2 Timothy - Complete Bible Study

How to Use This Study

This collected guide gathers the eight verified 2 Timothy sessions into one whole-book study. It can be taught in eight parish sessions, read devotionally across a season, or used by a servant preparing a focused series on apostolic endurance, Scripture, and faithful ministry. Each session keeps Scripture close to the explanation so the text itself governs the teaching.

Read 2 Timothy as a personal letter, but not as a private letter. St. Paul writes to Timothy as a beloved son and servant, yet the whole Church receives the apostolic word through him. The letter teaches how grace is rekindled, how shame is resisted, how the word is entrusted, how false teaching is corrected, how Scripture forms the servant, and how a Christian finishes the race with the Lord standing near.

This study should not be used as a ministry-technique manual, a weapon for religious argument, or a sentimental farewell speech. It is a pastoral testament about remaining faithful to Christ when the apostolic servant faces suffering, abandonment, doctrinal danger, and death.

Book Orientation

Second Timothy is one of St. Paul’s most tender and serious letters. The apostle writes as a father near the end of his race, urging Timothy not to be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, not to surrender the apostolic deposit, not to quarrel as though truth were served by strife, and not to lose courage when people abandon sound doctrine. The letter joins affection and command, memory and mission, suffering and grace.

The opening chapter begins with gift, tears, memory, and courage. Timothy’s sincere faith has family roots, but it must still be stirred up. The Spirit given by God is not fear, but power, love, and a sound mind. Paul then calls Timothy to share in suffering for the Gospel, holding fast the pattern of sound words and guarding the good deposit by the Holy Spirit.

The center of the letter moves from endurance to stewardship. Timothy must entrust the word to faithful people, endure hardship as a soldier, compete lawfully as an athlete, labor as a farmer, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, and suffer for the word that is not chained. Then Paul teaches him how to handle truth without being ruined by controversy: avoid word-battles, rightly handle the word of truth, become a vessel for honor, flee immature passions, and correct opponents with gentleness in hope of repentance.

The later chapters expose the danger of religious appearance without spiritual power. Paul describes disordered loves, exploitative false teaching, and people always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Against this, Timothy has apostolic example, the Holy Scriptures known from childhood, and Scripture inspired by God for teaching, reproof, correction, training in righteousness, and every good work.

The final chapter gathers the whole letter into charge and testimony. Timothy must preach the word before Christ the Judge, endure affliction, and fulfill the ministry. Paul himself is being poured out, has fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. Yet the letter does not end in triumphal distance. It ends with Demas, Luke, Mark, the cloak, the books, Alexander, abandonment, the Lord standing with Paul, Trophimus sick, greetings, and grace. The final word is not winter or prison. It is the Lord Jesus Christ with the spirit and grace with the Church.

Series Teaching Arc

• Session 1 begins with rekindled grace. Timothy’s sincere faith, family formation, ordination gift, and call to courage teach that spiritual inheritance must become living fire.
• Session 2 moves into holy shame-resistance. Paul calls Timothy to share in suffering, guard the deposit, and remember faithful and unfaithful examples around the apostolic prisoner.
• Session 3 teaches the entrusting of the word and endurance with Christ. The Gospel is passed to faithful people through suffering, remembrance, and hope in the risen Lord.
• Session 4 shows how the servant handles truth. Correct doctrine must be joined to repentance, purity, peaceful pursuit, and gentle correction that hopes for repentance.
• Session 5 exposes counterfeit godliness. Disordered loves can wear religious form, and false teachers exploit burdened souls, but God exposes folly.
• Session 6 answers counterfeit religion with apostolic life and Scripture. Timothy must continue in what he has learned, because Scripture makes one wise for salvation through faith in Christ and equips the servant for every good work.
• Session 7 gives the solemn charge to preach the word before Christ the Judge. The Church must endure sound doctrine, and Paul shows what it means to be poured out, finish the race, and love Christ’s appearing.
• Session 8 closes with embodied apostolic realism. Friends remain or depart, a cloak and books matter, warnings are needed, sickness remains, and yet the Lord stands with His servant and grace has the last word.

Read as a whole, 2 Timothy trains the Church to receive grace without fear, suffer without shame, teach without distortion, correct without quarrelling, discern without contempt, read Scripture in Christ, preach without flattering the age, and finish the race with the Lord standing near.

Session 1 - A Sincere Faith Rekindled (2 Timothy 1:1-7)

Paul opens this last letter with warmth, but not with softness. He writes to Timothy as a father in Christ, calling him to receive again the life, courage, and holy responsibility that come from God. The passage begins with affection, prayer, memory, and tears, but its burden is present obedience: the gift already received must be stirred up now.

This session is the doorway to the whole letter. Before Paul speaks directly about suffering, guarding the deposit, false teaching, Scripture, preaching, or finishing the race, he grounds Timothy in the source of everything: the will of God, the promise of life in Christ Jesus, and the grace, mercy, and peace given in the Church.

Apostolic Fatherhood and the Promise of Life (2 Timothy 1:1-2)

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul begins not with his imprisonment, his loneliness, or his personal authority, but with God. He is “an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.” Apostleship is not self-appointment, religious ambition, or natural talent. It is a calling that begins in God’s will and belongs to Christ’s mission. This matters for Timothy because the father who writes to him is not merely an older mentor giving advice. Paul speaks as one sent by God for the building up of the Church.

The first theological note of the letter is “the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.” Paul is about to call Timothy into courage, endurance, and unashamed witness, but he starts with life. Christian service is not powered by anxiety, reputation, or the pressure to prove oneself. It is rooted in the promise of life already revealed in Christ, the risen Lord. In Him, life is not only length of days or relief from suffering. It is communion with God, victory over death, and the living hope that makes faithful endurance possible.

This promise is also ecclesial. Paul does not possess the promise privately and then pass along private encouragement to Timothy. He is an apostle, and Timothy is “a beloved son.” Their relationship is deeply personal, but it is personal inside the Church. Timothy is loved as a son in the faith, begotten and formed through apostolic ministry, called to receive what has been entrusted and then serve others with it. Orthodox spiritual fatherhood is never sentimental ownership. It is love that gives birth to freedom, obedience, courage, and life in Christ.

Calling Timothy “a beloved son” lets us hear the tenderness of the Church without separating it from responsibility. Paul loves Timothy enough to remember his tears, pray for him, and speak to him tenderly. He also loves him enough to remind him that grace must be stirred up. In the Church, fatherhood and sonship are not titles for control. They are relationships of holy remembrance, correction, encouragement, and shared service before God.

The greeting gathers the whole spiritual atmosphere Timothy needs: “Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” Grace is God’s free gift that strengthens what human weakness cannot produce. Mercy is God’s healing compassion toward the wounded, fearful, and unfinished soul. Peace is not mere calmness, but reconciliation with God that becomes steadiness in the heart and unity in the Body. Timothy will need all three. Courage without grace becomes self-reliance. Discipline without mercy becomes harshness. Peace without Christ becomes only a temporary mood.

Paul places God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord together as the source of these gifts. The letter’s courage will not come from Timothy’s temperament. It will come from the Father through Christ, in the life of the Church. The beloved son can stand because he is not standing alone. He is held by apostolic prayer, formed by inherited faith, strengthened by the gift of God, and sent under the promise of life in Christ Jesus.

Language insight

The phrase “promise of life” is not decorative. Paul frames the whole letter by promise before he frames it by suffering. Timothy is being called to rekindle what he received, but the foundation is not Timothy’s intensity. The foundation is God’s promised life in Christ, received in the Church and lived out through faithful service.

Memory, Tears, and Sincere Faith (2 Timothy 1:3-5)

I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

Paul’s gratitude is not sentimental. He thanks God while he remembers Timothy constantly in prayer, night and day. The bond between them is spiritual fatherhood carried before God. Paul is not simply missing a friend; he is carrying a son in the faith before the Lord, and his memory becomes intercession. This is an Orthodox pattern of love: the people given to us by God are not merely kept in emotion, but remembered in prayer.

Paul also speaks from continuity: he serves God with a pure conscience, as his forefathers did. The Christian life does not erase the faithful longing of Israel; it receives its fulfillment in Christ. Paul can look backward with reverence and forward with apostolic urgency because the God of his fathers has revealed life in Christ Jesus. Timothy is being taught to understand his ministry inside a living chain of faith, not as a private religious project.

The tears matter. Timothy’s tears are not treated as weakness or embarrassment. Paul remembers them and says that seeing Timothy would fill him with joy. Holy courage does not require a hardened heart. In the Church, the strongest servants are often those whose love has made them tender before God and before people. Tears can reveal fear, grief, repentance, longing, or pastoral burden, but in Paul they become fuel for prayer and joy, not shame.

Paul then names the root: genuine faith. This faith first dwelt in Lois and Eunice, and Paul is persuaded it dwells in Timothy also. Faith is described almost like a guest living in a household and then living in a person. Lois and Eunice did not simply give Timothy religious information. They made a home where faith could dwell, be seen, practiced, and handed on. Yet Paul does not say that Timothy’s family faith is enough by itself. He recognizes it in Timothy personally. Inherited faith must become inhabited faith.

This is a crucial opening for the whole letter. Timothy is not being told to invent himself. He is being called to receive what was planted, honor those who handed it to him, and live it with courage in his own generation. The Church hands us faith through parents, grandparents, clergy, servants, prayers, liturgy, Scripture, and the lives of the saints. But every person must still answer: does this faith dwell in me also?

St. John Chrysostom notices the grace already visible in Timothy. While preaching on Acts, he recalls Timothy’s good report among the brethren and then cites Paul’s words about Timothy’s tears and unfeigned faith, saying, “Great was the grace of Timothy.”¹ That line protects this passage from two errors. Timothy is not merely a product of his household, and he is not a self-made servant. Grace is already at work in him, received through the Church, nurtured through his family, and now called into flame again.

Stir Up the Gift Without Fear (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

The word “therefore” connects Timothy’s sincere faith to present responsibility. Because faith truly dwells in him, Paul reminds him to stir up the gift of God. Grace received is not meant to sit cold. A fire may be real and still need to be fanned. Timothy’s calling has already been given, but it must be rekindled through obedience, prayer, courage, and faithful service.

The gift is not self-generated talent. It is “the gift of God,” received “through the laying on” of Paul’s hands. This gives the passage an explicitly ecclesial shape. The laying on of hands is a visible act of the Church’s entrusting and invocation, not a private emotional experience or merely administrative appointment. In Orthodox life, God gives and confirms grace within the Body: through sacramental life, ordained ministry, spiritual fatherhood, and concrete service blessed by the Church. Timothy’s gift belongs to God, is given through the Church, and is meant to serve the Church.

At the same time, Paul does not allow Timothy to hide behind the fact that the gift was once given. The gift must be stirred up. Orthodox spirituality never separates grace from ascetic response. We do not earn the gift, but we can neglect it. We do not create the fire, but we can smother it through fear, distraction, laziness, resentment, self-protection, or spiritual forgetfulness. To stir it up is to return to prayer, confess what has grown cold, use the gift in humble service, and trust that God can make living flame out of embers.

Paul then names the enemy: fear. This is not a rebuke of normal human vulnerability. Paul has already honored Timothy’s tears. The fear in view is the timid shrinking that makes a servant withdraw from the calling of God. Fear says, “protect yourself.” Grace says, “offer yourself.” Fear says, “stay silent.” Love says, “serve the person in front of you.” Fear says, “you are alone.” The Church answers, “the gift was given by God and confirmed in the Body.”

God’s gift produces power, love, and a sound mind together. Power without love becomes harsh and self-important. Love without power becomes vague sympathy that cannot endure sacrifice. A sound mind without power and love becomes cautious control. In Christ, these three are united. Power is the courage to obey. Love is the aim and method of that obedience. A sound mind is the disciplined, sober, prayerful mind that does not let fear write the story.

This is deeply Orthodox. The Spirit does not make a servant frantic, theatrical, or reckless. He forms courage that is cruciform, love that is concrete, and self-mastery that can discern what is needed. Timothy must not stir up a personality. He must stir up the gift of God. The point is not to become louder, but to become faithful: warmed by grace, ruled by love, and steady enough to suffer for the Gospel.

Gems from the Fathers 💎

Chrysostom reads the gift in 2 Timothy 1:6 within the larger reality of the Spirit’s gifts to the Church. While explaining 1 Corinthians 12, he connects “gift,” “ministration,” and “operation,” and then cites Paul’s words to Timothy: “I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee.”² This helps us hear the passage ecclesially. The gift is not Timothy’s private possession. It is God’s work, given for service in the Body.

Chrysostom also connects 2 Timothy 1:7 to Christ’s victory over death. After speaking of the Lord destroying death by death, he exhorts, “Let us not then prove false to the gift bestowed on us,” and immediately cites that we have received not a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind.³ This keeps courage from becoming personality or bravado. Christian courage is born from Christ’s victory, not from self-confidence.

No specific Coptic lectionary placement for 2 Timothy 1:1-7 surfaced in the sources checked for this guide. That absence should not make the passage feel detached from worship. Its themes are already deeply ecclesial: apostolic blessing, prayer without ceasing, inherited faith, laying on of hands, and the Spirit’s gift. The Church lives these realities whenever she prays for her children, ordains and blesses servants, hands on the faith, and calls fearful hearts back to courage in Christ.

Session 2 - Do Not Be Ashamed of the Testimony (2 Timothy 1:8-18)

Paul has already told Timothy to stir up the gift of God and not live by fear. Now he shows what Spirit-given courage looks like when the cost becomes real. Timothy must not be ashamed of Christ, of the Gospel, or of Paul in chains. He must hold fast the apostolic pattern, guard the good deposit by the Holy Spirit, and learn from both desertion and loyal mercy.

This session is not a celebration of suffering for its own sake. Paul is not asking Timothy to love pain or become emotionally hard. He is calling him to remain faithful when the Gospel is treated as shameful, when the apostle is imprisoned, and when public loyalty becomes costly. The center is not human bravery. The center is Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.

Do Not Be Ashamed of the Testimony (2 Timothy 1:8-12)

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

Paul has just told Timothy to stir up the gift of God and to receive again the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Now he shows what that courage is for. Timothy must not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, and he must not be ashamed of Paul, who is in chains because of that testimony. Christian courage is not loud self-confidence. It is the freedom to belong to Christ publicly, even when Christ’s way looks weak, costly, or socially embarrassing.

The testimony of our Lord is not an abstract idea. It is the apostolic proclamation of the crucified and risen Christ. To be ashamed of the testimony would mean shrinking back from the Cross, from the Gospel, from the imprisoned apostle, and from the visible cost of discipleship. Paul does not shame Timothy for having normal human fear. He calls him to place that fear under the truth of the Gospel. The Church does not ask us to pretend that chains, rejection, loneliness, or suffering are pleasant. She teaches us to see them in the light of Christ, where disgrace is transformed by communion with the Lord.

Paul also says, nor of me His prisoner. In the eyes of Rome, Paul is a criminal in custody. In the eyes of faith, he is Christ’s prisoner. That wording matters. Paul does not first identify himself by the power of the empire, but by the Lord who has claimed him. His chains are real, but they are not ultimate. Timothy is being asked to recognize Christ in the suffering member of the Body, not to distance himself from him for the sake of reputation or safety.

The command continues: share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God. Paul is not romanticizing pain. He is not saying that all suffering is automatically holy, or that Christians should seek hardship for its own sake. He speaks specifically of sufferings for the Gospel, sufferings that come because one remains faithful to Christ and His truth. Even then, Timothy is not told to endure by personality, stubbornness, or emotional force. He is told to share in suffering according to the power of God. The same divine power that gives the spirit of courage also sustains the witness who pays a price for love.

This is deeply Orthodox. Martyrdom, confession, patience, and endurance are never merely human achievements. They are participation in grace. The saint is not a hero isolated from God, but a person strengthened by God. The witness of the Church is therefore humble. We do not boast in how brave we are. We confess how faithful Christ is.

Paul then grounds the call to suffer in the Gospel itself: God has saved us and called us with a holy calling. The order is important. The calling rests on salvation already given in Christ. We are not earning God’s love by suffering, serving, preaching, or proving our worth. We have been saved and called not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace. The holy calling is holy because it comes from God, belongs to God, and draws us into God’s life. It is not a ladder for self-justification.

This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, and has now been revealed by His appearing. The Gospel is not God’s late reaction to human failure. It is the revelation in time of the eternal purpose of God in Christ. Before we could work, before we could deserve, before we could even exist, God’s purpose was grace in His Son. This does not make our response unimportant. It makes our response grateful, free, and rooted in mercy rather than anxiety.

The center of Paul’s encouragement is Paschal: Christ has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Paul can speak without shame because death has been overthrown. Christ does not merely offer a comforting thought about death. By His death and resurrection He destroys death’s dominion and reveals the life that does not decay. This is why the imprisoned apostle can strengthen the younger bishop. The worst the world can threaten has already been met by the risen Lord.

To say that Christ has abolished death does not mean Christians no longer experience physical death, grief, or loss. It means death no longer reigns as final master. In Christ, death becomes a defeated enemy. The Gospel brings life and immortality to light, making known what God has accomplished and what the faithful are called to inherit. Every act of unashamed witness rests on this light. We can bear the world’s contempt only because Christ has already opened the way of life.

Paul’s personal testimony returns in verse 12: For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed. He suffers because he has been appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher. His pain is not proof that the Gospel failed. It is part of his faithful service to the Gospel. Shame would say, If Paul were truly blessed, he would not be chained. Faith says, Paul is chained, but the word of God is not chained, and Christ is faithful.

Then Paul gives one of the deepest confessions in the passage: for I know whom I have believed. He does not say only, I know what I believe, though the content of faith matters greatly. He says, whom. Faith is personal communion with the living Christ. Paul entrusts himself to a Person, not to an idea, mood, or movement. This is why his confidence can remain steady in prison. He knows the Lord who called him, saved him, appeared in glory, abolished death, and is able to keep the deposit until that Day.

What has Paul committed to Him? Chrysostom reads it as the faith and the preaching of the Gospel.⁴ The passage can also be heard as Paul entrusting his life and labor to Christ. Either way, the spiritual point is clear: Paul is not finally preserving himself. He is being preserved by the One he trusts. The same Lord who gives the holy calling is able to keep what belongs to Him until the day of judgment and appearing.

Language insight

Paul’s wording helps protect us from two mistakes. First, do not be ashamed is not a command to become emotionally invulnerable. It is a call to refuse public disowning of Christ and His witnesses when the Gospel becomes costly. Second, the phrase according to the power of God tells us where endurance comes from. Timothy is not asked to manufacture courage from within himself. He is called to receive strength from God.

The line I know whom I have believed is also crucial. Orthodox faith includes doctrine, confession, worship, and obedience, but at the heart of all these is communion with the living Lord. We guard the truth because we know Christ. We endure shame because we belong to Christ. We trust the future because Christ is able to keep what is entrusted to Him until that Day.

Gems from the Fathers 💎

St. John Chrysostom, preaching on this passage, notices that Paul does not deny the outward shame of imprisonment and chains. Instead, he teaches Timothy to look at the cause and mystery behind them: For in themselves death and imprisonment and chains are matters of shame and reproach. But when the cause is added before us, and the mystery viewed aright, they will appear full of dignity, and matter for boasting.⁴

Chrysostom also shows why the Cross changes the meaning of disgrace: That death connected earth with heaven, that death destroyed the power of the devil, and made men angels, and sons of God: that death raised our nature to the kingly throne.⁴ This is the heart of Paul’s courage. The shame of the Cross is revealed as glory because through it Christ abolishes death.

Hold Fast the Pattern and Guard the Good Deposit (2 Timothy 1:13-14)

Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

Paul now turns from unashamed suffering to faithful guarding. Timothy must hold fast the pattern of sound words he heard from Paul. The faith is not an improvisation. It has a shape, a pattern, a healthy form that Timothy received from apostolic teaching. The Church does not guard vague religious inspiration. She guards the apostolic word, the confession of Christ, the Gospel that has been heard, taught, prayed, and lived.

The word sound matters. Paul is not speaking of words that are merely correct in a cold or technical sense. Sound words are healthy words, words that heal the mind, preserve the soul, and form the Church in life. False teaching is not dangerous only because it is inaccurate. It is dangerous because it makes the soul sick. Apostolic teaching is sound because it gives the Church the truth of Christ in a form that can be lived in faith and love.

Paul immediately adds the atmosphere in which the pattern is held: in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This keeps doctrine from becoming harsh possession. Timothy must hold fast, but he must hold fast in Christ, with faith and love. Faith without love becomes brittle and proud. Love without the pattern of sound words becomes easily confused. Paul joins them because Orthodox life joins them. The Church guards truth as a living communion, not as an anxious archive.

Then Paul says, That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. The good thing is the apostolic deposit, the entrusted treasure of the Gospel. Timothy receives it; he does not invent it. He keeps it; he does not own it. He will hand it on; he does not bury it. The deposit is good because it is life-giving truth from God, not because it belongs to Timothy’s personality or status.

The command to keep the deposit could sound crushing if Paul stopped there. But he does not. Timothy is to keep it by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. The deposit is guarded by grace. Human vigilance matters, but it is not enough by itself. The Holy Spirit makes faithful guarding possible, not by replacing Timothy’s obedience, but by dwelling in the Church and strengthening the servant from within.

Chrysostom hears exactly this point. Commenting on verse 14, he says, For it is not in the power of a human soul, when instructed with things so great, to be sufficient for the keeping of them. He then explains that the keeping happens by the Holy Spirit: if we have the Spirit with us, if we do not expel grace, He will stand by us.⁵ This protects the guide from two errors. The deposit is not ours to modify by preference, and it is not ours to guard by fear. It is entrusted to the Church and kept through the Spirit.

Language insight

The phrase pattern of sound words points to a recognizable apostolic form of teaching. The words are sound in the sense of healthy and whole, not merely polished. The phrase good thing committed carries the idea of a deposit or trust. This is why the passage is so important for Orthodox teaching: the faith is received, guarded, and handed on, but only in the Holy Spirit and only in faith and love in Christ Jesus.

Desertion, Mercy, and Loyal Love (2 Timothy 1:15-18)

This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day, and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus.

Paul does not leave the teaching in abstractions. Shame and loyalty now become visible in names. Some turned away from Paul. Onesiphorus sought him out. The passage is painful because Paul does not pretend that apostolic service is surrounded only by encouragement. There is desertion, disappointment, and isolation. But there is also mercy, courage, and refreshment.

All those in Asia have turned away from me should be handled soberly. Paul is not teaching Timothy to become bitter, suspicious, or contemptuous. He is naming a real wound so Timothy will not be naive about the cost of faithfulness. The Gospel will sometimes expose who is willing to stand near the chain and who quietly steps back when identification becomes costly.

Phygellus and Hermogenes are named, but the guide should not build biographies around them. Their names stand as a warning: it is possible to be near apostolic ministry and still turn away when shame or danger increases. Their mention is not permission for a teacher to indulge resentment. It is a pastoral warning that loyalty to Christ includes loyalty to the suffering members of His Body.

Onesiphorus appears as the contrast. Paul says he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. The word refreshed is tender. Onesiphorus did not merely agree with Paul from a safe distance. He ministered to him in a way that gave relief to the imprisoned apostle. He arrived in Rome, searched zealously, and found him. Love became movement. Mercy became effort. Loyalty became presence.

This is one of the most concrete forms of unashamed witness in the passage. Onesiphorus does not preach a sermon here. He seeks out the chained servant of Christ. He refuses to let Paul’s imprisonment make Paul untouchable. In the Church, mercy often looks exactly like that: drawing near to the one others avoid, refreshing the one who is exhausted, and refusing to be ashamed of someone whose suffering costs us reputation or convenience.

Paul’s prayer is also important: The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day. The guide should not force this verse to carry more than it states. Paul prays for mercy for Onesiphorus and his household, and he places that mercy in the horizon of that Day. This is consonant with the Church’s prayerful hope before the Lord, but the passage itself should remain centered on mercy, loyalty, and the final judgment of Christ.

The contrast is sharp but pastoral: some turn away, one seeks out. Some are ashamed of the chain, one refreshes the chained apostle. Some disappear into fear, one acts in mercy. Timothy is being taught what guarding the deposit looks like when it becomes personal. To guard the apostolic faith is also to stand with the apostolic sufferer, to care for the one who bears the cost of the Gospel, and to ask the Lord for mercy in that Day.

The Second Sunday of Tout gives this section a liturgical echo. The Coptic Pauline reading for that Sunday includes 2 Timothy 1:12 through 2 Timothy 2:10, so the latter part of this session is heard within a wider call to endure, guard, and be strong in grace. That does not make the whole session an exact assigned reading, but it does show how the Church can place Paul’s confidence, the good deposit, and faithful endurance before the faithful at the beginning of the Coptic year.

Session 3 - Entrust the Word, Endure with Christ (2 Timothy 2:1-13)

Paul moves from guarding the deposit to handing it on. Timothy must be strengthened in grace, entrust the apostolic word to faithful teachers, endure as Christ’s servant, and remember that the risen Lord is the center of all endurance. This is not a leadership technique session. It is a study in holy transmission: the Church receives the word, suffers without despair, and lives from the faithful Christ who cannot deny Himself.

Be Strong in Grace and Entrust the Word (2 Timothy 2:1-2)

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Paul begins this section with tenderness: “my son.” Timothy is not being managed like an employee or pressured like a recruit. He is being strengthened as a beloved spiritual child. The command that follows sounds impossible if it is separated from its source: “be strong.” But Paul does not say, “be strong in your temperament,” or “be strong in your position,” or “be strong in your reputation.” Timothy must be strong “in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Christian endurance begins as received strength. Grace is not a vague encouragement around the edges of effort. Grace is the living power of Christ given to the servant who cannot keep the faith by personality alone.

The next verse shows what that grace is for. Timothy has heard the apostolic teaching from Paul “among many witnesses.” The faith is public, ecclesial, and accountable. It is not Paul’s private religious insight and not Timothy’s private possession. Timothy must commit it to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.

This is one of the New Testament’s clearest windows into holy transmission. Paul hands the faith to Timothy. Timothy entrusts it to faithful people. Those faithful people teach others. But this must not be flattened into a bare chain of titles. The apostolic word is handed on as doctrine, worship, holiness, sacramental life, pastoral care, and the actual ability to teach faithfully. Succession without the apostolic faith is empty. Teaching without holy trustworthiness is dangerous.

The Greek behind “commit” carries the sense of entrusting something to another for safekeeping. Timothy is not an owner editing the deposit. He is a steward handing on what he received. The same is true in the life of the Church and in the life of every servant. We do not invent Christ for the next generation. We receive, live, guard, and hand on the apostolic witness.

Endure as Soldier, Athlete, and Farmer (2 Timothy 2:3-7)

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.

Paul gives Timothy three examples of disciplined endurance: the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer. Each example can be misused if it is pulled away from Christ. Paul is not praising violence, self-display, or productivity. He is teaching the shape of faithful service when the Gospel becomes costly.

The soldier is not entangled because he belongs to another command. His life is organized around pleasing the one who enlisted him. For Timothy, that commander is Christ. The danger is not ordinary work, family, or responsible care for daily life. The danger is entanglement: becoming so tied to approval, comfort, anxiety, ambition, or distraction that obedience to Christ becomes secondary.

The athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. Zeal by itself is not faithfulness. Intensity can still be disobedient. A servant may work hard, speak often, and fight many battles, yet fail to strive lawfully if he abandons humility, truth, purity, prayer, or love. In Orthodox life, the manner of struggle matters because the goal is communion with Christ, not merely victory over an opponent.

The farmer teaches a quieter endurance. A farmer works long before fruit appears. He cannot force the crop by anxiety. He labors, waits, receives, and partakes first because he has given himself to the field. Paul places this after soldier and athlete so Timothy does not mistake endurance for noise. Some of the most faithful apostolic work looks like patient sowing, quiet watering, and waiting for God to give increase.

Gems from the Fathers 💎

Chrysostom reads these examples as addressed through Timothy to every teacher and disciple. He says, “The teacher therefore ought to have two qualities, to be both faithful, and apt to teach.”⁶ On lawful striving, he adds that it is not enough simply to enter the contest or even to engage; the athlete must submit to the whole discipline of the contest.⁷ This is why Paul’s examples are so searching. The Church does not need only energetic servants. She needs servants whose endurance is faithful, disciplined, and formed by Christ.

Remember Jesus Christ, the Word Is Not Chained (2 Timothy 2:8-10)

Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

After the examples of discipline, Paul gives the center: “Remember that Jesus Christ.” Timothy is not being asked to endure by staring at hardship. He is being asked to endure by remembering the risen Christ. The grammar of Christian perseverance is not first soldier, athlete, farmer. It is first Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.

Paul names both Christ’s royal identity and His victory over death. Jesus is “of the seed of David,” so the Gospel is not detached from God’s promises to Israel. He is “raised from the dead,” so suffering is not the final word. “According to my gospel” does not mean Paul’s private version of Christianity. It means the apostolic proclamation entrusted to him: Christ crucified and risen. The apostolic message is Paschal: Christ has passed through death, and because He lives, His servants can endure without pretending chains are pleasant.

Paul is chained as an evildoer, but “the word of God is not chained.” This is one of the great lines of the letter. Rome can bind the apostle. Shame can attach itself to his body. Enemies can call him a criminal. But the Gospel remains free because it belongs to the risen Christ. The Church must remember this whenever outward weakness tempts her to despair. The word is not chained when the preacher is chained, when the servant is tired, when the parish is small, when the faithful are hidden, or when the world treats the Gospel as disgrace.

Paul endures “for the sake of the elect,” not because suffering is beautiful in itself, but because salvation in Christ is worth costly love. Election here should not be turned into speculation or fatalism. Paul does not say, “Because God has His elect, my labor does not matter.” He says the opposite: because God is saving, Paul endures, preaches, suffers, and remains faithful so that others may obtain salvation in Christ with eternal glory.

Chrysostom connects Paul’s hope to the Resurrection itself: “For, remember, he says, that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead; that is, rose again after death.”⁸ The point is not positive thinking. The proof of endurance is Christ risen.

The Coptic lectionary echoes this Paschal center. A Pauline reading beginning at 2 Timothy 2:8 and continuing through 2:15 appears for the Saturday of the second week of the Holy Fifty Days. The exact session range, 2 Timothy 2:1-13, is not one exact reading in the checked sources, but the Church places the risen Christ and the unchained word in the light of the Resurrection season.

The Faithful Saying (2 Timothy 2:11-13)

This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

The faithful saying gathers the whole section into a compact confession. It may preserve an early Christian hymn or catechetical saying, but its force is clear: life with Christ follows death with Christ; reign with Christ follows endurance with Christ; denial of Christ is real danger; Christ’s faithfulness is not fragile like ours.

“If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him” speaks first of union with Christ. Baptism is death and life with Him. Martyrdom and daily self-denial are also participation in His death and life. The Christian does not merely imitate Christ from a distance. The Christian is joined to Christ and learns to pass through death-shaped obedience into His life.

“If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.” This is not triumphalism. The reign comes through endurance with the crucified and risen Lord. The Church’s crown is not domination. It is communion with Christ’s Kingdom, received by those who remain with Him.

The warning is equally real: “If we deny Him, He also will deny us.” Paul does not erase human responsibility. Grace is not permission to betray Christ. Fear, shame, comfort, and pressure can all teach the soul to deny Him in small ways before the large moment comes. This verse must be allowed to warn us.

The final line is often misread: “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” This does not mean human faithlessness has no consequence. The previous line already says denial matters. It means Christ remains true to Himself. He will not become false because we are false. He will not betray His own holiness, promises, judgment, mercy, or Kingdom. Our hope rests not in the stability of our moods, but in the unchanging truth of Christ.

Chrysostom says that people often fail because they cannot endure the delay of hope: “Many of the weaker sort of men give up the effort of faith, and do not endure the deferring of their hope.”⁹ Paul answers that weakness by pointing not to an easy life, but to the risen Christ and the faithful saying. The Christian can wait because Christ has already risen.

Session 4 - An Approved Worker and the Lord’s Gentle Servant (2 Timothy 2:14-26)

Paul now turns from endurance to the way truth itself must be handled. Timothy must resist empty verbal combat, guard the resurrection hope, cleanse himself for the Master’s use, and correct opponents without quarrelling. The passage is not a call to timid silence, and it is not a license for weaponized polemics. It teaches the Church that truth must be handled by a purified servant whose aim is the hearer’s rescue, not public victory.

Words That Ruin, the Word Rightly Handled (2 Timothy 2:14-19)

Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

Paul begins with speech because speech can either serve truth or injure the Church. Timothy must remind the faithful, but he must also charge them before the Lord not to fight over words that produce no spiritual profit. This is more than a style issue. Paul says such striving can lead to the ruin of the hearers. The question is not only, “Was my point correct?” but also, “Did my handling of the word help the hearer stand before God?”

The approved worker is first approved to God. He is not mainly performing for an audience, defending a reputation, or proving himself clever in controversy. He is a worker under divine scrutiny, called to handle the word of truth cleanly. The phrase “rightly dividing” carries the sense of cutting straight or handling accurately. It does not mean slicing Scripture into private theories. It means serving the apostolic word without distortion, mixture, or self-serving use. Orthodox truth is not a weapon placed into the hands of pride. It is a holy trust handled with reverence, repentance, and love for those who hear.

This is why Paul immediately warns against profane and idle speech. Empty religious talk does not remain empty. It increases to more ungodliness. False teaching is not merely inaccurate information; it trains the heart away from God. Paul names Hymenaeus and Philetus because their error concerns the resurrection itself. By saying the resurrection is already past, they strip the faithful of the promised resurrection, judgment, vindication, and final healing in Christ. A distorted word can overthrow faith because it changes the world in which the soul thinks it is living.

Yet Paul does not end with panic. The solid foundation of God stands. The Church does not rest on the stability of every teacher, argument, or hearer. The foundation belongs to God, and it bears a twofold seal: the Lord knows those who are His, and everyone who names Christ must depart from iniquity. Orthodox faith holds these together. God knows His own, and those who belong to Him must depart from sin. Sound doctrine and repentance cannot be separated. A person cannot claim the name of Christ while making peace with iniquity, and a teacher cannot defend the truth while refusing the purification that truth requires.

Gems from the Fathers 💎

St. John Chrysostom reads Paul’s warning as pastoral protection for the hearers. On rightly dividing the word, he says that many distort and add to the truth, so the preacher must cut away what is “spurious” and “foreign” to apostolic preaching.¹⁰ This should not be turned into permission to cut people down. The surgeon’s knife is for disease, not for displaying anger. Chrysostom also sees the resurrection-error as deeply dangerous because it removes judgment, retribution, and the hope of glory.¹¹ The servant of the word must therefore oppose falsehood, but with the goal of healing the Church.

Vessels for Honor in the Great House (2 Timothy 2:20-22)

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Paul moves from the public danger of false teaching to the personal cleansing of the servant. The image of the great house can be misread as if some people were permanently assigned to honor and others to dishonor. But Paul says that if anyone cleanses himself, he will be a vessel for honor. The movement is not fatalism but repentance. The vessel is not trapped by its present condition. By grace and cooperation, the servant may be cleansed, sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.

This is a deeply Orthodox pattern. Purification is not decorative, and holiness is not private. The vessel is cleansed so that it may be used by the Master. The goal of repentance is not self-admiration but readiness for service. To be sanctified is to belong to God in a way that makes the whole life available to Him. The teacher who wants to handle the word cleanly must also become clean before God. Truth cannot be served well by an unrepentant instrument.

Chrysostom presses this point by saying that becoming a vessel of gold or earth is “not of nature” or necessity, but involves our own choice. He gives Paul and Judas as contrasting examples: one moved from dishonor to honor, the other from honor to dishonor.¹² This does not deny grace. It warns against despair as though repentance were impossible, and against presumption as though present honor could not be lost.

Paul gives the concrete shape of cleansing: flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. The Christian life requires both flight and pursuit. Some passions must not be negotiated with; they must be fled. At the same time, fleeing evil is not enough. The heart must actively pursue the virtues of the Kingdom with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

“Youthful lusts” must not be narrowed to one category only. Chrysostom says it includes every immature and inordinate desire, such as love of power, riches, bodily pleasure, insolence, and the unstable cravings of a heart not yet grounded.¹³ This is especially important in a session about controversy. A servant may flee obvious immorality while still being ruled by youthful desires for victory, recognition, influence, or the thrill of being right. The vessel for honor is formed by repentance, disciplined desire, and shared pursuit of holy peace.

The Lord’s Servant Corrects With Gentleness (2 Timothy 2:23-26)

But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Paul does not tell Timothy to avoid truth. He tells him to avoid foolish and ignorant disputes because they generate strife. This is an essential pastoral guardrail. Some arguments pretend to defend truth while actually producing the opposite fruit: rivalry, contempt, confusion, and hardened hearts. The servant of the Lord must be able to teach, but he must not quarrel. Teaching and quarrelling are not the same work.

The Lord’s servant is marked by gentleness, patience, and humility. This does not make correction weak. Paul still says there are people in opposition who need correction. But the manner of correction must agree with the Lord whom the servant represents. The one correcting is not the savior of the opponent, not the owner of repentance, and not the judge of the soul. He is a servant who teaches clearly, waits patiently, and entrusts the hidden turning of the heart to God.

Chrysostom asks what the servant of the God of peace has to do with strife, then adds that even a strong rebuke can be consistent with meekness when it is given gently. He says gentleness can touch more effectively than overawing boldness, and he calls patience a quality a teacher especially needs.¹⁴ This guards against two opposite errors. We must not use gentleness as an excuse for cowardice before destructive falsehood. But neither may we use zeal for truth as an excuse for harshness, humiliation, or polemical performance.

The final verses reveal the true battlefield. The opponent is not merely an enemy to defeat; he is a captive who may yet come to his senses and escape the snare of the devil. This does not make error harmless. Captivity is real. But it changes the servant’s posture. If the goal is another person’s repentance and rescue, then weaponized polemics betray the mission. The Lord’s servant corrects as one who hopes God will grant repentance, not as one who enjoys proving another person wrong.

This passage should search the Church before it is used against outsiders. Paul gives tools for guarding the faith, but he also guards the guard. Truth can be mishandled by false teachers, and it can also be mishandled by those who fight falsehood with pride. The approved worker and the gentle servant are the same person: one who divides the word truthfully, cleanses himself sincerely, flees immature passions, pursues holy communion, and corrects others in hope.

Session 5 - The Form of Godliness Without Its Power (2 Timothy 3:1-9)

Paul now names the moral and spiritual corruption that pressures the Church from within and around her. The passage is severe, but it must not become panic, misogyny, or contempt. Paul describes counterfeit godliness so that Timothy can discern it soberly, resist exploitative falsehood, and remain faithful without becoming alarmist or harsh.

Disordered Loves and Lifeless Religion (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

Paul says the last days will be perilous, but he does not blame the calendar. He describes people whose loves have become disordered. The list begins with love of self and ends with love of pleasure rather than love of God. Between those two loves, the soul becomes curved inward: proud, unthankful, unholy, slanderous, fierce, treacherous, and unable to love what is good.

This is not a passage for counting down the end by diagnosing everyone else. In the New Testament, the last days are already the age in which Christ has come, the Spirit has been given, and the Church waits for the Lord’s appearing. The warning is therefore present-tense. The Church must examine the loves that shape her own life. Self-love can wear religious clothing. Pride can use biblical language. Pleasure can learn to speak piously. Paul is not giving us permission to despise the age; he is teaching us to discern the counterfeit inside the religious person.

The phrase “having a form of godliness but denying its power” is the center of the unit. Paul is not criticizing outward reverence as such. Orthodoxy is full of visible worship: prostrations, fasting, icons, vestments, candles, liturgical order, and bodily prayer. The danger is not form united to grace. The danger is form emptied of repentance, obedience, mercy, and love. When the outer shape remains but the heart refuses the power of godliness, religion becomes a mask.

Chrysostom explains that Paul speaks of a form that is lifeless, a mere appearance without strength. He says that faith without the works that characterize godliness is only a form without the power.¹⁵ This is a strong word for the Church. We can keep Christian vocabulary, Orthodox identity, and religious habits while denying the power those forms are meant to serve. The power of godliness is not social respectability. It is the grace that heals passions, humbles pride, makes love active, and forms the person into the likeness of Christ.

Paul says, “from such people turn away.” This does not mean contempt for sinners. The Church is a hospital for sinners. It means refusing fellowship with hypocrisy as though it were normal Christianity. There are patterns of religious corruption that must not be admired, platformed, or imitated. Turning away can be an act of discernment that protects the soul from calling deadness life.

Exploitative Falsehood and Exposed Folly (2 Timothy 3:6-9)

For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

Paul now describes false teachers who enter households and exploit vulnerable people. This must be handled carefully. The passage is not an indictment of women as a class, and it must never be used to shame women or excuse predatory teachers. The moral responsibility in the passage rests heavily on the deceivers who creep into houses and take captive burdened souls. Paul is exposing exploitation, not authorizing misogyny.

The phrase about women loaded down with sins names vulnerability to manipulation. A person burdened by guilt, passion, confusion, loneliness, or unhealed desire can become easy prey for spiritual predators. The warning applies to every soul, male or female, that keeps learning religious language while never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Learning can become another avoidance if it never becomes repentance, obedience, and communion with Christ.

Paul compares the false teachers to Jannes and Jambres, the traditional names associated with the magicians who opposed Moses. The point is not to build a speculative biography of those names. Paul uses them as a pattern: counterfeit spiritual power resists the truth for a time, but its folly is finally exposed. Falsehood may impress for a season; it cannot stand forever before God.

Chrysostom says Paul does not accuse nature or women simply, but exposes a specific pattern of deception and vulnerability.¹⁶ That caution matters pastorally. The teacher should not use this text to mock the deceived. A captive soul needs rescue. The sharper rebuke belongs to the false teacher who exploits hidden wounds for influence.

The Coptic lectionary places this material within the Friday of the seventh week of Great Lent, in a larger Pauline reading that runs from 2 Timothy 3:1 through 4:5. That placement is spiritually fitting. Near the end of the fast, the Church hears a warning about religious appearance without power. Lent is not completed by looking religious. It is completed by repentance, humility, watchfulness, and the love of God becoming stronger than the love of self.

This session should leave the class sober but not frightened. Paul says the folly of falsehood will be manifest. Evil can deceive, but it is not eternal. The faithful response is not panic. It is to love truth enough to repent, to refuse religious masks, to protect the vulnerable, and to trust that God exposes what is false in His time.

Gems from the Fathers 💎

Chrysostom says Paul is not blaming the days themselves, but the people whose choices make the times perilous.¹⁷ He traces the list of vices back to disordered self-love, and he describes the form of godliness without power as right faith or religious appearance without the works that belong to godliness.¹⁵ He also warns that falsehood flourishes briefly but does not continue to the end, because what is fair only in appearance is eventually detected.¹⁸

Session 6 - Continue in What You Have Learned (2 Timothy 3:10-17)

After warning Timothy about counterfeit godliness, Paul turns to the healing answer: apostolic example, perseverance, childhood formation in the sacred writings, and Scripture inspired by God. This passage must not be reduced to a proof-text about Scripture detached from the Church, nor to a vague encouragement to read more. Paul teaches how Scripture forms the servant of God inside the life of faith, suffering, teaching, and every good work.

You Have Carefully Followed My Life (2 Timothy 3:10-13)

But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra,what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Paul contrasts the false teachers not only with correct doctrine, but with a whole apostolic life. Timothy has carefully followed Paul’s doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, and afflictions. The answer to counterfeit godliness is not religious performance, but an integrated life where teaching, conduct, purpose, and suffering all bear witness to Christ.

This matters because false teachers can imitate words more easily than they can imitate holiness. Paul does not say, “You have heard my slogans.” He says Timothy has followed his life. Apostolic teaching comes with an apostolic manner of life. Doctrine is not less important because conduct matters. Rather, true doctrine bears fruit in conduct, and holy conduct makes doctrine visible.

Paul names persecutions at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, but he does not speak like a man who has been abandoned by God. He says, “out of them all the Lord delivered me.” The deliverance is real, even though the suffering was also real. Orthodox teaching should let both stand. God does not promise a painless apostolic path, but He does sustain His servants and make their sufferings bear witness.

The statement that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution must not be turned into paranoia. Paul is not teaching Christians to imagine enemies everywhere or to treat every inconvenience as martyrdom. He is saying that a life seriously ordered toward Christ will meet resistance, grief, and trial in a world disordered by sin. The Church should neither seek suffering nor be surprised by it. The servant who continues in Christ will need perseverance.

Chrysostom says Paul was not “a philosopher in words only,” because Timothy saw his manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, and patience.¹⁹ That phrase is useful for the whole session. Christian teaching is not words only. It is truth embodied in a life being conformed to Christ.

Continue in the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:14-15)

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Paul now gives Timothy a command that sounds simple because it is deep: continue in what you have learned and been assured of. Timothy must remain, not chase novelty. He must hold what has been received and confirmed in him. This is one of the great tasks of spiritual life: not to keep discovering a new faith, but to continue faithfully in the truth already received.

Paul anchors this continuation in persons and in Scripture. Timothy knows from whom he learned these things, and from childhood he has known the Holy Scriptures. This does not make faith merely inherited. Earlier in the letter, Paul told Timothy to stir up the gift. But it does mean that formation matters. Timothy’s faith has memory. He was taught, loved, and formed before this moment of crisis.

The Holy Scriptures are able to make one wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Scripture is not presented as a bare information store or as a weapon for winning arguments. It makes wise for salvation, and that salvation is through faith in Christ. The Scriptures lead to Christ, are fulfilled in Christ, and train the servant to see suffering, evil, judgment, mercy, and hope through Christ.

Chrysostom says Timothy’s root was laid deep because he had known the sacred writings from childhood.²⁰ This is a strong word for parents, servants, and the Church. Early formation is not a guarantee that no struggle will come, but it gives the soul deep roots. The Scriptures heard in childhood, prayed in worship, and explained in the Church become part of the soul’s memory when later confusion comes.

Scripture Inspired for Every Good Work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Paul now states the authority and purpose of Scripture. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. The point is not merely that Scripture is true, though it is. The point is that Scripture works on the servant: teaching, reproving, correcting, training in righteousness, and equipping for every good work.

This passage must be taught with Orthodox fullness. It is not a proof-text for cutting Scripture away from the Church that receives, proclaims, prays, and lives it. Timothy learned the sacred writings in a living community, and he is receiving this command from an apostle within the Church. At the same time, Orthodox teaching must never weaken Paul’s high view of Scripture. Scripture is God-inspired, saving, profitable, corrective, formative, and necessary for the servant of God.

The Greek term behind “given by inspiration of God” is traditionally transliterated theopneustos. It names Scripture’s divine origin. But Paul does not use the term to invite theories of mechanical dictation. He immediately describes Scripture’s saving and formative use. Scripture teaches what is true, reproves what is false, corrects what is crooked, trains the person in righteousness, and equips the servant for good work.

Chrysostom says the Scriptures teach what we should learn, disprove what is false, correct and bring us to a right mind, comfort and console, and supply what is deficient.²¹ He also says to Timothy, “You have the Scriptures in place of me.”²² That does not make Scripture less ecclesial. It shows that when Paul is absent and near death, the God-given Scriptures remain a sure school for the servant of God.

The final aim is every good work. The man of God is not equipped for cleverness only, or for private certainty only, but for a life made ready for obedience. Scripture forms worshippers, teachers, parents, servants, confessors, repentant sinners, and the whole Church for good work in Christ. If reading Scripture does not lead toward repentance, love, correction, endurance, and service, we have not yet read it as Paul commands.

Session 7 - Preach the Word, Finish the Race (2 Timothy 4:1-8)

Paul gives Timothy the solemn charge of the letter: preach the word before Christ the Judge, endure affliction, fulfill the ministry, and learn how to finish faithfully. This is addressed directly to a servant of the word, but the whole Church must hear it. A faithful parish must want sound doctrine, receive correction, endure truth in season and out of season, and love the appearing of Christ more than the comfort of flattering voices.

The Charge Before Christ the Judge (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Paul places the command to preach under the gaze of Christ. Timothy is charged before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom. Preaching is not religious communication only. It is an act performed before the Judge, the King, and the One who appears in glory. This gives the servant courage, but also fear of God.

“Preach the word” is the center of the charge. Timothy must not preach his anxieties, preferences, personality, or cleverness. He must preach the apostolic word. He must be ready in season and out of season, when people welcome it and when they resist it, when circumstances are peaceful and when they are costly. Paul has already warned him about shame, suffering, quarrels, false teaching, and counterfeit godliness. Now he tells him not to retreat from the word.

Reprove, rebuke, and exhort must be held together with longsuffering and teaching. Correction without patience becomes harsh. Exhortation without doctrine becomes vague encouragement. Teaching without love becomes cold. Paul commands a whole pastoral medicine: expose the wound, cut what must be cut, and apply comfort so the hearer may be healed.

Chrysostom develops this physician-like pattern. He says that after showing the wound, the teacher gives the incision and applies the plaster, because if consolation is not mingled with rebuke, the labor is lost.²³ He also insists that correction must not be done in anger, hatred, insult, or as though one had caught an enemy, but as one who loves and sympathizes.²⁴

Paul then names the danger: people will not endure sound doctrine. They will gather teachers according to their own desires, with itching ears, turning from truth to fables. This is not only a problem of teachers who speak falsely. It is also a problem of hearers who want teaching that flatters them. The Church should not hear this as a clergy-only warning. Every believer has ears. Every parish can become a place that either endures sound doctrine or rewards pleasing fables.

“But you be watchful in all things.” Timothy must not let the people’s appetite govern his ministry. He must endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill his ministry. The word is not preached because it is popular. It is preached because Christ is Judge, King, and Lord.

Poured Out, Finished, Crowned (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Paul now turns from Timothy’s charge to his own nearing departure. He is already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of his departure is at hand. This is not a romantic speech about suffering. It is a sober interpretation of a life offered to God. Paul’s death is near, but he reads it liturgically: his life is being poured before the Lord.

Chrysostom notes that Paul does not merely say he is being sacrificed, but poured out, because the whole drink offering was offered to God.²⁵ The point is not that death is pleasant. The point is that a life given to Christ can become worship, even at the end.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Paul is not boasting in self-sufficiency. Chrysostom says Paul writes this to console Timothy, like a father strengthening a grieving son.²⁶ The words are a testimony of grace. Paul has fought, run, and guarded the faith through prison, rejection, labor, and danger, and now he wants Timothy to know that the path is worth finishing.

The crown of righteousness is laid up not only for Paul, but for all who love Christ’s appearing. This widens the passage beyond clergy and apostles. Every Christian is called to love the appearing of Christ. To love His appearing means living now in a way that welcomes His coming. It means choosing truth over flattery, repentance over self-protection, endurance over comfort, and faithfulness over applause.

This passage must be guarded against romanticizing martyrdom. Paul is not telling Christians to seek harm or call pain holy by itself. He is showing how a life that has belonged to Christ can finish in hope. The race is good because it leads to the Lord. The fight is good because it is fought in faith, love, truth, and endurance. The crown is not self-congratulation, but the gift of the righteous Judge to those who love Him.

Gems from the Fathers 💎

Chrysostom says Paul’s words about finishing the course are meant to raise Timothy’s despondent heart, not to boast. The apostle is comforting his disciple with the hope of a completed work and a crown.²⁶ On loving Christ’s appearing, Chrysostom says that the one who rejoices at His coming will do works worthy of that joy.²⁷ The guide should therefore ask not only, “Do I believe Christ will appear?” but, “Do I love His appearing enough to live ready for Him?”

Session 8 - The Lord Stood With Me (2 Timothy 4:9-22)

Paul’s final words are full of names, needs, warnings, and blessing. The apostle who has preached among the nations still asks for companionship, a cloak, books, and parchments. He knows abandonment, but he also knows the Lord standing with him. The letter ends not with prison, winter, or death, but with Christ’s presence and grace.

Come, Bring Mark, and the Books (2 Timothy 4:9-13)

Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica,Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come,and the books, especially the parchments.

Paul’s farewell does not sound like the speech of a distant religious hero. It sounds like a father in the faith who is cold, lonely, watchful, and still burning with concern for the ministry. “Be diligent to come to me quickly” is not weakness. It is the honest voice of love within the Body of Christ. The Christian life is not a performance of self-sufficiency. Even an apostle can ask for companionship.

The names in these verses reveal different responses to the same Gospel. Demas becomes a warning because his heart has turned toward the present age. Luke becomes a comfort because he remains. Mark becomes a sign of restored usefulness because Paul now calls him useful for ministry. The Church should learn all three lessons together: beware the love of the world, honor quiet loyalty, and make room for restored servants.

Chrysostom says Demas chose ease and security from danger rather than sharing Paul’s hardships.²⁸ But he is careful not to condemn everyone who left Paul’s side. Crescens and Titus are not blamed; Paul sent Tychicus. This matters. The passage teaches discernment, not suspicion. Not every departure is betrayal, but love for the present world can pull a servant away from costly faithfulness.

Paul also asks for his cloak, books, and especially the parchments. These ordinary requests are spiritually important. The apostle is not pretending bodily needs do not matter. Nor does he stop valuing the written word because he is near death. Chrysostom says Paul needed the books so he might deposit them with the faithful in place of his own teaching.²⁹ The Christian hope of the Kingdom does not despise the body, friendship, study, or the handing on of the word.

Warning Without Vengeance (2 Timothy 4:14-15)

Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.

Paul names Alexander’s harm and warns Timothy to beware. This is not gossip; it is pastoral protection. A shepherd must sometimes name danger clearly so the flock is not naive. Yet Paul does not place revenge in Timothy’s hands. He entrusts repayment to the Lord.

The phrase “resisted our words” shows that the harm is not merely personal offense. Alexander’s opposition touches the apostolic message. In Orthodox reading, truth and love are not enemies. Love can forgive personal wrong while still guarding the word of the Gospel and protecting the faithful from those who resist it.

Chrysostom notes that Paul does not arm Timothy for revenge. He commands him only to avoid Alexander, leaving repayment to God.³⁰ This is the Christian difference between vigilance and vengeance. The Church is not called to be suspicious, but neither is she called to be naive. When someone endangers the faithful or resists the Gospel, pastoral love may require a clear warning. But judgment belongs to the Lord.

The Lord Stood With Me (2 Timothy 4:16-18)

At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

This is the heart of the passage. Paul does not hide the pain of being abandoned. At his first defense, no one stood with him. The sentence is heavy because it comes from a man who has spent his life gathering people into the fellowship of Christ. Yet Paul refuses to let abandonment become bitterness. He prays that it may not be charged against them.

Then comes the line that gives the whole ending its light: “But the Lord stood with me.” Paul’s courage does not come from pretending that people never fail. It comes from knowing that Christ does not fail. The Lord stood with him and strengthened him, not only so Paul would feel privately comforted, but so the preaching would be fully known and the Gentiles would hear. The apostle’s trial becomes one more place where the Gospel is proclaimed.

Chrysostom emphasizes Paul’s humility here. Paul does not say that the Lord strengthened him because he deserved it, but so that the preaching entrusted to him might be fulfilled.³¹ The Lord’s presence is not flattery for the servant. It is grace for the mission.

Paul’s confidence in deliverance must be read with the whole passage, including his expectation that his departure is near. The Lord’s deliverance is not reduced to escape from death. Paul looks beyond earthly outcomes to preservation for the heavenly kingdom. Chrysostom sees this as deliverance from every evil work and preservation beyond condemnation, even when death itself is near.³²

The doxology is therefore not an ornament. It is Paul’s interpretation of suffering under Christ’s lordship. Glory belongs to the Lord forever. Paul’s weakness, loneliness, defense, witness, rescue, and final hope are all gathered into worship.

Final Greetings and Grace With the Spirit (2 Timothy 4:19-22)

Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick. Do your utmost to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as well as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

The closing greetings may look like a list of names, but they are part of the theology of the letter. Paul does not end with an abstract idea. He remembers people and households. He knows who is in Corinth, who has been left sick, who sends greetings, and who must be greeted. The Church is not an institution of anonymous souls; it is a communion of persons in Christ.

Paul greets Prisca and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. Chrysostom notices the zeal of women such as Prisca and Claudia and says that, in spiritual matters, a woman is not inferior when she is inclined toward virtue.³³ This is a beautiful correction to any reading of the letter that imagines apostolic faithfulness as only male toughness. The final circle of the apostle includes households, coworkers, men, women, the sick, the absent, and the brethren.

Trophimus being left sick is also important. A faithful coworker is sick, and Paul has left him in Miletus. The verse quietly corrects shallow ideas about suffering. Apostolic ministry includes miracles and healing, but the presence of sickness among faithful coworkers shows that suffering is not automatically a sign of spiritual failure. Chrysostom says such weaknesses were permitted so human nature would be manifested and the power would be ascribed to God.³⁴

Paul asks Timothy to come before winter. The request carries urgency, tenderness, and mortality. Yet the final sound of the letter is not winter, abandonment, or prison. It is blessing: the Lord Jesus Christ with Timothy’s spirit, and grace with the brethren. Chrysostom calls this the best prayer, because the Lord will be with Timothy’s spirit and grace will fortify the faithful when friends forsake them or calamity overtakes them.³⁵

The letter began with grace, mercy, and peace. It ends with the Lord Jesus Christ and grace. Paul may be near death, but the Church is not left with Paul’s absence as the final reality. She is left with Christ’s presence.

Whole-Book Spiritual Fruit 🍇

• Rekindle the gift of God instead of letting fear, weariness, or past grace become cold memory.
• Refuse shame about Christ, His Gospel, His suffering servants, and the apostolic deposit.
• Entrust the word faithfully rather than treating ministry as personal possession or performance.
• Handle Scripture and doctrine before God, with accuracy, reverence, repentance, and love for hearers.
• Flee immature passions, including the desire to win arguments, be admired, or dominate others spiritually.
• Reject religious appearance without spiritual power, especially when piety lacks repentance, mercy, purity, and obedience.
• Continue in the Scriptures within the faith of the Church, letting them teach, reprove, correct, train, and equip you for good work.
• Endure sound doctrine even when your ears would rather hear what flatters your desires.
• Love the appearing of Christ by living now in repentance, watchfulness, service, and hope.
• Trust the Lord who stands with His servant when visible support fails, and let grace have the last word.

Whole-Series Teaching Notes

Core burden of the letter

The main burden is faithful endurance of the apostolic deposit in a time of suffering, false teaching, and approaching death. Keep the class centered on Christ, grace, the entrusted word, Scripture, and finishing faithfully. Do not let the series become only leadership advice or only a farewell meditation.

Key Orthodox emphases

• Grace is active and personal. Timothy must stir up the gift, but the gift comes from God.
• Apostolic succession is not only office language. It includes entrusted teaching, faithful people, holy life, and guarded truth.
• Scripture is fully authoritative and is received in the living Church. Paul gives Timothy Scripture, apostolic example, and ecclesial entrustment together.
• Correction must be truthful and gentle. The servant of the Lord must be able to teach and must not quarrel.
• Suffering is real, but not romanticized. Paul suffers, asks for help, needs a cloak, values friends, and still hopes in the heavenly kingdom.

Recurring pastoral dangers to avoid

• Do not use the letter to shame weak or fearful people. Paul rekindles courage by grace.
• Do not turn guarding the deposit into harshness or suspicion.
• Do not use Session 5 to mock women or the deceived. Paul exposes exploitation and counterfeit godliness.
• Do not make Session 6 an anti-Tradition proof-text. Scripture is God-inspired and is given within the apostolic life of the Church.
• Do not make Session 7 only about clergy. Hearers are also accountable for whether they endure sound doctrine.
• Do not make Session 8 sentimental. Its tenderness includes warnings, abandonment, sickness, and death, all held under Christ’s presence.

Suggested teaching rhythm

Begin each session by reading the Scripture aloud. Then identify the pastoral crisis Paul addresses, the gift of God in the passage, the command Timothy must obey, and the spiritual fruit expected in the Church. Close with one concrete practice for the week, such as rekindling prayer, resisting shame, guarding speech, reading Scripture for correction, or praying for endurance.

Sources

Scripture is from NKJV.

Primary patristic source:

• St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Second Timothy, New Advent, Homilies 1-10.

Coptic lectionary note:

• The session guides use checked Coptic lectionary output preserved in the project source packs. Where an exact standalone reading was not verified, the guide uses partial-overlap or larger-reading language rather than overclaiming precision.

Compilation note:

• This collected guide was compiled from the eight verified session guides. Session-level bottom matter was replaced by one whole-book Spiritual Fruit section, one whole-series Teaching Notes section, and this consolidated Sources section.

Footnotes

1. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts, Homily on Acts 15:35 and Acts 16:1, NPNF1 11, CCEL, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf111.html. ↩

2. John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians, Homily XXIX, NPNF1 12, CCEL, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf112.iv.xxx.html#iv.xxx-p40. ↩

3. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews, Homily on Hebrews 2:5-7, NPNF1 14, CCEL, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf114.v.viii.html#v.viii-p47. ↩

4. John Chrysostom, Homily 2 on Second Timothy, on 2 Timothy 1:8-12, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230702.htm. ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. John Chrysostom, Homily 3 on Second Timothy, on 2 Timothy 1:13-18, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230703.htm. ↩

6. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 4 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230704.htm. ↩

7. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 4 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230704.htm. ↩

8. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 5 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230705.htm. ↩

9. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 5 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230705.htm. ↩

10. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 5 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230705.htm. ↩

11. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 5 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230705.htm. ↩

12. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 6 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230706.htm. ↩

13. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 6 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230706.htm. ↩

14. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 6 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230706.htm. ↩

15. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 8 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230708.htm. ↩ ↩²

16. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 8 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230708.htm. ↩

17. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 7 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230707.htm. ↩

18. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 8 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230708.htm. ↩

19. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 8 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230708.htm. ↩

20. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 8 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230708.htm. ↩

21. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 9 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230709.htm. ↩

22. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 9 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230709.htm. ↩

23. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 9 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230709.htm. ↩

24. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 9 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230709.htm. ↩

25. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 9 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230709.htm. ↩

26. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 9 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230709.htm. ↩ ↩²

27. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 9 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230709.htm. ↩

28. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230710.htm. ↩

29. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230710.htm. ↩

30. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230710.htm. ↩

31. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230710.htm. ↩

32. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230710.htm. ↩

33. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230710.htm. ↩

34. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230710.htm. ↩

35. St. John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on Second Timothy, New Advent, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230710.htm. ↩