But youthful lusts flee, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.
Paul has just called Timothy to purge himself from the vessels to dishonour. Now he turns from what a believer leaves to what he chases, and to the people who chase it with him. Two questions follow: what are "youthful passions," and does leaving evil leave you alone?
Flee: the personal side of separation
Clean company with an unclean life is a lopsided faithfulness. One writer links this command to the wider argument, explains the word "youthful", and looks past fleeing to what the believer shows the world:
"Flee youthful passions" is another application of the general principle "depart from iniquity." But this command demands personal holiness. Without it, separating from evil men would be nothing but hypocrisy. Paul uses the phrase "youthful passions" because Timothy was a young man. Of course, we are to flee all sinful desires and then pursue "righteousness, faith, love, peace." The world is full of sin, spiritual blindness, hatred and strife. The believer is to wear this four-fold character of Christ in the middle of it.
These desires are not only the obvious ones. Another commentator widens the list, and notes why a person busy with public evils is especially exposed:
The apostle does not forget personal dangers when a man is taken up with public evils… It is useless to protest against what offends God in the church if your own conduct fails plainly enough for the people you criticise to see it… You must shun youthful passions — not only worldly or bodily ones, but "youthful" ones: impulsiveness, self-confidence, flippancy, impatience and the like.
Pursue: four positives, not a bare protest
Paul names four things to chase. One writer shows what chasing them prevents:
We are also to make the pursuit of "righteousness, faith, love, peace" our great concern. This keeps us from becoming mere separatists in the spirit of "stand back, for I am holier than you!" Instead we will be busy and happy with what is good and of eternal worth.
Each of the four has an opposite. The same writer names what each one refuses:
He was to pursue practical consistency, that is, righteousness. He was to walk in faith, not in mere human caution or policy. He was to hold on to love, not to selfish interests. And he was to keep peace, not stir up strife or push for his own way.
With: not solitude, but company
The verse ends on a small word: "with." It answers a real fear. Does stepping away from what dishonours the Lord mean stepping away from everyone?
The apostle does not command a lonely path for the one who separates himself from the vessels to dishonour… His place apart is not isolation, but insulation. Keeping yourself free from infection is a plain duty. But others will be doing the same.
Some tie the last clause only to the word "peace," as if peace alone were shared with such people. One writer rejects that reading and points to the promise in the words:
To limit the pursuit of peace to those who call on the Lord in this way would give the poorest possible sense… Not so. Take the faithful man who has purged himself from vessels to dishonour and walks in self-judgment and in ways that please the Lord. He is cheered by the prospect of company on his path. He need not fear isolation… God will not fail to work in those whose hearts are cleansed by faith.
A pure heart: the mark of the company
Paul does not give this company a name. He describes it, and one writer takes the description word by word:
"With" means companionship, not isolation. To "call on the Lord" means to profess that you are subject to Him. "Out of a pure (or purged) heart" uses essentially the same word as "purge" in verse 21. It means calling on Him sincerely, with the whole person purged from evil — purged by holiness in your own life and holiness in your associations.
One writer presses a detail that people often get wrong:
Note this: the sincere call is on the Lord Himself, not on the Name, as people often say. Paul's earnest desire was to "know Him", and so calling on Him becomes both a habit and an act of understanding.
The result in practice
Those who act on this verse find each other. One writer says what they become:
Will his path be a lonely path? No. He will find other Christians moved by the Spirit of God, as he has been, to purge themselves from vessels to dishonour. Here and there they are calling on the Lord out of a pure heart. Such people will meet together — not as claiming to be the whole church of God, but as a remnant seeking to be loyal to the truth of God.
Summary
- Flee. Youthful passions include impulsiveness, self-confidence, flippancy and impatience. Leave evil company without fleeing these, and you are only a hypocrite.
- Pursue. Righteousness, faith, love and peace are the positive occupation that keeps a separated believer from the spirit of "I am holier than you."
- With. The command is companionship, not solitude. A place apart is insulation from infection, not isolation from other believers.
- Pure. "Pure heart" uses the same word as the purging of verse 21. It means sincerity, shown by holiness in your own life and in your company.
- Company. Those who obey find each other. They meet not as claiming to be the whole church, but as a remnant loyal to the truth.