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As I said in my previous post I want to walk through 2 Timothy in order to encourage my son Trey in his faith and to encourage him to a clear presentation of the gospel in both his life and in his words. So let’s get started.

2 Timothy starts with an introduction from the Apostle Paul:

2Ti 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

I don’t want to dig too much into Paul and his life. That is relevant to understanding the passage, but I am talking to Trey right now. I do, however, want to point out one thing to him. Paul starts right off with what is always the focus of his ministry: “the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.”

The phrase “in Christ Jesus” is used seven times in 2^nd Timothy and 49 times in Paul’s epistles. This idea being “in Christ” is a common one for Paul, and it should be for you too as well Trey.

Being in Christ is more than just being saved. Certainly to be in Christ is, as Paul mentions, to have the promise of eternal life. But it is much more than that.

To be in Christ is to have a relationship with Him. That means to communicate with Him. He to you through His word, and you to Him in Prayer. It means abiding in Him.

It also means that all your work, hard things or easy ones, should be done in relationship with Him. It means:

1) All you work considers what is pleasing to Him. That means we follow both His message and His methods. It is a common disease these days to thing that all we need to get people to do is confess Christ to be saved. The message and the methods don’t really matter as long as someone confesses Christ. But Scripture makes it clear that man is not save simply by confessing someone name Christ or Jesus, but by confessing the one presented in the pages of Scripture.

2) Considering that He is Sovereign and that whatever the results of your work are they come from His hands. This means that labor in prayer is, if anything, more important than any of your other labors. It also means trusting Him when things don’t go the way you intended.

3) It means that your priorities are His priorities. Worldly wealth and fame are not important, the Kingdom of God and the salvation of the elect are.

Well I have probably dug enough from that one verse, but Trey, remember, do all things in Christ.