Verse 5 says, “Having been reminded of the unfeigned faith in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded dwells also in you.” Here Paul reminds Timothy of the unfeigned faith which is in him. This faith first indwelt Timothy’s grandmother and then his mother. Now it dwells in him. We today may praise the Lord that this faith is also in us. Because we have eternal life, we have unfeigned faith.
Faith refers to the organic union with the Triune God in which we receive God’s infusion through His Word and in His Spirit. The more we touch the Word by exercising our spirit, the more we shall contact the Lord and be infused with Him. As a result, our faith will be strengthened. This faith is actually the reflection of the eternal life we have received. Therefore, to repeat, faith refers to the organic union between us and the Triune God in which we contact the living God through His Word and by His Spirit to receive His infusion.
In verse 6 Paul goes on to say, “For which cause I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” This word was written to encourage and strengthen Timothy in his ministry for the Lord, that his ministry not be weakened by Paul’s imprisonment and the degraded situation of the churches. Here Paul seems to be saying to Timothy, “Timothy, I charge you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you. Something in you is burning. However, it is not sufficient for it just to be burning-you need to fan this gift into flame. You have something in you which is a gift of God. Since you have unfeigned faith, I remind you to fan this gift into flame.”
It is rather difficult to define what Paul means by the gift of God in verse 6. It may refer to a particular spiritual function or ability, something burning within Timothy that enabled him to function in a particular way.
All the saints in the Lord’s recovery need to fan into flame the gift of God which is in them. However, in the meetings many saints seem to throw away the fan. Especially in the meetings of the church, we need to fan into flame the gift which is in us. Then the flame will grow higher and brighter, and the riches of Christ will be manifest. All the saints need to be encouraged with the fact that they have eternal life, a pure conscience, and unfeigned faith. For this cause, they should fan into flame the gift of God.
In verse 7 Paul continues, “For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of a sober mind.” The spirit here denotes our human spirit, regenerated and indwelt by the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-6; Rom. 8:16). Fanning into flame the gift of God is related to our regenerated spirit.
Paul says that we have a spirit of power, of love, and of a sober mind. Power refers to our will, love to our emotion, and a sober mind to our mind. This indicates that a strong will, a loving emotion, and a sober mind have very much to do with a strong spirit for the exercise of the gift of God which is in us.
We need to believe that God has given us such a spirit, and we should praise Him for it. We should not say that we do not feel as if we have a spirit of love, power, and a sound mind. In our physical body we usually do not have any feeling with respect to our internal organs unless there is something wrong with them. Under normal circumstances, are you aware of the fact that you have a liver? I may not be conscious of my liver, but I know that I have this organ and that it is functioning. In like manner, we may not feel as if we have the kind of spirit described in verse 7. Nevertheless, we need to believe Paul’s word and exercise our spirit.
In verse 8 Paul says, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner; but suffer evil with the gospel according to the power of God.” Here we have the reason Paul charged Timothy in the two preceding verses to fan into flame the gift of God which was in him. We need to do this in order not to be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord. Not to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord is to stand against its downward current in the declining churches. We should also be ready to suffer evil with the gospel. The gospel, which is personified here, was suffering persecution. Therefore, Timothy should expect to suffer evil along with the gospel. Our suffering of persecution along with the gospel must be to the extent of what the power of God can endure, not limited by the endurance of our natural strength.
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