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More than conquerors
Here’s the big idea in the book we’ve been studying, 2 Timothy:
The believer in Jesus [along with his pastors and churches] is called to power, love, and discipline. License, panic, and legalism are the exact opposite of God’s best for His child. Instead, we are more than conquerors through a disciplined life of power and love, confident in our eternal position in Christ.
There are also 3 important sub-themes in the epistle:
1. Scriptural authority. The Lord speaks through Paul, defending scripture as the authoritative, inerrant, infallible breath of God.
2. Salvation. Paul is certain to stress salvation. In fact, in the pastorals [1 & 2 Tim, Titus], he uses “save,” “saved,” and “salvation” in all three biblical senses: justification (e.g., 1 Tim. 2:4), sanctification (e.g., 1 Tim. 2:15), and glorification (e.g., 2 Tim. 2:10). In 2 Timothy, Paul especially highlights the grace of God that is the foundation of all aspects of salvation.
3. Security. ἐπαισχύνομαι epaischynomai – what we render “ashamed” – appears in the negative often in the letter, more so than any other NT epistle. Paul is not ashamed; rather he is secure in Christ. ἐπαισχύνομαι epaischynomai is a particularly great word choice because it’s used throughout the NT and the Septuagint for the shame brought by the righteous judgment of God. The believer will face no such shame in glory and should live in sanctification so that he is unashamed temporally as well.
God bless,
Wayne