Not Ashamed Of The Gospel

‘So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord’

Today we’re starting a new four-week series on 2 Timothy. I’m looking forward to this short series! Over the years I’ve studied a number of the New Testament letters but I’ve never really studied 2 Timothy. I’m interested to find out what it’s about. Today we’re going to look at a passage from 2 Timothy chapter 1; next week I’ll take a passage from 2 Timothy chapter 2 and so on, and hopefully that will help us to see the main things Paul wanted to tell Timothy.

Let me start by setting the scene. When Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, they had probably known each other for about 15 years. They had met when Paul was on the second of his missionary journeys. Paul had travelled to an area which was then called Galatia and is now in southern Turkey. He met Timothy there and invited him to join him on his journey. Later, Timothy also accompanied Paul on his third missionary trip. After that Paul was arrested in Jerusalem, imprisoned and later sent to Rome. I expect he arrived there before 64 A.D. At the end of Acts, we find Paul is in prison but his conditions seem quite pleasant.

But in 64 A.D. there was a great fire in Rome. Nero blamed the Christians and it became extremely dangerous to be a Christian. When Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy, from prison in Rome, he was expecting to die. Towards the end of his letter Paul writes ‘For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.’ According to tradition, Paul was beheaded.

Timothy, meanwhile, had ended up in Ephesus. So Paul sent his letter from Rome to Ephesus.

Letters such as 1 John, Peter and Jude, for example, are written BY John, Peter and Jude. But 2 Timothy was not written BY Timothy. 2 Timothy is a letter written by Paul TO Timothy.

Eventually Timothy became the first bishop of Ephesus. According to tradition, Timothy died by being stoned to death.

So both Paul and Timothy were put to death, as were many others at that time. Being a Christian in those days was a tough calling. It was likely to involve suffering.

So what, we might wonder, would Paul have to say to Timothy in perhaps the last letter he ever wrote?

Paul starts off by addressing Timothy as his beloved child. It’s really affectionate. He then reflects on Timothy’s family, his grandmother and his mother. He remembers Timothy’s qualities. He’s extremely warm and encouraging. That takes us to verse 7. This is one of the famous verses in 2 Timothy. If you know any verses in 2 Timothy it’s likely to be this one: ‘…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.’

In verse 8 it seems that Paul gets down to business. He turns to the point of why he’s writing to Timothy. Paul writes, ‘Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.’

Paul lived in the first century AD. The world he lived in had been influenced by Greek culture for centuries. Greek rhetoric was famous and it had a definite and very logical way of setting out arguments. It’s still used a lot in academic writing today. The writer would introduce the subject and set the context. Then he or she would state the key point. Today we call it the proposition or thesis statement. At the end, the writer would have a conclusion.

I imagine that verse 8 is Paul’s thesis statement. This is the key thing he wants to tell Timothy. In verse 8 Paul gives Timothy a charge. He tells him:

‘Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about Jesus, or about Paul, but share in suffering for the gospel.’

If we’re right about that being the big idea of Paul’s letter then Paul will come back to it in his conclusion. We can easily find his conclusion. It’s in chapter 4, verse 5. Paul writes:

‘As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry.’

So, at the start of his letter Paul wrote, ‘share in suffering for the gospel’ and at the end of the letter he writes, ‘endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist.’

It’s very similar. It strongly suggests that this is Paul’s key message to Timothy. Paul is telling Timothy, ‘Don’t be ashamed of the gospel but share in the suffering that WILL come if you are faithful.’ Paul’s final admonition to Timothy is: ‘fulfil your ministry.’ That the job. Do it.