John Calvin Commentary 2 Timothy 1

Paul an Apostle. From the very preface, we already perceive that Paul did not have Timothy alone in view; otherwise, he would not have employed such lofty titles in asserting his apostleship. For what purpose would it have served to use these ornaments of language when writing to one who was fully convinced of the fact? Therefore, he lays claim to that authority over all which belonged to his public character. He does this all the more diligently because, being near death, he wishes to secure approval for the whole course of his ministry, and to seal the doctrine which he had labored so hard to teach, so that it may be held sacred by future generations, and to leave a true portrait of it in Timothy.

Of Jesus Christ by the will of God. First, according to his custom, he calls himself an “Apostle of Christ.” From this it follows that he does not speak as a private person and must not be heard lightly or merely for form’s sake, like a man, but as one who is a representative of Christ. But because the dignity of the office is too great to belong to any man, except by the special gift and election of God, he at the same time praises his calling by adding that he was ordained by the will of God. His apostleship, therefore, having God as its author and defender, is beyond all dispute.

According to the promise of life. So that his calling may be the more certain, he connects it with the promises of eternal life, as if he had said, “As from the beginning God promised eternal life in Christ, so now He has appointed me to be the minister for proclaiming that promise.” In this way, he also points out the purpose of his apostleship: namely, to bring men to Christ, so that in Him they may find life.

Which is in Christ Jesus. He speaks with great accuracy when he mentions that “the promise of life” was indeed given in ancient times to the fathers. (Acts 26:6) Yet he declares that this life is in Christ, in order to inform us that the faith of those who lived under the Law must nevertheless have looked towards Christ, and that life, which was contained in promises, was in some respects suspended until it was manifested in Christ.

My beloved son: By this designation, he not only testifies his love for Timothy but also procures respect and submission to him; because he wishes to be acknowledged in him as one who may justly be called his son. The reason for this appellation is that he had begotten him in Christ; for although this honor belongs to God alone, it is also transferred to ministers, whose agency He employs for regenerating us.

Grace, mercy: The word mercy, which he employs here, is commonly left out by him in his ordinary salutations. I think that he introduced it when he poured out his feelings with more than ordinary vehemence. Moreover, he appears to have inverted the order; for since mercy is the cause of grace, it ought to have come before it in this passage.

But still, it is not unsuitable that it should be put after grace in order to express more clearly what is the nature of that grace and from where it proceeds; as if he had added, in the form of a declaration, that the reason why we are loved by God is that He is merciful.

Yet this may also be explained as relating to God’s daily benefits, which are so many testimonies of His mercy; for whenever He assists us, whenever He delivers us from evils, pardons our sins, and bears with our weakness, He does so because He has compassion on us.

I give thanks. The meaning usually assigned to these words is that Paul “gives thanks to God,” and next assigns the cause or ground of thanksgiving—namely, that he is unceasingly mindful of Timothy. But let my readers consider whether the following sense does not suit equally well, and even better: “Whenever I remember you in my prayers (and I do so continually), I also give thanks concerning you;” for the particle ὡς most frequently has that meaning; and, indeed, any meaning that can be drawn from a different translation is exceedingly meager. According to this exposition, prayer will be a sign of attentiveness, and thanksgiving a sign of joy; that is, he never thought of Timothy without remembering the eminent virtues with which he was adorned. This gives rise to thanksgiving, for the recollection of God's gifts is always pleasant and delightful to believers. Both are proofs of real friendship. He calls the mention of him (ἀδιάλειπτον) unceasing, because he never forgets him when he prays.

Whom I worship from my ancestors. He made this declaration in opposition to those well-known calumnies with which the Jews everywhere charged him, as if he had forsaken the religion of his country and apostatized from the law of Moses. On the contrary, he declares that he worships God, about whom he had been taught by his ancestors; that is, the God of Abraham, who revealed Himself to the Jews, who delivered His law by the hand of Moses; and not some pretended God, whom he had recently made for himself.

But here it may be asked, “Since Paul glories in following the religion handed down from his ancestors, is this a sufficiently solid foundation?” For from this it follows that this will be a plausible pretext for excusing all superstitions, and that it will be a crime if anyone departs, in the smallest degree, from the institutions of his ancestors, whatever these may be. The answer is easy.

He does not here lay down a fixed rule that every person who follows the religion received from his fathers is believed to worship God correctly; and, on the other hand, that he who departs from the custom of his ancestors is at all to blame for it.

For this circumstance must always be taken into account: Paul was not descended from idolaters, but from the children of Abraham, who worshiped the true God. We know what Christ says, in disapproving of all the false worship of the Gentiles: that the Jews alone maintained the true method of worship.

Paul, therefore, does not rest solely on the authority of the fathers, nor does he speak indiscriminately of all his ancestors; but he removes that false opinion with which he knew he was unjustly charged—that he had forsaken the God of Israel and framed for himself a strange god.

In a pure conscience. It is certain that Paul’s conscience was not always pure, for he acknowledges that he was deceived by hypocrisy while he gave free rein to sinful desire (Romans 7:8). The excuse Chrysostom offers for what Paul did while he was a Pharisee, on the ground that he opposed the gospel not through malice but through ignorance, is not a satisfactory reply to the objection; for “a pure conscience” is no ordinary commendation and cannot be separated from the sincere and heartfelt fear of God. I, therefore, limit it to the present time, in this manner: he worships the same God as was worshiped by his ancestors, but now he worships Him with pure affection of the heart, since the time he was enlightened by the gospel.

This statement has the same objective as the numerous protestations of the apostles, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles:

I serve the God of my fathers, believing all things that are written in the law and in the prophets (Acts 24:14).

Again,

And now I stand to be judged concerning the hope of the promise which was made to our fathers, to which hope our twelve tribes hope to come (Acts 26:6).

Again,

On account of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain (Acts 28:20).

In my prayers night and day. From this we see how great his constancy in prayer was; and yet he affirms nothing about himself but what Christ recommends to all His followers. Therefore, we ought to be moved and inspired by such examples to imitate them, so that, at least, such a necessary exercise may be more frequent among us. If anyone understands this to mean the daily and nightly prayers Paul was accustomed to offer at stated hours, there will be no impropriety in that view; though I offer a simpler interpretation: that there was no time when he was not engaged in prayer.

Calling to remembrance that unfeigned faith: not so much to applaud Timothy as to exhort him, the Apostle commends both Timothy's own faith and that of his grandmother and mother. For when someone has begun well and valiantly, the progress they have made should encourage them to continue, and family examples are powerful incentives to urge them forward. Accordingly, Paul sets before him his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice, by whom he had been educated from his infancy in such a way that he might have absorbed godliness along with his mother's milk. Therefore, by this godly education, Timothy is admonished not to become unworthy of himself or his ancestors.

It is uncertain whether, on the one hand, these women were converted to Christ and what Paul applauds here was the beginning of their faith, or whether, on the other hand, faith is attributed to them apart from Christianity. The latter seems more probable to me. For, although at that time everything abounded with many superstitions and corruptions, yet God always had His own people. He did not allow them to be corrupted by the crowd, but He sanctified and separated them to Himself, so that there might always exist among the Jews a pledge of this grace, which He had promised to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, there is no absurdity in saying that they lived and died in the faith of the Mediator, even though Christ had not yet been revealed to them. But I do not assert anything, and could not do so without rashness.

And I am persuaded that in you also: this clause confirms me in the conjecture I have just stated. For, in my opinion, Paul is not speaking here of Timothy's present faith. It would lessen the sure confidence of the previous praise if Paul only said that he considered Timothy's faith to resemble that of his grandmother and mother. But I understand the meaning to be that Timothy, from his childhood, even before he had gained a knowledge of the gospel, was filled with the fear of God and with such faith as proved to be a living seed, which later revealed itself.

For which cause I advise you. The more abundantly Timothy had received the grace of God, the Apostle intimates, the more attentive he ought to be in making progress from day to day. It deserves notice that the words “for which cause” introduce this advice as a conclusion from what has already been said.

To stir up the gift of God. This exhortation is highly necessary, for it usually happens, and it may be said to be natural, that the excellence of gifts produces carelessness, which is also accompanied by sloth. Satan continually labors to extinguish all that is of God in us. We ought, therefore, on the other hand, to strive to bring to perfection everything that is good in us and to kindle what is languid. For the metaphor Paul employs is taken from a fire that was feeble, or that was in the process of being gradually extinguished, unless strength and flame were added by blowing upon it and by supplying new fuel. Let us therefore remember that we ought to apply the gifts of God, lest, being unemployed and concealed, they gather rust. Let us also remember that we should diligently profit by them, lest they be extinguished by our slothfulness.

Which is in you by the laying on of my hands. There can be no doubt that Timothy was called by the general voice of the Church and was not elected by the private wish of Paul alone. However, there is no absurdity in saying that Paul ascribes the election to himself personally, because he was the chief actor in it. Yet here he speaks of ordination—that is, of the solemn act of conferring the office of the ministry—and not of election. Besides, it is not perfectly clear whether it was the custom, when any minister was to be set apart, that all laid their hands on his head, or that one only did so on behalf of all. I am more inclined to the conjecture that it was only one person who laid on his hands.

Regarding the ceremony, the apostles borrowed it from an ancient custom of their nation; or rather, because it was in use, they retained it, for this is a part of that decent and orderly procedure that Paul elsewhere recommends (1 Corinthians 14:40). Yet it may be doubted whether the “laying on of hands” now mentioned refers to ordination, because at that time the graces of the Spirit, of which he speaks in the 12th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 12) and in the 13th of the First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13), were bestowed on many others who were not appointed to be pastors. But, for my own part, I think it may be easily inferred from the former Epistle that Paul here speaks of the office of a pastor, for this passage agrees with that:

Do not neglect the grace that was given to you with the laying on of the hands of the eldership (1 Timothy 4:14).

That point being settled, it is asked, “Was grace given by the outward sign?” To this question I answer: whenever ministers were ordained, they were recommended to God by the prayers of the whole Church. In this manner, grace from God was obtained for them by prayer and was not given to them by virtue of the sign, although the sign was not uselessly or unprofitably employed but was a sure pledge of the grace that they received from God’s own hand.

That ceremony was not a profane act, invented for the sole purpose of gaining esteem from men, but a lawful consecration before God, which is not performed except by the power of the Holy Spirit. Besides, Paul takes the sign for the whole matter or the whole transaction, for he declares that Timothy was endowed with grace when he was offered to God as a minister. Thus, in this mode of expression, there is a figure of speech in which a part is taken for the whole.

But we are again met by another question: if it was only at his ordination that Timothy obtained the grace necessary for discharging his office, of what nature was the election of a man not yet fit or qualified, but previously void and destitute of the gift of God? I answer, it was not given to him at that time in such a way that he did not possess it before; for it is certain that he excelled both in doctrine and in other gifts before Paul ordained him to the ministry. But there is no inconsistency in saying that when God wished to make use of his services, and accordingly called him, He then fitted and enriched him still more with new gifts, or doubled those He had previously bestowed. It does not therefore follow that Timothy had not previously possessed any gift, but rather that it shone forth all the more when the duty of teaching was laid upon him.