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Dunamis" Rev. Jim Craig "2 Timothy 1:7
Dunamis 2 Tim 1:7 with Pastor Jim Craig
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Dunamas Teaching
Friday Sept 12, 2014
Standing in for Mary’s Class
Rev. Jim Craig
NKJ 2 Timothy 1:1-7
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace
2
from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience,
3
as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day,
4
being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you,
5
which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.
6
Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear,
but of power and of love and of a sound mind. greatly desiring to see you,
NKJ 2 Timothy 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the instrumentality of God’s will, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
according to the promise of life, namely the “in Christ Jesus” kind of life;
NKJ 2 Timothy 1:2
to Timothy, a beloved son:
to Timothy, a beloved son,
grace, mercy, and peace
grace mercy peace
While the message is cryptic, it is nevertheless profound. Paul simply lists three important gifts that only God can supply. These are critical elements of Christian love which he wants Timothy, and the rest of the body of Christ at large to have, to retain over time, and to use, in order that all believers might be caused to take appropriate action in keeping with a healthy life-in-Christ spiritual condition. from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
from God as their source, the Father and Christ Jesus the Lord of us.
grace
noun nominative feminine singular
grace, kindness, mercy, goodwill; a special manifestation of the divine presence, activity, power or glory; a favor, expression of kindness, gift, blessing; thanks, gratitude; graciousness
mercy
noun nominative neuter singular
mercy, compassion peace
noun nominative feminine singular
peace, harmony; order (opposite disorder)
2 Timothy 1:1,2
comprehensive translation
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the instrumentality of God’s will, according to the promise of life, namely the “in Christ Jesus” kind of life; to Timothy, a beloved son, grace mercy peace from God as the source, the Father and Christ Jesus the Lord of us.
I have recently discovered a significant biblical expression which has powerful implication to the benefit of the maturing body-life of believers in Christ.
Coming up soon you will see an expression Paul uses to describe the character of a particular state or condition which he is in at the time of his writing to Timothy.
The usual translations mask the structure of his speech and present his thought in the abstract, as “I thank God.”
For now I will say, the details of the literal wording from Paul will give us new insight that will prove helpful to us in the future.
2 Timothy 1:3-7
(Consists of 3 sentences; verses 3 thru 5, 6, & 7)
2 Timothy 1:3
I thank God,
literally, I have grace to/for God,
noun accusative feminine singular
from 
, grace, kindness, mercy, goodwill
The key word here is 
e,cho “I have.”
e,cho is generally translated “to have, to hold,” yet it has an extensive range of meaning. One might think that an extensive range of meaning would give place to ambiguity and inaccuracy when translating; not at all.
The exact meaning is easily determined by a careful look at the particular context in which it is used. There is seldom any doubt as to the intent of the writer when using this approach.
e,cho “I have” can mean 9 things:
1. to possess, objects or property; in the technical sense of having control over their use
2. to hold on to, retain, as to seize as by the hand
3. to hold a view, as have an opinion with regard to something
4. to wear, as to wear clothes
5. to be able to, as possess the capacity to do something
6. to experience, as to experience a state or condition, generally involving duration, to experience, to have
7. to be, as to be in a particular state or condition, to be, to bear
8. to cause, a marker of a causative relation with otherwise almost empty semantic content, to cause, to bring about to produce
9. content marker, as the designation of content, to have, to contain
Now, let’s look at our sentence in context.
literally, I have grace to/for God,
We test it.
1. to possess, objects or property; in the technical sense of having control over their use.....no
2. to hold on to, retain, as to seize as by the hand.....no
3. to hold a view, as have an opinion with regard to something...no
4. to wear, as to wear clothes....no
5. to be able to, as possess the capacity to do something......possible
6. to experience, as to experience a state or condition, generally involving duration, to experience, to have ......possible
7. to be, as to be in a particular state or condition, to be, to bear.....possible
8. to cause, a marker of a causative relation with otherwise almost empty semantic content, to cause, to bring about to produce....possible
9. content marker, as the designation of content, to have, to contain...no
Let’s pull out four closely related possibilities.
5. to be able to, as possess the capacity to do something
6. to experience, as to experience a state or condition, generally involving duration, to experience, to have
7. to be, as to be in a particular state or condition, to be, to bear
8. to cause, a marker of a causative relation with otherwise almost empty semantic content, to cause, to bring about to produce
literally, I have grace to/for God,
Obviously the (God in the dative case) idea suggests action taken toward or for the benefit of God, so the idea of “to have” is not a static one, but an active one. That is, while it is a state, it is an active state, not a static state!
Since the verb “to have” is in the present tense, its active state is durative, linear
or continuous; so, we can legitimately combine the ideas 5, 6, & 8, and attempt a
comprehensive translation which includes an expression from the implication as well:
5. to be able to, as possess the capacity to do something
6. to experience, as to experience a state or condition, generally involving duration, to experience, to have
8. to cause, a marker of a causative relation with otherwise almost empty semantic content, to cause, to bring about to produce
“I have grace for God” or “I thank God,” is the accelerator of your car, this below is what happens when you press on the accelerator......
(I have, not only an attitude or an opinion toward God of momentary thankfulness, but I have for some time been in a changed state brought about by the transforming work of God the Holy Spirit,working within me giving to me unmerited grace, which so fills my being so as to not only motivate me to do so, but gives me the capacity to give back a portion of that grace in the form of thanksgiving to God (from whom the gift of grace originally came)
This is how “I have grace to/for God” becomes “I thank God.”
Continuing...
whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did,
to/for whom I am rendering sacred service from the time of my forefathers with a pure conscience
as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day,
[Skip]
literal translation
as an unceasing (adj. f. constant) memory (f.) I have with the result that the memories concerning you are a mention within the prayers of me night and day .
adjective accusative feminine singular
, on endless, constant
a not dia through a change (transition) 
to lack, to fall short literally, not to lack or fall short of a goal or purpose through the fault of a transitional change
result clause indicator, with the result that
[Resume]
comprehensive translation
as I have an unceasing memory of concern for you in my mind, with the result that those memories simply “pop up” and are easily included as part of my active prayers of petition to God whenever, night or day.
2 Timothy 1:3
comprehensive translation
I have, not only an attitude or an opinion toward God of momentary thankfulness, but I have for some time been in a changed state brought about by the transforming work of God the Holy Spirit, working within me giving to me unmerited grace, which so fills my being so as to not only to motivate me to do so, but gives me the capacity to give back a portion of that grace in the form of thanksgiving to God (from whom the gift of grace originally came) to/for whom I am rendering sacred service from the time of my forefathers with a pure conscience as I have an unceasing memory of concern for you in my mind, with the result that those memories simply “pop up” and are easily included as part of my active prayers of petition to God whenever, night or day.
Implication
2 Tim 1.12
The center of gravity of this pastoral letter to Timothy is defined concerns related by Paul to as “that goodly deposit” which had been committed to him (2 Tim 1.12 ); namely, the revelation of the mystery concerning the Body of Christ.
This “mystery” of Christ was committed by Him to Paul, and from Paul to Timothy, to be guarded by the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. Through the ages, this “mystery” is committed to all who are the “faithful and able to teach others also.”
[Skip]
It is the
that which is entrusted to one's care, referred to here and in verse 14, as well as in 1Tim 6.20.
para beside, near, with 
to put, to place, to set
NKJ 2 Timothy 1:15 This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me,
among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes
.
God would guard it and care for it, and preserve it against “that day” when it is come
against.
That “day” is with us!
[Resume]
The lesson of it is directed to those who are given by God to minister the Gospel Word of God, that though all might turn away from you and your teaching concerning it (verse 15),
Paul functioned in the body of Christ life in the ways we are supposed to do as well. One thing has to do with our prayer life concerning one another.
While it is one thing to have a prayer regiment where we pray for one another on a somewhat “scheduled” basis; when things heat up, it is better to hold a place in our memory for one another and our concerns, so that they might fall into place among the petitions we put forth to the Lord as we call for help during random hours of the night and day.
[Skip]
2 Timothy 1:4
greatly desiring to see you,
verb participle present active nominative masculine 1st person singular
to long for, to desire; perhaps yearn over (Jas 4.5)
evpi upon 
interrog. adv. from where ?, where?; how?, why?
while greatly desiring to see you,
being mindful of your tears,
while having been reminded (participle perfect passive) of your tears,
that I may be filled with joy,
result clause
in order that I might be filled (punctiliar) with joy
2 Timothy 1:5
when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you,
noun accusative feminine singular
literally, after I have taken hold of the act of remembering the within you sincere (adjective) faith,
remembering, remembrance
, on adjective, sincere, genuine
non hypocritical, without wearing a mask, not acting a part,
not a pretender
faith
recall: Bonhoeffer often used the term “hypocritical” faith when referring to the
Pharisees.
which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice,
and I am persuaded is in you also.
Inheritance of faith is not implied.
How many generations are we talking about here?
How long since Christ was preaching?
Do the math...
What is implied in this instance is an indication that these Christian women were faithful
to teach the precepts of the faith through the Gospel of Christ to their children, starting
with the grandmother.
This also parallels Paul’s reference to his own forefathers’ faithfulness to serve God in
ways corresponding to God’s expectations.
[Resume]
2 Timothy 1:6 +
Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God
which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear,
but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
This refers, in sense, back to the gifts of grace, mercy, peace, and the other “power gifts” we have been given, and which are empowered within us by the work of the Holy Spirit.
The dunamis power is the present and effective working of God in and through believers’ lives.
Paul always linked this “power” to the presence of the Holy Spirit and the power enables perseverance even through suffering while giving a faith defense to the Gospel.
The unbelieving world will always remain deeply hostile to the gospel.
Keep in mind, the gospel for Paul is not limited to an evangelistic presentation, the gospel is the core message of the whole of Scriptures (2 Tim 3.16) which can be applied to unbelievers as a call to faith and to believers as a call to continue to believe in and live out the implications of this message.
It is also what James was trying to make clear to us:
James 2.17 so faith, if it does not produce action or cause someone to do something, it is dead.
The dunamis power is the power which began with a commission from Christ to witness for the gospel on a world-wide scale:
NKJ Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
It is the Holy Spirit’s power that stands behind and drives the witness to Jesus.
This power brings effectiveness in witness, and in preaching the gospel effectively.
It is the power for victory over sin.
It is the power for victory over Satan and demonic forces.
So, the way to preach the gospel is by expounding the Scriptures, ready to do so in and out of season.
In season, when it is convenient; and out of season, when there is great opposition to the truth of God’s Word. This is where the idea of not being in fear (cowardice) is referenced.
means, a spirit of fear, as in having or being in a state of cowardice, ready to run when the going gets tough, and it is always used in a bad sense. It does not refer to our little quirky phobias, fear of close spaces, heights, spiders, foreigners, failure,...
More properly it means a state of fear because of a lack of courage or moral strength. It is often expressed in languages as an idiom- “to have a fallen heart”, “to have a soft heart,” “one’s heart has disappeared.”
It is a spirit of fear that causes us to shrink ways from opposition to the truth of God, that prompts us to make compromises with the fundamental precepts and principles of God’s Word.
Having faith is the reason to do something...
Having grace is the reason to do something...
Having mercy is the reason to do something...
Having peace is the reason to do something...
Having love is the reason to do something...
Having a sound mind is the reason to do something...
This is all related to the idea of preserving that which was entrusted to the present-day living Body of Christ as we are in the process of living it out in reality, with the charge to prepare the Bride of Christ for His Coming.
AMEN
Copyright September, 2014 Rev. Jim Craig
All Rights Reserved