Have an outline of sound words, which [words] thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which [are] in Christ Jesus.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Keep, by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us, the good deposit entrusted.
Paul hands Timothy something he calls a deposit, and tells him to guard it. Two questions follow: what has been entrusted, and where does the power to keep it come from?
The word points to something placed in safe hands for safe keeping. One writer defines it by ruling out what it is not:
The deposit here, as in 2 Timothy 1:14, means the truth God entrusted through the people He chose. It is God's revelation, given in words taught by the Holy Spirit. It is the pattern of sound words that Timothy heard from Paul in front of many witnesses. It is not the soul or its salvation. It is not the office of a minister. It is not even the grace of the Spirit. It is the perfect communication of what God is in His nature, His ways, His relationships, and His purposes.
Another writer rules out salvation for a different reason:
So the question is this: what is the good deposit? It cannot be eternal life or salvation, because keeping that belongs to Christ Himself. So it is probably the truth — the truth put into the care of His servants — to be held by them in full faithfulness as they serve, looking on to that day.
One writer sets this command beside what Paul said two verses earlier:
In verse 12 the apostle rested with holy satisfaction in God keeping what he had entrusted to Him. Here is the other side. Timothy is called to keep what was entrusted to him, and God gives him help for it in the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. The Spirit given to us stays with us for ever. Our sins and foolishness may grieve Him, but since redemption He does not abandon the believer. When self-judgment clears the hindrance away, He is there to act in His own gracious power, for the glory of Christ Who sent Him down for this very purpose.
Paul had given Timothy a pattern of sound words. But a form of words, left on its own, is not enough:
It is good to have the truth set out in an outline of sound words. Yet no such outline can keep the truth alive by itself. For that the Holy Spirit is needed. Without Him the sound words only embalm the truth. You can see this in some of the orthodox confessions, where the creed has been completely cut off from daily practice. But by the Spirit who lives in us the truth can be kept in its living power.
The command assumes a resource the reader already has. That changes where our attention should rest:
It is worth remembering this. If the Lord sends us on any service, or sets us to defend the truth in a hard day, He has given us power equal to every demand that can be made on us. We are too often taken up with a sense of our own weakness, instead of with the power we have through the Holy Spirit living in us.
Some people enjoy a fight over doctrine. One writer is careful to say that this is not what Paul is asking for:
Many people naturally enjoy conflict over the truth. They catch the scent of battle from far off with fierce joy. But I do not think the apostle is pointing to that hard spirit here. He is not speaking of quarrelling over the truth, or of the pleasure of winning an argument. He is speaking of guarding the deposit of truth by the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Commentators differ in emphasis. One writer stresses trading with what was left in our hands:
It is only right that the Master should have interest on so valuable a deposit. Compare Luke 19:23. The one effective way of keeping this trust is to use it for the Master. But it is not ours to hand over to the enemy as we please. We must not let it be stolen away.
And the charge does not stop with one gifted man:
Yet every believer is called to keep the good deposit in this way, and all who fail to do so will suffer eternal loss of reward. This cannot be done in natural strength. Only as a person walks in the Spirit will the grace that is needed be given.
- Entrusted — The deposit is God's revealed truth, placed in a servant's hands. It is not salvation and not an office. Salvation is Christ's to keep; this is ours to guard.
- Exchanged — Paul left what was his with the Lord for safe keeping. The Lord left His truth with Timothy. Both sides of the trust are kept.
- Empowered — Right words alone only embalm the truth. The Spirit who lives in us keeps it alive, and He does not leave us when we fail.
- Employed — We keep the deposit by using it for the Master and by refusing to hand it to the enemy. We never keep it by burying it.
- Extended — Every believer is called to this keeping, not just the gifted worker. None of it can be done in natural strength.