2 Timothy 1.6-Paul Exhorts Timothy to Exercise His Spiritual Gift With Enthusiasm
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday February 11, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 1:6-Paul Exhorts Timothy to Exercise His Spiritual Gift with Enthusiasm
Lesson # 9
2 Timothy 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, 4 longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (NASB95)
“For this reason” is composed of the following: (1) preposition dia (διά), “for” (2) accusative feminine singular form of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς), “this” (3) accusative feminine singular form of the noun aitia (αἰτία), “reason.”
The preposition dia is a marker of cause denoting the basis or reason for the previous emphatic statement at the end of verse 5 that Paul was convinced that a sincere faith in the Word of God lives in Timothy.
The relative pronoun hos is modifying the noun aitia, “reason” and is used to link this noun to the previous emphatic statement that Paul was convinced that a sincere faith in the gospel was living in Timothy.
The noun aitia means “reason” since it refers to the basis or grounds for a particular action and here it is referring to the basis or the reason for Paul’s conviction regarding Timothy’s sincere faith in the gospel.
This prepositional phrase introduces a clause which records Paul telling Timothy that he was at that particular time wanting to cause Timothy to remember to kindle afresh the spiritual gift from God which was the gift of pastor-teacher.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase indicates that “because” Paul was convinced that a sincere faith lived in Timothy, he wanted his young delegate to kindle afresh the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher he received from God.
“To kindle afresh” is the present active infinitive form of the verb anazōpureō (ἀναζωπυρέω), which means “to exercise with enthusiasm or zeal” rather than “to cause something to begin again, to reactivate.”
The reason is that the latter would imply that Timothy had lost his enthusiasm in exercising his spiritual gift and there is nothing in Second Timothy which would indicate this taking place.
Rather, since the apostle in Second Timothy 1:5 acknowledges that Timothy possessed a sincere faith in his apostolic teaching and identified his background with Timothy’s in Second Timothy 1:3-5, the verb does not mean “to cause to take on new life.”
He would only say to cause to begin again or to be revitalized if Timothy was not remaining faithful or was slipping in some way.
The warnings that Paul issues Timothy throughout this epistle do not imply that Timothy was starting to fall away from the gospel or was no longer faithful but rather they were to protect him from falling into apostasy and unfaithfulness.
The present tense of this verb is a customary present indicates that Paul wants Timothy “to make it his habit of” exercising with enthusiasm the spiritual gift he received from God.
“The gift of God” is composed of the following: (1) articular accusative neuter singular form of the noun charisma (χάρισμα), “the gift” (2) articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (θεός), “God.”
As was the case in First Timothy 4:14, here in Second Timothy 1:6, the noun charisma is used once of Timothy’s spiritual gift, which was pastor-teacher.
That Timothy’s gift was pastor-teacher is indicated by the commands and prohibitions that Paul issues Timothy throughout this epistle (1:13-14, 2:15, 2:24-26, 3:14-4:5).
The noun theos refers to the Father which is indicated by the word’s articular construction which in the New Testament commonly signifies the first member of the Trinity unless otherwise indicated by the context.
It functions as a genitive of source indicating that Timothy’s spiritual gift of pastor-teacher ultimately originated with God the Father who delegated His Son Jesus Christ to authorize the Holy Spirit to give this gift to Timothy at His conversion.
The Son received this authority as a result of His obedience to the Father’s will in suffering on the cross for all of sinful humanity.
He in turn authorized the Holy Spirit to bestow this gift on Timothy at his conversion.
“Through the laying on of my hands” refers to the ceremonial act of ordained pastors laying their hands on those men who possess the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.
Second Timothy 1:6 For this reason, I want to cause you, at this particular time, to remember to continue making it your habit of exercising with enthusiasm the spiritual gift originating from God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (My translation)
In Second Timothy 1:6, the apostle Paul encourages Timothy to persevere with his duties in Ephesus by telling him that he wanted to cause him to continue making it his habit of exercising with enthusiasm the spiritual gift which originated from God the Father which was in him through the laying on the apostle’s hands.
Paul tells Timothy the reason for this encouragement is that he was convinced that a sincere faith in the gospel lived in his young delegate to the Ephesians.
Timothy needed this encouragement because Paul’s death would be imminent and thus would be left alone in Asia without the encouragement of his presence.
Paul’s young delegate would need encouragement because he knew that his death at the hands of the Emperor Nero would mark a time of great persecution of the church and especially against its leaders such as Timothy.
He would also need encouragement because of the threat from the Judaizers and their false teaching which was plaguing the church in Ephesus.
The spiritual gift of Timothy was pastor-teacher which is indicated by the commands and prohibitions that Paul issues Timothy throughout this epistle (1:13-14, 2:15, 2:24-26, 3:14-4:5).
In Second Timothy 1:6, the apostle Paul is not implying that Timothy had lost his enthusiasm in exercising his spiritual gift and there is nothing in Second Timothy which would indicate this taking place.
The warnings that Paul issues Timothy throughout this epistle do not imply that Timothy was starting to fall away from the gospel or was no longer faithful but rather they were to protect him from falling into apostasy and unfaithfulness.
Therefore, in Second Timothy 1:6, Paul is not implying that Timothy was no longer on fire for the Lord but rather it means he was to make his habit of exercising the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher which the Spirit bestowed upon him at the moment of his conversion.
Thus, instead of suppressing this gift Timothy was to exercise this gift with enthusiasm and zeal and thus to permit the Spirit’s power to work mightily through his ministry.
This idea of laying on of hands mentioned by Paul in Second Timothy 1:6 is rooted in the Old Testament (Numbers 27:18-23; Deuteronomy 34:9) and was used in Judaism in the ordination of rabbis and was used of the ordination of deacons in Acts 6:6 and was often associated with healing (Acts 3:7; 5:12; 9:12).
In Second Timothy 1:6, when Paul says he laid his hands on Timothy, he is referring to Timothy’s ordination.
When Paul placed his hands on Timothy, the apostle was publicly recognizing before the church and God that Timothy had the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher and this interpretation is supported by the fact that Paul has stated that Timothy’s spiritual gift originated from God the Father.
Thus, Paul laying his hands on Timothy at his ordination did not result in Timothy receiving this gift since it was received at his conversion because all spiritual gifts are given to believers by God at the moment of their conversion.
In Second Timothy 4:14 the apostle Paul exhorts Timothy to continue making it his habit of not neglecting the use of his spiritual gift which was given to him for his benefit by means of prophecy accompanied by the laying on of hands by the council of elders of which council, Paul was a member.
1 Timothy 4:14 Continue making it your habit of not neglecting that spiritual gift which is in you, which was given for your benefit by means of prophecy accompanied by the laying on of hands by the council of elders. (Author’s translation)
The prohibition “continue making it your habit of not neglecting that spiritual gift which is in you” does not indict Timothy for neglecting the exercise of his spiritual gift but rather, it indicates that he was being faithful in doing so and simply prohibits Timothy from neglecting the exercise of his gift in the future.
Paul’s statement in First Timothy 1:3 supports this since it implies that Timothy was carrying out everything he wrote in this epistle and also, Paul acknowledges in First Timothy 4:6 that Timothy was following his accurate teaching.
Furthermore, Paul would not have delegated Timothy such a difficult task as the one in Ephesus unless he felt confident that his young delegate could carry out everything he required of him.
The prepositional phrase “by means of prophecy” indicates that when God the Holy Spirit gave Timothy the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher, He identified this gift given to Timothy “by means of” a prophecy which confirmed and identified to the Christian community that Timothy possessed the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.
“The council of elders” refers to those pastors who were ordained by other ordained pastors as a result of consistently manifesting over an indefinite period of years the qualifications for the overseer (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9).
Thus, they were men who were functioning as overseers in the various house churches in the Christian community.