Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 1:13).
Our actual Christianity is liable to all kinds of distortions for many reasons. The very notion of distortion implies an original standard for comparison and the possibility of reformation toward that standard. Every sound believer knows that Scripture is God’s Word. As such, it is “the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience” (2LCF I.1). We are heirs of those Reformation slogans, sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) and semper reformanda (always reforming). “In all controversies of religion, the church is finally to appeal to” the Scriptures (2LCF I.8). We must aim to be ever more scriptural.
Two distortions suffered in Christ’s church are a matter of disproportionate emphases upon doctrine over experience, and upon experience over doctrine. The first is known for teaching that the Christian faith is objective, theological, and intellectual, while the other stresses the subjective, personal, and experiential side of true religion. In the worst cases, dead orthodoxy faces off against relativistic fanaticism. We could wish these warped boxers would knock each other out, since neither side is truly righteous and scriptural.
The Bible sets forth in its own way an objective theology expressed in words and phrases composing intelligible sentences. It also teaches the necessity of our response to that revelation if we would be saved from our sins. The gospel is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom 1.16). Scripture is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and for disciplined training in righteousness (2 Tim 3.16). Theology is for doxology. Doctrine is for devotion. Truth is for love.
This full-orbed vision of Christianity is readily apparent throughout the entire biblical witness, but let us notice it together in 2 Timothy 1.13.
The Apostolic Doctrine
Paul exhorts Timothy with respect to a particular body of teaching, called “the form of sound words.” The word “form” is variously translated “delineation” (ILTGNT; connoting accuracy or detail, MWCD), “pattern” (ESV), and “standard” (NET). They are “sound” in the sense of being “free from error, correct” (BDAG). That they are sound “words” indicates a verbal message composed of propositional statements is in view, such that could be written down in a book.
“Which thou hast heard of me” indicates that those “sound words” which Timothy heard had come through the apostle Paul as Christ’s authoritative representative. The message could be generally characterized as the gospel of Christ, but it contained more than what we might be inclined to include with that label. “The apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2.42) is now written and preserved for us in the New Testament, which assumes the abiding divine authority of the Old Testament also.
The exhortation’s energy arises from the verb, “hold fast,” “hold on to” (HCSB), or “hold firmly to” (GNB). The idea is to keep and preserve it (BDAG), and this is done by knowing it oneself, teaching it in the church, contrasting it with error, defending it against detractors, and propagating it throughout the world, as one has the means and opportunity.
So then, how could anyone affirm this text and doubt the importance of accurate, objective, theological, biblical teaching as a great priority and responsibility of a minister’s work in the church, and therefore most necessary for the spiritual benefit of all the hearers?
The Christian Experience
But that is not all Paul lays upon Timothy in this solemn charge. He must hold firmly to these apostolic, orthodox words in a certain way: “in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” Grammatically, this could be interpreted as the manner in which Timothy heard the message from Paul, but even if we take it that way, it would be implied that this was also God’s will for how Timothy should hold it fast.
“Faith” and “love” in this context pertain more to Timothy’s subjective experience as a Christian man than to the objective truth per se. He will hold fast the form of sound words “in faith” if he actually believes it, rather than just parroting it professionally. Likewise, Paul lays upon him the responsibility of holding it fast “in love,” using that grand summary word of Christian ethics in our relationship with God and neighbor. Timothy must hold firmly to the sound teaching while adoring the God it magnifies, loving the church it edifies, and yearning for the sinners it vivifies. Timothy’s spiritual state of mind—His attitude, feelings, disposition, and purpose—are all critically important to the faithful discharge of his ministerial calling. He fails substantially if he plays the role of a brilliant seminary professor whose teaching is accurate but whose soul is dead to the glory of the gospel and its attendant truths, or insensitive to the spiritual needs of his hearers. Likewise, the moral necessity of faith and love in those who hear the apostolic doctrine is also implied.
When it comes to doctrine and experience, the biblical way is not an either-or but a both-and. Let us all examine ourselves in the light of this text. If we are prone to one extreme or the other, let us give more attention and emphasis to the area where we are weaker, and thus approach more nearly the biblical ideal realized perfectly in our Lord Jesus Christ. Ω