Faith in the Truth || 2 Timothy 1:13-14 || Manna for the Mind #103

Welcome to Day 103 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional! This series is about taking scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses) and building our understanding of their teachings through their context and connecting scripture. I believe that doing this helps us understand how to be the type of human that God created us to be.

Today’s passage is 2 Timothy 1:13-14. Paul is advising Timothy, a new Pastor in a time of transition, about how to hold on to Jesus’s teachings and protect those truths.

2 Timothy 1:13-14

AMP	NLT	MSG
13 Keep and follow the pattern of sound teaching (doctrine) which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.	13 Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus.	13-14 So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.
14 Guard [with greatest care] and keep unchanged, the treasure [that precious truth] which has been entrusted to you [that is, the good news about salvation through personal faith in Christ Jesus], through [the help of] the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.	14 Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.

As I mentioned, Timothy is in a time of transition. He had been Paul’s right-hand man through Paul’s ministry. Timothy is becoming a church pastor in a challenging environment, a massive step-up in Timothy’s own ministry. Although the responsibilities were changing, he was not alone in the change. He had everything needed to face the future as long as he held tight to the Lord’s sources, God’s words, and Paul’s previous instructions.

We can learn something from Timothy when we’re facing difficult transitions. We need to reflect and review the resources with Timothy’s help. We need to see what resources we have and what resources would be helpful as we transition from one part of life to another. We can ask these questions as well:

• Who is the foundation of my faith? Who can provide solid ground to walk on as you navigate transitions? Who can you go to in your doubts and in your celebrations? Who will hear you and feel with you?
• How can I build on that foundation? How can you lean on those people in your time of transition? How can they help you when needed?
• What gifts has the Holy Spirit given me? How can you utilize those gifts in your transition? How can you see the gifts of those around you?

After this time of transition, seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance in utilizing the gifts you’ve been given. When we walk this path, we’ll find that transitions, though daunting, can be serene and tranquil when we traverse them with God.

Romans 6:17

AMP	NLT	MSG
17 But thank God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed.	17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you	17 But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you’ve let sin tell you what to do

To “wholeheartedly obey” means to give yourself fully to God. It epitomizes loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Oftentimes, our efforts to know and follow God’s commands are half-hearted. God wants to empower us to obey him with all our hearts, focusing on the Good News that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead to give us eternal life. There’s an early statement of faith from the Corinth church that supports this in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, which I’ll summarize right here:

Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was resurrected three days later. At one time, he was seen by Peter, the twelve disciples, and more than 500 of his followers. Later, he was seen by James and all the other apostles. Paul even saw Jesus.

When we believe in this wholeheartedly and think, say, and live with that statement of faith as the foundation of our spiritual life, then we’ll find ourselves living a life that’s Christlike and guides us to the path of eternal life. Sometimes, we may doubt if we are a “true” Christian, and that’s okay.

Romans 8:9

AMP	NLT	MSG
9 However, you are not [living] in the flesh [controlled by the sinful nature] but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God lives in you [directing and guiding you]. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him [and is not a child of God].	9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)	9 But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearlypresent God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about

How many of you have worried about whether you are a true Christian? If you’ve sincerely trusted Jesus Christ to save you from your sins and acknowledged him as your Lord and Savior, then the Holy Spirit will take residence in your heart, and you will be a Christian. Rest assured that you have the Holy Spirit because Jesus promised to send them. When you believe that Jesus is God’s son and that eternal life comes through him alone, you will experience these things:

• You will start to live as Christ lived.
• You will find help and guidance in your daily problems and your prayer life.
• You will be empowered to serve God and do his will.
• You will become part of God’s family and build up his church.

I would go into this some, but I did a whole series (and mini-series) about these things. Check out my series “Now What?” and “How Do I Do That?” to learn more about what life is like after you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Romans 8:11

AMP	NLT	MSG
11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.	11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.	11 It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!

The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee of eternal life for those who believe in him. The Spirit resides within us by faith, and we are certain to live with Christ forever. Faith will lead us in our Christian journey tighter than ever. We will be put in places where our faith will be needed to do the tough things that God wills. It might be having a tough conversation, going to a tough and uncomfortable place to meet those where they are, or giving away resources that we feel we need. Our God is loving God and will walk with us through those moments that feel uncomfortable to us.

1 Timothy 1:14

AMP	NLT	MSG
14 The grace of our Lord [His amazing, unmerited favor and blessing] flowed out in superabundance [for me, together] with the faith and love which are [realized] in Christ Jesus.	14 Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.	14 Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus.

Paul’s thankfulness for Christ’s mercy should be very encouraging to us. This generous mercy from God is available to us all: “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue until it is finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” We must tell God that he brings new mercy daily. How do we accept this mercy? Our relationship with him grows daily through the faith and love God gives us. Let us pray for God’s mercy.

Father God, thank you for the truth of what it means to be Christian, taught through your son, Jesus Christ. Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit to reside within us to help us do our will. Strengthen our faith to trust in the Spirit and to walk through life as the Spirit directs. Lord, we are not perfect. We will mess up, but you forgive us. Your mercy is gifted to us fresh daily. Strengthen our faith to say that you love all of our imperfections and walk with us as we move through life. It’s in your name, we pray. Amen.