2 Timothy 2:14-26

Read Psalm 15

Verse 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.”
1. Remind them of what things?
a. Remind them that God wants them to continue in the faith and that God is able to accomplish His purpose no matter how things look.
2. Why do people need to be reminded of spiritual truths?
3. “Quarrel about words” generally means not going on endlessly talking about topics for the purpose of trying to be clever or show off by out-smarting one another.
4. Why would “quarreling about words” hurt the hearers?
a. It might upset people whose faith is not strong.
5. “God’s purpose is not to pander to our inquisitiveness but to give us profitable instruction.” (Calvin, Comm. on 2 Timothy)

Verse 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.”
1. If Timothy is concerned with being approved by God, who will he not be concerned with getting approval from?
a. What benefit would not getting caught up in other people’s business have for Timothy? For our lives?
2. How does a person rightly handle the word of truth? If your job is to teach and instruct people about the things of God, how is truth rightly handled?
a. The Word must be spoken to benefit the hearers.
b. Handle the word so that when you expound it, it lifts up those who hear it.

Verses 16-18
“But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.”
1. What is gangrene and why is it so deadly?
a. Unless treated, gangrene spreads quickly to the areas near the infection and penetrates deep into the skin and bones until it finally kills the person.
2. If “irreverent babble” is compared to the spreading of gangrene, what will “irreverent babble” do to the church? How does this generally happen in real life?
3. Heresy and heretics had put questions in the believer’s minds about the stability and permanence of the church.

Verse 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.””
1. In this context, what is the phrase “God’s firm foundation” referring to?
2. What does the first quotation mean?
a. God knows who the true believers are.
3. What does the second quotation mean?
a. If people truly know God, they will eventually turn away from their sin. Believers may fall into error, but they will always turn from what is not of God at some point because the Holy Spirit will convict them.
b. Matthew 7:15-20 (Mention but maybe not go to)
i. Good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit. Good trees cannot bear bad fruit and bad trees cannot bear good fruit.
4. Should we judge people to determine if they are saved?
a. Yes AND no.

Verses 20-21
“Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”
1. “The fate of the false teachers is also not yet fixed.” Although they may not yet be truly saved, ‘they too may turn from evil.” (Carson, NT Comm. On Use of the OT)
2. When people turn away from sin, the Lord will use them in mighty ways.
3. Why will turning away from sin prepare us for “every good work”?
a. God desires that the people who represent Him and show Him to the world live so that their lives declare His character. People will only see who God is when His character is manifested in us is such a way that people know that in order for us to be the way we are, there has to have been a supernatural work to account for how different we are.

Verses 22-23
“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.”
1. Verse 22 tells us to do two things. What two things are we do to?
a. Flee things that lead into sin
b. Pursue the things of God.
2. Paul tells Timothy to develop relationships with people who “call on the Lord from a pure heart” but also tells Timothy to have no part of the controversies going on.
a. Does who we put ourselves around effect how we think and live?
3. What happens when people get too involved with other people’s business?

Verses 24-25A
“And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”
1. When conflicts arise, why must we remember to be kind to all of the people surrounding the conflict?
2. Why must we be able to teach others?
a. So that we are able to communicate what we believe clearly so that other people will understand what we are saying. If we are able to communicate what we believe so as to rightly understood, there will be less of a chance of having people misunderstand and stray from the intended meaning that you are conveying.
3. Why must we endure evil patiently?
4. Why must we correct people who have strayed from the truth with gentleness?
a. We ourselves may be wrong.
b. People are not likely to listen to us if we are rude or belittling to them.

Verses 25-26
“God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
1. Who grants people repentance and leads them to the truth?
a. God.
2. Will people ever repent or know the truth without God granting them this ability?
3. Is it possible that people who are leading others astray will one day turn to the LORD and see the truth?
4. Should we ever give up on being Christ to other people even if it seems that it is doing no good?
5. How should we respond to and interact with people who are straying from the truth?

Summary
1. What is the overall message of verses 14-26?
2. What are some practical things we can take from these verses to apply to our lives?

Psalm 32

Valentine's Day, or Singleness Awareness Day as one of my friends put it, was a day I felt was unlikely for many people to be at the Bible Study. Family and significant others are important and wanted you all to be able to spend time with them without having to miss some of 2 Timothy.

The group studied Psalm 32 last night and the notes are below. Next week we will get back to 2 Timothy 2 and finish up that chapter. I am thinking we have four more weeks of 2 Timothy and then maybe we will move onto Mark. There is still a lot of good things that 2 Timothy has and I am excited to see what the next few weeks will be like.

Below are the notes and some quotes that are helpful.

Quotes on Repentance
(Saving faith is) not just believing that Jesus lived and died. Faith that saves is the confident, continuous confession of total dependence on, and trust in Jesus Christ to meet the requirements on your behalf to give you entrance into God's Eternal Kingdom. It's the surrender of your life in complete trust to Him to do what you cannot do.
John MacArthur

[Repentance] is not a merely intellectual change of mind or mere grief, still less doing penance, but a radical transformation of the entire person, a fundamental turnaround involving mind and action and including overtones of grief, which result in (spiritual) fruit.
D.A. Carson. Matthew, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 1984, p. 99.

Repentance is more than simply being sorry for sin. It is agreeing with God that you are sinful, confessing your sins to Him, and making a conscious choice to turn from sin and pursue holiness (Isaiah 55:7).
Grace to You Ministries. All rights reserved. 1991. Used by permission.

Repentance is a change of mind regarding sin and God, an inward turning from sin to God, which is known by its fruit – obedience (Mt. 3:8; Acts 26:20; Lk. 13:5-9). It is hating what you once loved and loving what you once hated, exchanging irresistible sin for an irresistible Christ.
Jim Elliff. The Unrepenting Repenter, Christian Communicators Worldwide, www.CCWtoday.org. Used by Permission.



Read Psalm 124

Verse 1
“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

1. Why are we blessed to have our sin forgiven?
2. “We are only accounted righteous before God by the free remission of sins, this is the gate of eternal salvation; and, accordingly, that they only are blessed who rely upon God’s mercy.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalm 32)
3. Why do we need to have our sin forgiven?
4. “God cannot be reconciled to those who are worthy of eternal destruction in any other way than by freely pardoning them, and bestowing upon them his favor.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalm 32)

Verse 2
“Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”
1. Verse 2 begins by stating that we are blessed when God does not count our sin against us. If a person has sinned so that they need the LORD to not count their sin against them, what does it mean for there to be no deceit in a person’s spirit?
2. Why does a person need to have a clear picture of themselves and God, and be honest about their condition before God?

• “He who feels not his disease refuses the remedy.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalm 32)
  

Verses 3 & 4
“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”
1. Bones is a Hebrew word that signifies a person’s strength. The verse could easily be translated to say: “For when I kept silent, my strength wasted away through my groaning all day long.”
2. What is meant by “kept silent”?
a. Obstinate to God
3. Why does keeping silent about our sin wear away our strength?
4. What does it feel like when you know you did something wrong but haven’t or won’t make things right?
5. Whose hand was heavy upon the Psalmist?
6. If someone were to say that something is occurring “day and night”, how often is it occurring?
7. Without God convicting people of their sin, will they ever turn from their sin on their own?
8. Why must people feel the weight of their sin before they will turn to God?
a. “We never perceive how great a happiness it is to enjoy the favor of God, until we have thoroughly felt from grievous conflicts with inward temptations, how terrible the anger of God is.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalm 32)

Verse 5
“I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah”
1. If something is not covered, what must it be?
2. Was the Psalmist’s act of confession what pardoned him?

• “It is faith which, by opening our hearts and tongues, really obtains our pardon…[The Psalmist] obtained pardon by his confession, not because he merited it by the mere act of confessing, but because, under the guidance of faith, he humbly implored it from his judge.” (Calvin, Comm. On Psalm 32)
  

Verses 6 & 7
“Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah”
1. If there is a time when God may be found, what does this also imply?
a. (There is a time when God may not be found)
b. Why would God not be found?
i. Because our heart is too hard and we are unwilling to cry out to Him.
2. “Rush of great waters” or “mighty waters rise” or “flood” means all “dangers from which there appears no means of escape” (Calvin, Comm. On Psalm 32)
3. There is nothing from which God cannot save a person from. No matter what it is, God can save you from it.
4. What does it mean for God to be our hiding place?
5. How does God protect or preserve us from trouble?

• Does that mean that life will be free from trouble?
  

6. Three underlying ideas in verses 6 & 7:

• There is no place of safety except in Christ
• God will be faithful to preserve or protect us.
• God will be the one to deliver us.

Verse 8
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
1. Who will do these all of these things?
2. If someone has their eye upon you or is watching over you, what does this imply?

Verse 9
“Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.”
1. What are horses and especially mules known for being?

• Stubborn!!!
  

2. What is this verse asking us not to be?
a. Why is it asking us not to be stubborn?
3. What does the owner of a horse or mule do when the animal is ignoring him?
4. Hebrews 12:5-11

Verse 10
“Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.”
1. Why are the sorrows of the wicked many?
a. The wicked are living out of step with true reality. People reap what they sow. When people sow destructive choices into their lives they will reap destructive results.
2. Why does God’s steadfast love surround those who trust in Him?
3. If we trust in the LORD, what does it imply that we are not doing?

Verse 11
“Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”
1. In this verse, what does being righteous or upright mean? (Look at the larger context.)
2. When this verse refers to the righteous and upright being glad, rejoicing and shouting for joy, what is the reason for their response to God?
3. Why do people who will humble themselves and trust in the LORD have reason to be the happiest people alive?

Summary
1. What is the overall message of Psalm 32?
2. What are some practical applications we can take from this Psalm?

2 Timothy 2:1-13

This nights study had many good insights from you all. We delved into verse 13, a difficult verse, together and came up with many good insights, insights that never even entered my mind (thanks Nick!). The theme of 2 Timothy is becoming pretty clear, as many of you have mentioned to me both during and outsiden of the study.

Next week is Valentine's Day. I am planning on being there but we will NOT be studying 2 Timothy that night. We will be studying Psalm 32, as it is what the Lord has put on my heart. I figured it would give a little bit of a break from 2 Timothy and would be good to do because many people might not be there because of Valentine's Day.


Read Psalm 136

Verse 1
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,”
1. After Timothy is reminded of what has been occurring in and among the church, Paul moves on to exhort Timothy about what he should do and how he should respond to all that is going on.
2. “What God requires from us in His Word, He also supplies by His Spirit, so that we are strengthened in the grace that He provides” (Calvin, p.305, Commentary on 2 Timothy).
3. What does “being strong in the grace” or being “strengthened by the grace” “that is in Christ Jesus” mean?
4. How are we strengthened by God’s grace?

Verse 2
“and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
1. When the verse 2 speaks of entrusting faithful or qualified men with the task of teaching, what is meant by the word faithful or qualified?
2. What qualifies a person to teach?
3. Why is it important that the men who Timothy entrusts to teach the church be faithful or qualified?

Verse 3
“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
1. If a person was a good soldier, how would they share in suffering to help their side win?


Verse 4
“No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.”
1. If a person was a soldier who was off at war, why would they not want to get involved in civilian affairs?
2. What consequences might getting involved in civilian affairs have on you or the war that you are there fighting?
3. Going back to 2 Timothy, how does the metaphor in verse 4 apply to our spiritual life?

Verse 5
“An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”
1. Why would an athlete not be considered the winner unless they competed according to the rules?
2. Why would doing sinful things to advance God’s Kingdom be a bad thing to do?
3. What application does this verse have for our lives?

Verse 6
“It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.”
1. If you are a farmer, what must you do to have a harvest?
2. On Judgement Day, if we expect to reap some reward for our service to God, what must we do until Judgement Day comes if we want to have a reward?
3. We are saved totally by grace but in order to be saved we must persevere until the end. While God does demand that those whom He saves persevere, He also enables and causes people who truly know Him to persevere.
a. 1 Peter 1:3-5

Verse 7
“Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.”
1. Why does Paul specifically tell Timothy to think over these things?
2. How does God usually teach us about who He is?
3. Although Timothy has to be the one to think over Paul has said, how will Timothy get the proper understanding of what is being said?

Verse 8
“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,”
1. “risen from the dead”
a. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead gives evidence that what Jesus taught is truthful and that Jesus truly is God. Jesus’ resurrection also shows that because His claims were true, we can share in the benefits that His death and resurrection for us.
2. “Offspring of David”
a. Who was David?
i. David was a king of Israel whom God promised that Christ would be descended from. David was promised that Christ would reign on his throne forever.
b. Why would Paul mention Christ being the offspring of David?
i. Christ is a real person who has a real connection to real people that had real promises made to them by a real God.
3. Why is Timothy being told to “remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel”?

Verse 9
“for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!”
1. What does Paul mean he says that the Word of God is not bound?
2. Isaiah 55:1-11

Verse 10
“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”
1. “Therefore”
a. What’s it “there for”?
i. Because the Word of God is not bound…
2. Why does Paul want the elect to obtain salvation?



Verse 11
“The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;”
1. What is the connection between us dying with Christ and us living with Christ?
Verse 12
“if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;”
1. What is the connection between us enduring and us reigning with Christ?
2. Why will Christ deny us if we deny Him?

Verse 13
“if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.”
1. God is always faithful to do what He says He will do.
a. Isaiah 48:9-11
b. Ezekiel 36:16-32
2. What does it mean that God “cannot deny Himself”?

Overview
1. How would verses 1-13 of this chapter best be summarized?
2. How could these verses be applied to our lives?

2 Timothy 1:13-18

The notes below are all that we got to on the third night. It is only about five verses, but is worth looking over.

1. Prayer Requests
2. Read Psalm 95
3. Pray for time of fellowship and study
4. Review from last week.
a. What were verses 8 through 12 talking about?

Verse 13
“Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
1. Do not deviate from the message that Paul taught in any way. Put God’s Word before you. “Follow the pattern” literally means to put a vivid picture before you; a vivid picture right before your eyes so that you see the message of Christ clearly and as it is in its purest form.
2. Why is it important for Timothy to not deviate or change the message he received from Paul in any way?
3. The sound words consist “of faith and love, which have their source and beginning in the knowledge of Christ” (Calvin, p. 301, Commentary on 2 Timothy).

Verse 14
“By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”
1. What is the good deposit that was entrusted to Timothy?
2. By the power of God that is inside of you, protect and preserve yourself from leaving the message of Christ that you have received.
3. Philippians 2:12-13

Verses 15-18
“You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.”
1. These verses are reflections of the results of people’s staying or straying from the message of Christ.
2. What is Paul’s purpose in mentioning these people?
a. Two-fold:
i. Information
ii. To show the reality of what will happen to us when persecution or hardship comes if we deviate or turn away from the true message of Christ.
3. Hebrews 3:7-14
4. Verses 15-18 show that when trouble came to the church, the people had two drastically different responses to the hardships.
5. If standing up for certain beliefs or ideas will greatly cost the people who stand up for these beliefs, is it possible for people to remain neutral or passive in the situation?
6. What are people’s motivations for continuing or leaving the faith when persecution comes?

2 Timothy 1:8-12

"I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future."
-Martin Luther King Jr.

The notes below are my notes for 2 Timothy 1:8-12. I did not get to some of the things that are on the sheets below, as time and the Lord's leading did not allow. This study was definitely on the deeper (or deepest) end of knowing who God is. For those who attended, thanks for trudging through some of this deep and hard stuff with me. I pray that it was beneficial to you and that God will give us the eyes to see how it applies to our lives and the confidence that we can have in God. I have yet to figure out to format the notes below so that they look how they would in a word document. At the bottom of my notes is the handout that I gave to you all about the foreknowledge of God (God's knowing the future) and free will.

Teaching through books without skipping any parts is a tough job to do and keeps us honest and dependent on God. Teaching all parts of a book is not always the most entertaining way to teach, but I do know that God will bless us for being committed to seeking to understand who He has revealed Himself to be in the Scriptures and learning how to work through the Bible in a way that shows how real people in real situations interacted with God and how He spoke to their (and our) real and specific needs. There is such a diversity in Scripture in how certain principles are applied in different situations that a "one-size fits all" answer often doesn't help; we need to know the heart of God by seeing His Word dealing with specific needs and then use that to see how our living God will likely speak to us in our needs. I was very grateful to hear the prayer requests last night and hope that God will allow us to be open and honest with each other more and more as we meet together. God has gifted each of you uniquely and the body of Christ cannot function properly without you using your gifts and insights to help equip us to serve the world. God desires you to use your gifts not only for this Bible study, but in every area and place that you go to with believers to have fellowship.

If anyone has any thoughts or questions on any of this, feel free to contact me or leave a message on the comments section on this post.



Verse 8
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,

1. “Therefore”
a. What’s it “there for”?
i. Connect this thought to the previous verse (or verses)
b. What is Paul connecting the thought in verse 8 to?
i. The family of faith, who we are because of Christ, and the weapons/tools God has given us to overcome fear and be a witness for Him.
2. Paul views himself as the Lord’s prisoner and NOT as a prisoner of the empire.
3. Why would Paul view himself as the Lord’s prisoner instead of viewing himself as a prisoner of the empire?
4. “share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God”
a. God has ordained that the Gospel would come to pass primarily through suffering. The suffering may not necessarily be persecution. Suffering for the gospel may simply be living to make Christ known. Making Christ known always comes at the expense of the person doing it.
5. Colossians 1:24
a. In this verse Paul does not mean that he is adding to the atoning work of Christ. Paul does NOT mean that the work Christ did on the cross was not enough; in fact, Christ’s work is more than enough. What Paul is saying is that Christ propagates the gospel to the nations through people. Christ is not here on earth as a human being to give Himself over in love by serving others so that people will know Him. Because Christ is not physically here on earth to serve others so that they will know Him, He gives us the task of acting on His behalf. We act on behalf of Christ by living through the power of the Holy Spirit so that people see Him living and moving through flesh and blood. When people see that we can hope and joy in any type of situation and that we have the ability to love even our enemies, they will see that something is different about us. When a person who knows God responds to life situations much differently than how the majority of people would respond to the same situation, people who see the believer’s response will think it is strange. When people who do not know God see believers living the way that they are, they will respond in one of two ways. They will turn to God, repent and receive Him, or they will hate us because how we live reveals them for what they truly are.
b. John 15:18-25
6. Suffering for the sake of the Gospel is a gift from God. Suffering is a gift from God that He calls us to participate in.
a. Acts 5:40-42
i. Background: God was at work among the early church so much that it was creating quite a stir in Jerusalem. Because of the jealousy of the Jewish officials, the Apostles were arrested and commanded not to speak in the Name of Jesus ever again. After the Apostles respond by telling the officials that they will not obey them, a council member stood up and convinced the other Jewish leaders that if what the Apostles were teaching were not of God it would eventually go away. The council member also told the Jewish officials that if the teaching was of God, no one would be able to stop the Apostles no matter what anyone did to them.
b. Philippians 1:29
c. Matthew 5:20
d. Philippians 3:8-11 (especially verses 10 & 11)
7. For what reasons would a person willingly suffer for the sake of the gospel?
8. Why would God use suffering as the primary means for how the Gospel would be most fully displayed?


Verse 9“who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,”

1. God “saved us and called us” not because of what we have done, could do, or would do but “because of His own purpose and grace”.
2. What was God’s purpose or motivation for creating all that He created?
3. How does God’s grace relate to His purpose in creating all that He has created?
4. God’s plan for Christ to come was not an afterthought. God knew what Adam would do before He created him. In Romans 5:14, Paul writes that Adam “was a type of the one who was to come”. The verse does NOT say that Christ was a type of Adam; the verse states that Adam was a type of Christ. The purpose of having Christ come into the world came BEFORE Adam.
5. Colossians 1:15-17
6. In some sense, God has allowed or ordained all that has or will ever take place in history from beginning to end. However, this DOES NOT mean that people do not have free will or are not responsible for their actions.
7. See Handout.
8. People are responsible for their actions because they are the ones who actually do the action. God does not force anyone to act sinfully nor does He cause people to act against their will. God knows all things before they happen and although He allows or ordains all that ever will actually come to pass, people are still responsible for their actions because they are freely doing whatever it is that they are choosing to do. God is also not the author of sin. God is not the author of sin in that He never does nor can do anything that is sin. God can allow sinful events to occur and even in doing this He never is or does evil in ANY way at all.
a. Acts 2:22-23, 36-41
i. God ordered that Christ die in the way that He did and God still holds the people who actually did it responsible.

Verses 10-12“and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me”

1. Although God had planned and determined that Christ would come, the plan of Christ to come to earth and die would, in some sense, not actually be accomplished until Christ actually stepped into time and did it. Christ’s stepping into time to live as a human being and then dying on the cross for the sins of the world brought the original purpose of God to light.
2. From eternity, God had planned to undo all that His creation would do to try to thwart His plan. God has shown that even when what He creates acts against His will, He still is accomplishing His purposes through it. “God did not just overcome evil at the cross. He made evil serve the overcoming of evil. He made evil commit suicide in doing its worst evil” (John Piper, Spectacular Sins, p.12).
3. Paul is convinced not only that God ordains whatsoever comes to pass and that Christ coming to die was God’s original plan but Paul was also convinced that God had appointed him to be one of the people to proclaim God’s message about Christ to the world.
4. What type of impact would knowing how well God has orchestrated history have on how we deal with difficulties that may arise in our life?
5. How would knowing that God is able to accomplish His purpose without anyone ever being able to thwart that purpose prepare us to face hardship or persecution?
6. In verse 12, Paul says that he knows whom he has believed. He does not say he knows what he has believed, but whom he has believed.
7. What is the difference between believing God and believing in God?
8. How does believing God help us?
9. This verse shows us “most excellently the power of faith by teaching us that in the most desperate plight we should glorify God by not doubting that He will be true and faithful and that we should accept the Word with the same assurance as if God Himself had appeared to us from heaven…Faith always connects God’s power with His word, which it does not think of as something remote and distant but rather something inward which it has in its possession. Thus it is said of Abraham in Romans 4:20,” “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Calvin’s Commentary on 2 Timothy).
10. If we were to summarize what verses 8 through 12 mean, what would these verses tell us?
11. What practical application do these verses have for our lives?



The Foreknowledge of God and Free Will
“God, from all eternity, did—by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will—freely and unchangeably ordain whatever comes to pass. Yet he ordered all things in such a way that he is not the author of sin, nor does he force his creatures to act against their wills; neither is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.”
3.1 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, Modern English Study Version.

“Although—in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first Cause—all things come to pass unchangeably and infallibly; yet, by the same providence, he orders them to occur according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.”
5.2 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, Modern English Study Version.

“But it does not follow that, though there is for God a certain order of all causes, there must therefore be nothing depending on the free exercise of our own wills, for our wills themselves are included in that order of causes which is certain to God, and is embraced by His foreknowledge, for human wills are also causes of human actions; and He who foreknew all the causes of things would certainly among those causes not have been ignorant of our wills.”
Augustine, City of God, 5.9.

2 Timothy 1:1-7

Background of 2 Timothy:
2 Timothy is believed to be Paul’s last letter. His missionary ministry was over, as he was in prison on account of the Gospel of Christ. Paul knew that his death was certain and near at hand. Paul writes this letter as a second letter to Timothy, a leader in the early church. Timothy’s father was Greek and an unbeliever while his mother was Jewish and a Christian (see Acts 16:1). Because of Timothy being from mixed ethnicities, he was very likely subject to mistreatment from both Jews and Gentiles, as Acts 16:1-5 attests to. Timothy was a very young, timid, and very sickly person; seemingly not a likely candidate to lead the church through the severe persecution that had arisen that was only getting worse. Paul writes this letter to Timothy as a type of “last will and testament” and uses his last writing to bring some encouraging words to give this follower of Christ courage for the future ahead of both Timothy and the church.

Chapter 1:1-7

Verses 1 & 2: Introduction

Verses 3-5: Remember where you came from.
1. We have a family of believers. Other believers serve as:
a. A source of encouragement.
b. A source of joy
i. Not a joy in themselves but a joy in that they show us that God is at work in our midst.

2. We have a legacy of faith.
a. God has always had a people to carry out his plan.
b. We are connected to a story larger than ourselves.
i. We are in some sense connected to all believers who ever lived or will live. God uses people to make the Gospel known. This connects us together because we heard about Christ from other people and people will know about Christ because other people tell them.

Verses 5-7: Remember what you have.
1. If we are born again having the Holy Spirit inside of us,
a. We have faith.
i. Having faith means that we “believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6, ESV)
b. We have the power to persevere to overcome fear. (Revelation 12: 7-11)
c. We have the ability to respond in love. (1 John 2:7-10; 4:7-21)
d. We have the ability to base decisions on the character of God and on truth rather than on something that is fleeting or has no stability like our emotions. (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16)

Note: see Ephesians 1:3 and 2 Peter 1:3-4 for this topic as well.