What is the vessel for honor in 2 Timothy 2:21?

In this connection another figure is used, that of a vessel. Verse 20 is an illustration whereby the apostle makes clear and enforces his instructions. In a large establishment there are many vessels of different qualities, and put to different uses. Only those however that are set apart from dishonourable use are fit for the Master's use. Verse 21 applies this illustration to the case in point. A man must "purge himself from these," i.e., from men such as Hymenaeus and Philetus, and from the false doctrines they teach, if he would be "a vessel to honour" and fit for the use of the Master.

The believer is not told to leave the house: indeed there are vessels to honor in the house, and these are those whose conduct gives honor to God (observe here the meaning of Timothy's name - honoring God); while vessels to dishonor are those whose conduct tends to dishonor the God whose name they profess. The question is not whether they are saved, but whether they are honoring God.

However, a golden vessel of honor may be used to dishonor, as Belshazzar did when he used the sacred vessels of the temple at his idolatrous feast. Likewise in the great house of Christendom, where the vessels represent persons, a real believer in the Lord may do something dishonoring to the Lord or be associated with vessels to dishonor and thus become a vessel of dishonor. The Lord cannot approve of the service of one associated with evil, therefore the condition of separation from vessels to dishonor is laid down in verse 21 as a necessity for being a vessel unto honor.

“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour and some to dishonour.” Now in the passage no invidious distinction is made between the vessels of gold and silver, and the vessels of wood and earth. The “honour” of the vessels seems to depend upon their use rather than upon their intrinsic value. They are of different materials and for different uses. The vessels of gold and silver may be to the honour of the Master, and so may the vessels of wood and clay be equally to His honour, all fulfilling the purpose for which they were designed.

"But from what must he purge himself in order that he may be a vessel unto honor? From other vessels? That, I say again, is manifestly impossible. A vessel can be purged only from what it contains, or from what may adhere to it on the outside. The thought of separation from other vessels is as far as it is possible to get from the thought of this passage, for the passage directs attention to the condition of the vessel itself, not to that of other vessels. The aspirant for honorable service is admonished, not to look out and around for evil in his fellow-saints and to withdraw from their society, but to look within for evil in himself, and to purge himself from that."

*Only let it not be such a sample of misinterpretation as satisfies Mr. Carey on 2 Tim. 2:21 (pp. 50, 51), who fortifies himself with an unintelligent quotation from Augustine. "Go ye out from thence" (Isa. 52:11) means from Babylon, not Jerusalem; and the present application would be departure from every such system of confusion. Equally unfounded is the remark on the "purging" which the Apostle enjoins, as a distinct thing from the inward, personal purity which he also urges in the verse that follows. Why confound these, but because the truth taught in verse 21 is unpalatable and involves bitter and costly consequences? But his objection to the only and obviously true sense is without an attempt at a reason. Is it not certain that "if a man purge himself from these" refers not to what follows but to what immediately preceded, that is, the vessels to dishonour in the great house? If so, what can purging himself "from these" mean but separation from ungodly professors? Exactly so Bengel "purgando sese, exierit de numero horum vasorum in dedecus;" and Dean Alford accepts the same view expressly. There was no need, in the Apostles' days, for the true-hearted to "form themselves into a separate community," because as yet they were able to purge the wicked out. But the principle is a large one and divinely provides for a time when the wicked might be too numerous and strong; and then if we cannot purge them out, we must purge ourselves from them, and follow the Christian path "with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."

2 Timothy 2 casts more light on the subject. There Paul compares Christendom with a great house that contains vessels to honour and to dishonour. Both believers and unbelievers can be vessels to dishonour. But what is the exhortation given? “If anyone cleanses himself from the latter (i.e. by separating from vessels to dishonour), he will be a vessel for honour” (v.21). However hard it may be for us, we must separate from vessels to dishonour so as not to be defiled by them.

Third, the same Scripture demands separation from evil persons. Verse 20 speaks of vessels to honour and to dishonour, and in the following verse we are enjoined to purge ourselves from the vessels to dishonour in order to be sanctified and meet for the Master's use. Here it is clear that persons are in view, not merely doctrines. It has been truly remarked: "It is always in proportion to your separation from these vessels — persons, not their doctrines merely, that you are sanctified and meet for the Master's use … Few have an idea how one suffers from unhallowed society. It is not enough not to hold their doctrines; but their society contaminates. You are coloured by the lowest company that you keep. Every effort has been tried in Christendom to weaken the force of this passage; every one is great in proportion to his separation."

"If therefore one shall have purified himself from these, (in separating himself from them), he shall be a vessel to honor, sanctified, serviceable to the Master, prepared for every good work" (v. 21, New Trans.). When Christendom no longer answers to the character of the Assembly as God formed it, the call is for individual faithfulness and the responsibility of the individual believer to separate himself from whatever is contrary to the honor of Christ is stressed. The individual is here addressed and called to purify himself from the vessels of dishonor by separating from them.

The consequence of separating from such vessels is, that we shall be vessels unto honour, (and this will explain the meaning of the vessels of gold and of silver in the preceding verse), sanctified, set apart, and holy as so set apart, and meet, or serviceable, for the Master's use — prepared unto every good work. This is a solemn word for believers, and never more so than at the present moment. Do any then desire to be used of the Lord? Here is His own qualification for service; and be it remembered that the qualification is within our own reach and attainment, in dependence on Him who reveals it to us, and through the power which He will bestow. Then, when once qualified, it is His to take us up and use us how, where, and when He will; for by it we are "prepared unto every good work."