This past week on Instagram, a fairly famous pastor posted a photo of a book that created quite the stir. Not because the book itself was so controversial—it was actually a very niche academic type of book—but because of his comment: "One of the most important academic books I've read in years. Next, I'll read rebuttals, but this seems to be the final biblical exegetical knockout blow to PSA."
If you don't run in theological circles, you probably think PSA means public service announcement. In this context, it stands for penal substitutionary atonement—the idea that we have a penalty that needs to be paid because of our sin. The penalty of sin is death, but Jesus was our substitute. Instead of us dying that death, he died in our place to have our sins washed away.
A firestorm broke out online. People were writing blog posts, making YouTube videos, creating graphs and charts. Yet I know that by Tuesday of this week, this thing will be forgotten because social media doesn't have the patience to work through these things in nuanced fashion and have reasonable conversation.
This shows me that humans love to argue, to debate, to complain, to prove someone else wrong because it makes us feel right. Even really nice people can get behind their laptop or phone and turn into keyboard warriors, going on crusades to prove that their view is the right view about particular theological points.
Many of us have these sorts of conversations in our head. But even when it's only up here and not coming out of our mouths, it often reveals we're not living the spiritually healthy life that God actually has for us.
Today we're going to see from 2 Timothy 2 that God is calling us to avoid these sorts of theological debates because they're often pulling us away from what matters most. Instead, we need to prioritize the gospel by prioritizing healthy speech, healthy doctrine, and healthy living.
Let's look at 2 Timothy 2:11-13, which sets up our passage:
"The saying is trustworthy. For if we have died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself."
This little four-line stanza gives us two hopeful statements and two warning statements. The hopeful: if we have put our faith in Jesus (died with him), we will live with him; if we endure through hardship, we will reign with him. The warnings: if we deny him, he will deny us; yet even if we are faithless, he remains faithful because he cannot deny himself.
Paul uses this creed to tell Timothy what he wants him to do next in verses 14-26.
Paul tells Timothy to "remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words which does no good but only ruins the hearers."
I've been in ministry long enough to see pendulum swings. Churches have swung from hymns to contemporary music and back again. Bible translations have moved from formal to readable and back to more robust versions. This isn't new—it's been happening throughout church history.
Back in the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther emphasized personal devotion and faith. But within a hundred years of his 95 Theses, Lutheran orthodoxy had swung so far toward intellectualism that they were getting down to precise words in their doctrine. This led to the Pietistic movement, which emphasized that the Christian faith isn't just about what you know—it's also about what you do. But like most pendulums, it swung past balance into anti-intellectual emotionalism.
Paul knows that people approach faith with pendulum swings, and he's seen some people swing the pendulum to draw attention to themselves. He names two: Hymenaeus and Philetus, who were telling people the resurrection had already happened, destroying people's faith because they thought they'd missed out.
Paul tells Timothy not to get caught up in the swing. Be a plumb line. Don't debate these ridiculous ideas or learn how to tear them down. Just avoid them. Stay away. "Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies. You know that they breed quarrels."
This doesn't mean doctrine isn't important, but too often when we get caught up in these discussions, our temperature rises, we get angry, our voices get louder, and we can't think clearly. It's not good for us, our relationship with God, or our relationships with others.
Here's what healthy speech looks like: "And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth."
It's amazing that we think we're more right the louder we get. Yet sometimes our words are more powerful the quieter we get. When our words are seasoned with grace, when there is kindness and gentleness in them, that's exactly what's needed to pierce through someone's pendulum swing and show them where the plumb line should be.
Romans 2:4 tells us that it is God's kindness that leads us to repentance. If God treats us kindly, then we need to treat one another kindly, even our opponents.
Paul tells Timothy: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."
This creates the image of a construction worker using a tool correctly. You can't saw with a hammer—that would be foolish. The right way to use a hammer is on nails. Likewise, we're not to use Scripture to get our own way or promote crazy theologies just to attract attention. We need to use it wisely.
Someone might say, "This is from Paul to a pastor. I'm not a pastor." But Scripture teaches the priesthood of believers. If you've put your faith in Christ, you are a minister of the gospel. Maybe your gift isn't teaching upfront, but you're still called to be a minister of the gospel and to wield Scripture rightly for God's glory and the benefit of others.
Paul gives us the foundation for healthy doctrine in verse 19: "But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: The Lord knows those who are his. And let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity."
I've met Christians who are very passionate about sin—not because they want to engage in it, but because they want to see it preached against more often. They're frustrated with churches that preach about God's love but won't talk about human sin. They're right biblically—we all wrestle with sin and need to depart from iniquity.
Yet these people sometimes ignore the first statement: "The Lord knows those who are his." If you've put your faith in Jesus, you are his. You belong to him. You've been bought with a price—the blood of Jesus.
That theological truth should comfort you, challenge you, inspire you, encourage you, guide you, and change you. You are his. Yes, you struggle with sin, but you can't forget you belong to God.
Healthy doctrine doesn't get caught up in pendulum swings. It holds onto both truths: we are far greater sinners than we can realize, and Jesus is a far greater savior than we could imagine. Our sin is far worse than we realize, and God's grace is more powerful than we can dream of. When we hold onto both, we get the plumb line of healthy doctrine.
After giving these foundational statements about the gospel, Paul tells Timothy how to depart from iniquity using the illustration of vessels in a house:
"Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work."
In my house, I have ceramic bowls. One is my favorite Snoopy bowl—perfect for salsa, an honorable use. But I have another ceramic bowl that's much larger but definitely not one of my favorites. Why? Because it's the dog's water bowl. Some ceramic bowls are for eating food; others are for different purposes.
If you're a follower of Jesus, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit. The temple shouldn't have dishonorable things in it. That's why Paul tells Timothy to depart from iniquity.
Often when we hear this, we think we'll just stop certain behaviors through sheer willpower. But we find ourselves slipping back, feeling like failures. What we need to realize is that if you're a follower of Jesus, you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit—the same power that raised Christ from the dead now dwells in you. Sanctification isn't meant to be done through your own strength but through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Yet some Christians think this means God does it all. No, you still have a part to play. If your sanctification was a comic book, God would be the superhero and you'd be the sidekick. The superhero gets all the glory, but the sidekick still has a part to play.
Paul says, "So flee youthful passions." This could include sexual lust, but I think it encompasses anything we make more important than God himself—unhealthy desires for riches, ambition for prestige, reputation, or power.
Instead of giving into these passions, we're to "pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call on the name of the Lord from a pure heart."
Jesus is our righteousness. Our faith is to be put in him. He shows us what love truly looks like. He fills us with peace. Our healthy living is found in him.
If you want a spiritually healthy life, you have to prioritize healthy speech, healthy doctrine, and healthy living. Don't let yourself get caught up in side controversies that could spread like gangrene, causing parts of the body of Christ to die off.
God wants to see you healthy and vibrant as part of the body of Christ, so he can do a great work in you and through you. That's why we need to prioritize the gospel through these three ways: speaking with grace and gentleness, holding firmly to sound doctrine that balances both our sinfulness and God's grace, and living out our faith through the power of the Holy Spirit while playing our part in pursuing righteousness, faith, love, and peace.
