Christian Puzzles & Answers

Timothy the Influence of Home Training

CLASS 4 ISSUES

Study Scripture: 2 Timothy 1: 1-6 3 14-16

Background Scripture: 2 Timothy 1-3

Lesson 12     August 22, 2026

Key Verse

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

2 Timothy 1:5

INTRODUCTION

What kind of home did you grow up in?

Were you brothers and sisters and sister at home nice to you or was there a lot of competition and fighting?

How much control did your parents have over the atmosphere at home?

We know that we are living in a world full of the competitive spirit and this leads to strife and behaviour which is not often pleasant.

Some children grow up in home situations that are not completely pleasant and when you meet them when they become adults they might admit that they often prayed to God for help and removal from their home and placement in a better environment but He did not answer.

Some adults therefore will tell you they have great difficulty in believing God is a good Saviour.

One has to be extra sensitive and understanding, as you try to soothe the frazzled nerves.

IN OUR Study we are presented with a family with their own difficult issues, but where the mother and grandmother in the home made a decision to ensure their child would grow up to live a life pleasing to God and make his lifework a masterpiece all believers should emulate.   

Our Lesson Study today deals with a subject which has wide implications, for the sad reality is that the modern Christian church in the modern world exists in a generation in which the basic family structure is threatened day after day. Many are confused about what it means to be a parent and they are overwhelmed by the problems of the modern family. The children themselves look around for moral values and guidance but they get it from their peers rather than from their parents.

As we do this Study we must think carefully the powerful quiet and dangerous but constantly and ever increasing pace of the rejection of godly family values and its moral and spiritual values. Christian morals and values are vanishing, and ideals that have been supported in the past are giving way to so-called rational beliefs which negatively affect family life. Godly believes are going away steadily and the movement in this direction is designed by those who do not accept the teachings of Scripture despite the fact that they see that this is leading to increasing misery, increasing moral problems, increasing emotional problems, and increasing suicide especially among the young and the young adult population. As well, divorce, drug addiction, alcoholism are common in our modern society and as well in our modern church.

So we invite all who study with us to stand, knowing that it is time for them to think seriously about the situation that they are in, the frustrations and their experience when they tried to live godly lives and bring up their children in a godly fashion, and at the same time cope with the demands of powerful people who control the supply of services, and employment and who have the power to collect heavy taxes from the people.

The Book of Deuteronomy clearly tells us what the home ought to be. It teaches that the business of life has at its apex the need to come to love the one true God, and to learn how to love Him with all the heart and mind and strength. That is the only adequate way to build our lives around something that is meaningful for God has to be the center if we are to have a fulfilled, and adequate life even though it might have some weak spots of heartache and danger and darkness in it.

 So before we get into the meat of our Study Lesson let us be aware that the Apostle Paul is not lamenting the way that his protégé Timothy has been brought up. The apostle knows that the home of Timothy is where his parents, specifically his mother and grandmother, began to set the stage for a fulfilled and adequate life for him.  The Apostle well knows that the home is where all of this fulfilled and adequate life is to be brought into being and he knows that there are really four steps that the great law giver Moses taught in Deuteronomy so that the fulfilling life is to be achieved.

First, there is to be a priority focus on the parents for parents must start with themselves. One writer states that parents must learn to be persons as God intended them to be and when they do this they will discover the warmth and richness that God can impart in their own lives before they can hope to pass it on to their children. Children should desire this atmosphere and pay close attention to what their oarent or parents are doing.

Then parents must learn that their responsibility is to teach the words that God commanded, words which are in their hearts. They should teach them diligently to their children.

The Book of Deuteronomy gives a process of teaching and it stresses the signs of authority that makes all this possible and which makes it acceptable to children.

This Scripture teaches that folly is bound up in the heart of the child for by nature the child is part of a fallen race and so within that child there is a twist toward evil. As a result discipline training and correction must follow.

But with this must come love for every child must be brought up according to his own way  for every child is different and so love requires that parents give attention to the child, note what he or she likes and dislikes, how the child reacts, and what his or her disposition and temperament is so that there can be encouragement and acceptance and love shown to that child. The business of the parent therefore is to know how to apply confrontation and affirmation which is not always easy.

This is important for every child needs to know that he or she is loved, accepted, and we positioned.

Parents must therefore not close their eyes to understanding that parents are simply reduplicating what God has done for us for we parents are God’s children. The basis on which we began with God was that of love and so the glory of the conversion experience leads us to discover in the moment of faith that God loves and has given His Son for us and told us we should love in a great amount.

So let us look at these principles as the apostle speaks to Timothy in our Study Scripture. He approaches Timothy with courtesy and tenderness and is not harsh, critical and sarcastic with his protégé Timothy though he understands that Timothy has weaknesses.

Therefore the Apostle will teach us how to “hug”.

In doing so he really is quoting from Proverbs which we will state at this stage. In Proverbs 1:8-9 we read

“Hear My son, your father’s instruction,

 and reject not your mother’s teaching;

for they are a fair garland for your head,

and pendants for your neck”.

And in Proverbs 3:1-4

“My son, do not forget my teaching,

 but let your heart keep my commandments;

for length of days and years of life

and abundant welfare will they give you.

 Let not loyalty and faithfulness forsake you;

 bind them about your neck

 so you will find favour and good repute

 in the sight of God and man”.

And in Proverbs 3:5-8

 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

 and do not rely on your own insight.

 In all your ways acknowledge him,

 and he will make straight your paths.

 Be not wise in your own eyes;

 Fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

 It will be healing in your flesh

 and refreshment in your bones”.

Children and young people should examine these verses for what they teach. Our Study Lesson therefore will teach you what was taught in the Book of Deuteronomy. Note that the Apostle Paul was well schooled in the Old Testament Scriptures.

It will be good advice if you do the same and follow his example.

The apostle will complement Timothy’s mother and his grandmother who despite the fact that his mother was married to a Greek non-Christian, she likely and obviously, following her conversion on the day of Pentecost when the Apostle Peter preached the Gospel  message, stuck to God for her heart was changed, and she and the grandmother became firm followers, loyal followers, faithful followers of God, heeding every advice that God had given.

What an example for us today!

Today we study some of the last recorded words of the Apostle Paul, written from prison while he was chained to guards and awaiting beheading which took place according to tradition, on the very public Appian Way.

It is generally felt this letter was written about five years after the Letter of 1st Timothy. Paul had used the time after his first imprisonment very productively. It is thought he ministered through the eastern and western parts of the Empire, probably reaching Spain. Some think he reached even to Britain. But in any case he was rearrested during the infamous Nero persecutions.

The tone of this letter is gloomy and Paul is obviously lonely. Tradition explains this by telling us Paul was in the Mamertime Dungeon, which was a below ground cell with the only light available from an open hole in the roof. It was located beside a river and so the cell was reached by going down many steps, and was cold, dark and uncomfortable.

These were dark and lonely days but note that Paul was calm, confident and full of assurance.

May we learn from this Lesson that we who are in Christ should have the same witness as the Apostle Paul.

The context of this letter is therefore a very interesting one. In the very opening chapter the Apostle Paul pointed out that “Perilous times shall come., for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, Boasters proud,, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high- minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof: from such turn away”

Note that the Apostle focuses on the church and spoke of men “ who creep, into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts, ever, turning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”.

Note therefore the activities of these men and remember that they proliferate in the modern world. Paul describes them as ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth for they have corrupt minds like those men that resisted Moses, and they are reprobate concerning the faith.

The truth therefore is for Paul extremely important and he wants Timothy to have a firm grasp on the truth that his mother and grandmother have taught him and that the Apostle Paul himself had taught him.

So we must always be grateful for those people that have translated the Scriptures to the glory of Christ for us and for those that have committed themselves to hearing the word and expounding the Scriptures for us.

The truths of Scripture are especially important and the Apostle will stress in this prophetic message to Timothy the fact that his prophecy will be fulfilled in the end of the age, the period which covered the time from the  first Coming of Christ to the Second Coming of Christ. Note that we are now living in that latter time of the age which is the final age for corrupt humanity.

We therefore must note that as the Apostle Paul prophesied about the perilous times that are to come he warns Timothy that it was important that he should recognize what the future held for him. We also must note that we should give attention to the future, and to see what is happening around us in our society as well as in our church.

We must not blind our eyes to the fact that the great Roman Catholic traditions are in a crisis for they have attached their traditions to the Scriptures and say that that combination is truth.

That system proclaims that their leader has his own infallibility and that the tradition that he espouses is authoritative for faith and practice.

We know that this is not truth.

But there is also a crisis in Protestantism for there are many deviations in the Protestant Christian system.  Then whether we like it or not

we must not shut our eyes to the moral and doctrinal apostasy present in  Protestantism. In much of this system there is a general repudiation of the divine law, justice, and affection in Christian circles and there is an intensive amount of teaching that there is no such thing as sexual immorality and adultery. There are teachings about situation or contextual ethics so that there are no absolute principles of behaviour which God demands in every situation. So some even teach that

“Christian obligation calls for lies, adultery,, and fornication, and theft and promise breaking,, and killing sometimes depending on the situation”.

They fit this scenario that the Apostle Paul outlines where women are attracted by and deceived by all kinds of doctrines based on loss and sin, and men exploit them shamefully. Some churches will also reject the idea of the atonement,  the doctrine of the resurrection,  the doctrine of the shed blood of Christ for redemption in the Cross, and others of the great doctrines of the Christian faith.

Then you will find if you look around you that there is a crisis even in evangelicalism for though there are some aspects of movements in it that is genuine, there is also doctrinal softening about the nature of God the Father and the nature of Christ as well as the nature of the Holy Spirit. Some even reject the idea of the inspiration of the Scriptures, and the doctrine of eternal punishment. They promote the tongues movement and the other movements which soften the powerful force of the Gospel. This of course has led many of them to support political movements and political characters on grounds which have no basis in Scriptures.

Whether you know it or not there is extensive support in the evangelical and charismatic and neo charismatic movements which deify human beings that are clearly behaving in ways that are outside the accepted norms of Scripture.

So the apostasy and the truth which the Apostle predicted is all around us and so we can learn much from the apostolic exhortation to Timothy that he must continue in the things that he has learned. The Apostle commanded him to give himself to the Scriptures which are able to make him wise unto salvation.

The Apostle insists that every Scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for doctrine as well as for the other practical effects.

So this Study Lesson is much more important than we might think   and so it will help us to dig below the surface, for there is a dark side to much of what we see around us in the religious sphere.

We must be prepared to hold on to the truth of Scripture, the truth “breathed out” by God.

The influence that must come from home training is undeniable.

We might make excuses that we have little time for this, or that it is not a  modern or popular way of living, or that the children will not appreciate what we are doing.

But we must ask ourselves, What does God want us to do?

How are we to approach the crisis in the church of the Living God?

THE TEXT

Verses 1-2.   In view of the coming crisis, a crisis which has been happening, the Apostle here makes the  most remarkable claim that he was no ordinary person on an ordinary mission, but rather that he had been sent by Christ, the Messiah of God to carry the message of the Gospel to every creature throughout the world.

This was a place of honor, for according to 1 Corinthians 15:5-11 Jesus had elected him and appeared to him.

Apostles were pre-eminent (1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 2:20, 4:11) and their ministry was not only prophetic but was to illuminate Christ and His Gospel. 

The Holy Spirit had inspired them to understand all the mysteries of the Gospel and therefore they could both write and speak about its revelation definitively, (Ephesians 3:1-9, 1 Corinthians 2:1-16, Romans 16:25-26).

Paul made it clear that he knew the same body of truth that the other Apostles knew, for he was a chosen vessel of the Lord.  It is through Jesus Christ that he had received his Apostleship, because Jesus had called him to be an Apostle, separated him to bring about the Gospel of God and to bring the faith among the Gentiles. (Romans 1:1-5, 11:13, Galatians 1:1)

He was who he was according to will of God, God’s good pleasure and His grace, and thus his position would in no sense be regarded as due to his worthiness. 

God’s will controlled all that he did and obviously, since God was completely trustworthy by His nature what he did and said could be relied on.

Paul described his Gospel as “the promise of life in Jesus Christ”, for the Gospel when accepted and persevered in, preserved by God, led to life. 

Christ was the only way and hence this promise of life was to be found only in Jesus. 2 Corinthians 1:20 also makes this clear.

Why did Paul describe the Gospel in this way?  It is because the Gospel delivers people from bondage, heals people and changes them, giving them the power to be what God wants them to be.

In 2 Corinthians 4:7 we are called “earthen vessels”, weak and in ourselves without value but God has placed in these ‘earthen vessels’ a treasure that is incomparable.  So we are taught in Colossians 1:27, Christ is in us, the hope of glory.

It should be clearly understood that the believer has a quality of life now that is infinitely grand.  We have an amazing quality of life right now, though life might seem to be falling apart and we are encompassed by terrible circumstances.

This life which begins when we truly believe, does not end when we die, but expands into an incomparable life with Jesus.  This is the certain hope of the Gospel.

In Verse 2 Paul affectionately reminded the sensitive and sometimes fearful Timothy that God’s grace gave us full blessings.  The Apostle Paul calls Timothy a “beloved son”.

Note that we do not deserve any forgivingness of sins and the removal of guilt that we bear.  Neither do we deserve God’s welcoming and His care and concern for us.  We definitely do not deserve the strengthening and power that God gives us to obey Him.  But Paul reminds Timothy of all these things by using the one word “grace”.

Then, he used a different word to describe the blessing of God, reminding Timothy of God’s mercy, “mercy” being God withholding from us what we do deserve.

Actually, Jeremiah told us the plain truth when he said in Lamentations 3:22-24,

“It is of Lord’s mercies that are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.”        

Christians fail to understand that in this world of sin, the only thing that we should really expect is chaos, disaster, violence, hardship, hatred, terror and fighting every moment of the day. This is what would happen if God allowed Satan to totally have his way. There would be no sunshine, no long life, no healing and no joy.

It is because of God’s mercies, that we only experience hardships and trials on the infrequent occasions when we experience problems. Life could really be infinitely bitter for that is what sinners deserve. But God’s ‘mercies’ allow some trials and difficulties to get through to us, His ‘hedge’ around us preserves us, bringing us joy and blessings.

Then Paul reminded Timothy of God ‘peace’, which gives us an inner sense of well-being and stability during the trials that make life look dark and dreary.  It is wonderful to know that God is in control at all times.

Verse 3.  Remember that at this time Paul was in a dark, lonely dungeon and he had to rely on a daily supply of grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus His Lord.

Despite his circumstances, given the honour God had placed on him by appointing him an Apostle, Paul was comforted by the fact that like his godly forefathers, he had served God with a conscience cleansed by God Himself.  He did not serve God from a position of self- righteousness.  He had learned from his Jewish ancestors that when he did something wrong and there was guilt, a sacrifice had to be brought to cleanse the conscience.

He was in God’s house, cleansed by the sacrifice of Jesus and so his conscience was pure with no dead works and offences for which he had not repented.  He had obviously kept the faith and practiced love to the brethren.

The point was that Timothy too must know that he could pray with confidence, something only possible when one had a clear conscience.  When he knew that Jesus had cleansed his sins by His sacrifice he would be on firm ground.

Inner purity was most important for Paul.  So too was physical purity, for the physical purity was necessary as the believer’s body belonged to the Lord, and was the Temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:13-19, Romans 13:13-14.

Defilement was a terrible thing.  So too was being guilty of the blood of others, Acts 18:6, 20:26.  Moral purity was most important for impurity in one member could contaminate the body of believers,

1 Corinthians 5:6-13.

Paul was always praying for Timothy, for he never forgot his friends and those he loved.  Those who are precious to him were on his prayer list and he always mentioned them in prayer. He might be in prison and unable to help them in any other way, but he could  pray always for them.

Clearly, Paul’s ministry to people did not stop once they had accepted the faith.  He felt it was his duty to teach, warn, exhort, encourage and bring them to maturity.  He had devoted his life to presenting them as ‘chaste virgins’  to Christ  (2 Corinthians 11:2).

Praying was an essential part of his ministry and Paul always spoke about praying for those who had been converted through preaching, as well as all other believers.

Verse 4.  Paul was mindful of Timothy’s great affection for him. He could not forget Timothy’s tears made on his behalf. We do not know the occasions, but it might have occurred during Paul arrest, at some of his beatings or at some of the times when Paul was attacked by heretics. One writer gives us his opinion on when Timothy would have shed tears for Paul.

“ I do not know when Timothy wept with Paul. Many suggest, and I think this has merit, that this probably occurred when Paul was suddenly re-arrested, from Timothy’s company, and dragged off to his final imprisonment in Rome. Where this happened we are not sure.

Personally, I think it probably happened in the city of Troas. Paul did not even have time to go back and get his belongings. Suddenly, in the midst of the terrible outbreak of persecution against Christians, a band of Roman soldiers grabbed him,, and without any explanation, dragged him away as a prisoner.

Looking back, Paul could see Timothy’s anguished face, and noted the tears running down the cheeks of this young man as he watched his dearly beloved father in the faith dragged off to jail.

Paul says, “ I can’t forget that. Every time I think of you, Timothy, I see the tears running down your face, and it makes me pray for you”.

Paul would not forget Timothy’s anguish, for it showed that Timothy loved him dearly and so he longed to see him again. The pain that Paul must have felt when he knew that he would not see his beloved friend was certainly heart rending.

Verse 5.    But also note that Paul also could not forget Timothy’s sincere faith.  This was honest genuine faith, with no hypocrisy. This same faith, the unswerving attention to the things of God, had marked out this devout Jewish mother and grandmother. 

Timothy’s mother had married a Greek but from a child, both mother and grandmother brought him up to know the Scriptures and to hope for and expect the Messiah.

When they heard the message of Christ they responded to the call.  This is a case of excellent parental example. Godly upbringing in the influence of the family bore fruit.

We ought to hear the message that the family must teach the children to obey and love God.

Verse 6-7.  Paul encouraged Timothy to do his duty, for he remembered that Timothy had a spiritual gift, a supernaturally given gift that enabled him to do the work of God.

Note that though he had been given the gift from God he had to exercise it, stir up the gift he had been given and use it so that it would not deteriorate.

Paul had recognized that Timothy had this gift from God and had ‘laid hands’ on him in his authority as an Apostle, so that Timothy would not have any doubt that he had the power of God behind him.

We learn from this that it is a tragedy if believers do not use the spiritual gifts they have. We are reminded that that which has been given to us by the Holy Spirit must be used.

Note clearly that fear is a great hindrance to believers using and increasing their spiritual gifts. Christians therefore are forbidden to fear. 

We are given relevant, practical advice and instruction as Paul stated that the Spirit which dwells in us is not a spirit of fear, See John 14:1 and verse 27.

When believers are attacked and oppressed by fear which translate into anxiety, worry, trembling and a sense of foreboding, we must believe the word of God. God had said, that what we are experiencing, this spirit of fear, does not come from Him.

Rather, the spirit which comes from God is one of power, a spirit of power.

The Scriptures teach us that the power of Satan has been broken. God has now given us the spirit of power, so that we can refuse to do what is wrong and can obey what is right.  It is not a question of feeling but a question of knowledge.

God has even granted us the power to walk step-by-step and day by day with full knowledge that He will see us through all that we encounter. So even if we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil, for God is with us.

We must learn not to listen to the lies of Satan, for he is the father of lies, and is a deceiver.  He will never tell the full truth, for he does not want us to understand the power that we already have.

Moreover, God has also given us a spirit of love. We can pay attention not only to our own problems but to the problems of others; remembering that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood but against the demonic hosts.  We can love even unlovable men.

In addition we have been given the spirit of sound judgment, that is, soberness.  We do not have to spend all our time worrying about ghosts and demons.  We do not have to spend all or time depending on special revelations and ecstatic experiences, but we can make sensible, realistic analyses of situations. We can depend on the leading of the Spirit, make great decisions on what we should do and then carry them out.

Verse 6. Note then that Paul is encouraging Timothy to  be bold.  He should approach God with confidence, to live in faith that God is present and with him in power. 

He was encouraged that he had the gift of the Spirit which he could use to help others. 

He was told that he had the spirit of power and love and self-control and that God would help him through all things.

The Apostle therefore reminded Timothy that he had been given this gift of God so that he could be a valuable man for the Kingdom  of God.

Never forget that these were extremely difficult times for after the ascension of Jesus Satan had been working overtime to prevent the spread of the Gospel to the pagan world. Timothy seemed to have had a timid part of his nature and so Paul had to encourage him to be strong and bold.

Many today like to avoid confrontation, but we should also remember that the Apostle never shied away from confrontation even though he had a shepherd’s tender heart for the sheep. One writer therefore comments as he examines Paul’s comments to Timothy:

“In 1 and 2, there are no less than 25 different places where Paul encouraged Timothy to be bold, to not shy away from confrontation. To stand up where he needs to stand up and be strong.

Because of who Timothy was and the responsibilities he had to bear, this was what Timothy needed to hear….

People are all at different places. For some, the last thing they need to hear is, “You need to be bolder”  because that is not their problem.

Many others come from the place where they need to hear,

“Stir up the gift of God which is in you”;   be bold, get going, go for it”. Timothy was of the second type.

Some who appear bold really are just good at pretending. They use a confrontational, in your face attitude to mask a lot of pain and insecurity. They need to become really bold and secure in the Lord, instead of pretending and hiding behind a mask of false courage”.

So we encourage you to stir it up, stir up the gift in you. This word means the idea of stirring up a fire to keep it burning bright and strong. One writer warns that if a fire is left to itself it will always burn out, but God wants us to keep our gifts burning strong for him.

Remember therefore that you have a gift from God once you come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is living in you and encouraging you to use your gift and do not let anyone stop you from using your gift.

Remember that you have been called by God to proclaim the gospel.  As a result of all this, there was no need for timidity, or fearfulness about using the gift or gifts you have.  So it is necessary to warn you about what you face.

There is a dynamic aspect to God’s nature but somehow we do not often keep this in focus. We become ashamed of the Lord because of what we have to go through.  We do not see Jesus in His full splendour, for He is not visible physically and so when the world attacks our testimony, we tend to pull away and make the Gospel palatable to the world.

The Gospel is the testimony of Jesus, and it tells us about Him.  We are called to witness that the Creator of the universe, is the only true source of power and life. Timothy was tempted to be ashamed of the gospel because of the ridicule and satanic induced mocking of the world. We are also tempted to be ashamed. This gospel of Christ is offensive to men. They feel insulted and helpless when they are told they are sinners.  They generally react negatively to the Gospel.  As a matter-of-fact, many of us have personally heard professing believers sneer at preachers on radio, who while they are speaking some truth are not very fluent and are not able to speak in an acceptable or attractive tone of voice.  These same believers will applaud other media preachers, who, while skilful and fluent in their presentation, are speaking much more significant amount of error than the not so fluent preachers mentioned above.

Timothy was tempted to be ashamed of Paul who was a prisoner of Rome, for Paul was regarded as an enemy of the state and a man who wanted to destroy society. For most people then living in the Roman empire, Paul’s behaviour was disgraceful.

So Paul had to encourage Timothy to realize that the Gospel which had brought affliction to the servants of God was one of power.  To men the Gospel looked as something that was weak, but in fact it is the only source of power that could bring the miracle of the new birth and transform men.

CHAPTER 3: 14-16

In these few verses the apostle tells us and Timothy how to survive, during the times of pressure stress, chaos, false teachings and apostasy, moral filth and shameless self-indulgence where the church maintains a form of religion or godliness but denying the power thereof.

So you if you are a professing Christian how can you maintain your integrity against the strong stormy currents of the day?

The Apostle Paul.gives two answers.

He says first, “Do what I have done”.

Then second, he tells Timothy that he must live righteously in action and attitude. The power of God dwells in him and will allow him to do just that.

Then thirdly, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy that he must trust in the Lord Jesus for the battle is the Lord’s battle.

It is not our battle.

Do not fool yourself that it is your battle.   But let me caution you that some do fool themselves.

You cannot by yourself win anything against Satan, that, powerful being whose name initially was Lucifer Son of the Morning, who overshadowed the throne of God and in whom was built all the musical instruments conceivable so that he could lead the angels of God in worship to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Paul therefore insists that Timothy saturate his mind with the Scriptures and let his mind and his thinking be controlled by the Word of God.

You cannot escape the Apostles’ emphasis on the written word of God. 

The Apostle reminds us that the word and the thoughts of God are in the Scriptures. The Bible teaches us the truth and we have to pay attention to the channel through which the truth comes.

But we must be careful that we worship only the God that the Book of Scripture reveals.

How do we do this?  Paul tells us how because he says the process is,  “Continue all in what you have learned”.

Be careful to note that Timothy only had the Old Testament Scriptures and probably copies of a few of the letters that Paul would have written when he was around him. He might have been exposed to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark which were circulating then.

Let us remind you that in the Bible is what is critically important to you. In 1 Corinthians 2:-8 the Apostle tells us what the Bible exposes us to, and he tells  the brethren in Corinth and us:

“My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

 That your faith should not stand in the, wisdom of men but in the power of God.

 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory;

Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”.

So note that if you read the Bible carefully and diligently you will be changed, for it will drastically alter your own thinking.

Read Proverbs 3:21- 26 again, for it emphasizes this point.

Timothy is to learn these things he had been taught and is to believe them and act on what he has learned. He must be doers of the word and not hearers only for if that is the case he would be deceiving himself.

Paul therefore tells Timothy that he should believe the Scriptures because of how the Scriptures came to him. It came through the people he loved and trusted. He knew how he had learned it. So we know that children will believe the Bible much easier if it comes through people that they trust. In Timothy’s case, his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois were the channels by which he was taught the Word of God.

Eunice and Lois, being Jewish, most likely followed the instructions of Moses  in Deuteronomy 6 to teach the word of God when the children rise up, that is, when they get up in the mornings, teach them when they sit down at mealtime,  and teach them the Word of God when they go to bed at night.

All these moments are teachable moments. You think about that and follow the instructions of Moses and the behaviour of Eunice and Lois.

The second thing that the apostle reminds Timothy of is that the word of God and belief in God came to him at a very early age so Paul said,  “From childhood you have learned this”.

So,  all of us parents must not miss the emphasis for it tells us that childhood is a wonderful time to get the truths of Scriptures into a young person’s heart.

The Apostle Paul in Verse 15 points out that Scriptures have a great effect. The Word of God teaches that your dreams and ideals and hopes will not be realized until you begin to walk according to the light of the Word of God.

Of course it is not that the Scriptures that saves you but the Scriptures are able to bring you to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and He’s the only one who can save you.

This Jesus who saves is revealed only in the Bible, so if you want to come to know this Saviour of men, and the One that can deliver you from bondage you have to learn about Him in the pages of Scripture.

And remember the Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit exactly with that intent

Why do the Scriptures do this amazing thing and develop this amazing quality in you? The Apostle Paul tells us why. He tells us that “All Scripture is given by the in-spiration of God, , and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction action in righteousness”

It is extremely important that when you look at this subject of inspiration  that you learn that the word inspired  comes from a Latin word spiro  which means to breathe, and in,  so that it means breathe in.

So one writer teaches us accordingly what the word “inspiration” in the Bible mean.  The Greek word in the Scriptures are really in the reverse of the word that is normally used when we use the word “in-spiration”. He states,

“But that is exactly what God did not do with the Bible. He did not breathe it in. He breathed it out. The Greek word  means,  “breathed out from God”. What we are ought to say is “All Scripture is outspired by God”—breathed out from him.

Peter says virtually the same thing: “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Spirit of God” (CF. 2   Peter 1:21 KVJ).

Genesis tells us that God created man by heaping up a pile of dirt and breathing into it, out from himself, the spirit of life, and man became a living being.

The wonder of this book is that is what God did with the words of it”.

The Bible therefore has the power to teach men what they otherwise cannot know. It is breathed out by God.

Note that the Bible has the power therefore to reprove, or better still more accurately , to convict.  So when you read the Bible you will become aware of what you have been doing and if it is wrong it will make you aware that if you want to be free from bondage of sin you have to change and to commit yourself to a different direction. That is what we call conviction.

So not only does the Bible have the power to teach, but it has the power to convict. And it has the power to” train you in righteousness”. It has the power to fine tune you like a skilful coach and enable you to walk in a more righteous way which leads to peace.

 And the Apostle hen makes it clear in Verse 16 that the Book of Scripture is sufficient to produce a man or woman who is “whole”.  This clearly indicates that you do not need the psychology of the world, or philosophy of the world, or higher education. These things might have some value in themselves, and they might even supplement some of the things the Bible teaches what we know they can never replace what the Bible teaches.

CONCLUSION

So therefore you must thank God for this amazing book that God has breathed out.

We should make sure that our life as parents help our children in positive ways, so that they will be able to bear fruit.   

The Bible must not stay just as a Book that gathers dust in the home but it must be used to bring up the children in the way of righteousness.

Too often our lives turn our children away from God or give them an excuse to turn away from God. Parents have a most critical responsibility.

This role of proper, godly parenting and godly example is most important, because our children will face a very dangerous enemy if they ever begin to be active for Christ. We should never place them in a position where they are confused about what a man or woman of God should be like.

Timothy’s mother and Grandmother had given a great gift to the Apostle Paul and to the church. Would God be able to say of us that we have brought up children that are gifts to God, or will we be ashamed of what we have done or not done, when we stand before God!  This is an awesome responsibility.

Young people should be aware that the sound words that they have been exposed to must be held fast. A life for Christ can be difficult, but the power of God is more than sufficient to keep them. They must use the gifts that God has given them.

The fear that comes on us is not really coming from God but from the enemy. We must realize that we do have the spirit of power because the Holy Spirit dwells in us. God does not ever make us afraid to spread His word or to live and show the nature of God in our life.  We must resist the fear brought by the enemy of our souls.

We have nothing to be ashamed of or to fear, for when we are called home we will be with Jesus and will begin to enjoy a qualitatively different kind of life.

Immortality and true life with Jesus awaits us. In the meantime, we must use our gifts in God’s service. We have been given a sound mind and sober judgment. We must use what we have been given for the honor and Glory of God.