Outline 

1. Live Out the Truth by Following Paul (3:10-14)

2. Live Out the Truth of Scripture (3:15-17)

2 Timothy Summary: Because we’ve been transformed by the gospel, Christians…

Create Spiritual Friendships (1:1-7)

Suffer for the Gospel (1:8-18)

Focus on God’s Kingdom (2:1-7)

Persevere in their Faith (2:8-13)

Live in the World (2:14-26)

Stand Firm Against the World (3:1-9)

3:10-11: The theme of 2 Timothy 3:10-17 is to live out the truth. Christians have been called to live out the truth by following Paul (3:10-14) and to live out the truth of Scripture (3:15-17). Key point #1: Transformed disciples live out the truth by following Paul (teaching, everyday living, persecution/suffering). 

Paul begins 3:10 (“You, however”) by contrasting Timothy with the surrounding culture of ungodliness and false teaching (3:1-9). Stott notes: “In stark contrast to the contemporary decline in morals, empty show of religion and spread of false teaching Timothy is called to be different, and if necessary to stand alone” (94). 

First, transformed disciples should follow Paul’s teaching. Paul’s teaching included different methods (group, individual, formal, informal, debate, testimony) and contexts (synagogues, open-air forum, crowds, face-to-face, prison, letters). Although Paul’s teaching covered a wide range of topics (e.g, sin, salvation, sanctification, spiritual gifts, prayer), these themes are based on a rich Christology (doctrine of Christ) and God-glorifying gospel. 

Like Paul, Timothy must guard this deposit (1:14), pass it on/teach it to faithful followers (2:2) and protect the Christian community from false teachers (2:20-22; 3:6-9). 

Second, transformed disciples should follow Paul’s everyday living. Paul’s conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and steadfastness provide an example for us to follow. Throughout his letters, Paul encourages Christians to imitate his life (1 Corinthians 4:15-17; 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 4:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9). Paul wasn’t encouraging Timothy to follow his example out of pride, but rather, he’s reminding Timothy of the importance of discipleship, modeling Christ-likeness, and spiritual multiplication.   

Third, transformed disciples should follow Paul’s path of persecution and suffering. Paul specifically mentioned experiences from his first missionary journey (Antioch, Iconium, Lystra). Although Timothy was not serving with Paul, Paul’s reference to these persecutions and sufferings suggest that Timothy was intimately aware of them (e.g., he was familiar with the geographical areas, these were some of the most intense sufferings of Paul, he may have witnessed some of these persecutions firsthand) (Moule, 558).    

In Antioch (Acts 13:13-52), leading men and women of the city persecuted Paul and Barnabas and drove them away from the city. Concerning Iconium (Acts 14:1-7), Gentiles and Jews, together with people of authority, mistreated and attempted to stone them. While in Lystra (Acts 14:8-23), Jews from Antioch and Iconium stirred up the crowds and “stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city supposing that he was dead” (14:19). 

Paul’s explained that he was able to endure persecution because God rescued them. One final note about these persecutions: After Paul and Barnabas ministered in Derbe, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch—the very same places where they were persecuted to encourage believers and appoint elders.  

3:12: Paul informed Timothy that suffering should be expected if he was to follow Paul’s example. In other words, godliness leads to persecution. Stott’s insight is worth quoting in full: “Those who are in Christ but not in the world are not persecuted, because they do not come into contact and therefore into collusion with their potential persecutors. Those who are in the world but not in Christ are also not persecuted, because the world sees nothing in them to persecute….It is only for those who are both in the world and in Christ simultaneously that persecution becomes inevitable.” (96)

In short, transformed disciples live out the truth by following Paul (teaching, everyday living, suffering).

3:13: In contrast to Paul’s example, there are “evil people and imposters” in and around the church. In fact, they are the exact opposite of Paul. First, rather than becoming more Christ-like, they digress (in character) from “bad to worse.” Second, instead of learning and proclaiming truth, they are “deceiving” (others) and were “being deceived” (from Satan or other heretical teachings).   

3:14-15: Key point #2: Transformed disciples live out the truth of Scripture. Similar to 3:10, Paul begins 3:14 by contrasting Timothy’s life (“But as for you”) with the “evil people and imposters” (3:13). Transformed disciples shouldn’t live like Jannes and Jambres and these false teachers. 

Paul exhorts Timothy to “continue” (to be faithful) in what he has “believed” and “learned” (gospel, biblical doctrine). In 2 Timothy 3:14-17, Paul provides four reasons for why we should live out the truth of Scripture. 

First, transformed disciples should live out the truth of Scripture because it’s based on Paul’s apostolic and authoritative teaching (3:14: “knowing from whom you learned it.”) 

Throughout this study, I’ve noted that Paul teaches, informs, and states “this” and “that” so it’s easy to interpret these verses as Paul’s opinions or ideas. This is absolutely false! Paul was an apostle and therefore, possessed prophetic authority (equivalent to Moses) when he wrote Scripture.        

Second, transformed disciples should live out the truth of Scripture because “the sacred writings [Old Testament]… are able to make [us] wise for salvation…in Christ” (3:15). We tend to forget that the Old Testament was the “Bible” for a vast majority of the believers in the New Testament. Only a small percentage of New Testament believers listened to Paul’s letters and other portions of the New Testament Scripture read aloud. And yet, Paul teaches that the Old Testament led Timothy (and others) to faith in Christ. The gospel is also found in the Old Testament!     

3:16: Third, transformed disciples should live out the truth of Scripture because it’s God-breathed. But what does it mean to claim that Scripture is God-breathed? When we assert that Scripture is God-breathed, then we’re also introducing the ideas of inspiration, inerrancy, and authority.

Inspiration: While the books of the Bible reflect the personalities of human authors, they are, nevertheless, “God-breathed.” Inspiration is the process whereby God supernaturally influenced the authors in order to produce a divine and trustworthy Bible. So, the Bible is 100% written by God Himself and 100% written by the human authors as well. 

2 Timothy 3:16 teaches that God has supernaturally “breathed out” every word while 2 Peter 1:19-21 teaches that the writers “spoke from God” and “were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Moses (Ex 32:16) calls them the “writing of God” and Isaiah (38:4), Jeremiah (1:11), Ezekiel (1:3), and First Peter (1:25) refer to the Scriptures as the “Word of the Lord.” This phrase highlights and identifies the ultimate source for the prophet’s words: They come from God Himself.

Because Scripture is inspired by God (God-breathed), Christians listen to God’s Word.

Inerrancy: The inerrancy of the Scriptures refers to the belief that the original Scriptures cannot err and do not contain errors in what it affirms or teaches. Inerrancy is a natural corollary from the inspiration of Scripture. Because God is perfect and the author of the Scriptures (see above: inspiration), He guarantees the truthfulness of the Bible and protects it from producing falsehoods. 

Psalm 12:6 declares that God’s words are “pure,” Proverbs 30:5 asserts that “every word of God proves true,” John 10:35 claims that “Scripture cannot be broken,” and John 17:17 proclaims that God’s “word is truth.” Regarding the eternality of God’s words, they are “firmly fixed in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89), “will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35), and “remain forever” (1 Peter 1:25). 

Inerrancy must be understood in light of other factors including the accommodation of human language (anthropomorphism, approximations, grammar/spelling irregularities, citations), progressive nature of Scripture (fulfills but does not contradict previous revelation), unity of the Scriptures (alleged discrepancies can be resolved), and grammar-historical hermeneutics (genre, author’s purpose, Scripture interprets Scripture) of God’s Word. Consequently, we should claim and trust God’s promises because God and His Word are trustworthy.        

Because Scripture in inerrant (without error), Christians trust God’s Word.

Authority: Because Scripture possesses the final authority over God’s people, it has the power to govern and guide our thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, words, and actions. The authority of Scripture is also a natural corollary to the doctrine of inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21) and directly associated with God speaking. 

Moses (Genesis 2-11; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob; the revelation of the law in Exodus), the authors of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Obadiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Micah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi teach the idea of God’s direct speech (e.g., “this is what the LORD says”) possessing final authority over His people. 

Because Jesus is God, his words possess divine authority (e.g., Mt 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44; 7:28-29; cf. Heb 1:2). Scripture authority, however, is not limited to God’s direct speech. All Scripture has final authority over our lives. Thus, when the Scriptures speak, God speaks; obeying the Scriptures is equivalent to obeying God.

Because Scripture has authority, Christians obey God’s Word.

Fourth, transformed disciples should live out the truth of Scripture because it’s profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, training in righteousness. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, there are four purposes of Scripture. Moule observes: “The four prepositional phrases may form two groups, the first dealing with doctrine (“orthodoxy”) and the second with behavior (“orthopraxy”) (570).