Strong in the Grace 2 Timothy 2:1

Paul the apostle wrote to Timothy his “dearly beloved son” concerning how he felt abandoned by almost everyone as he sat in a prison in Rome awaiting his death sentence to be carried out for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. There was one person, “Onesiphorus”, who searched “very diligently” for him and ministered to him there, and while Paul completed his blessings towards “Onesiphorus”, in chapter two and verse one of this final letter to Timothy, he encouraged Timothy to be “strong in the grace” which “is in Christ Jesus”. We read:

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

The verse begins, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace...” Paul began with, “You therefore” or “Timothy, accordingly, consequently, these things being so and because of this” “my son” which literally means “a male offspring” and refers to “the name transferred to that intimate and reciprocal relationship formed between men by the bonds of love, friendship, trust, just as between parents and children” “be strong” or “endued with strength and strengthened” “in the grace” which means “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech, good will, loving-kindness and unmerited favor”. Because Timothy was aware of the way “Onesiphorus” cared for and ministered to Paul, Timothy was to also be strengthened in this kind of unmerited favor.

The verse continues, “...that is in Christ Jesus.” Paul went on to add the source of this “grace” when he wrote, “that is in” or “by, with and within” “Christ” who is the “anointed one of God and the Messiah” “Jesus” whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation”. The “grace” which Paul the apostle desires Timothy to be “strong” within is the very “lovingkindness and unconditional favor” which was found in Jesus Christ.

Often some of the shortest verses in the Bible can challenge us the most. This verse from Paul is one of them. As we think it through, let us put our name before the title “my son” (or “my daughter”) and imagine that Paul is sharing with us personally. His encouragement to us is to be “strengthened” in the same “grace” which was and is in Christ Jesus. How are we doing? Do we have the same “unmerited favor” toward others that Jesus has toward us or do we need a little exercise in the area of “grace” that we might be stronger within it? Perhaps we should ask the Lord Jesus to help us to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of” Him so we too may be “strong in grace” as He desires for us to be.

Next time Paul tells Timothy to “commit” what he has heard “to faithful men”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.