Exhortation to Resist False Teachers

The concern for the “salvation” of “God’s chosen people” expressed in verse 10, plus the exhortation to perseverance, with its warning against apostasy in verses 11–13, bring Paul—and Timothy—back to the hard realities of the situation on Ephesus, with the presence of the false teachers (cf. 1 Timothy). Apparently they continue to plague the church, as Onesiphorus had probably informed him, although clearly not all have capitulated. This concern dominates the appeal from here to 4:5. In 2:14–3:9 the focus is almost entirely on the false teachers and what Timothy is to do in light of them. Thus it has much in common with 1 Timothy 1, 4, and 6. In 3:10–4:5 the focus is almost totally on Timothy himself and his ministry, with the presence of the false tea…