Verses 14-19

Verse 14 Timothy must remind the “faithful men” of these words from Paul.  “These things” may only refer to 2 Tim 2:11-13, but most likely it refers to all of the preceding 13 verses.  Paul was encouraging Timothy to suffer for the faith, and certainly he would have wanted those truths communicated to other church leaders.  Timothy is then to charge the men not to become involved in wars over words.  Certainly this does not involve correction of important doctrine or battles for truth against the false teachers, but a war among believers over non-essential interpretations.  Most every believer will be a participant or witness to one of these battles, and can attest to Paul’s conclusion that it holds “no profit.”  In addition to a lack of benefit, Paul concludes that these wars will damage the faith or potential for faith of the hearers.  He does not designate whether the hearers are believers or non-believers, but it can affect both in equally devastating ways.  The weaker brethren may become disenchanted with the church or with the faith, and it may drive the non-believer further away from the truth of the gospel.  Simply put, the consequences far outweigh the personal satisfaction that will come from winning the argument.

 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” – 2:15

Verse 15 The young minister must be diligent to remain faithful and seek his approval from the Lord alone.  This diligence carries the idea of “zealous effort.”²¹  God’s approval is the only one the believer should seek, and we should work hard to be able to stand unashamed before Him.  After seeking to please the Lord, we are to treat His Word with the care and respect that it deserves as the eternal utterances of God.

The final phrase contains the only use of the word orthotomeo, translated as “rightly dividing.”  Much debate surrounds this phrase, with some even using it to justify theological systems that decimate the Word of God by subdividing it until all unity is lost.²²  Köster offers a translation that is consistent with the overall context of its use:

In his conduct Timothy must “speak the word of truth aright,” i.e., follow it.  When he puts his acts under the word of truth he is worthy before God and he need not be ashamed.  He is superior to the false teachers, not because he can present the word better, nor because he offers it in a theologically legitimate form, but because he follows this word aright in the own life, and thus confirms it.²³

“Accurately handling the word of truth” (NASB) will thus enable Timothy to discern the matters of greatest importance to the faith, and keep him from arguments and striving over words.

“But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. ¹⁷And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, ¹⁸who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. ¹⁹Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’” – 2:16-19

Verse 16 Paul continues addressing his concern over foolish and corrupt speech in church leadership.  First, he describes the conversations as profane (bebelos), which describes the spirit of the conversation.  Second, they are idle babblings (kenophonia), which describes the value of the conversation.²⁴  These words lead to ungodliness for those who speak them, for they treat the things of God irreverently and inaccurately, furthering the cause of  evil and the darkness of untruth. 

Verse 17 Paul now gives a second reason for avoiding the “profane and idle babblings”: the message affects the hearers like a deadly disease.  The word here translated “cancer” is gangraina, from which comes the English word “gangrene.”  Dwight Edwards comments:

The metaphor here is very striking.  Gangrene is a disease which "breeds death" and its only remedy is amputation.  The ungodly message of the false teacher breeds spiritual death in its victims and their only hope of recovery is to remove the teacher and his message from their body.  Thus the Lord's servant is not to leave the vitalizing influence of God's word to stand under prolonged exposure to these men's cancerous doctrine.  To do so is to insure that ultimately our own spiritual life will become infected in one way or another.²⁵

Verse 18 It is important not to cover for such men and speech, but to expose it and amputate it from the church body. Paul does not hesitate to point out men who were spreading a faulty teaching, giving both their names and the nature of their doctrine.  This Hymenaeus is almost certainly the same man mentioned in 1 Tim. 1:20, whom Paul had already delivered over to Satan as an act of church discipline (1 Cor. 5:5).  These men had willfully strayed from true doctrine, teaching that the resurrection had already taken place, truly blasphemous in the Christian faith (1 Tim. 1:20).  Paul placed great emphasis on the bodily resurrection of the believer (1 Cor. 15; 1 Thes. 4), linking it to the ultimate hope of the believer²⁶ (1 Cor. 15:19, 32).  The results of this teaching were devastating, causing others to be weak in their faith.  Their teaching most likely involved the idea that the resurrection was only a spiritual one at conversion.  This doctrine would have carried with it the Gnostic idea of the lack of value of the material world, especially the body.²⁷

Verse 19 Despite the fact of false teaching upsetting some, the solid foundation of God’s church remains.  Paul paraphrases statements from Numbers 16, the dispute between Moses and Korah.  God knows the hearts of men, and knows who has put their faith in Christ alone for salvation.  However, men know us by our actions, and we are to avoid iniquity in order to demonstrate that we are true men of faith (Jas. 2:15-17).