For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion.
Paul writes his last letter from a Roman prison to Timothy, a naturally timid servant, at a time when many were turning away from the truth (2 Tim. 1:15). Having just told him to "fan into flame the gift of God" (v. 6), Paul now explains what kind of spirit God has actually given — raising the question: how can a fearful man stand firm in a day of decline?
The word translated "fear" really means cowardice, and it touched Timothy's particular weakness.
The first clause, which might be rendered the spirit of "cowardice," reveals Timothy's special weakness. He evidently was a man, like Jeremiah, of a timid, shrinking spirit — one who only with difficulty, unless under the sway of the Holy Spirit, could face dangers and opponents. But while the servant of the Lord "must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil" (chap. 2:24), he must also be as bold as a lion in the defence of the truth, and in maintaining the honour of his Lord.
And this word is not for Timothy alone. The brothers note that while verse 6 applied especially to him, verse 7 "applies to us all" — God has not given us a spirit of cowardice. It flows from the Spirit who dwells in every believer:
That is not the Holy Spirit exactly, but it could not be apart from His indwelling. The indwelling Spirit imparts to us this three-fold character, apart from which we cannot stand in the evil day... Power without love might be ruthless, and love without the sound mind might be weakness.
If God gives a gift, He also gives the power to use it — but that power is tied to the state of the soul.
The gift may remain even in one who is unfaithful or indifferent; but the power to use it will not be present unless its possessor is walking in dependence upon God, unless he lives in the acknowledgment that power is outside of himself, and in the realization of his own utter weakness.
For whatever we have to do, or whatever we may have to bear in this world, we can always count on abundance of power from on high... The power is His, but this power is exercised on earth by means of His servants.
Power alone could be misused. God joins it with love, because divine power can only be wielded through the divine nature, of which love is the expression.
It is not mere power, which might be used for the destruction of His beloved saints; it is the spirit also of love — love that sacrifices itself for the good of its objects, and counts that sacrifice an unspeakable privilege... It does not hesitate to reprove, rebuke, and exhort; but it prefers to encourage, comfort, console, and intercede on their behalf.
The phrase can be translated "wise discretion" — a healthy mind, freed from self-interest, kept in quiet control before God.
When governed by the Spirit of God, the servant will always show divine wisdom in his work, and be kept in quiet control and subduedness in the presence of God. He will know when to speak and when to be silent, when to be in season and when to be out of season; for he will be maintained in communion with the mind of his Lord.
Mawson illustrates it from the healed demoniac, found "sitting at the feet of Jesus... in his right mind" (Luke 8:35):
You could not have a better illustration of a sound mind than that... It is the touch of the great Physician and His word that heals the mind. The sound mind thinks soberly; the man who has it is not puffed up by his knowledge; he puts Christ first, and considers His glory and not his own interest.
- Cowardice excluded: "Fear" here means cowardice — a shrinking timidity that God has not given, so it must never govern His servant, however hard the day.
- For all believers: Though addressed to timid Timothy, this verse applies to every Christian, as the fruit of the indwelling Spirit.
- Power in dependence: God's power is real and abundant, but it works only through those who walk in dependence on Him, conscious of their own weakness.
- Love directs power: Power without love would be ruthless; love spends itself for others and expresses the divine nature through which alone power can be used.
- Sound mind balances both: Wise discretion — a healthy, sober, Christ-centred mind — knows when to speak and when to be silent, keeping the servant in communion with his Lord.
Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but suffer evil along with the glad tidings, according to the power of God;
Paul writes this from prison. He calls a younger fellow worker to stand for Christ at the very moment when standing has become costly. The verse gathers three things into one call: the message, the messenger, and the strength to hold onto both.
The word points back to what Paul has just said about the spirit God gives. It also points to something in Timothy himself.
From 2 Timothy 1:6-8, we gather that Timothy was timid and held back by nature. That is why Paul urged him to stir up the gift he had received. Paul reminded him of the power and love which were his by the Spirit of God. So Timothy was not to be ashamed of the testimony, nor of Paul in his imprisonment. All these instructions were not put on record for the sake of Timothy alone. They are for the help and instruction of every Christian young man from that day to this.
Some read the phrase as a body of truth to be defined. One writer, answering that question directly, says the meaning is far simpler.
Not to be "ashamed of the testimony of the Lord" is the testimony itself — not what it was. He was not to be ashamed of bearing witness to Christ the Lord. Paul was in prison for it; Timothy was not to be ashamed because shame was put on the man who had borne the witness... How many stayed with the blessed Lord when He was taken, or with Paul even when he was?... The testimony reduces itself to its simplest elements — not being ashamed of Christ, set before the world in testimony.
Paul refuses to let Timothy separate loyalty to the message from loyalty to the man carrying it.
Notice too that the man who carries the testimony is identified with the testimony. That is why the apostle adds, "Nor of me his prisoner." Many claim to hold and love the truth, yet they would prefer to stand apart from the people the testimony is entrusted to. As our passage shows, this can never be according to the mind of God. It would have displeased Him just as much if Timothy had been ashamed of Paul as if he had been ashamed of the testimony.
Note whose prisoner Paul calls himself. Human authority held him unjustly, yet he calls himself the Lord's prisoner.
Shame is not tempting when things are going well. It presses hardest when the work looks small and the world looks strong.
When the tide of blessing is at the full there is little or no room for shame. It is very different when few are gathered in and the love of many grows cold, when the world grows harder and more scornful and the saints cower under its insults... The testimony may look like a failure, but it is still the testimony of our Lord. And the suffering witness, held unjustly by human authority, is His prisoner... Grace joined the witness, who may not be perfect, to His testimony, which is perfect... We are not called to suffer or to bear shame for anything but Christ.
The call is not just to avoid shame. It is to stand beside the gospel and take what falls on it. Commentators say the older wording "partaker of the afflictions of the gospel" is better translated another way.
"Suffer evil along with the gospel." The gospel is pictured here almost as a person. Timothy is urged to throw in his lot with it completely, whatever the cost, so that he also carries any reproach that falls on it.
Most of us are glad to share the gospel's blessings and its successes. Sharing its afflictions is a different thing, and Paul attaches a reason why it is possible at all.
This is only possible "according to the power of God." Here, as in Colossians 1:11, power is connected not with what is active but with what is passive — suffering.
This power does not remove the pain. It holds up the person who feels it.
What! Share in afflictions? Yes. Share in being delivered from feeling them? No — share in afflictions that a man really feels, but "according to the power of God!" This does not mean he stops feeling the pressure of sorrow and weakness. Paul had a "thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor. 12). Did he not feel it, do you think? Yes, he felt it daily... The power of God coming in on our side does not lessen the feeling.
- Therefore — the appeal rests on what came just before. God gave power and love by His Spirit, so a timid man could be told to stand.
- Testimony — what you must not be ashamed of is Christ Himself, owned openly before a world that rejects Him.
- Prisoner — the message and the messenger stand or fall together. Being ashamed of the imprisoned servant displeases God as much as being ashamed of the testimony.
- Alongside — Timothy is not asked to admire the gospel but to stand next to it and let its reproach land on him too.
- Power — God's power here is not visible triumph but the strength to feel the pain fully and not let go.