Back in 2000, there was a film titled “Pay It Forward.” The gist is that when we receive a good deed (are blessed) from someone, we do that same good deed (blessing) to someone else. The movie so impacted our culture that this phrase and intent is still active twenty-three years later. I’m sure the filmmakers did not consider Paul’s instruction to Timothy.
“You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.” 2 Timothy 2:2
Confirmation
Notice that Paul is not writing about abstract ideas. He writes that the things he taught have been “confirmed by many.” Chief among them is what Paul taught about Christ’s death for our sins, His burial, and His resurrection1. This was confirmed because at least 500 people saw Jesus after His resurrection2.
Paul wrote about things that are beyond natural actions yet established as true. He wrote about the disciplines and gifts the Holy Spirit gives to us. He wrote about miracles and healings. He wrote about the righteousness of Jesus being our righteousness when we are in Christ Jesus. He wrote about Christ’s second coming. People heard Paul preach and saw the Holy Spirit confirm his teaching.
Now, Paul is writing to his “spiritual” son and telling him to have confidence in what he taught because reliable witnesses have confirmed each truth. Therefore, because Timothy should not doubt these truths, he should teach the same to others and be confident that God will prove the truth of Timothy’s teaching. And through the confirmations, these truths should be passed on and on and on.
So, two thousand years later, we have that same confidence in what was written by Paul in the Bible. And when we receive this instruction, we can be sure that the Holy Spirit will confirm these truths, and the supernatural actions of God will accomplish this confirmation – anything God does is done by the maker of nature and, therefore, greater (superior) than nature. If we don’t believe this, then what can we hope for when we pray?
Good News
As believers in Jesus, we have been commissioned to be in the world but not of the world. While in this world, we are to teach Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection. We are to demonstrate Christianity’s uniqueness through our incomprehensible love for each other and by the supernatural works that God does through us. These confirmations are, first, a testimony to the divine nature of Jesus, our Savior, and second, God’s confirmation of our commission to be representatives of Jesus in this world.
Image by Vicki Nunn from Pixabay
You may like: Keep In Time
[1]: 1 Corinthians 15:3–4
[2]: 1 Corinthians 15:6