2 Timothy, Part Seven
Accept Your Vocation - Suffering Without Shame
2 Timothy 1v11-12
26th June 2026
Paul has been urging Timothy to "fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you". He's encouraged him "Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel". He's reminded Timothy that "Christ Jesus... has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." Now he says:
2 Timothy 1v11-12
And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because
I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what
I have entrusted to him until that day.
Paul accepted and acknowledged his vocation, his calling. There’s no value in denying that God has called you to do what He has called you to do. Acknowledging it gives you clarity and focus. You speak to yourself as well as to others when you say, "I am a prophet", "I am a teacher", "I am administrator" or, with Paul, "I am an apostle". It was important for Timothy to say, out loud, "I am a pastor". Every pastor needs to be confident that God has called him to lead his church.
Of course, it's a terrible thing to claim to be an apostle, a prophet or a teacher if you're not one. It's also terrible to think you are one simply on the basis that you can do the job. In the church, you are only a minister of any kind if God has called you to the role. That's why we call it a vocation, not a job.
Paul was a herald, and an apostle, and a teacher. He was appointed by God to these roles.
Herald
The Greek word translated as herald here is keryx. It can also mean "preacher", which is how the ESV translates it here. It occurs only three times in the New Testament. The others are:
1 Timothy 2v7
And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle…
2 Peter 2v5
… Noah, a preacher of righteousness…
keryx is related to the Greek noun kerygma, which means "what is preached" or "what is declared". Paul is saying that He was appointed by God to declare the truth, particularly the Gospel.
Apostle
The Greek word translated as apostle here is apostolos. It means "one sent out". That is, a representative, an ambassador. In the New Testament it means one sent out on God's authority to preach (to be a herald) and plant churches, which is how Paul spent his life. It also conveys a sense of authority:
1 Corinthians 12v28
And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets,
third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of
guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.
Teacher
The Greek word translated as teacher here is didaskolos. It means "instructor", one who teaches with authority over his students. We derive the word "didactic" from it. A Christian teacher expounds the Bible, correctly explaining its meaning.
Suffering Without Shame
Paul was all these things. He travelled far and wide, proclaiming the Gospel. When people obeyed the Gospel, were born again, and formed churches, He taught them the things of God and how to live godly lives. He says, "That is why I am suffering as I am." Ever since Jesus's time, some people have hated the proclamation of the Gospel, and so hated the people who faithfully proclaim it and those who lead churches and groups of churches. Being hated "goes with the territory", as people say. Paul suffered grievously, as he tells us in 2 Corinthians 11v23-28.
We learn from infancy to feel guilty when we're punished. And when other people are punished, we can fall into the mistake of assuming they must be guilty. But sometimes we're punished when we're innocent. And sometimes we're punished for doing good. Christians around the world are denied promotion at work, or lose their jobs or aur thrown out of college, or ostracised, attacked, imprisoned, tortured or killed for speaking the truth. Paul says "Yet this is no cause for shame". On the contrary, as Peter tells us:
1 Peter 2v19-21
... it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering
because they are conscious of God.
But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and
endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is
commendable before God.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an
example, that you should follow in his steps.
If, as I suggested earlier in this series, Timothy was by nature a rather timid man, then Paul would have needed to remind him that Christians and, particularly, Christian leaders, often have to endure suffering and keep going. Paul offers himself as an example to Timothy in these things, and asserts that suffering for the Gospel of Christ is no cause for shame.
Confidence in God
We should never be ashamed to speak the truth, especially such a vitally important truth as the Good News of Jesus. Paul gives two reasons why he's not ashamed to suffer for the Gospel. His first reason is "because I know whom I have believed". He's convinced that God is good, honest, trustworthy, faithful and powerful. Therefore the Gospel is true, and God will stand by Him and protect Him.
We must observe, though, that God will guard us until that day. That is, until the Day of Judgement. Paul knew that God didn't always protect him from persecution. He knew that God didn't always protect his colleagues from execution. But he was certain that God would protect us all from losing our faith, and so losing our salvation. As Jesus told us:
Matthew 10v28
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul...
We have a difficulty in the translation of verse 12. In the NIV translation, Paul says "I... am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day." The ESV translation is "I... am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me." William Hendriksen, in his commentary here, explains that the literal translation of the Greek is "… and I am convinced that he is able to guard my deposit with a view to that day". Thus the NIV translators have chosen to explain the phrase "my deposit" by expanding it to "the deposit I have entrusted to God" and the ESV translators have chosen to expand it to "the deposit God has entrusted to me". So Paul either means "Paul's eternal well-being, which he has entrusted to God" or "the Gospel, which God has entrusted to Paul".
We can't be sure which is the better translation. However, we can easily see, I think, that they amount to much the same thing. God is able to guard the Gospel, and He is able to guard the people He has chosen to believe the Gospel and so be saved. Logically, He can't do one without doing the other. Thus Paul's second reason not to feel shame, even though he's persecuted by governing authorities and others, is that he knows that God can look after the ministry of the Gospel, ensuring that the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ will be preached to the end of the earth. And God could look after Paul.
To be a servant of God is not shameful; it's the highest honour anyone can have.