Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15
There were many false teachers with doctrines contrary to the truth of Jesus and His message… and it was only decades away from the actual time of Christ. The apostle Paul was so very concerned about the effect these false teachers would have on Timothy, his son in the faith, that he emphasized the need to avoid frivolous controversies, “irreverent babble,” to remember that empty talk is useless and unsettling to the hearer, and it may lead them into ungodliness (2 Timothy 2:16).
The faithful teacher “rightly [handles] the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Bible commentator Paul Edward Kretzmann said this is a problem and the work of a pastor, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to “divide and apply the Word of Truth” to his flock. He must always be conscious of the distinction between the Law and the Gospel. He wrote, “Secure, careless, wanton sinners must hear the thunder of the Law; contrite and poor sinners, however, the sweet voice of the Savior’s grace.”
The application is that you should not be tantalized by human philosophies, catchy phrases, or plausible arguments, but be grounded in the firm foundation of God’s Holy Word. Pastor John MacArthur reiterates, “The Bible is God’s inerrant, authoritative, sufficient, and sole source of His divine word of truth, every other truth rests on that truth.”
In a world where expressions of anger are on the rise, mingle gentleness and patience with sound and faithful instruction (2 Timothy 2:24-25). Stand on God’s firm foundation. Then pray for this nation and its governing officials that they would learn to know the Truth, avoid false teaching, and live by the Word of the Lord.
Today’s Verse: 2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: 2 Timothy 2:14-19, 24-26
14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
