2Ti 1:8-14 For what all important reason does Paul say in 2Ti 1:9 that we ought not to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord? See Mk 8:38. In what way is being called with a holy calling inseparably linked to being saved? See 2 Thess 2:13-14, 1 Pet 1:15-16. Is it because we are holy and for our own purpose that God saves us? See also Tit 3:5. So then, is holiness the cause or the result of salvation? If a person exhibits a life of personal holiness, does it necessarily mean he is saved? See Is 64:6. If a person exhibits no personal holiness does it necessarily mean that he is not saved? See Lk 23:39-43. If a person professes to follow Jesus and believes he is saved, but his life, especially over time, exhibits no personal holiness, what does it indicate? See 2 Cor 13:5, James 2:14-18, 1 Jn 2:3-6, 3:7-10. Was it after man’s fall into sin that God’s grace was granted to us? When does Paul say that God’s grace was granted to us? See 2Ti 1:9, cf. Tit 1:2. What does “before times eternal” (lit.) mean? Cf. Eph 1:4. When did mankind come to know about the eternal grace of our God? See 2Ti 1:10. Might there be other aspects of the eternal purposes of our God that have yet to be revealed and we have yet to understand? See 1 Cor 2:9, Mat 25:34, Heb 11:16. What two things does Paul say in 2Ti 1:10 that Christ did to manifest God’s eternal grace to us? Note: “abolish” means to nullify, render ineffective or useless, do away with. By what means did Christ abolish death? See Heb 2:14, Rom 6:6. What is the message called that brings to light the life and immortality that God promised “before times eternal” (see Tit 1:2) and was effected by Christ’s death and resurrection? How was Paul instrumental in proclaiming that message? See 2Ti 1:11. What is the difference between a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher? Why did Paul in 2Ti 1:9-11 digress to remind Timothy about his role in spreading the gospel message? See 2Ti 1:12a and again 2Ti 1:8; note also that 2Ti 1:8-12a is one long sentence in the Greek. What is so objectionable to the carnal flesh of fallen man that makes suffering for the gospel inevitable? See 2Ti 3:12 and consider the following words from the Humanist Manifesto II: “No deity will save us; we must save ourselves.” Why was Paul not ashamed to be branded a criminal and suffer as he did for the sake of the gospel? See 2Ti 1:12. Is our personal fellowship and trust in the Lord such that we can with Paul eschew the shame of suffering for His name? Note: “what I have entrusted to Him” is literally “my trust/deposit/treasure”; see 2Ti 1:14 and 1 Tim 6:20 for the only other NT occurrences of this word and Lev 6:2,4 for the only OT occurrences in the LXX. What was the trust committed to Paul that he was convinced the Lord was able to guard “until that day” and that he twice exhorts Timothy to guard? See 2Ti 1:13. Was it in and through himself that Timothy would be able to “hold fast the example of sound words” (lit) he’d heard from Paul and so guard the gospel trust? See 2Ti 1:14. What do 2Ti 1:12b-14 teach us about the part the Lord’s servants play in the way He guards “the good deposit” of the sound doctrine of the gospel? See again the literal rendering of 2Ti 1:13 as well as2Ti 2:2. Why is it essential that the Lord’s servants hold fast the example of sound words “in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus”? See 2Ti 2:24-25.
2Ti 1:15-18 What examples, both positive and negative, does Paul offer Timothy in these verses to reinforce his exhortation in 2Ti 1:8? Compare the nature and duration of the shame Onesiphorus eschewed to search out Paul and the shame of Phygelus and Hermogenes who deserted Paul. What price did Onesiphorus pay for standing with Paul for the truth? Was Onesiphorus being held in prison for trial like Paul or had he in fact been executed? Who are the two lords in 2Ti 1:18? Is the second lord God (see Ps 110:1) and is Paul here perhaps praying for the dead, or is the second lord the imperial magistrate (see Acts 25:26)? Is “that day” the day of God’s judgment or the day of the magistrate’s judgment?