Timothy, Titus & Philemon Overview

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As I have explained in the past, one of the reasons I am doing this blog is I am curious to see what kind of messages one might get from reading the bible. What might one learn as a take-away. Here is my quick summary of the good and bad from 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus & Philemon.

I've recently decided to put more items in my overviews, and as such it seems like I need to organize these things into categories. I thought of this last minute, so it is a little clumsy this time, but I plan to work on the categories more in the future. It is nice to organize things, but also, you don't want to force things into categories where they don't quite fit. I'm certain some refinement will be necessary.

I've also added a category "Redacted Good Items". These are things I had marked as good when I read the chapter, but I either look back and see it as an error, or more often, things that I have found a different verse negating the message.

(note: the chapter link takes you to my page on that chapter, the verse link takes you to the verse on biblestudytools.com)

Good:

--love--

I 1:5 love comes from a pure heart and good conscience

"The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

I 6:11 love steadfastness and gentleness are virtues

"But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness"

--generosity--

I 6:9 Greed can be dangerous (oversimplification, but good rule of thumb)

"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction."

I 6:18 The rich (and presumably everyone else) should be generous

"They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share"

I 5:16 if your family can help, they should so the church can focus its resources on the needy

"If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows."

T 3:14 Help people in need

"And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful."

--do good things--

I 4:12 Prove your worth with actions

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity"

T 2:7 You should do good works and have dignity and integrity

"Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity,"

T 3:8 People should devote themselves to good works.

"The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people."

II 2:10 endure hardship to help other people out

"Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory."

--don't do bad things--

I 1:9-10 those who strike their fathers and mothers, murderers, enslavers, liars, and perjurers are bad

"...those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers..."

T 2:8 leave your enemies nothing bad to say about you

"and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us."

T 3:2 Be nice to everyone, don't spread rumors

"to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people."

I 2:8 Avoid anger and quarreling. 

"I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling"

--the rest--

I 4:14 do not neglect your gifts

"Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you."

I 5:24-25 some deeds (good and bad) are obvious, but some are hidden, only showing up later

"The sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden"

II 4:2 Always be prepared to teach, also teach with patience

"preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."

T 2:2 You should be sober-minded, dignified, and self-controlled

"Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness."

T 3:3 Remember the mistakes you made in the past and give other people some leeway as well

"For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another."

Phil 8-9, 14 making request is better than giving orders

"Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you..."

"but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord."

Phil 16 Paul requests Onesimus be released from slavery

"no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother--especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord."

Phil 18 Paul takes on Onesimus' debt

"If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account."

Redacted Good Items:

I 1:4 myth, genealogies and speculation are bad

"nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith."

I was clearly trying to hard to come up with a good item here, this is just Paul saying other religions are bad

I 1:6-7 don't confidently teach things you don't understand

"Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions."

This conflicts with every mention of faith, examples are plentiful

II 2:25 Calm discussion is best

"[RE: the Lord's servants] correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth"

This sounds good, but Paul regularly instructs his leaders to rebuke those who need correction. A perfect example is 1 Timothy 5:20

Bad:

--slavery--

I 6:1 Slaves should work hard to reflect well on God

"Let all who are under a yoke as slaves regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled

T 2:9 Endorsement of slavery

"Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative"

Phil 11 it is implied that trading slaves is an acceptable form of payment

"Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me."

--women--

I 2:12 Women are not allowed to be teachers

"I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet"

I 5:13 young single women are gossips and busybodies

"Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not."

II 3:6 anti-women

"For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions"

T 2:3-5 A woman's main goal should be to please her husband

"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."

--faith--

I 1:5 Love comes from sincere faith

"The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."


I 6:11 Faith is a virtue

"But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness"

II 1:5 faith is a virtue, also nepotism

"I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well."

II 3:14 Keep believing what you already believe

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it"

Phil 6 we gain knowledge through faith

"and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ"

--other religions are bad--

I 1:3 Don't let people teach other religions

"As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine"

I 4:1 People who disagree with us follow demons

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons"

I 4:7 Divisive, calls other religions silly myths

"Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness"

I 6:3-4 Demonizing other religions

"If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions"

T 1:10, 14, 16 Antisemitic 

"For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party"

"not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth"

"They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work."

T 1:11 Jews are greedy

"They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach."

--glorification of suffering--

II 1:8 suffering is good

"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God"

II 2:3 Suffering itself is a good thing

"Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus."

--fear mongering--

I 5:8,20 Ruling through fear

"But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever"

"As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear."

--anti-intellectualism--

I 6:20 Anti-intellectual

"O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called "knowledge,"


II 3:7 anti-intellectual

"always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth."

T 3:9 Don't have disagreements or quarrels

"But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless."

T 3:10-11 If someone asks too many questions, warn them twice, then have nothing to do with them. Anti-intellectualism.

"As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned."

II 2:16 looking at details is bad

"But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness"

--the rest--

I 1:9 people are either good or bad, no in between

"...the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless..."

I 1:10 sex and being gay are bad

"the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality..."

II 1:9 God works in mysterious ways

"who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began"

II 1:18 Paul seems to think the end times are near

"may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day!--and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus"

II 2:22 passion is bad, and another mixed list of good and bad things claimed all good

"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."

II 3:2-5 Another list, grouping bad things with not so bad things

"For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."

II 3:12 Christians will be persecuted

"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted"

II 3:16 All scripture is breathed out by God (clearly false)

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness"

II 4:14 Wishing for revenge through God

"Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds."

T 1:12-13 Obvious straw man

"One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.' This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,"

T 3:1 Promoting submission and obedience, also coupling of ideas.

"Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work"

Phil 19-20 By being saved, your life is owed to the church

"I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it--to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ."

Interesting:

I 2:4 God desires that all people be saved. Why doesn't he make it happen if he's all powerful?

"[God,] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

2 Timothy 4

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Preach the Word (v. 1-8)

This section is basically just Paul passing the torch on to Timothy. He's saying that he is about to die and he wants Timothy to continue on in his place. There's not a whole lot here beyond that, although I do have a few comments.

v2 Paul tell Timothy to always be ready to teach the word "in season and out". He also says that he should teach with patience.

I think "in and out of season" means he should not only be prepared when he's about to preach on the pulpit, but also to be ready for unexpected interactions and opportunities, for example if someone came up to him out of the blue and asked a question, or if he sees an opportunity to teach in everyday life. He also tells him to be patient when teaching, presumably with people who disagree with him or are having a hard time understanding a point he's trying to make. This is basically 2 good things wrapped up together in my opinion.

For the record, David Guzik's interpretation of this phrase is the same as mine.

v3-4 People will listen to teachers who "suit their own passions" and they will avoid the truth in favor of myths.

This seems to me to be talking about people switching to other religions. The language being used here isn't particularly kind, however, it's not particularly divisive either as we have seen in the past. While I'm not a huge fan of this verse, I'm not particularly inclined to put it in my bad pile either.

v6 "I am already being poured out as a drink offering..."

This verse I just found fascinating. It seemed like such a strange phrase so I looked it up. It seems that it is talking about strong drink, usually offered along with other sacrifices (which is pretty much what it sounds like). It seems strange to me that Paul would be a drink offering. I guess the fact that Paul sees himself as an offering at all is something, does he think his life itself has been a sacrifice to God? Does it say something that he has given up something precious for the sake of God?

Guzik said that Paul's head was not yet on the executioners block, but his heart was there. Is he not just going to die, but moreover he's going to be executed? I guess that changes things a touch.

Personal Instructions (v. 9-18)

Paul asks Timothy to come to see him as soon as possible. He says everyone has left him except for Mark. He mentions that no one was there with him at his first defense, implying there was some sort of trial, lending credence to the idea mentioned above about Paul being executed soon.

Paul also mentions that Alexander the coppersmith did him harm, but he will be repaid by God.

This is wishing revenge on someone through God. I suppose it is better than actually getting revenge yourself, but it still seems like a bad mindset to be in.

Guzik quotes Trapp who tries to argue that this is not a curse but rather a prediction. I say this is nonsense, Paul is clearly wishing the other guy gets punished by God.

Final Greeting (v. 19-22)

Again, he urges Timothy to come quickly and then says goodbye.

For the overview post (If you think I should add or remove stuff from this list please let me know, I think it would make good conversation)

Good:

4:2 Always be prepared to teach, also teach with patience

"preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."

Bad:

4:14 Wishing for revenge through God

"Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds."

2 Timothy 3

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Godlessness in the Last Days (v. 1-9)

In the last days people will have all kinds of terrible qualities. Avoid these people, for they are the type who will sneak into your house and steal weak women. They are also always learning but never able to arrive at the truth because their minds are corrupted regarding faith. But don't worry, they will not get far as their folly is plain to all.

So much wrong on a single page. First, there is the same problem with a huge list of things, I will discuss that in a moment. 

In regard to stealing women, I'm assuming this isn't meant as literal, because if it was avoiding them wouldn't do anything. If they were literally sneaking into your house and kidnapping your women over their shoulder simply avoiding them would help nothing. Therefore, I assume we are talking about someone talking them out of their faith or something along those lines. If that is correct, avoiding them and not letting their "lies" enter your house would be effective. If I'm correct, this is anti-intellectual as it doesn't allow opposing viewpoints, and it is anti-women as it paints them as weak. Always learning but never able to arrive at the truth is definitely anti-intellectual.

This is a very minor point, but if their folly is plain to all, then why are we talking about it? This seems like one of those times where you claim something is obvious so that people won't feel comfortable going against it. When I was teaching proofs, I could always tell when a student didn't really understand something, they would claim it is obvious. If they actually did understand, they would give a proper reason.

Oh yeah, this also starts with the phrase "in the last days". I would think this means that Paul thinks the last days are right around the corner, but I suppose it could also just mean that some time in the future all of these things will come to pass right before the end. This kind of language is used when preachers want to rail against people for certain actions, claiming it is a sign of the end times. I never notice them saying they were wrong once the end times don't come. For example, people will often claim that rampant homosexuality is a sign that the end times are coming. When the end times don't come, they never conclude that they were wrong and perhaps homosexuality is okay as it seems they should.

Interestingly enough, David Guzik seems to agree with me that last days most appropriately refers to the time right before Jesus returns. He points out that Jesus rebuked the leaders of his time for not realizing the significance of their day (I guess that Jesus was there) and he says that Jesus would probably rebuke current day Christians for not recognizing the significance of their time, that Jesus is soon to return. I wonder if he realizes that throughout history, Christians have been incorrectly claiming the end times are right around the corner.

v 2-5 "For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power."

As usual, these lists are a bunch of things that are supposed to be bad, some things on the list are really negative, and some are intended to get worse by association. Let's start by looking at things that are not really bad (unless taken to extreme, but few things aren't bad in the extreme). Lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure. To me these things are not wrong at all, I love myself, money and pleasure, it doesn't mean that I am a bad person because of those things, they often motivate me to do good.

Proud and disobedient to their parents also stand out to me as things that can be bad, but in the right context are fine. If you work very hard and achieve something, isn't it good to take pride in a job well done? If your child wins a skill based contest (I don't know, say a spelling bee) isn't it a good thing to be a proud parent? There are times when pride is good. Also, disobedience to your parents is generally bad, but there are times when it is appropriate. If they are abusive, or if they are just wrong about something.

unholy, not loving God, denying the power of God are all just self-defensive positions from the perspective of the religion. The rest seem actually bad to me.

All Scripture Is Breathed Out by God (v. 10-17)

You have followed my teachings, persecutions and sufferings, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

This is not even talking about people who are preaching, this is just people who want to be godly. Perhaps this is so people who are not being persecuted must be trying to be too comfortable and will be motivated to go preach and be persecuted. Essentially, being comfortable and happy is a negative here.

Continue with what you have learned and firmly believe.

This is just bad advice, we all believe things that are not true, we need to be open to changing our minds.

All scripture is breathed out by God.

Then why does it contradict itself so much?



For the overview post (If you think I should add or remove stuff from this list please let me know, I think it would make good conversation)

Good:

Nothing! I reread the chapter looking for something to put in the good section, but there is just nothing. If I really wanted to be generous, I could extract the few things from the giant list of bad things which are actually bad, but any goodness extracted is tainted by the simple fact that I had to extract them. 

Bad:

3:2-5 Another list, grouping bad things with not so bad things

"For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."

3:6 anti-women

"For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions"

3:7 anti-intellectual

"always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth."

3:12 Christians will be persecuted

"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted"

3:14 Keep believing what you already believe

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it"

3:16 All scripture is breathed out by God (clearly false)

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness"

2 Timothy 2

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A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus (v. 1-13)

Paul tells Timothy to be a good worker for Christ and make sure to do his part. To make this point he uses several analogies, a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. Paul says that he endures his suffering in the hope that it will lead to people following Christ and being saved.

There is something noble about putting yourself through hardship to benefit someone else. I'm not completely sure that is happening here, but Paul thinks it is and it is good that he is willing to do that.  I suppose Paul recognized the whole time that his actions might cause himself harm and he is willing to do it because he thinks he is helping people out.

v3 "Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus"

This I don't like so much, I don't like the fact that we are glorifying suffering here. So does this contradict my previous paragraph? Not really. As I read it, in verse 10 Paul was willing to put himself in harms way while he was doing something to help other people. He was willing to risk some personal suffering for the benefit of others. This I see as good. Here, in verse 3, Paul is telling Timothy to make sure he endures his share of suffering, implying that suffering itself is a good thing. This is bad. As I've talked about in the past, our reasons are as important as our actions.

David Guzik uses a different translation than I do, and it seems to lend itself more to the idea that the Christian should expect to endure some hardship because of their walk with Christ. It sounds a little better in his translation than mine, but I still think he's twisting the words a bit. "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ". He interprets this as saying you must not simply back down if you encounter hardship. These messages are very similar but different. Guzik says you must be willing to accept hardship if it comes your way, this I am fine with. The bible says you must endure hardship. These 2 things are not the same.

Matthew Henry says that  in regard to this suffering "we must expect it and count upon it in this world, must endure and accustom ourselves to it" This goes beyond just being prepared for it, we must expect it and we must endure it. This entire way of thinking I find dangerous and harmful.

A Worker Approved by God (v. 14-26)

A good worker will rightly handle the word of God. Don't quarrel over the details as this might upset some people's faith.

How weak must your faith be if it can't stand up to the slightest bit of scrutiny. You would think that someone who has the truth on their side would be happy for it to be examined as much as possible. A few quotes to demonstrate my point.

v14 "...not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers."
v16 "But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness."
v17 "their talk will spread like gangrene..."
v18 "...they are upsetting the faith of some"

v22 flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.

Youthful passions are great, a blanket command to get rid of them all together is terrible. Granted if taken to extreme they can lead to bad things, but they can also lead to the best experiences of our lives. This is just foolishness. And we have this same problem of a list of good things with faith shoved in there. I suppose if I wanted to give the bible the maximum possible credit I could extract the love and peace part here and call it a good thing, but I'm not going to, the spirit of this is bad.

I read a few different commentaries, but everyone just seems to be happy about fleeing youthful lusts. No one even considered it might be a bad thing. I will quote one line from Guzik though "If you cannot flee also youthful lusts, there is a real limit to how much God can use you". Seems like a pretty shitty thing to say to me, the message here seems to be if you want to have sex you are worthless to God.

Christians should be kind to their opponents and correct them gently providing them the truth.

Finally, something I agree with. Simply getting into arguments is bad, it is very difficult to change someone's mind while yelling at them or calling them stupid. A discussion is better than an argument. That being said, there are times when yelling can become appropriate, but I like the rule of thumb that calm is best.

For the overview post (If you think I should add or remove stuff from this list please let me know, I think it would make good conversation)

Good:

2:10 endure hardship to help other people out

"Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory."

2:25 Calm discussion is best

"[RE: the Lord's servants] correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth"

Bad:

2:3 Suffering itself is a good thing

"Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus."

2:16 looking at details is bad

"But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness"

2:22 passion is bad, and another mixed list of good and bad things claimed all good

"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."

2 Timothy 1

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Again, I'll start with the wikipedia page. It seems the authenticity of the letter is in question, not surprising.

Greeting (v. 1-2)

Just another greeting, nothing to see here.

Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You (v. 3-18)

You have a great faith, which was first in you grandmother and now in you.

Other than this being yet another place where faith is seen as a virtue, there's not much here yet.

I didn't realize this until a later reading, but it looks like nepotism. In verse 5, Paul says that he knows that Timothy's mother and grandmother both had great faith, and then says that he is sure Timothy also has that faith.

The rest of the chapter is pretty much just Paul saying he is going to pass the torch to Timothy. He also mentions that he was helped by Onesiphorus when he was in Asia. I have a few questions and comments about some verses along the way, but this seems to be the overall message here.

v8 "do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord"

Why would he be ashamed? Is it because Paul is in prison still and God has apparently not saved him?

David Guzik explains that at this time Jesus has been recently crucified and it would be a difficult thing to follow him. You can imagine that at the time, when the belief isn't so widespread, it would be much more difficult than it is today. Makes sense to me.

v8 "share in the suffering for the gospel by the power of God"

More glorification of suffering. Why would this be a good thing?

v9 God saved them and called them to be holy men not because of works, but because of his own purpose from "before the ages began"

So basically, they haven't done anything to deserve this special treatment, God decided this at the beginning of time. Doesn't really sound like justice to me. By the way, how does this interact with free will? Also, this verse seems to lend itself to the idea of "God works in mysterious ways" which Christians tend to use as a get out of jail free card which is annoying as hell. It's just a cop out non-answer.

v12 Paul says he suffers because he is a teacher, preacher, and apostle. But he is not ashamed of this.

This relates back to my v8 question, it seems that Paul is saying that the church is the source of his suffering but he's not ashamed. Implying that there is an impulse that this should be a source of shame, otherwise why would he bring it up.

v18 talking about Onesiphorus who had helped out Paul in his time of need "may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day"

What day? My first thought here was that Paul is talking about the second coming of Christ, and is hoping Jesus will have mercy on Onesiphorus since he helped out Paul. Reading it again, it isn't completely clear that this is what he is talking about, but I'm not sure what else it would mean. If that is what it means, is this another time when Paul seems to expect the end times to be just around the corner.

Matthew Henry seems to agree with me that we are talking about the end times, when Jesus returns (the day of death and judgement). He doesn't however, address my concerns.


For the overview post (If you think I should add or remove stuff from this list please let me know, I think it would make good conversation)

Bad:

1:5 faith is a virtue, also nepotism

"I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well."

1:8 suffering is good

"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God"

1:9 God works in mysterious ways

"who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began"

1:18 Paul seems to think the end times are near

"may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day!--and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus"