And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

Vs 2 Faithful Like A Steward

Paul throughout this chapter is going to use several metaphors, illustrations or simply examples of faithful people. Most of these vocations or callings he has used many times before. He has a great admiration for people who do their job well, who are faithful in their calling. He will talk about stewards, soldiers, athletes, farmers and craftsmen. He is going to remind Timothy and us that Christian faithfulness consists of the best values of each of these vocations, it should incorporate the best of all of them and then it must supersede all of them. For the greatest example of faithfulness in all the world must be a child of God.

He begins in verse 2 by telling Timothy to be faithful as steward, one who has been entrusted by the master with a task. That task is to pass on the truth he has learned from Paul to others faithful men, committing it to them with this command, “pass this truth on to others.”
Faithfulness here is accomplished by learning the truth, teaching that truth, committing that truth to others and giving to them the commitment of completing the cycle in others. To put it simply a steward of the Lord must, Learn the truth, teach the truth, commit the truth.


This is not just truth in general, but it is the truth that God had given to Paul, that he might give it to Timothy and that Timothy would then pass on to other faithful one in God’s calling. This is the truth of the Gospel that Paul will soon come back to and it is the commission of Matthew 28:18-20 Go, ye therefore. Here is the gospel and the truth that must go with it, learn it, teach it, and then tell others to continue to be faithful in replicating the pattern.

1 Corinthians 4:2 - Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. The faithful stewardship of a pastor and of all God’s children and church is to replicate God’s saving, sanctifying truth in others. Be a faithful steward.

Next Paul gives one of his favorite examples of faithfulness. Ironically, he may have been looking out a cell door at a soldier guarding him until his execution, yet he write to Timothy. Be faithful like a soldier.

Vs 3-4 Faithful Like A Soldier


Paul distill the quality in a soldier that he wants Timothy to see as faithfulness. This element, Timothy is what will make you a faithful fighter against fear.

2 Timothy 2:3-4 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.


First, endurance in the face of hardship is being faithful. Faithfulness is most readily seen in the face of hardship. In God’s grace we as God’s people, must endure.

Secondly, Paul adds, faithfulness as a soldier mean being unentangled with the things of this life in order to please Jesus who has chosen us to be His soldiers of His truth.

It goes without saying that faithfulness require endurance and it requires dedication. You can’t be faithful if you quit, and you can’t be faithful if you don’t focus on your Captain, Jesus Christ, instead of getting caught up in the world.

Paul’s next example of faithfulness is also one of his favorites. He says Timothy be faithful in the things of God in the same way and athlete is faithful in competing for a victory crown.

Vs. 5 Faithful Like An Athlete

Paul tells Timothy he must see himself as an athlete, competing for the race of a lifetime, competing for the race whose finish line is eternity. 2 Timothy 2:5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

The word strive is the Greek word ἀθλέω athleō, where we get our word athlete. The word means to contend in competitive games as an athlete.

He says that faithfulness in an athlete is qualified by striving or competing “lawfully”  There is no crown, no reward for those who strive unlawfully.

I hesitate to jump forward in the same book, but I can’t help but think that Paul is not only encouraging Timothy, but he is also encouraging himself in the Lord. Paul for all the world knew, had lost. The great cause that he had sacrificed everything for was being ground into the dust of the arenas, torn to pieces by wild beasts or nailed to crosses and being set on fire to light the path of pagans. That is what Nero saw, that is what the Roman world saw, but what Paul wanted Timothy to see was something greater, something higher, something beyond that world of fear and suffering.

Paul like a dedicated athlete running the race of his life, hadn’t lost. He had endured, he had been faithful, he had striven lawfully and now he wasn’t losing anything, he was winning that crown at the end of faithfully run race. At the end of this letter, almost the very end he writes. 2 Timothy 4:7-8 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Timothy, Paul is saying, “Timothy, you can’t lose this race if you just keep running. You can’t lose this fight against fear, if you just keep fighting.”

It doesn’t matter how many cross the finish line in front of us, million if not billion already have run all the way home. It doesn’t matter how many times we get knocked down or even knocked out. If we will just get back up and get back in the race, we will receive that crown!

Paul has one more example for Timothy. He tells him to be faithful like a farmer. You just have to love the way Paul loved workers. I imagine he and Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs would have had a lot to talk about.

Vs 6-7 Faithful like A Farmer


The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. 7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

He tells Timothy that like a farmer, a husbandman, faithfulness mean you first taste the fruit from the seed you have planted. It could be that Paul is reminding Timothy to make sure the church he pastors is taking care of him. Like Paul’s admonish for Timothy to take a little wine for his frequent illnesses. This may have been well meaning fault of Timothy. Not wanting to take anything from the church and labor without having his portion from the work that he was doing. Well meaning but mistaken. I’m only guessing, but this principle of partaking of the labor,  was something that Paul wanted to make sure Timothy understood about faithfulness in the work of the Lord’s vineyards. Just like an athlete must strive lawfully, a farmer must partake of his own fruit and a pastor or any child of God must understand that the seeds they plant will be the harvest they reap and then eat.

Transition: Paul gives his own transition verse here at vs. 7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. I think he is talking about all that he has said in this portion of his letter. Be as faithful as a steward, a soldier, an athlete, or a farmer. Be as faithful as they in their calling, but supersede them all in your calling because your calling does supersede all other callings.