The Second Letter to Timothy

   
Cotton Patch Version
    

Introduction

1.         From Paul, an agent of Jesus Christ appointed by God to carry through on the promise of the life seen in Christ Jesus;
            To my dear son, Timothy. I wish you much favor, kindness and peace from Father-God and Christ Jesus, our Lord.

3.         I breathe a word of thanks to God, whom I learned from my parents to serve with a clean conscience, when, without fail, I mention you in my morning and evening prayers. When I remember the tears you shed I really do get anxious to see you so I might be cheered up a bit. I have a vivid memory of the utterly sincere faith that’s in you. I saw it first imbedded in your Grandma Lois and in your Mama Eunice and I am certain that it’s in you too. So because I know you’ve got the stuff in you, I’m reminding you to shake the ashes off the God-given fire that’s in you from the time I ordained you. For God has not given us the heart of a coward but of a strong man filled with love and self-discipline. So don’t you ever be ashamed to stand up for our Lord, or for me, his prisoner. Rather, with God’s help, get in the swim with others who are suffering for the gospel. For it is God who rescued us and invited us with a special invitation, not because we deserved it but because of his own inclination and kindness. Actually he extended the invitation through Christ Jesus before time began, but now he has made it clear and plain by the earthly appearance of our Life Guard, Christ Jesus. It was he who deactivated death and, through the great story, brought to light life and health. To establish this I was made a proclaimer, an agent and a teacher. That’s the reason, too, that I get into all this trouble. But I’m not griping about it, because I’m not in the dark as to whom I’ve committed my life, and I’m quite confident that he is fully capable of taking care of my "deposit" under any condition.

13.         Use the sermons you heard me preach as an example of sound preaching in Christian faith and love. Protect that wonderful "deposit" made by the Holy Spirit, whose house we are.

15.         You know, don’t you, that all those Texas folks let me down, including Findlay and Hardy. May the Lord bless the Butterfinger family, though, because he frequently invited me over and was not ashamed of my jail record. In fact, when he came to New Orleans he looked all over for me—and found me! May the Lord bless him with his mercy on the Big Day! And you know better than I about all the ways he helped me out in Birmingham.

1.         So then, my boy, as one who is a member of the Christian movement, be real spunky. And all that you heard from me through many sources you should place in the hands of committed men, who in turn will be capable of teaching others. As a good soldier of Christ Jesus take your share of the suffering. A man on active duty in the army gives up his private business in order to be free to carry out the orders of his commander. Also, if one enters a contest, he is not given a prize unless he competes according to the rules. And too, the farmer who produces the crop must have priority in eating from it. Think about what I’m telling you, for the Lord will help you to know what it’s all about.

8.         Keep your eyes on Jesus Christ as I preached him to you— one of us in the flesh but made alive when he died. This is why I’m arrested and jailed like a criminal, but they haven’t locked up God’s word. So I keep on putting up with everything for the sake of the converts, in order that they might get hold of the salvation which, along with spiritual discernment, is in Christ Jesus. This poem is true:

                        For if we’ve shared his death, we shall also share his life;
                        If we bear our suffering, we shall share his reign.
                        If we renege, he will reject us.
                        If we turn loose the faith, then he holds on to it,
                        Because he can’t disown himself.

14.         Keep these issues alive, urging people before God not to split hairs, which gets nowhere and confuses those who have to listen. Get the lead out of your britches and stand yourself up before God as a seasoned veteran, a skilled worker, correctly slicing the word of truth. And don’t waste your time on theological twaddle, for it will actually increase paganism, and such junk will spread like blood poisoning. An example of this are some professors¹   who have overshot the truth by saying that "God is dead,"²   and they’ve got the faith of some folks in a tizzy. But just the same, God’s cornerstone is still in place, and it reads: "The Lord knows his true ones," and "Let all who call themselves Christians withdraw from evil." Now in every house of importance there are articles not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, and some are valuable and some are cheap. So then if someone keeps his life clean of those things which cheapen him he will be a valuable article, highly prized, useful to his Owner, ready for any good purpose. So turn your back on loose kid stuff, and in company with those who have in utter sincerity joined the Lord’s movement, set your heart on fairness, faith, love and peace. And don’t get involved in idiotic, playpen arguments, since you know that they generate fights. Now the Lord’s man ought never to fight but to be friendly toward everybody, to be disciplined, not easily riled up, one who puts his point across to his opponents with genuine humility, hoping that God might give his opponents a change of mind so as to understand the truth. And when they do understand, they’ll wise up to the fact that the Devil has had them in the palm of his hand all along, and they’ll bust out of his trap.

1.         Now get this clear: In the final showdown³   some mighty rough times will come to pass, for people will love nobody but themselves and their money. They’ll be big talkers, big shots, blabbermouths, shirking responsibility for their parents, with no inner grace, no commitment, no tenderness, no integrity. They’ll be devils, wild and fierce, with no regard for the right, informers, unbalanced, inflated, loving a good time rather than loving God. They have all the outward trappings of religion, but will have nothing to do with its inner power. I say, shun them For some of these creeps worm into families and play footsie with silly little women who are already piled sky-high with sins, who are aroused by all kinds of passions and who are always experimenting but never able to come to any understanding of the truth. These people fight the truth like Jerry and Jumbo fought Moses. Their minds are polluted and they would never pass the test on faith. But they won’t make much headway, because their idiocy will become clear to everybody, just as in the case of the above-named gentlemen.

10.         But you, you have carefully observed my teachings, my conduct, my motive, my loyalty, my ability to take it on the chin, my love, my endurance. You’ve seen the persecutions and sufferings which came my way in Albany, Opelika and Biloxi, as well as other troubles I had to put up with. Yet from it all the Lord rescued me. Furthermore, everybody who tries to live a life dedicated to Jesus Christ will be hounded, whereas the crooks and the hucksters will climb still higher up the ladder, fooling others and being fooled.

14.         Now as for you, son, take your stand on the things you’ve learned and have been assured of, recognizing that you’ve studied various subjects and that from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures which can wise you up to the salvation that comes through the kind of faith that was in Christ Jesus. Every God-breathed writing is helpful for enlightenment, for guidance, for correction, for instruction in right living, so that God’s man may be outfitted and fully equipped for performing any good task.

1.         Here before God and Christ Jesus, who stands ready to judge both living and dead on the basis of his own earthly life and his movement, I’m pressing it upon you: preach the word; stay on your toes when you’re on duty and off; challenge, admonish, encourage, using both tact and reason. For the time will come when they won’t put up with the genuine gospel. Delighting only in what they hear, they’ll hire a whole staff of preachers who’ll give it to them the way they want it. They’ll turn their attention away from the truth and will settle for book reports. But you, son, always stay on the beam, be nonviolent, work as one who bears good news, carry out your job.

6.         But I, I am in the process of being sacrificed for the cause, and it’s just about time for me to check out. I have played the Great Game; I have finished the last inning; I have stuck by the team. Ahead, the Trophy of Right Living is being prepared for me, and the Lord, the fair Umpire, will award it to me on the big day. And he will give one, not only to me, but to everybody who has loved the Real Man.

9.         Please do all you can to get here quickly, because Damon, still in love with the wordly life, let me down. He went to Thomasville; Chris went to Alabama and Titus to South Carolina. Luke alone is beside me. Stop by for Mark and bring him with you, for he is helpful to me on the job. I sent Tic to Birmingham. That overcoat I left in Nashville with Carl, bring it when you come. And the books too, especially those expensive ones.⁴    Mr. Alexander, the welder, sure did me a lot of harm. The Lord will pay him back for what he has done. You too should keep your eye on him, because he violently opposed our testimony.

16.         At my first hearing no one stood up for me but they all ran out on me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood with me and put heart in me, so that through me the message might be carried out and the whole public might hear. I was also spared from a "lion’s-mouth" sentence. The Lord will spare me from every mean act and will lead me safely into his spiritual movement. May all credit be given him from one age to another. Let it be so.

19.         Say hello to Prissy and Adrian and to the Butterfinger family. Hank stayed on in Atlanta. I left Troy sick in Meridian. Please try to get here before winter. Rube and Dan and Len and Claud and all the brothers send their regards. The Lord be with your spirit.

Best wishes to all of you,
Paul

footnotes

¹  Paul goes so far as to name them, Henry and Fred.

2  In the Greek the phrase is "that the resurrection has come and gone."

3  The final showdown is between Christianity and the world—"the final age of this world." (NEB) This "showdown" obviously comes, not at the end of time, but whenever and wherever the gospel confronts the demonic powers of the present age. The people whom Paul describes in the following verses are already on hand, and their true nature will become apparent when Christians have the guts and the strength to face them. That’s why Paul wants Timothy to be aware of them now and to form no alliance with them (v. 5). Thus, the "last (extreme) days" are the days of conflict between the gospel and a man-centered society, regardless of where or when it comes.

4  The Greek word means "highly finished skins."

©1968 by Clarence Jordan. Used by permission of Koinonia Partners
This translation by Dr. Jordan is based on the Nestle-Aland Greek text, twenty third edition (1957).

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