Lord Jesus Christ in the 1611KJV
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Lord Jesus Christ in 2Timothy

Verses within this Study.

1:1, 1-CJ, 2, 2-Son, 8, 9, 10, 13, 16, 18; 2:1, 1-Son, 3, 7, 8, 10, 14, 19, 22, 24; 3:11, 12, 15; 4:1, 8, 14, 17, 18, 22.

Click on the following links to jump to a section within the study of this Bible Book: Lord only, Jesus only, Christ only, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Son

Study Overview.

This book has many similarities to 1Timothy is so far as this study goes.  For example, this book is also well-known to be instructions to the pastor.  However, where 1Timothy deals with how to run a church, 2Timothy deals more with how to handle false teachers.  Both books are concentrating on practical matters and not teaching about our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, references to our Lord Jesus Christ  are secondary to the main subject of these books.  As with 1Timothy, the references to  Lord Jesus Christ  are analyzed in this study but the main subject of the book itself is not presented because that subject is outside of the scope of this study.

In 1Timothy, Seven out of 16 verses studied used  Lord Jesus Christ.  The other verses used some combination of those titles.  With the main emphasis being on  Lord Jesus Christ, it should be apparent that the preacher has to deal with God the Son in all of His roles and teach the people to do the same.  In 2Timothy, 14 out of 26 verses use Lord  by itself (1 verse is actually presented under  Lord Jesus Christ  and another under Lord Christ).  False teachers challenge the authority of the Lord  of the universe and will face His judgment without the mercy or other attributes found in His roles as Jesus  or Christ.  Please see the separate Study on False Teachers for other references and notes on this subject.

Lord Only

2Timothy 1:8, 16, 18; 2:7, 14, 22, 24; 3:11; 4:8, 14, 17, 18.

Lord  is the most commonly identified role of God the Son in this book.  In some cases Lord  is used as the ultimate authority / judge of all the universe.  In some cases, Lord  is used because it is the Lord  who rules and judges the lost.  However, in each case, Lord  is used to show God's authority because there are men who would challenge God and claim that their opinion is greater than the Law of God.  Click here for all of the Verses  that use Lord  and here for the Summary  on the name / role of Lord.

2Timothy 1:8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

Verses 1:8-11 form a single sentence which is divided by punctuation in the note for this sentence  in the Book Study on 2Timothy.  Please see that note for the overview of this sentence.  Please also see the notes under Christ Jesus  and Jesus Christ  within this study.

This sentence has two colons which divides it into three equivalent sections.  The first part (in this verse) tells Timothy to not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.  The second part describes how the testimony of our Lord  affected Timothy's life (and should affect the life of all saved) and was shown in this world.  The third part says that Paul was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles  or that Paul was appointed to declare and teach about the testimony of our Lord.  The best teaching is what is lived and Paul was telling Timothy to not be ashamed of the testimony that Paul was living.  So, each part of this sentence is telling us something about the testimony of our Lord.

This book is telling Timothy how to deal with those who have rejected the testimony of our Lord  and raised their opinion above God's word.  In this first section, which introduces the phrase testimony of our Lord, Paul uses therefore.  That is, based upon the things that Paul reminded Timothy of in verses 1:3-7.  In those verses, Paul reminded Timothy of his relationship to Paul, his upbringing by his mother and grandmother, and of his spiritual gifts from God.  Based upon these, Paul tells Timothy Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord  and in further verses tells him how to stand and represent the testimony of our Lord.

Also note that here Paul uses Lord  while other parts of this sentence use Jesus Christ  and Christ Jesus.  These differences are deliberate.  Here, Paul is telling us that the Lord  will judge these people who rejected His testimony.  If He had testified as Jesus, they might have claimed that they thought Jesus  was just a man and not God.  Christ  never deals with lost people and some of those that reject the testimony of our Lord  are lost.  However, when these people face the Lord  as Judge, they won't have any excuse for rejecting His testimony.  In addition, since this is the testimony of our Lord, and a testimony  is a legal statement, and this testimony  is from our Lord, it carries the weight of law.  That is, our Lord  made a law that he would test people with tribulation and afflictions.  Those who are truly His will stick with the gospel regardless of the afflictions  and the lying false claimers will fall to the wayside (1John 2).

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2Timothy 1:16  The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:

Onesiphorus is only mentioned in 2Timothy 1:16  and 4:19.  In 4:19  he is mentioned with Prisca and Aquila, which indicates that he was a non-preaching Christian that was very involved in the ministry.  Like Luke, these non-preachers were missionaries.  By calling on the Lord  to give him mercy, Paul is praying for God to use Christians, Jews and lost people to bless Onesiphorus.  Christ  only deals with saved people.  Jesus  died for our sins and has pretty much finished His ministry to man.  God deals with lost and saved men (today) only through His role as Lord.

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2Timothy 1:18  The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.

Please see the note on 1:16  above for Paul's use of Lord  in this verse.  When Paul says in that day, he is talking when we saved (Onesiphorus is obviously saved) will face our Lord  at the judgment seat of Christ  (Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10).  As explained elsewhere, it is called the judgment seat of Christ  because only Christians  will go there and not because we will meet the Son of God in His role as Christ.  As this verse says, we will meet the Son of God in His role as Lord.

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2Timothy 2:7  Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

This verse is part of a sub-section that goes from 2:3  through 2:10.  Here, Paul says Consider what I say  in reference to what he has said within this chapter.  Paul ended the prior chapter talking about how the Lord  would reward those who served Him well.  Then Paul started this chapter with Thou therefore  'Here is how you personally are to act as a result of knowing how the Lord  will reward those who served Him well.'  The Lord  does not change and treats all men the same.  Therefore, we can serve the Lord  knowing that He3will reward us like He rewarded others.  This is the understanding  That Paul wished Timothy, and us, to have.  In the first two sentences of this chapter Paul tells Timothy how to lawfully  do the ministry and to pass the ministry to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.  Then Paul uses the example of a soldier  and a husbandman  to show the law of provision for the worker, that applies to all people, because it is a law created by the Lord.  Paul also states a principal of this law in 2:5 when he writes And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.  Paul's example of the good soldier  and of the husbandman  assume that they are striving lawfully  when he tells of their provision.  In both cases, the higher quality of their work results in greater reward.  This is the proportional rewards that is spoken of many places in this Study.  Thus we see that when Paul says and the Lord give thee understanding in all things,  he is not just talking about the examples that immediately precede this sentence but he is also speaking about the deeper understanding  that comes from seeing this same principal applied in many other applications of life.  Notice the semi-colon within our sentence.  That makes this sentence a two-step process which requires us to Consider what (Paul) says  before we can understanding in all things.  In this also we see proportional rewards with greater understanding  resulting, in proportion, from greater consideration.  Therefore, Paul is calling on the Lord  to give Timothy (and the reader) understanding of these matters: in the examples just presented, in the way that those examples applied to Paul's instructions of the ministry, in the way that the Lord  works the same way in all applications and in the way that we can use this understanding  to guide our own service to the Lord.

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2Timothy 2:14  Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.

Paul used Lord  in this verse because God uses His role as Lord  when He does judgment and Paul says charging them because a charge is something that will come before the court.  Paul wants us to know that this is a serious thing which will have eternal consequences.  Paul tells us to strive not about words to no profit because the devil will get us into fights with fools to keep us from using our time in a profitable way. Proverbs tells us many things about fools.  Proverbs 23:9 and Proverbs 26:4 deal directly with this subject.  While we are to not waste our time with fools, Paul does say that we are to be subverting of the hearers.  The phrase subverting of the hearers  means bringing hearers into submission to the gospel of Christ.  When a person first gets saved they still have all of the ideas of the world, the flesh and the devil.  They need to be taught to submit the God's way so that they can have the blessing of God and avoid punishment for disobiedence.  Many times the spiritually immature will want to debate scripture, religion, philosophy or other things.  these we need to subvert (destroy the foundations of their arguments which are based upon ideas from the world, the flesh and the devil).  However, there are also people who don't care about eternal rewards but want followers here in this world.  These people won't listen but will just waste your time with arguing.  Paul is telling us to walk away from them (strive not about words to no profit) and move on to someone who will listen and get sanctified (but to the subverting of the hearers).  Now when we do this, many of the people causing problems will accuse us of all sorts of things ('you're narrow minded', 'you're being a dictator', etc).  When that happens, we are to tell them that the Lord  Who will judge them and us has ordered us to move on and not waste our time and that if they interfere, they will be judged by the most high God  (Act 16:6-21).

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2Timothy 2:22  Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

This verse is part of a section that provides more details to Paul's instructions to depart from iniquity  back in 2:19.  See note on 2:19.  This verse has a colon with but  after the colon which lets us know that youthful lusts  are the polar opposite of following righteousness, faith, charity, peace.  In addition, it isn't enough to just flee youthful lusts, but following these other things is also required.  Many saved people make the foolish mistake of thinking they have done enough to avoid obvious sins.  Not so.  We are required to follow  what we can't follow in the flesh so that we have to start walking in the Spirit if we are going to obey.  Further, notice that Paul tells every one that nameth the name of Christ  to do this with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  That is, not only those that are trying to live as Christians but everyone that claims to be saved and isn't lying (call on the Lord out of a pure heart) are to flee also youthful lusts  and follow.  In 1 and 2 Thessalonians we found that Paul used judgment by the Lord  to encourage them to live a sanctified life while he used the ministry of Christ  for the same purpose in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and other letters.  God wants all saved people to mature spiritually and to live a pure sanctified life.  Some people need to be motivated by the role of the Lord  to do that and some need to be motivated by the role of Christ.  Paul uses Lord  here (in addition to using Christ  in 2:19) to indicate all saved (please also see Act 2:21  and Romans 10:13).

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2Timothy 2:24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

Verses 24-26 form a single sentence that starts with And.  That connects it to the prior sentence which starts with But  and the grammar of this section shows that 2:19-24  are all talking about the same main subject, namely details on how to depart from iniquity.  Notice that Paul uses servant of the Lord, which is another connector to 2:22.  2:22  identifies the people Paul is talking to as them that call on the Lord.  The specific instructions in this verse are to not strive  which the And  at the start of this verse connects to foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.  The main place that we run into foolish and unlearned questions (that) gender strife  is while we are witnessing and trying to show people their need to get saved and how to get saved.  2:25-26  are clearly describing lost people who don't believe that they need salvation.  Verse 2:24  tells us how to deal with these lost (especially the obnoxious) when it says not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.  Again, the phrase in 2:24  (the servant of the Lord) tells us this is all saved.  As many preacher has said, Pastors don't make sheep.  Sheep make sheep.  This whole section is telling all saved that if they flee youthful lusts and follow (righteousness, etc) so that they are equipped to teach and win the lost, then they will be a vessel of honor.  However, 2:20  makes the clear implication that if they don't do these things, then God will use them as vessels of dishonor.  If nothing else, God will let the devils beat them up as an example of what happens to disobedient children.  The Old Testament is for our admonition, and the Jews that died in the wilderness are a blatant example of God's people  who remained disobedient and were only fit to be used as vessels 'to dishonour.  This verse uses Lord  for several reasons, the simplest being that this commandment applies to all who would claim the Lord, both Old Testament Jew and the New Testament Saint.

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2Timothy 3:11  Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

3:10  and 3:11  is a single sentence where Paul summarizes in single words many very bad circumstances.  This sentence is part of a section that goes from 3:1  through 3:13.  Please also see the note for 3:12  under Christ Jesus  .  This sentence starts with But  and points out the vast difference between Paul's life and the life of false preachers.  In this verse Paul says but out of them all the Lord delivered me.  The Lord  can't deliver us from problems unless He first allows us to get into those circumstances.  The Lord  can't show His power unless He delivers His people.  As the saying goes, talk is cheap.  Satan has these liars (3:1-9) talking a good talk but when the persecution and other tribulations show up, only those who are truly the Lord's  will stick around because they are the only ones who can be sure of deliverance.  We read of the life of Paul in the book of Acts and we see him delivered from trouble that is caused by both lost men and saved men.  That's why Paul said that the Lord  delivered him.  Christ  only deals with saved people and Jesus  finished dealing with lost people when He went to Heaven.

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2Timothy 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

4:7  and 4:8  form a single sentence separated into three sections by two colons.  It can be divided by punctuation as:

  1. What Paul did to earn eternal spiritual rewards.
    1. I have fought a good fight,
    2. I have finished my course,
    3. I have kept the faith:
  2. What the Lord  will give Paul for his life.
    1. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
    2. which the Lord,
    3. the righteous judge,
    4. shall give me at that day:
  3. What the Lord  will give to all them also that love his appearing  for their life.
    1. and not to me only,
    2. but unto all them also that love his appearing.

While there is a lot that can, and has, been said about this sentence, I will only cover it at the very top level and only in order to show the use of Lord  in this sentence. 

The first part summarizes the way that Paul has served the Lord.  The second part tells us about the reward that the Lord  will give him.  The third part tells us that all them also that love his appearing  will receive the same type of reward.  Lots of preachers like to preach this third part but neglect to equate it to the first part.  That is, a Christian can't honestly claim that he love(s) his (Lord's) appearing  unless they can say with fervor that his life matches Paul's example of I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.  Lots of saved people cry about the circumstances that God puts them into and say pray that god gets me out of these circumstances.  However, both Paul and Peter taught that the suffering, with a Christ like  attitude, is what gets us rewards.  Paul's first claim here was I have fought a good fight  and those who are running from spiritual (not religious) fights will not see Christ  working in their life and will not receive the reward from the Lord.  The second thing that Paul claimed was I have finished my course.  All through the Bible we see God interested in a personal relationship with man.  The thing that lost people complain about first (in regards to the KJV1611) are the personal pronouns:  ye  (each and every one of you personally), thee  (you personally), thine  (your personal possession), etc.  One of the main things that this study has shown is that Christ  deals with the saved person on a personal level and the Lord  said that rewards in Heaven are only available for what we do in Christ.  When Paul said I have finished my course  he didn't finish someone else's course, he didn't finish some religion's course  but he finished my course, the course  given to him personally by Christ.  The third thing that Paul claims is I have kept the faith.  Lots could be said here and even in this book the main emphasis is on the difference between the faith  and some faith  preached by false religious teachers.  We also see Paul calling for judgment by the Lord  (4:14, etc) upon those who did not remain faithful.  This is also the major complaint that we find coming from the Son of god in Revelation against His churches.  While many claim one or more of these items, as we find in the last part of this sentence, we have to be able to claim them all in order to receive the reward.

The second part of this sentence starts with Henceforth, which means 'as a result'.  That concept was pretty much already covered in this note, but there is another concept, and doctrine, in this part of the sentence that needs to be covered.  Here, the Lord  is called the righteous judge.  This combination of words is only found in Genesis 18:25; Deuteronomy 25:1; 1 King 8:32; 2 Chronicles 6:23; Job 23:7; Ecclesiastes 3:17; Ezekiel 23:45; John 7:24; 2Timothy 4:8.  Not all of these verses talk about God, but most do.  Jesus  is not called a judge, although He will judge in His role as Lord.  Christ  is not called a judge, although we do have the judgment seat of Christ  (Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10) where those who claim the name of Christ  will be judged by the Son of God in His role as Lord.  The reason for this distinction is found in this part of this sentence.  The Lord  is called the righteous judge.  A judge  can not be righteous  and consider the person (make a difference in judgment based upon the person) that is being judged.  That's why judges have to recluse  themselves if they have any personal relationship with the person being judged in their court.  Jesus  saves us on a personal level.  Christ  deals with the saved on a personal level.  Neither can be the righteous judge.  However, the Lord, who is no respecter of persons  (We find the phrase no respecter of persons  in: Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25 and 2:1.  Also explained in the notes for Romans 14:10-LJC; Romans C7S3 and Romans C10S13.  Please also see Romans C10S13 about the phrase no difference in people) is the righteous judge.  As the righteous judge, the Lord  will reward everyone according the same standard without consideration of who that person is, which is what the third part of this sentence tells us.

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2Timothy 4:14  Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:

4:14 and 4:15form a single sentence that is divided by punctuation in the note for this verse in the Book Study on 2Timothy.  We think that rapist or mass murderers do much evil  but God uses this expression for those who fight against the truth of His Word.  We find two reactions to such people.  If a senior pastor like Timothy had to be thou (you personally) ware, we less spiritual definitely need to be ware  and avoid such people and their teachings.  In addition, we see here that punishment is directly proportional to the spiritual evil  done by unrepentant sinners when they face the Lord.  Also, this punishment is not limited to the lost.  It is not known if this Alexander was lost or saved but and there are differing opinions about who Alexander was and what he did to Paul.  However, in verse 4:15  Paul says that he challenged Paul's authority as a preacher and apostle of the Lord  (for he hath greatly withstood our words).  For that, Paul called upon the Lord, who gives positions to men, and judges those who challenge His authority.  Jude 1:9  says Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.  When Michael the archangel  doesn't fight in his own power but relies upon the Lord, we are very foolish to do otherwise.  Please see the Study on False Teachers, False Prophets and Antichrists  for more information on the people to be ware  of.

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2Timothy 4:17  Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

Please see the note on 4:14.  The Notwithstanding  in this verse refers back to 4:14.

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2Timothy 4:18  And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his Heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

This verse is a continuation from 4:14  through 4:17.  Here, with the And, Paul is adding to what he said that the Lord  had already done for him by saying what he believed the Lord  would do for him.

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Jesus Only

Jesus  is not used by itself in this book.  Click here for all of the Verses  that use Jesus  and here for the Summary  on the name / role of Jesus.

Christ Only

Christ  is not used by itself in this book.  Click here for all of the Verses  that use Christ  and here for the Summary  on the name / role of Christ.

Jesus Christ

2Timothy 1:1, 10; 2:3, 8.

Paul uses Jesus Christ  to emphasize His role as our Saviour.  In 1:10  Paul explicitly calls Him Saviour  while in the other two verses, Paul uses Jesus Christ  as the title most commonly used to identify the Son of God in the New Testament churches.  Jesus Christ  was the most commonly used identifier because the roles of Jesus  and of Christ  provide the personal parts of our salvation.  Click here for all of the Verses  that use Jesus Christ  and here for the Summary  on the name / role of Jesus Christ.

2Timothy 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

Verses 1:1 and 1:2 form a single sentence which is divided by punctuation in the note for this sentence  in the Book Study on 2Timothy.  Please see that note for the overview of this sentence.  Please also see the notes under Christ Jesus, Son  and Lord Jesus Christ  within this study.

While this opening is very similar to Paul's opening found in other books, there are some differences.  As seen in other books, Paul starts out saying that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ.  In this phrase, Jesus Christ  is the commonly recognized identifier of our God used in the New Testament churches because these two roles of the Son of God provide the personal aspects of our salvation.  Later in this chapter, Paul explicitly states that Jesus Christ  is Saviour.  At least one reason for this is so that the preacher has this fact in writing (and in simple terms) in the Bible for those who can't study it out on their own.

Peter and Paul identify themselves as an apostle of Jesus Christ  in Romans Romans 1:1; 1Corinthians 1:1; 2Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; 1Timothy 1:1; 2Timothy 1:1; Titus 1:1; 1Peter 1:1 and 2Peter 1:1.  Please see these verses and associated notes.  The note for Ephesians 4:1  includes comments upon the difference between being an apostle of Jesus Christ  and a servant of Jesus Christ.  While an apostle  has more authority and power, he also has more restrictions on his personal choices because it is more important that he always properly represent Jesus Christ.  While lots of people want the power and authority, few are willing the pay the personal price of restrictions upon their personal life that go beyond stopping their sin.  In addition, to paying the price to get us out of Hell and into Heaven, Jesus  shows us how to live in the flesh.  (Please see the study called Jesus used the Holy Spirit.)  As an apostle of Jesus, Peter and Paul would have to live as personal examples of Jesus more than any other men.  Few people can live to that level of a standard in their personal life on so consistent of a basis.  In addition, Christ  spiritually matures us.  Peter and Paul would have to be the top examples of spiritual maturity in order to qualify as an apostle of Christ.

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2Timothy 1:10  But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

Verses 1:8-11 form a single sentence which is divided by punctuation in the note for this sentence  in the Book Study on 2Timothy.  Please see that note for the overview of this sentence.  Please also see the notes under Lord  and Christ Jesus  within this study.  This sentence has two colons which divides it into three equivalent sections.  Verses 1:9and 1:10 are in the same section that gives us a detailed explanation of the testimony of our Lord  (see the breakdown below for just this part of the sentence.)

The power of God is proven only when the devil does his worst and God overcomes it.

  1. Who hath saved us,
  2. and called us with an holy calling,
  3. not according to our works,
  4. but according to his own purpose and grace,
  5. which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
  6. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
  7. who hath abolished death,
  8. and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

There is a lot that could be said about this sentence, but I will stick to Paul's use of Christ Jesus  and Jesus Christ  and Saviour.  Basically, this part of the sentence is saying that God made the law of salvation before the world began  and that salvation would include grace  that is in Christ Jesus  but God did not manifest  (show it clearly to men) until the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ  (birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ).

In this verse, Paul uses Jesus Christ  and associates Saviour, abolished death, life and immortality  and the gospel  with Jesus Christ.  Every one of these things are given to all saved (Saviour).  Each use of Jesus Christ  in this epistle emphasizes the personal ministry of Jesus  and of Christ  that is in our salvation but this verse doctrinally states that our Saviour  is Jesus Christ.  That is, people who claim salvation while denying the ministry of Jesus  or the ministry of Christ  are not truly saved.  1John  deal quite a bit with those who deny the ministry of Jesus  and Galatians  deals with those who deny the ministry of Christ.  Please see those verses and associated notes.

This verse says that our Saviour  is Jesus Christ, not just Jesus.  Christ  has a relationship with the saved that is pictured by the relationship between a man and his wife as explained in Ephesians 5:22-32.  No man gets married just to pay the woman's bills for the privilege of going through a ceremony.  He gets married for the ongoing personal relationship that follows the ceremony.  Likewise, Christ  is our Saviour  because He is going to change our life and cause us to stop our sinning and work through our lives to bring the gospel to others.  Just like a man would refuse to marry a woman who refused the ongoing relationship, so also does Christ  refuse to be Saviour  to those people who refuse the ongoing personal relationship.  That is what the phrase brought life...to light through the gospel  is talking about.  To light  means that men can see it in this flesh.  The gospel of Christ  shows us what we have to do in order to allow Christ  to change our lives after our initial profession and bring to light  the changes that true salvation provide.  Likewise, the phrase brought...immortality to light through the gospel  is referring to the fact that men died for the gospel.  Indeed, in the equivalent section of this very sentence Paul said Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner.  The gospel of Christ  teaches us that since we have immortality, we don't need to fear physical death and can actually increase our eternal rewards by suffering (death) for the gospel.  That is what Paul is talking about when he says that is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death.

As brought out in the note for this sentence under Christ Jesus, the things in this sentence which are associated with Christ Jesus  are all things which are given only with spiritual maturity after our initial profession.  The things associated with Jesus Christ  (abolished death  and life and immortality), are all given at our initial profession and increase in how much they are brought...to light  (in our personal lives) as the gospel  increases our spiritual maturity.

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2Timothy 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

This verse starts with Thou therefore  just like 2:1  does.  Please also see the note on 2:1.  Here, Paul gives Timothy another commandment on the same level as 2:1.  It's almost like Paul said based upon everything in chapter 1, you have two personal commandments.  The first of those is in 2:1  and the second is in 2:3.  This verse (2:3) is the start of a section that goes through 2:10  where Paul says Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes.  Paul uses Jesus Christ  here because in any army, most people are the lowest ranks.  Your promotion in the army is dependant upon your pleasing your superiors, but the primary requirement for being a soldier is to join the army.  Even so, all saved are to endure hardness, but within that requirement, some will mature spiritually more than others through the ministry of Christ  and they will receive higher rank.

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2Timothy 2:8  Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:

This verse is part of a section that goes from 2:3  through 2:10  where Paul says Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes.  Please see all these verses and related notes.  Paul uses Jesus Christ  here because the man known as Jesus  fulfilled the promise of scripture by being of the seed of David  (1 King 2:4; 8:25; 9:5; 2 Chronicles 6:16) and by being raised from the dead  (Romans 1:4).  Fulfilling prophecy is the role of Christ.

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Christ Jesus

2Timothy 1:1, 9, 13; 2:1, 10; 3:12, 15.

Paul makes a deliberate distinction between his use of Jesus Christ  and his use of Christ Jesus  in this book.  In every case where Paul used Christ Jesus  he was talking about something that is given to all saved (Jesus) but which requires spiritual maturity through the ministry of Christ  to receive this gift.  In all cases, how much the gift is realized in the person's life is more dependant upon their spiritual maturity after salvation than it depends on their salvation.  Click here for all of the Verses  that use Christ Jesus  and here for the Summary  on the name / role of Christ Jesus.

2Timothy 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

Verses 1:1 and 1:2 form a single sentence which is divided by punctuation in the note for this sentence  in the Book Study on 2Timothy.  Please also see that note for the overview of this sentence.  Please also see the notes under Son, Jesus Christ  and Lord Jesus Christ  within this study.  Please notice that Paul identifies the Son of Good three different ways in this sentence.  He uses Jesus Christ  when he identified himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ  because that is the correct title and it emphasizes that he is to preach and teach all parts of the gospel but is also to present it to all saved without emphasizing those who have spiritually matured after their initial profession.  However, Paul quickly switches from Jesus Christ  to Christ Jesus  in this verse because he is writing to someone who is spiritually mature enough to understand that some things require maturity to receive and appreciate.  The promise of life  is something that is realized more with maturity than it is realized by a newborn baby or even by a young child.  Everyone should be able to understand that.  Yes, Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ, but he didn't receive his apostleship (the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus) until he met the requirements for receiving that promise.  Many people claim  all kinds of promises that they find in the Bible, or that someone tells them is in the Bible, but never meet God's requirements for receiving those promises.  They then get mad at God when He doesn't give them the promise.  Paul met God's requirements which is in Christ Jesus  and received the promise.  Paul also knew that Timothy had met the requirements to receive this promise, but in this letter Paul is going to encourage Timothy to make sere that he also teaches others how to receive this promise.

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2Timothy 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Verses 1:8-11 form a single sentence which is divided by punctuation in the note for this sentence  in the Book Study on 2Timothy.  Please see that note for the overview of this sentence.  Please also see the notes under Christ Jesus  and Jesus Christ  within this study.  This sentence has two colons which divides it into three equivalent sections.  Verses 1:9and 1:10 are in the same section that gives us a detailed explanation of the testimony of our Lord  (see below for the section of this sentence which contains this verse.)

The power of God is proven only when the devil does his worst and God overcomes it.

  1. Who hath saved us,
  2. and called us with an holy calling,
  3. not according to our works,
  4. but according to his own purpose and grace,
  5. which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
  6. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
  7. who hath abolished death,
  8. and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

There is a lot that could be said about this sentence, but I will stick to Paul's use of Christ Jesus  and Jesus Christ  and Saviour.  Basically, this part of the sentence is saying that God made the law of salvation before the world began  and that salvation would include grace  that is in Christ Jesus  but God did not manifest  (show it clearly to men) until the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ  (birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ).

In this verse, Paul uses Christ Jesus  and associates afflictions of the gospel, the power of God, holy calling  and his own purpose and grace  with Christ Jesus.  Every one of these things are given to all saved (ministry of Jesus).  However, each of these blessings also increase in amount as the saved mature spiritually after salvation.  There is a definite difference between these blessings and those associated with Jesus Christ  in this same sentence.  (Please see the note for 1:10.)  Please notice the differences.  Abolished death  and hath brought (God's) life (to us)  and hath brought immortality to light  are all things that we associate with everlasting.  These came by Jesus Christ.  However, in Christ Jesus  we have grace  and called us with an holy calling  and according to his own purpose.  Each of these we can have God remove from our lives if we continue in wicked enough sin.  Many men had the calling  and grace  to hold the position of pastor and then permanently disqualified themselves.  What's more, when someone is first saved they don't know God's purpose  and they don't realize the majority of the grace  God gave them and they can't hear God's calling  beyond salvation.  Each of these things require spiritual maturity after salvation but each of these are things that God wants all saved to have.  So, within this section of this sentence, we see (doctrinally) that Jesus Christ  is declared to be our Saviour.  We also see that part of what our Saviour  gives us is everlasting  while part of it is not.  We see that the part that is everlasting  is associated with Jesus Christ  while the part that is not everlasting  is associated with Christ Jesus.  Finally, we see that the part that is associated with Christ Jesus  requires spiritual maturity beyond initial profession for us to realize that we have it.  In addition, look at the next sentence, which starts with For  and gives us the reason for what Paul says in this sentence.  Also, please look at the whole sentence.  This is one of those sentences that most people quote only the last half and ignore the most important, but unpleasant, first part (For the which cause I also suffer these things).  Paul suffered these things  so that he could have the blessings that are in Christ Jesus.  Lots of people claim to have these blessings without meeting God's requirement for them (I also suffer these things).

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2Timothy 1:13  Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

We are to Hold fast the form of sound words in faith and love.  As said in the opening note, this book tells the preacher how to deal with those who have not held fast the form of sound words  and while they usually toot their own horn claiming to have greater faith and love, the end results of their doctrine are not the results of Biblical faith  nor the results of Biblical love.  However, spiritually immature people don't realize this and get fooled unless a spiritually mature person shows them the difference.  The Webster's 1828 defines sound  as:

  1. Entire; unbroken; not shaky, split or defective; as sound timber.
  2. Undecayed; whole; perfect, or not defective; as sound fruit; a sound apple or melon.
  3. Unbroken; not bruised or defective; not lacerated or decayed; as a sound limb.
  4. Not carious; not decaying; as a sound tooth.
  5. Not broken or decayed; not defective; as a sound ship.
  6. Whole; entire; unhurt; unmutilated; as a sound body.
  7. Healthy; not diseased; not being in a morbid state; having all the organs complete and in perfect action; as a sound body; sound health; a sound constitution; a sound man; a sound horse.
  8. Founded in truth; firm; strong; valid; solid; that cannot be overthrown or refuted; as sound reasoning; a sound argument; a sound objection; sound doctrine; sound principles.
  9. Right; correct; well founded; free from error; orthodox.  II Tim 1.  Let my heart be sound in thy statutes.  Ps.  119.
  10. Heavy; laid on with force; as sound strokes; a sound beating.
  11. Founded in right and law; legal; valid; not defective; that cannot be overthrown; as a sound title to land; sound justice.
  12. Fast; profound; undisturbed; as sound sleep.
  13. Perfect, as intellect; not broken or defective; not enfeebled by age or accident; not wild or wandering; not deranged; as a sound mind; a sound understanding or reason.

Within this definition, we find the reference to this verse in definition number 9.  Later, in 2:15, we are told that God will make us ashamed  if we are not rightly dividing the word of truth.  Please see the paper called Rightly Dividing.  When I-75was first built in Michigan, they crossed a river that lake-liners traveled.  These ships are as big as ocean-liners, but don't have as deep of draft.  They put draw bridges on I-75, and lifted the bridges when a ship had to pass.  After time, this caused too much of a traffic problem and so they built bridges that went about 150 foot in the air so that these ships could pass underneath without stopping traffic.  The contractor who put in the foundations on the north side of the river built them according to specification.  The one on the south side saw that the cement specified was better, and more expensive, than what he had used for about 25years.  He figured to pocket a lot of money because he used what had been 'good enough' for several years.  However, they were using a new type of bridge construction and his 'good enough' foundation got crushed.  They had already put pillars on his foundation.  They had put the part of the bridge that went from the solid ground to the first set of pillars.  But when they put in the next section of the bridge, his foundation was crushed because it was not sound.  He had not built to specifications.  In the past, they built bridges by taking one piece at a time up and assembling it up in the air.  That was a dangerous method and lots of workers died from falls.  This timer they assembled the next section of the bridge on the ground and then had a giant tractor pick it up and carry it whole up the road to place it on the pillars.  While his foundation would hold the weight of traffic, it would not hold the weight of the tractor with the next whole section of bridge roadway.

Many preachers and teachers are interpreting the Bible the 'good old way' even though it does not meet God's specifications.  As a result, God's church is being defeated by the lies of Satan.  Their doctrine is being 'crushed' because it is not based upon sound words  but upon 'good enough' traditions.  Traditions say to interpret the Bible by verses even though the Bible is written in sentences and tell us to interpret it by sentence (Isaiah 28:9-11).  Interpreting by verse causes us to diminish  God's commandments (Deuteronomy 4:2; Jeremiah 26:2), like Satan did when tempting Jesus (Matthew 4:7; Luke 4:12).  1 Thessalonians 5:21  also tells Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  prove  means to show it true in all cases but if God wrote about something 100 or more times in His Bible, tradition says that looking at several places is sufficient.  We also know that other men and religions have created definitions for Bible words that don't match the definitions found in the Bible, but traditions say that we don't have to be diligent  (Hebrews 11:6) enough to do a true Bible Word Study.  Traditions tell us to use whatever definition is convenient and many people grab what they find in a 'Greek Dictionary' of some English dictionary (Webster's 1828, etc) without realizing that these dictionaries have man's definitions which may not match God's definitions.  Yes, I includes the 1828 definition above, but I did not include all of that definition in my explanation and I am careful about how much I rely upon it.  Please note that I limited my use to the part of the definition that DIRECTLY referenced this part of the Bible.

Using these and other traditional methods we end up with a Biblical foundation that is less sound  than that bridge foundation.  In the end, the government paid the cost and tore down the part of the bridge that was built, and rebuilt upon a sound  foundation.  That's what this verse tells us to do, but most refuse.  We excuse our refusal by providing man's wisdom.  1Corinthians tells us how the wisdom of the natural man leads to error instead of knowledge and wisdom of the spiritual.  That's why Paul uses Christ Jesus  here.  The sound words  are what gets us saved, and therefore are for all saved (Jesus), but it requires spiritual maturity after salvation to hold fast  to them and to grow in faith and love  through them.  Faith and love  both take time and effort and come at great expense.  The spiritually immature believe cheap vanity  that has a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof  (3:5).  Those that are truly spiritually mature have learned to pay the cost necessary to increase in faith and love  and to hold fast  to that which God provides no matter what the cost.  That difference (due to spiritual maturity) is why Paul uses Christ Jesus  instead of Jesus Christ  in this verse.

One last thing: Paul is telling the spiritually mature preacher to not fall for the tactics of these false teachers and to hold fast  because new Christians will need a spiritually mature Christian to teach them these things.  We don't hold fast  just for ourselves but do it more for others.

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2Timothy 2:1  Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

This verse / sentence starts out with Thou therefore.  The therefore  refers back to the things said in chapter 1  and the Thou  makes it a personal instruction.  This is not something that can be passed off for someone else to do for us / Timothy.  In chapter 1  Paul talked about the testimony of the Lord  (1:8-11).  Paul told how he had suffered for it but also expected the Lord to keep his soul (1:12).  Paul talked about those that had forsaken the testimony of the Lord  (1:15) and about Onesiphorus who had kept it (1:16-18).  Paul reminded Timothy of the preparation the Lord had provided in his own life (1:3-7).  The last thing that Paul reminded Timothy of (in 1:18  [see that note]) was the judgment seat of Christ  (Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10).  More than anything else is the warning that judgment day is coming.  Based upon all of that, Paul delivers this personal commandment to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  The grace to stand for the testimony of the Lord  is available to all saved but standing in the face of everything that discourages us requires spiritual maturity after salvation.  As the fight gets harder, that spiritual maturity becomes far more important than the initial salvation.  Therefore, Christ Jesus  is used here and not Jesus Christ.

In addition, to those considerations, 2:2  says And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.  Notice that 2:2  starts out with And, which connects it to 2:1.  The spiritual maturity that comes through the grace that is in Christ Jesus  is definitely required to accomplish the command in 2:2.  Further, 2:3  starts out with Thou therefore  and Paul gives Timothy another commandment on the same level as 2:1.  It's almost like Paul said based upon everything in chapter 1, you have two personal commandments.  The first of those is in 2:1  and the second is in 2:3.  Please also see the note on 2:3.

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2Timothy 2:10  Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

This is part of a sub-section that started in 2:3.  Please also see the notes on 2:3, 2:7  and 2:8.  This verse starts out with Therefore  because he is referring to the prior verse where he said Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds.  Paul was in bonds, not for preaching to the lost, but for telling saved to have a personal relationship with Christ  instead of keeping the Law for spirituality after salvation.  Please see Galatians and Acts (related to Paul) and the associated notes.  Paul says here Therefore I endure that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.  Paul didn't just want them going to Heaven, but he wanted them to go with eternal glory.  That requires laying up treasure in Heaven by doing the things God tells us to do through the ministry of Christ.  This glory is available to all saved but how much glory we have is Heaven is dependant on how much the ministry of Christ  has effect in our personal lives.  The amount of glory  that we have for eternity is dependent upon the amount of glory  that God gets out of our personal lives while we are in the flesh.  Look at the very next sentence which says what I just said only in more detail.  Paul says If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.  That If  means that this is conditional.  If we don't suffer, then we won't reign with him  and won't have the glory  associated with reigning.  Paul also says if we deny him, he also will deny us  in this same sentence.  A lot of people claim to be saved but deny him  in how they live.  They are liars saying one thing and doing another.  However, Paul didn't just use Christ  in this verse but used Christ Jesus  because of the last phrase in the next sentence where Paul says If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.  If we don't mature spiritually it is because we believe not.  Yet, even when we believe not, he abideth faithful  and not only will take us to Heaven but will keep trying to get us to mature spiritually while we are still in the flesh.  God planned for all saved to receive these rewards, and keeps trying to give these rewards to all saved, but must limit them to those saved people who mature spiritually.  That's why Paul uses Christ Jesus  in this verse.  Therefore, Paul uses Christ Jesus  instead of Jesus Christ.

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2Timothy 3:12  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

This verse / sentence start out with Yea, and, which connects it to the prior sentence.  This sentence is part of a section that goes from 3:1  through 3:13.  Please also see the note for 3:11  under Lord.  In the prior (connected) sentence, Paul told of his own persecutions and how the Lord  had delivered him.  Notice that Paul promises persecution but does not promise deliverance.  Some times deliverance comes in the form of death.  Also, the wording in this sentence makes it clear that not all saved will suffer persecution, such as those who refuse to live godly.  Many of these people claim that they're just suffering for Jesus, and can be very loud about it.  They are really reaping the consequences of their own sins.  Yes, as this verse says, those that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, but Christ Jesus  teaches such to not complain but the praise God for what He is doing in their life.  The complainers aren't really in Christ Jesus.

1Corinthians 10:13  tells us but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able...to bear.  God allows all saved (Jesus) to be tempted so that we will grow, but he protects the spiritually immature from persecution until they are able to bear it.  Many might wonder why anyone would not throw a fit about suffering persecution, but those who are spiritually mature enough for God to teach them personally from the Bible learn that there are greater rewards for suffering persecution  for the sake of the gospel and for Christ.  These Christians gladly suffer persecution  because they have faith in God's promise of reward and are like Moses (Hebrews 11:24-26).God wants all of His people to be blessed but knows that not all will submit the persecution.  Because of the spiritual maturity required to be able to receive this blessing, Paul uses Christ Jesus  here instead of Jesus Christ.

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2Timothy 3:15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

3:14  and 3:15  make a single sentence that starts with But.  The prior sentence tells how evil men and seducers  will act.  Then Paul tells Timothy But you act differently, with 3:14-15  being the specifics of that different action.  Paul tells Timothy to continue thou in...the holy scriptures  which are rejected by evil men and seducers.  Indeed, an argument can be made that any who reject the scriptures are evil men and seducers  or are seduced by evil men.  Going on, Paul said that 'the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith.  Wisdom is not associated with a novice  (1Timothy 3:6).  In addition, we are told that becoming wise unto salvation  is through faith  and faith  increases with use and spiritual maturity.  Further, our growth in wisdom and faith  is personal because Paul uses which are able to make thee  (you personally) wise unto salvation through faith.  Therefore, the knowledge of the holy scriptures  and becoming wise unto salvation  are available to all saved (Jesus) but only those who have matured through the ministry of Christ  will have actually received wisdom.  Notice that this wisdom is unto salvation  but received by a saved person.  As we have seen continuously in this study, salvation  is God's life in us  and part of God's life in us  is increasing that life  through the ministry of Christ  (Ephesians 2:10, 1John 5:13, etc).  Wise unto salvation  means becoming wise  unto what we have in salvation  and becoming wise  about how to use it for God's glory while we are here in the flesh.  While there is much more that can be said about these verses, for the purpose of this study, we can see that the amount of spiritual wisdom a Christian has is more dependant upon the ministry of Christ  than it is on being saved (Jesus) and therefore, we know why Paul used Christ Jesus.

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Lord Jesus

Lord Jesus  is not used by itself in this book.  Click here for all of the Verses  that use Lord Jesus  and here for the Summary  on the name / role of Lord Jesus.

Lord Christ

2Timothy 2:19.

This verse uses Lord  and Christ, not Lord Christ  to show the difference in the two roles.  Click here for all of the Verses  that use Lord Christ  and here for the Summary  on the name / role of Lord Christ.

2Timothy 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.  And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

This verse is part of two sub-sections.  The first started in 2:15  and ends with the period in this verse.  The second starts after the period in this verse and goes through 2:21.  So, in reality, this verse uses Lord  and Christ  independent of each other.

In the first sub-section, Paul compares rightly dividing the word of truth  to (wrongly) dividing the word of truth  which results in profane and vain babblings, ungodliness And their word will eat as doth a canker.  (Please see the paper on Rightly Dividing.)  We also see that rightly dividing the word of truth  is supposed to result in people being confident in the Lord  because their salvation, sanctification and acceptance of the Lord  is not dependent upon vain opinions of men (The Lord knoweth them that are his).  Also, rightly dividing the word of truth  is supposed to cause people to stop their sin (Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity).  Paul then tells about two people who taught error claiming that the resurrection is past already.  However, Paul says that the resurrection isn't past already  because The Lord knoweth them that are his  (and the saved didn't have their resurrected bodies).  It is the Lord  who determines who will be in the resurrection (saved).  Paul is telling everyone to trust in the Lord  who has final say in all matters and ignore the judgment by religious leaders who are in error.

Paul then adds to this subject with the next sub-section which starts out with And.  In this new subsection, Paul instruct us to depart from iniquity.  In 2:21-26  Paul gives more details about how we are to depart from iniquity.  Here, Paul gives these instructions to every one that nameth the name of Christ  because not all saved do this and being able to do it requires the spiritual maturity that only comes through the ministry of Christ.  Paul makes this an additional instruction because not all that belong to the Lord  (saved) can or will do this additional thing.  As seen in Romans 8:9  and elsewhere, being a Christian (every one that nameth the name of Christ) requires more than just being saved.  It requires having under Christ in  us and being in Christ  because the Spirit of Christ is living through our lives in a way that others can see.  (If others can't see under Christ in  you then you probable aren't a Biblical Christian.)

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Lord Jesus Christ

2Timothy 1:2; 4:1, 22.

Other than Paul's standard opening and closing, Paul only uses Lord Jesus Christ  once.  There, Paul is deliberately invoking all three roles of God the Son as well as God the Father as legal witnesses that he (Paul) has done everything he can to strongly tell Timothy his responsibilities as a pastor.  Click here for all of the Verses  that use Lord Jesus Christ  and here for the Summary  on the name / role of Lord Jesus Christ.

2Timothy 1:2  To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Verses 1:1 and 1:2 form a single sentence which is divided by punctuation in the note for this sentence  in the Book Study on 2Timothy.  Please see that note for the overview of this sentence.  Please also see the notes under Christ Jesus, Son  and Jesus Christ  within this study.

The exact phrase of Christ Jesus our Lord  only occurs 5times in the Bible.  It would be a worth-while exercise to look at each of these occurrences, but be sure to consider the context of each.  The following links to notes within this Study should Help.  The other occurrences are in: Romans 8:39;  1Corinthians 15:31;  Ephesians 3;11  and 1Timothy 1:12.

While Paul normally opens with Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ  (with minor variations), here he uses Christ Jesus our Lord.  While Grace  and peace  are in the opening of every epistle from Paul and Peter and in 2John and Revelation, mercy  is included in the opening only in 1Timothy, 2Timothy, Titus, and 2John.  Each of these epistles are to a person who was personally taught by the person writing the letter.  For example, Paul calls Timothy my own son in the faith  within this verse.  In addition,  Lord Jesus Christ  is used in the opening of many epistles.  Exceptions include this one (which uses Christ Jesus our Lord) and 1Timothy (which uses Jesus Christ our Lord) and 1Peter (which uses Jesus Christ) and 2 Peter (which uses Jesus our Lord) and Revelation (which uses Jesus Christ).

While Peter and John are different authors and have specific reasons for their choice of roles they mention in their openings, we can say that Paul deviated from his standard only for Timothy, whom he called my own son in the faith.  In other books Paul uses  Lord Jesus Christ  to emphasize the authority (Lord  used first) right from the beginning of the epistle.  In this epistle, Paul knows that there is no problem with Timothy submitting to authority.  Therefore, Paul uses Christ Jesus our Lord  because he is still recognizing the authority but providing a more personal approach to the Son of God.  Paul switched from Jesus Christ our Lord  in 1Timothy to Christ Jesus our Lord  here in recognition of the spiritual maturity that has come into Timothy's life since Paul's prior letter.

As noted for 1:1  under Christ Jesus, Paul is talking to a mature saint who had experienced the difference in the ministry of Christ  which comes with maturity.  As a pastor, Timothy needed the grace that worked for a mature saint more than he needed the grace for a new saint just like an adult needs meat more than milk while a baby needs milk more than meat.

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2Timothy 4:1  I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

4:1 and 4:2 form a single sentence which is divided by punction in the note for this sentence  within the Book Study for 2Timothy. Please see it.

This sentence starts out with I charge thee therefore.  The therefore  is because of all that was said previously within this epistle.  Specifically, because there are evil men and seducers  preaching lies that appeal to our flesh, Paul charged Timothy to preach the truth.  Notice that Paul says the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge.  Paul used charge  as in a legal sense, which means that Timothy will face judgment by the Lord Jesus Christ  if he fails to do everything in 4:1-2.  In the Bible, judgment is always done by God through His role as Lord.  He uses Jesus  and Christ  for His personal relationship with men there is no respect of persons (Romans 2:11; Colossians 3:25) when God is judging through His role as Lord.  That means that our Lord  will not let one person get away with sin that He punishes another for.  As Jesus, He will know all that was possible and will reject excuses because He also lived in the flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit.  As Christ, He will know all that He prepared for each of us through our personal relationship with Him after we were saved and he will reward or punish us at that time.  Also, as Christ, He will know every time that He tried to cleanse the lives of the saved with His blood and they chose to ignore the warning of Hebrews 10:29.

Notice that this sentence says that He judges the quick (saved)...at his appearing and his kingdom.  This means that the judgment seat of Christ  (Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10)  happens at the start of His reign and not after it when the great white throne  judgment (Revelation 20:11) occurs.

Paul doesn't want Timothy falling for this error of 'God will understand' if I don't do as I've been told to do.  Paul can't make it any more serious than to blatantly say that Timothy (and other pastors) will face legal charges and legal consequences before God the Father as well as before the  Lord Jesus Christ  if he (they) fail to do all that is in 4:1-2.  Further, the saved need to be aware that they are not getting out of judgment and they aren't just facing Christ  and they will possibly suffer punishment and tears in addition to losing rewards.  We have consistently seen that the Lord  gives positions and our position among all of the millions of saved will be determined for eternity with NO chance of promotion after this judgment.

Paul uses the Lord Jesus Christ  in this verse because each and every role named is involved in what Paul tells Timothy to preach (in 4:2).

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2Timothy 4:22  The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit.  Grace be with you.  Amen.

This is close to Paul's standard closing of a letter but with the special relationship between Paul and Timothy, we should imagine that there was far more involved behind the words than when Paul wrote similar things to other people.  Paul wanted the Son of God to work and provide grace to Timothy in every possible way and through every possible role of His, especially since Paul had just turned the ministry over to Timothy.

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Son

2Timothy 1:2; 2:1;

Twice Paul calls Timothy son  because Timothy learned to be like Paul so much that Paul considered him to be his own son in the faith.  Click here for all of the Verses  that use Son  and here for the Summary  on the name / role of Son.

2Timothy 1:2  To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Verses 1:1 and 1:2 form a single sentence which is divided by punctuation in the note for this sentence  in the Book Study on 2Timothy.  Please see that note for the overview of this sentence.  Please also see the notes under Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ  and Lord Jesus Christ  within this study  Paul calls Timothy son  because Timothy learned to be like Paul so much that Paul considered him to be his own son in the faith.  (Please see the Summary  on the name / role of Son  for details on the Biblical meaning of son.)  Paul called Timothy son  twice in this epistle, In 1Corinthians 4:17, in Philippians 2:22, 1Timothy 1:2  and 1:18.  Paul also called Philemon his son  in Philemon 1:10  and called Titus his son  in Titus 1:4.  Paul used this title for only three of those that he trained because while others learned from Paul, they did not receive the full character of Paul.  We also see Paul include peace  in his opening blessing ONLY when he is writing to a son.

We see this usage of the word son  all throughout the Bible but the most important usage (for us) is found in John 1:12-13  which tells us ...to them gave he power to become the sons of God...  Please note that it says to become,  which means it is not guaranteed.  Indeed, Revelation 21:7  says He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.  Once again we see that this promise is not to all saved but to He that overcometh.  We are to be like Timothy and do more than just learn about God.  We are to receive the character of God so that we can truly also be sons of God.

2Timothy 2:1  Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Paul has just been talking about the suffering that he went through and some of the people that caused it (in chapter 1).  He also just ended chapter 1  with a reminder that judgment day is coming.  Paul and Timothy have a father-son relationship, as stated here, and Paul doesn't want Timothy to respond in the flesh to the things that happened to him.  Paul wanted Timothy to respond in Christ Jesus.  Like any good father, Paul wanted his son  to receive the greatest reward that was available.  Please also see the note for this verse under Christ Jesus.

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