“Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” (2 Timothy 2:10 (ESV)
In 2 Timothy 2:8-13, the Apostle Paul wrote to his young protégé Timothy about the challenges of ministry. Ministry is difficult. Serving the Lord can be tough. What sustains the believer in Christ and the disciple of the Lord is the preeminence of Christ (2:8-9a) and the power of the Word of God (2:9b). Both of these biblical truths enable the servant of the Lord to endure.
What does it mean to endure? What is endurance? Endurance is the capacity to withstand hardship or adversity, especially with faith and patience. The New Testament often presents the subject of endurance. Here are some selected passages.
Matt. 10:22 – …”and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Rom. 5:3–4 – “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
Heb. 12:1–7 – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.…”
Jas. 1:12 – “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”
Jas. 5:11 – “Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”
The Apostle Paul personally experienced hardship and adversity as a believer in Christ and a minister of the gospel. He personally knew the great cost for being a disciple of Jesus. He highlighted some of his experiences in his second letter to the Corinthian church.
22 “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” (2 Corinthians 11:22–28 (ESV)
While Paul’s testimony may not exactly mirror you own, you know what it is like to experience difficulties in ministry. There are unspoken expectations, unreasonable demands and difficult people. Most likely, this is what Timothy was experiencing. It is why Paul placed such great importance on endurance. He shared his perspective to Timothy in today’s featured text.
Therefore, I endure everything. The word therefore (τοῦτο; touto) refers us back to vs. 8-9 concerning the preeminence of Christ and the power of God’s Word. It is because of the person and work of Jesus, and the effectiveness of God’s Word, believers in Christ can endure hardship when serving the Lord and preaching the Word of God.
The word endure (ὑπομένω; hypomeno) is a present active indicative verb meaning to bear patiently. It also means to stand one’s ground and to bear up under persecution. In this context, Paul stated he was presently, actively and realistically standing his ground and bearing up under every kind and all persecution. This included his current situation of Roman imprisonment and impending execution.
The Roman government imprisoned Paul in a Tullianum. Prisoners were lowered into a holding space through a hole in the floor. The door led to an underground sewer. It was dark, damp and cold. It originally was a cistern or underground water tank. The Romans did not consider imprisonment itself a form of punishment—prisons were used to hold those awaiting trial or the death penalty and often served as places of execution. Prisons were filthy and crowded, and prisoners were treated as little better than dead. According to tradition, Peter and Paul were both imprisoned here.
The reason Paul gave for his endurance was contained in the phrase for the sake of the elect. For the sake of (διὰ dia) means on account of or because of. The word elect (ἐκλεκτούς; eklektous) is a plural adjective referring to those God chose unto salvation (Eph. 1:3-4; I Peter 1:1). Paul endured his hardships for the sake of future believers in Christ who God would justify, redeem and reconcile by grace alone, through faith alone, in the Christ alone.
Paul continued to emphasize God’s sovereign grace when he wrote that they also may obtain the salvation. To obtain (τύχωσιν; tychosin) is to experience and attain an object at a particular point in time. The object in question is salvation (σωτηρίας; soterias) referring to the possession of deliverance and safety. In this context, salvation is from the penalty, power and eventual presence of sin (I Thess. 5:9).
This salvation is found exclusively in the person and work of Christ Jesus. It ultimately results in eternal glory (δόξης αἰωνίου; doxes aioniou). This refers to each believer in Christ sharing in a sinless existence for eternity. “Glory here is the eternal reward of Christians in heaven.” See 2 Cor. 4:17.
“Even more literally one might translate: “On account of (διά) this I endure all things on account of (again διά) the elect.” On account of the fact that the word is not bound, Paul does not lose courage but perseveres in faith and witness-bearing even in the midst of bitter trial. And this all the more on account of the elect, that they may obtain salvation. The two considerations which cause him to continue steadfastly in the course which he is pursuing are really one: the glorious and deeply-rooted conviction that the word of God will certainly triumph in the lives and destinies of the elect! Though Paul is in this dungeon, he does not despair. Victory is written on his banner.”[1]
“These elect are those on whom God has set his peculiar love from eternity. Cf. Col. 3:12. They are the objects of his sovereign good pleasure, chosen not because of their foreseen goodness or faith but because God so willed. It was not man’s faith which caused election; but election, which caused man’s faith. If anyone wishes to see this for himself he should read such passages as the following: Deut. 7:7, 8; Is. 48:11; Dan. 9:19; Hos. 14:4; John 6:37, 39, 44; 10:29; 12:32; 17:2; Rom. 5:8; 9:11–13; 1 Cor. 1:27, 28; 4:7; Eph. 1:4; 2:8; 1 John 4:10, 19.[2]
How is your endurance? Have your weeks been filled with difficult and long days. Do you go to sleep exhausted and wake up tired? Make sure you take a weekly sabbath day for rest, and guard it tenaciously. Learn to say no to good things when they interfere and conflict with the best thing. Make sure to delegate (Eph. 4:11-12). Also realize you cannot do everything, but you can endure by doing the one thing the Lord called you to do; preach and proclaim the glorious gospel.
May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have an enduring day in the Lord.
Soli deo Gloria!
[1] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles, vol. 4, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 252.
[2] Ibid., 253.
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