“For this cause I suffer also these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day”
(2 Timothy 1:12, HNV).
In the apostle Paul’s second correspondence to Timothy, his son in the faith, he informs him that he remembers Timothy night and day in his prayers (1:3c). Paul could write with confidence that he served God with a clear conscience (1:3b), this confession could mean he had no ulterior motive, no selfish ambition, in teaching the word of God—he had no delusions of ecclesiastical grandeur. He wanted to see Timothy again so that he may be filled with joy (1:4).
Someone reminded Paul that Timothy’s faith was sincere, just like his mother and grandmother (1:5), and this is the gift that Paul was likely referring to when he told him to keep it burning (1:6a); saving faith is a gift from God that is needed to get saved (Eph. 2:8; Rom. 10:9-10). The believer needs to keep his faith in God always burning, being that the fallen ones want to destroy not only the remnant of Israel but everyone born into God’s new creation (1 Pet. 5:8; Lk. 22:31-32; Rom. 6:23). Some people think that Paul was referring to a spiritual gift because he said that Timothy received this gift by the laying on of his hands (1:6b). They may be thinking this gift could have been the filling of the Holy Spirit, being baptized in him with the evidence of speaking in tongues (Acts 1:5, 2:4; 19:6), or a spiritual gift to make him strong to serve the church (Rom. 1:11-12; 6-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-5), or maybe they could be thinking Paul was referring to one of the action gifts to benefit the church (1 Cor. 12:6-10). All these gifts need to keep burning in the believer’s life and are likewise sometimes imparted by the laying on of hands (except the action gifts which are imparted as the Spirit solely determines without the laying on of hands – 1 Cor. 12:11), but I believe on this occasion the apostle was referring to the gift of salvation Timothy received when he put his faith in Jesus Christ. My reason is: that Paul said God has not given the believer a spirit of δειλίας (transliteration: deilias) cowardice—some translations say, fear or timidity (1:7a).
When God deposits the Holy Spirit into a person that believes on the name of Jesus, he makes that person’s human spirit come alive to him (Rom. 8:9-11). The Spirit of God becomes one with the believer’s human spirit. The believers spirit then become fearless, divinely powerful, filled with God’s love and able to be self-disciplined or self-controlled, or in other words, able to receive correction (1:7b; Rom. 5:5). The Greek word used for the English terms, self-discipline or self-control is, σωφρονισμός (transliteration: sofronismós); it literally translates into English as correction. Some English versions have translated sofronismós as sound mind, maybe because it comes from the root word σωφρονίζω (transliteration: sofronízo), which comes from the root word σώφρων (transliteration: sophron). Sofronízo translates into English as being correct, or become or make wise, and sophron translates as wise. Sophron is used in the Scriptures in reference to being sane, or right in the mind, or being rational; therefore, you get sound-mind.
The reason that some believers experience fear is not because their born-again spirit is fearful or afraid, but because the enemy has afflicted their mind—this fearfulness is in their mind. By mind I mean their ψυχή (transliteration: psyche) soul. In Hebrew soul is נֶפֶשׁ (transliteration: nep̄eš, and is pronounced neh'-fesh). Sometimes soul is used interchangeably with spirit, even by some scholars, but the two elements make up two parts of the human being’s existence. The third part is the body or human flesh. The apostle Paul had differentiated between the two when he had written to the Thessalonian believers that the God of peace may sanctify them completely, pneuma, psyche, and sōma (spirit, soul, and body), and be kept blameless until the rapture of the church (1 Thess. 5:23). The believer’s spirit is saved when the Holy Spirit is deposited into them (Jn. 3:3-6; 1 Pet. 1:23), and then the soul is to be renewed throughout the life of the believer by the believer, and then once the rapture of the church occurs the body is changed from natural (earthly) flesh into a glorious spiritual body by God (1 Cor. 15:42-54). That is why the believer is urged to renew their mind (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:8-10). Renewing one’s mind transforms the believer so that he does not conform to the ways of the world (Rom. 8:5-8). Nevertheless, having written all that, the believer needs to keep his gift of salvation always burning by sowing to the Spirit so that through the same Holy Spirit the believer is assured of reaping eternal life (Gal. 6:8b), always walking by the Holy Spirit so that the sinful nature is not fulfilled (Gal. 5:16).
God has given his salvation to every believer, not because the believer has worked for it but because he intended it by his grace—the believers eternal salvation is God’s preplanned endgame (1:9a, c). His calling for the believer is to be hagios (holy), or rather, sacred—set apart wholly for him (1:9b). Hagios literally means, to be different from the world and to be like God. Paul had written the Ephesian believers to γίνεσθε μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ (gínesthe mimitaí toú theoú) become imitators of God (Eph. 5:1a). The believer fulfils his calling to be holy by imitating God, to follow his example, to resemble him—sometimes the Christian resembles the world and its ways instead of bearing resemblance to God. The grace to become a child of God was granted to those that believe on the name of Jesus before the realm of time and space even began, when there was just the eternal realm—before the creation of the worlds (1:9d). God predestined the body of Christ to be in Christ Jesus before he even created the universe, his intention was so that the church would be ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους (agíous kaí amómous) holy and innocent, or blameless; in his presence and sight (Eph. 1:4). When Jesus appeared the first time, this grace for salvation was revealed through him and his gospel (1:10).
Paul was called to teach the message of salvation through Jesus Christ to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15), therefore he was appointed to be a kíryx [herald – literally a town crier], and an apostolos [apostle] and a didaskalos [teacher] (1:11)—he did not appoint himself, as so many are self-appointed today, but rather he was appointed by Jesus Christ and set apart by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2; 26:12-18).
Finally getting to the Scripture verse that I have posted above (1:12): Because Paul was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher of the gospel he suffered greatly (1:12a; 2 Cor. 11:16-33). But even though he suffered as he did for his calling and because of the gospel he was not ashamed, he would not have changed one minute of it for a life of comfort and ease (1:12b). Then he writes: οἶδα γὰρ ᾧ πεπίστευκα (oída gár ó pepístefka) “for I have seen and believed” (1:12c)—this is when the verse is parsed.[1] Many English Bible versions say like the Hebrew Names Version above: “for I know him whom I have believed.” But in the full context of this verse, in the Morphological Greek New Testament, this portion reads when translated to English as “for I have seen him in whom I believed.” So, it seems that what Paul was conveying was that he not only believed in Jesus but he had also seen him. He could have had on his mind the time when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-7; 22:6-14), and it is also likely, when he saw Jesus in a vision—an experience he had that he did not want to admit it was he himself whom he was referring to so that he could limit his boasting (2 Cor. 12:1-7a). Then he makes the confession: καὶ πέπεισμαι ὅτι δυνατός ἐστιν τὴν παραθήκην μου φυλάξαι εἰς ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν (kaí pépeismai óti dynatós estin tín parathíkin mou fyláxai eis ekeínin tín iméran) “and I am convinced that he is strong to keep my covenant until that day” (1:12d). The HNV translates this portion of Scripture as “and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day.” I am convinced that Paul is acknowledging that God is strong enough to help the apostle keep his promise to be faithful to the Lord until a certain day, that day being when Paul’s salvation is completed, spirit, soul, and body—this is the day when the body of Christ is raptured (1 Thess. 4:16-17). He may have had on his mind his prayer for the Thessalonian believers, and which he believes for himself likewise, that God will sanctify him completely so that on the day of the rapture he will be found blameless (1 Thess. 5:23). When you look at the context of his acknowledgment, he writes Timothy: τὴν καλὴν παραθήκην φύλαξον διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου τοῦ ἐνοικοῦντος ἐν ἡμῖν (Tín kalín parathíkin fýlaxon diá pnévmatos agíou toú enoikoúntos en imín) “Keep the good covenant through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us” (1:14). The English Standard Version has translated this Scripture verse as: “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” Paul is referring again to the gift of salvation that was deposited in Timothy, as he did in verse six, and to every believer when the Spirit of God was deposited in us. As Paul, the church must make a covenant with their Savior, that they will promise to be faithful to him every day of their life, and φυλάσσω (transliteration: fylásso) keep, or guard, or to keep watch over, the gift of salvation deposited within us right up until our salvation process is completed; the day of the rapture. Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.
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[1] Parsed Definition: Merriam Webster
“To divide (a sentence) into grammatical parts and identify the parts
and their relations to each other.”
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parsed
(Accessed 4/18/2023)
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