2 Timothy 1.7-Paul Reminds Timothy the Spirit Never Produces Cowardice But Power, Love and Self-Discipline
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday February 12, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 1:7-Paul Reminds Timothy the Spirit Never Produces Cowardice But Power, Love and Self-Discipline
Lesson # 10
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. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. (NASB95)
Second Timothy 1:7 presents the reason why Paul wanted Timothy to continue making it his habit of exercising with enthusiasm the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher which he received from God at the moment of his conversion.
“God” is the noun theos (θεός), which 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.
Also the articular construction is anaphoric meaning it is pointing back to the word’s usage in verse 6 indicating that the word retains the same referent and meaning here in verse 7.
“Has not given” is composed of the emphatic negative adverb ou (οὔ), “not” and the verb didōmi (δίδωμι), “has given.”
The verb didōmi means “to give” and it is used with God the Father as its subject and the Holy Spirit as its object and the word’s meaning is emphatically negated by the emphatic negative adverb ou which emphatically denies the idea of God the Father giving the Christian a Spirit who produces timidity.
Therefore, these two words indicate that Paul is telling Timothy that God the Father has by no means given the Christian a Spirit who produces timidity.
“Us” is the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), which refers to the Christian community as a corporate unit throughout the Roman Empire and is used here in a distributive sense meaning that God the Father gave to each and every Christian the Spirit.
“A spirit” is the noun pneuma (πνεῦμα), which refers to God the Holy Spirit and not an attitude or the human personality under the Spirit’s influence (1 Cor. 4:21; Gal. 6:1; 1 Pet. 3:4) since Paul mentions the Spirit in Second Timothy 1:14.
“Of timidity” is the noun deilia (δειλία), which means “cowardice, timidity, fear caused by lack of mental or moral strength” and functions as a genitive of product which would indicate that Paul is telling Timothy that the Father by no means gave the Christian a Spirit “who produces” cowardice.
“But of power and love and discipline” stands in direct contrast to the previous statement that God the Father has by no means given the Christian a Spirit who produces cowardice.
“Power” is the noun dunamis (δύναμις), which refers to divine omnipotence which the Holy Spirit produces in the Christian when they exercise faith in His Spirit inspired teaching which appears in the Word of God.
The Holy Spirit permanently indwells the Christian (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16) in order to give them the principle of victory over sin, Satan and his cosmic system.
The Christian appropriates the omnipotence of God which indwells them through the Spirit by appropriating by faith their union and identification with Christ.
They can do this by considering themselves dead to sin and alive to God because they are identified with Christ in His death and resurrection (Romans 6:1-13; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 3:10-11).
The noun dunamis functions as a genitive of product which would indicate that Paul is telling Timothy that the Father gave the Christian a Spirit “who produces” power in his life.
“Love” is the noun agape (ἀγάπη), which means “divine-love” which is distinguished from the exercise of human love in that the former is a response to God’s love for the Christian and expression of faith in God whereas the latter is based upon the attractiveness of the object.
It refers to God’s love practiced by Christians toward the Lord and their fellow Christians since this is the direct result of his exercising faith in the command in John 13:34.
It also speaks of the Christian’s love for God which is demonstrated by obedience to His commands and prohibitions in the Word of God (cf. John 14:15) and is manifested by the Christian who demonstrates the love of God to their fellow believer and unbeliever.
Love for others is motivated by the Christian’s love for the Lord and the Christian’s love for the Lord is demonstrated by their obedience to His commands to love one another and their obedience to His commands is the response in their soul to the love, which He exercised towards them (1 John 4:7-21).
The noun agapē functions as a genitive of product which indicates that Paul is telling Timothy that the Father gave the Christian a Spirit “who produces” the love of God in his life.
“Discipline” is the noun sōphronismos (σωφρονισμός), which means “self-discipline, self-control” since the word pertains to behaving in a sensible manner with the implication of thoughtful awareness of what is best.
Here it refers to the attribute of wisdom which the Holy Spirit can produce in the Christian when they are obedient to His teaching in the Word of God and this then enables the Christian to behave in a sensible manner as a result of being thoughtfully aware of how the Father wants them to act.
This self-discipline is not only related to rejecting sinful behavior but also it is related to the intimidation tactics of Satan’s kingdom meaning that Timothy’s mind was to be disciplined in the sense of not being shaken or intimidated because of persecution.
The noun sōphronismos functions as a genitive of product which would indicate that Paul is telling Timothy that the Father gave the Christian a Spirit “who produces” self-discipline in his life.
Second Timothy 1:3 I make it my habit of expressing gratitude to God (the Father), whom I make it a habit of serving with a clear conscience as the forefathers, when I always make it my habit of bringing you into remembrance during my intercessory prayer requests during the day as well as during the night. 4 Consequently, I greatly desire to see you when I remember your tears in order that I would become filled with joy. 5 I make it my habit of expressing gratitude to God (the Father) because I have clung to the memory of your sincere faith which first lived in your grandmother Lois as well as in your mother Eunice. Indeed, I am convinced that it lives in you. 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. 7 For God (the Father) by no means gave each and every one of us a Spirit who produces cowardice but rather power as well as divine-love and in addition self-discipline. (My translation)
The apostle Paul in Second Timothy 1:7 wants Timothy to continue to make it his habit of exercising his spiritual gift with enthusiasm because the Father by no means gave the Christian a Spirit who produces cowardice but rather a Spirit who produces omnipotence as well as divine-love and self-discipline.
The mention of cowardice would seem to indicate that there would be situations which could cause Timothy to act cowardly such as the inevitable persecution which results from being a pastor in the first century.
Paul’s death would be the result of the Roman Emperor Nero’s persecution of Christians.
There would also be the attacks of the Judaizers and the false teachers in Ephesus.
All of which could prompt Timothy to be unfaithful to his calling.
Therefore, Paul is reminding Timothy that the Holy Spirit permanently indwells him so as to give him the power, the love and discipline he will need to endure these things and remain faithful to his calling.
The apostle is again encouraging his young delegate, disciple and friend to persevere in his ministry by appropriating the ministry of the Spirit who is available to him because He indwells Timothy permanently.
So therefore, Paul is reminding Timothy here in Second Timothy 1:7 that he has the capacity to continue exercising his spiritual gift with the enthusiasm despite persecution and various trials and tribulations because he possesses permanently the indwelling of the Spirit.
Timothy need not concern himself with trying to produce these attributes himself but rather when he obeys the Word of God, the Spirit who indwells him will produce the power, love and self-discipline he needs to remain faithful to his calling.
Thus, Paul is exhorting Timothy to continue to depend upon the Spirit’s presence in his life and he is to do this by continuing to obey the Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions in Paul’s apostolic teaching, which is the gospel.
Paul’s statement here in Second Timothy 1:7 does not imply that Timothy was acting cowardly when the apostle wrote this epistle to his young delegate since 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.
Furthermore, Paul in Second Timothy mentions Timothy’s sincere faith in his apostolic teaching which indicates that Timothy was not faltering or slipping into apostasy or was acting like a coward since a Christian who walks by faith is courageous whereas one who is disobedient will be a coward.
The Holy Spirit produces courage in only those who exercise faith in the Word of God which the Spirit has inspired.
Lastly, in Second Timothy 1:6, Paul informs Timothy that he wants to cause him to remember to continue making it his habit of exercising with enthusiasm the spiritual gift God gave him.
The present tense of the verbs indicate that Timothy was remaining faithful at the time of writing.
So here in Second Timothy 1:7, the apostle Paul is reminding Timothy of the importance of the Holy Spirit’s work in his life.