If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
Paul has just warned Timothy about seducing spirits and the teaching they spread. Now he turns to the worker's own task. Timothy is to lay these things before the believers, and to be fed by the same truth he serves out. (Older translations read "nourished up in the words of faith." That is the wording these writers use.)
Old truth, freshly served
Timothy is to remind the believers of truth they already know. That work is not second-rate.
Leslie M. GrantThese things had been taught faithfully before. But reminding the brothers of them is work that must always occupy the servant of God. Timothy was not told to busy himself with teaching new things. He was to go over what was already known, again and again, and present it as the ever fresh ministry of the Spirit of God — food the soul badly needs.
Exalting man or exalting Christ
Error and true service aim at opposite targets.
Hamilton SmithThe seducing spirits, of which the Holy Spirit speaks, sought to exalt man with a sense of religious importance and sanctity. The true servant seeks to exalt Christ by ministering the truth.
To give out, you must take in
The verse names what the servant lives on: "the words of the faith." That rules other sources out.
William KellyTo go on well in Christ's service, one must be trained or nourished in the words of the faith. To give out, one must take in. But the right material is not the science or literature of men. It is the "words of the faith." Timothy had already followed that good teaching closely, and it supplies the material for the right service of Christ, who rejects the wisdom of this age. The words of the faith are always beyond the age and above it.
Why people are taken in by error
The verse ties good service to a well-fed soul. That also explains how error spreads.
Leslie M. GrantBy doing this he would be a good minister of Christ Jesus. His own soul would be not only instructed but nourished, and so made fit to nourish others. Men do not listen to seducing spirits because their minds lack knowledge. They listen because their souls are not fed and satisfied with the pure truth of God.
This gives a test for any teaching.
Numerical Bible NotesIn all teaching there must be something that meets the need of the soul, so that it may also bear the fruit it is meant to bear.
Followed, not merely known
The verse ends with teaching Timothy had "followed." Holding the truth and living it out are two different things.
Hamilton SmithTo be a good servant of Jesus Christ it is not enough to know the truth and hold the truth. We need to be nourished by the truth, and to follow the truth up fully in practice. Our own souls must be fed if we are to feed others. And we must feed not simply on the words of teachers, however true they are, but "with the words of the faith." These bring us "the good teaching" of Christianity. Follow it up, and it will have a practical effect on our lives, keeping us from the evils of the last days.
Measured by what is digested
How far a servant has come is not measured by output. One writer measures it by food: "how far a person has grown matches the nourishment digested in his own soul" (Leslie M. Grant).
Summary
- Fed — to give out, you must first take in. The servant's food is the words of the faith, not the wisdom of the age.
- Digested — knowing and holding the truth is not enough. Truth followed up in practice has a real effect on life and keeps us from the evils of the last days.
- Served — much of good service is repetition. Not new things, but known things given out as ever fresh food for the soul.
- Guarded — people fall for seducing spirits because their souls go unfed by the pure truth of God, not because their minds lack knowledge.
- Grown — a servant grows in proportion to what he has digested. Teaching that never meets the soul's need never bears fruit.