Voices of the Bible: A Faith Worth Receiving
2 Timothy 1:1-14 (CEB) · Passing the Flame
I invite you to connect with the voices of the Bible. This week we are listening to the opening of Paul’s second letter to Timothy, his young protégé in ministry. Second Timothy is widely regarded as Paul’s most personal letter and likely his last. In these fourteen verses Paul moves from a warm greeting to one of the most moving reminders of faith in the whole New Testament. Faith, Paul says, is received before it is lived, and Timothy’s faith first lived in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.
Second Timothy belongs to the group of letters scholars call the Pastoral Epistles. These are letters written to leaders rather than to congregations. By the time Paul writes 2 Timothy, he is in prison, probably in Rome, likely aware that his execution is near. Timothy is serving as a leader in the church at Ephesus, the major port city Paul had mentored him toward. Paul writes one more letter, not primarily to instruct Timothy on church administration, but to hand something on.
The letter opens with thanksgiving. “I’m grateful to God, whom I serve with a good conscience as my ancestors did. I constantly remember you in my prayers day and night.” Paul’s opening tone is prayerful and personal. The verb Paul uses for remembering is the same verb used in Jewish prayer, the constant bringing of names before God. Paul serves the same God his Jewish ancestors served. Faith, for Paul, is not a new invention. It reaches back.
Then comes the line that gives this passage its heart. “I’m reminded of your authentic faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. I’m sure that this faith is also inside you.” Paul names two women. Lois, the grandmother. Eunice, the mother. The word the Common English Bible translates as “authentic” could also be translated as “sincere” or “without hypocrisy.” Paul is saying the faith these women lived was the real thing. And that real thing is now inside Timothy. Timothy did not grow his faith alone. It lived first in someone else.
The next instruction uses a striking image. “I’m reminding you to revive God’s gift that is in you through the laying on of my hands.” The word Paul uses here carries the image of fanning an ember back into flame. The flame is already there. Timothy does not need to create it. He needs to tend it. Paul then tells Timothy what Spirit God has given. “God didn’t give us a spirit that is timid but one that is powerful, loving, and self-controlled.” Three qualities braided together. Power without love becomes cruelty. Love without self-control becomes sentimentality. Self-control without love becomes rigid. The three together describe a steady, courageous life of faith.
Paul knows shame will be a temptation. He has been arrested. Timothy’s association with him is now risky. So Paul names the temptation directly. “Don’t be ashamed of the testimony about the Lord or of me, his prisoner. Instead, share the suffering for the good news, depending on God’s power.” Then Paul describes the call they both share. “God is the one who saved and called us with a holy calling. This wasn’t based on what we have done, but it was based on his own purpose and grace that he gave us in Christ Jesus before time began.” Grace before performance. Call before résumé.
The passage rises to its most personal confession. “I know the one in whom I’ve placed my trust. I’m convinced that God is powerful enough to protect what he has placed in my trust until that day.” Paul does not list beliefs. He names a relationship. The one he trusts. Chains have not shaken the relationship.
Paul closes this opening section with a charge. “Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you heard from me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Protect this good thing that has been placed in your trust through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” The faith is a treasure. Paul tells Timothy to guard it, and he names the help: the Holy Spirit already lives in us.
As you sit with this passage this week, consider the names you would write if Paul asked you who first made faith real to you. Consider where the gift in your life has faded to embers and needs air. And remember Paul’s final word. The Spirit who lives in us is strong enough to protect what has been placed in our trust. Faith is received. It is rekindled. It is held. And one day, it is passed on.
This is part of the Voices of the Bible series from Andrew Conard. Each week we explore the scripture passage for the upcoming sermon, helping you encounter the text before Sunday morning.