1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope, 2to Timothy, my true child in faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3As I urged you when I was going into Macedonia, stay at Ephesus that you might command certain men not to teach a different doctrine, 4and not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than God’s stewardship, which is in faith. 5But the goal of this command is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith, 6from which things some, having missed the mark, have turned away to vain talking, 7desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say nor about what they strongly affirm.
8But we know that the law is good if a person uses it lawfully, 9as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine, 11according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
12I thank him who enabled me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he counted me faithful, appointing me to service, 13although I used to be a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14The grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 16However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life. 17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
18I commit this instruction to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which were given to you before, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19holding faith and a good conscience, which some having thrust away made a shipwreck concerning the faith, 20of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they might be taught not to blaspheme.
Paul's farewell letter in Second Timothy represents Paul's final letter written just before his death during the apostle's second Roman imprisonment. The apostle had no hope of release since his departure was imminent (4:6). The letter is deeply personal. Paul desires to impart some final instructions to Timothy. Moreover, although Paul is courageous in the face of his coming death, it is clear that he is lonely and longs to see Timothy one last time.
Unfortunately, Timothy, Paul's protégé and pastor at Ephesus, had become passive in his ministerial calling. Several reasons account for Timothy's non-assertiveness including his youthfulness (1 Tim 4:12), sickliness (1 Tim 5:23), and natural timidity (1:7). The Neronian persecution as well as Paul's recent arrest also played a role in Timothy's intimidation (1:8). As the baton of spiritual truth was being passed from the apostolic generation, the Church was in a precarious position. Christian truth ran the risk of succumbing to error and false teaching, had Timothy's generation not aggressively pursued their spiritual roles. Thus, for the sake of his spiritual heirs, Paul wrote 2 Tim for the purpose of encouraging Timothy not to shy away from fulfilling his calling.
First, Paul calls Timothy to courage (1:6), to use his spiritual gift (1:7), and to not be ashamed of the gospel (1:8-14). Paul even uses Timothy's heritage (1:1-5) as well as various personal examples (1:15-18) to motivate Timothy. In chapter two, Paul provides ten metaphors describing faithful endurance. Next, Paul warns of the coming apostasy (3:1‒4:8). After giving the general characteristics of apostasy (3:1-9, 12-13), the apostle then instructs Timothy regarding how to cope in the midst of it. Timothy must imitate Paul's endurance (3:10-11) and preach Scripture (3:14‒4:8). Paul concludes by noting the times that God had met the deepest needs in his own life (4:9-22). If God had helped Paul in this way, He would do the same for Timothy. Thus, Timothy can boldly go forward in doing what God has called him to do.