2 Timothy 3:14, 15 But continue you in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom you have learned them;… Amidst all the seductions of the false teachers, the apostle urges Timothy to bold fast the doctrines which he had received in his early training. I. THE DUTY AND NECESSITY OF HOLDING FAST BY THE DIVINE VERITIES. "But do thou continue in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of." 1. The strength and comfort of an undoubting persuasion. Timothy was not to be moved away from the doctrines of the gospel either by persecutions or seductive arts. He found his strength and peace in them. 2. He had really learned them, unlike those ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; for he had an experimental knowledge of them. He was, besides, fully assured of them, with "the full assurance of understanding." It is a very unbecoming attitude for a teacher of others to be sceptical in his opinions. He ought to affirm with certainty, and if he is fully assured, he has no right to surrender the truth. II. THE GROUNDS OF HIS CERTAINTY AND ASSURANCE. "Knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a babe thou bast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." 1. He had been taught sound doctrine by Lois and Eunice. It is, therefore, proper for parents to instruct children in doctrine from their earliest days. 2. He had been trained from his very infancy in the Holy Scriptures. It was, therefore, a right thing for him to be instructed in the Old Testament, since it was all the Scripture he could have had in his childhood. 3. The Scripture he studied was sufficient to lead him to Christ. "Through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (1) This marks the means by which the salvation can be attained; for Christ is "the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4). (2) The effect of the salvation is not merely to instruct, but to make wise in the highest sense - giving spiritual wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of God's will; for men are naturally without spiritual discernment. (3) The salvation cannot be enjoyed without faith, resting upon the person of the Redeemer. - T.C. Parallel Verses KJV: But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; |
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