What is the spirit of power (2 Timothy 1:7)?

If the Lord, through His Apostle, summons Timothy to more diligent service, He also draws his attention to the source of his power. "For," continues the Apostle, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." v. 7. The first clause, which might be rendered the spirit of "cowardice," reveals Timothy's especial 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 strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient" (chap. 2:24), he must be also as bold as a lion in the defence of the truth, and in maintaining the honour, of his Lord. Timothy is therefore taught that the spirit God gives is not one of fear or cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

If the Lord, through His apostle, summons Timothy to more diligent service, He also draws his attention to the source of his power. "For," continues the apostle, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (1 Tim. 1:7.) The first clause, which might be rendered the spirit of "cowardice," reveals Timothy's especial 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 strive; but be gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient" (1 Tim. 2:24), he must be also as bold as a lion in the defence of the truth, and in maintaining the honour of his Lord. Timothy is therefore taught that the spirit God gives is not one of fear or cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

These are three remarkable words, and they require a little examination. First, it is a spirit of power; for if God bestows gift, He gives also the power to exercise it; that is, it should be added, if there is the state of soul for its use. It is indeed of the last importance to remember the connection between state of soul and the power of the Spirit. The gift may abide even in one who is unfaithful or indifferent, bait 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. This is the apostle's point: "God," he says, "has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power." If therefore the servant, and Timothy was to learn it, is animated with fear or timidity, he should know that this is not the spirit God gives, for His Spirit is one of power. These two things are to be noted - the source of the power, and the character of the spirit given. Moreover, the spirit is also "of love." The apostle follows in this the same order as in 1 Corinthians. In 1 Cor. 12 he speaks of spiritual manifestations in the assembly; and, at the end of the chapter, of workers of miracles, gifts of healing, and speaking with tongues - all of which are connected with displays of power, And then in the nest chapter he proceeds to speak of love, teaching that if anyone spoke with the tongues of men and angels, and had not love, he would become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal; for in truth divine power can only be wielded by the Spirit, through a divine nature, for of this it is that love is the expression. The flesh, man's sinful nature, can never be used in the Lord's service; and thus power and love - divine, holy love - can never be dissociated. There will also be, as a consequence of love, a sound mind,* or, as it has been translated, "a wise discretion;" for when governed by the Spirit of God, the servant will always exhibit 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. E. D.

(V. 7). Having spoken of gifts that are special to the individual, the Apostle passes on to remind Timothy of the gift that is common to all believers. To some, God gives a special gift for the ministry of the word; to all His people He gives the spirit of power, and of love, and of wise discretion. It would hardly seem that the reference is to the Holy Spirit, though the gift of the Spirit is implied. It is rather the state and spirit of the believer that is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit and therefore partakes of the character of the Spirit, as the Lord said, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” By nature Timothy may have been timid and retiring in disposition, but the Holy Spirit does not produce the spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. In the natural man we may find power without love, or love degenerating into mere sentiment. With the Christian, under the control of the Spirit, power is combined with love, and love expressed with a wise discretion.

But God has not given to us the spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind. 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. It is the life and spirit of Jesus Christ in us. I have no doubt that we need power and love and the sound mind in every sphere of Christian life. Power without love might be ruthless, and love without the sound mind might be weakness. But I would emphasize each of them in its own special sphere. We need the sound mind in our individual lives. What is the meaning of it? It is a wise mind, a discreet mind. A brother was telling me today, as we discussed it, that it was a healthy mind, and I quite agree with that. The natural mind, always dominated by a sinful self-interest in one form or another, is not a sound or healthy mind; it cannot wisely discriminate between good and evil. The Gadarenes came out of their city to see what had happened to the demoniac whose name was Legion.

And the Spirit, who communicated the gift and who dwells in every child of God, is not a spirit of fear. If, therefore, we give in to our own fears, we are not walking in the Spirit, for He is the Spirit "of power, and love, and of a sound mind." Observe how power and love are connected here: there is no weakness in the Spirit of God, but love is the very energy by which His power is exercised. "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given unto us" (Rom. 5:5). The more positive and full the expanding of the heart in love toward others, the more will the liberty and power of the Spirit be in evidence, with calm courage of faith. And He is the Spirit of a sound mind also, for it is He who brings everything to its proper, sober level; who makes all to take its place in consistent balance with all else. If our minds are otherwise, it is because we do not allow Him His proper control over us. Of course the flesh is still in a believer, and he may be mentally unbalanced, but this stems from the old nature, not from the new. The Spirit is still the Spirit of a sound mind, and in certain areas where the knowledge of Christ is concerned, this will be evident even in a believer who in other respects suffers mental aberrations. It is a great mercy this is so; but a believer should seek in every respect to allow the Spirit of God such liberty and control that it will be manifest in every department of life. This is itself a great preservative of the mind's condition, though one could not suppose it to be a guarantee against physical infirmity and deterioration, which ofttimes affects the brain too, the brain being physical, the mind not so.

"Power" here does not mean "authority" but rather "might" or "force" We have the force but it needs to be controlled by love, and both force and love must be governed by "a sound mind" or "wise discretion" if the energy that we have by the Holy Spirit is to be rightly employed. We are not therefore to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.

He had to be A MAN OF ENERGY and not indolent (v. 6), for an idle servant of the Lord is an abomination to Him, but true energy is not mere natural energy, it is the energy of the Spirit, described here as the Spirit of power, and of love and of a sound mind. This Spirit has been given by God to every true servant. Power is given because of the enemy that opposes and the evil that has to be met. Love because the servant of the Lord must display in his service the very nature of the One who has sent him, or he belies his message and mission. A sound mind — "wise discretion" because apart from wisdom given from above, he will, by his own folly, mar the service and bring discredit on the Lord's Name. And this wisdom is "first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy" (Jas. 3:17). The Spirit of power, love and wise discretion is the Holy Ghost; none can do the work of an evangelist apart from the Holy Ghost.

He had to be A MAN OF COURAGE and not a coward (v. 8). "Spirit of fear" in verse 7 is really the spirit of cowardice. If he thought of men and their opinions he would come under the fear of men and he would be useless and would be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, which is not popular with men. The Lord is rejected by the world, and the testimony has to be proclaimed in any enemies' land, the heralds of it cannot look for support or expect the patronage of the world, hence the afflictions of the Gospel. Natural courage will give way before these afflictions and fly the field, but the power of God can make His servant triumph through them and fight the good fight until the victory is won.

2 Timothy 1 shows us the Holy Spirit as characterized by "the spirit … of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (7); so that the believer is enabled to be a "partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God" (8), and also to "keep by the Holy Ghost which dwells in us" the good deposit with which he has been entrusted (14). The Spirit of God is the power of endurance and for fidelity.

Timothy was very unlike Simon Peter; he was not naturally courageous, but timid, and because of this was in danger of shrinking from the conflict to which he had been called of God. He required to be encouraged, and Paul strengthened him with the words, "God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power … be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God" (2 Tim. 1:7-8). If natural bravery and strength cannot help in spiritual warfare, natural timidity in itself is no hindrance. What we need is " the spirit of power" which sets aside natural strength and natural timidity.

In both epistles to Timothy we hear of the Holy Ghost repeatedly. I have referred to the prophetic episode in the first epistle; but the introduction of the matter in 2 Tim. 1:7 is deeply interesting also. "God," says the apostle, "hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (See also ver. 14.) It is not hard to see why the Holy Ghost is so spoken of in this place. Timothy shrank from the difficulties of Christian warfare — from that sorrow and trial into which the service of Christ, more particularly among the assemblies, necessarily brings him who seeks to be faithful. Hence the apostle reminds him of the gift which had been given him through the imposition of his own hands, and adds that the Spirit, who is given to us Christians, is not the Spirit of cowardice, but of power, love, and discreetness (σωφρονισμοῦ). There are thus two things — the gift given him by the imposition of the apostle's hands, and, besides, the general character of the Spirit given to the saints. Clearly this was for the purpose of stirring up the trembling man of God. Why should he be surcharged with grief at difficulties, dangers, disappointments, or even the defection of those who had once laboured with the apostle himself, but were now turned against him?