II Timothy 2:1 “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
With the word “therefore”, Paul refers to the Doctrine Of Grace that He had outlined in II Timothy 1:8-10 and the sufferings (II Timothy 1:12) and rejection (II Timothy 1:15) that he and other Ministers of God were experiencing at that time. He makes it clear that the blessed truths of the Doctrine Of Grace are worth suffering for and fighting for (I Timothy 6:12; II Timothy 4:7). “therefore” he issues an Apostolic Charge to Timothy and to all ministers and ultimately to the whole body of Christ to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”! “grace” is the marvelous gift whereby the Children of God are given blessings that they do not deserve. Our Lord gives us “grace” to live by (Hebrews 4:16), “grace” to die by (Acts 7:55), and has saved us to Eternal Heaven and to Spiritual Life by His “grace” (Ephesians 2:8). In view of the many tribulations, troubles, rejections, heartbreaks, depravations, etc. that we experience along the way in our Lord’s service, Paul writes to Timothy, “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”. We, like Timothy, need to “be strong” because we are often discouraged and moved to doubt as we encounter the many obstacles to peace and joy in this life. To “be strong” is to direct our attention upon “Christ Jesus” and not upon the ominous obstacles we so often encounter; that is, we keep going by always “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), because we suffer through the obstacles by His “strength” (Philippians 4:13), for our natural strength is insufficient. The “antichrist” (I John 2:18) will tell you that you are too weak and unskilled to succeed in the Lord’s service, that you can have just as much joy and peace outside the Church, that your sins make you unfit for Heaven, and that those at Church are nothing but hypocrites so why even bother to go to Church. But, as we direct our attention to “Christ Jesus” through prayer, reading the Bible, attending Church, and visiting with the Lord’s people; we begin to realize that we are indeed sufficiently “strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”. The more we give attention to the Lord and His service, the more we experience the strength of “Christ” working in us and in our lives, and we understand that the “antichrist” is a liar, and we learn that real joy and peace for the Children of God are found among the saints of God in His Church!