried. But the Lord Himself will enable them to endure and be strong.

Romans 14:4 (NIV) Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Susie: What does Paul mean by “rightly dividing the word of truth?”

Susan: It is utilizing the whole counsel of God to explain truth and principles and expounding upon them in context, not using scripture as an a la carte menu.

2 Timothy 2:16-17 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

Susie: The arguments of the false teachers were misleading and infectious. Many translations compare them to gangrene spreading throughout the body and destroying it. Paul urges us to not even engage in word battles with those who are not true to the word of God as it will only lead us astray. Hymenaeus and Philetus were false teachers who had already been deceived to that point and were leading others to doubt their faith. They were teaching that the resurrection of the dead had already happened. Other than the fact that it was absolutely not true, why was that false teaching so harmful?

Susan: These false teachers were contradicting Jesus’s words and Paul’s teaching by saying the resurrection was only of the spirit and not the body. They denied that Jesus was physically, bodily raised from the dead and that someday those who believe will be raised to meet Him in the clouds. It seems they held to the Gnostic belief that all matter, including human bodies, was evil and only the spirit could be good. This would, in a sense, be denying that Jesus could be divine, could be God, while in His incarnate state here on earth.

2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Susie: The word of God will not be thwarted. It stands forever:

1 Peter 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Susan: God knows us even while we are still in the womb. God intimately knows, has a relationship with those He has chosen and enables them to know Him.

Jeremiah 1:5a Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee . . .

Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Susie: Those who follow Jesus should be set apart from the world, living according to God’s will and way as revealed in the Bible. We should flee temptation and resist Satan.

1 Peter 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

2 Timothy 2:20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.

Susan: Items made of gold and silver can be more perfectly purified than those made of wood or clay. The refiner heats the metal until the dross, the imperfections, floats to the top to be skimmed off. The process is complete when the refiner is able to see his reflection in the gold or silver. Jesus is my Refiner and is in the process of bringing me to a point of reflecting Him. We were not created to have our own image but were created to reflect the image of the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Malachi 3:2-3 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

Susie: Therefore, the dishes made of silver or gold were used for serving guests whereas the vessels of wood or clay were used for less glorious purposes such as disposing of refuse. When we trust in Jesus, we are clothed in the mantel of His righteousness immediately and are seen by God as righteous. However, we are also undergoing a process called sanctification whereby we are being refined and will eventually be like Jesus when we dwell with Him forever.

2 Timothy 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

Susie: How does a person purge himself from dishonor?

Susan: A person must trust Jesus and yield to the guidance and prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Susie: This brings us back to verse 15. As we study the word of God and allow His Spirit to apply it to our lives, we will become more and more like Jesus and will “need not be ashamed.”

QUESTIONS

1.        Define “rightly dividing the word of truth.”

2. To what does Paul compare false teaching?

3.        What seal did Paul discuss in verse 19?

         4.  How does one depart from iniquity?