Holy People and Holy Pastors

In 2 Timothy 2:20–26, Paul speaks about the church of God, consisting of God’s holy people and holy pastors. Jesus Christ builds his church, which is indestructible and therefore will endure forever. He builds it on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as her chief cornerstone. He uses pastors and teachers to build the church. They are gifts Christ gives to every local church he builds (Eph. 4:11–12).

Holy pastors are necessary for Christ’s church, which consists of God’s holy people (also called saints). Both pastors and God’s people are to be holy, for God himself tells us, “Be holy, for I am holy,” and, “I am the Lord who makes you holy.” An unholy church is a synagogue of Satan. Those who are not holy have nothing to do with Jesus Christ. However, to those who are not holy because they are living in sin, there is hope for you today. We counsel you to repent of your sins, believe in Jesus, and he will forgive your sins. He will make you holy so that you can live a life well-pleasing to God and be part of God’s holy church. Even today, you can cry out to God, “Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me a sinner,” and he will hear your prayer.

God’s holy pastors and God’s holy people are to follow Jesus all of life, in all life’s journeys. They are to do so by fixing their thoughts and eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 3:1; 12:2–3).

Who are holy pastors? They are gifts of Christ to his church. They are not self-called or church-called. They are God-called and appointed. Their purpose is to prepare God’s people, that is, the saints, for works of service. They are to feed, guide, and protect their flock by preaching the gospel—by teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training them to do what is right in the sight of God. And God’s people are to hold their pastors in the highest respect (1 Thess. 5:12–13; 1 Tim. 5:17). They are to obey and submit to their godly pastors (Heb. 13:17).

The holy pastor is to be an example to his people. He should be able to say, “Imitate me, as I imitate Christ.” A pastor is to be pious and learned so that he can interpret the Scripture correctly (2 Tim. 2:15). He must be different from the multitudes of foolish, demon-possessed pastors throughout the world who misuse the Scriptures for their own advantage.

The authority of the pastor is the authority of Christ himself. This is also true of parents and the state. All authority springs from Jesus because he said, “All authority has been given to me” (see Matt. 28:18–20).

Pastors are saints who are called to pastor saints, that is, God’s people. So holy pastors, as God’s gifts to the church, must preach the gospel, the truth of the word of God, and nothing else. They are not to preach politics, psychology or anything else, because we do not find truth anywhere in the world except in the holy Scriptures. That is why it is said: “Let God be true, and every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4).

It is faith in the gospel preached by Christ-sent pastors that saves elect sinners. So pastors are to be pious and skilled in preaching the gospel. A wicked pastor will never preach the gospel, and his church will remain dead.

Yet even in the church that Christ builds, as it exists in this world, there will be both true believers and false. In due time, the false and unholy believers, the second and third soil believers, will go away on their own or be expelled by the church. John writes, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19). Paul says, “Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme” (1 Tim. 1:20; see also 2 Tim. 4:10).

God’s elect people will be holy people. Together with their holy pastors, they will travel on the highway of holiness of God’s word to reach the heavenly Zion with everlasting joy. They will be led on their way by God’s word and the Holy Spirit. As they go through the valley of Baca, they will make it a place of springs. They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion, to dwell in the house of the Lord forever, in everlasting bliss.

Do Not Be Unholy in Doctrine and Life

The visible church in this world includes false believers. We read that Phygelus and Hermogenes abandoned Paul (2 Tim. 1:15). Hymenaeus and Philetus wandered away from the truth. They denied Jesus and his resurrection, which is the very heart of the gospel (2 Tim. 2:17–18).

Such people destroy, not only their own faith but also the faith of others. Their anti-gospel, like cancer, kills non-elect, unregenerate, unholy, temporary believers. That is why the church must expel people who promote their demonic conceptions in the church. A holy orthodox church must exercise all three marks of church: preaching of the word, proper administration of the sacraments, and discipline.

These unbelievers quarrel about words. Paul says this is a useless exercise resulting only in catastrophe (2 Tim. 2:14). They engage in godless chatter that opposes the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:16). Every cult and every religion not based on divine revelation is satanically inspired. It destroys its worshipers with the second death. It is also true of churches where the Bible is not preached.

Godless chatter produces only immorality. What a person believes directs how he will live. Doctrine results in ethics. Only the gospel, when believed, will produce holiness.

Be Holy in Doctrine and Life

The church also has true believers, who must strive to be holy in doctrine and life. Paul says he served God with a pure conscience (2 Tim. 1:3). He was filled with the Holy Spirit and so was enlightened and empowered to preach gospel (2 Tim. 1:7, 14). Paul tells us, “God saved us to live a holy life” (2 Tim. 1:9).

Living a holy life will bring about sufferings (2 Tim. 2:3). Yet as we suffer, we must remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead. He destroyed our death by his death on the cross (2 Tim. 2:8). And because he is raised from the dead, he is with us always and will help us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. This is why the doctrine of resurrection is important. Without the resurrection, we would be still in our sins.

Jesus saves his elect for whom he died and was raised (2 Tim. 1:9; 2:10; 2:19b). He gives us holy pastors to interpret the Scriptures correctly (2 Tim. 2:15), unlike the leaders of cults and false churches, who invariably distort the gospel. Holy pastors are to teach, rebuke, correct, and train their people in righteousness. So when a pastor rebukes us, we should thank him. His rebuke is proof that he cares for us like a father, who rebukes his children out of love (Heb. 12:5–6).

The church that Christ is building will stand forever. And every elect believer, under Christ’s command, must separate himself from all wickedness and wicked people, and live a holy life (2 Tim. 2:19). God’s holy people are like vessels of gold and silver, vessels unto honorable purposes, for which our Lord and Master Jesus ordained us. We are made holy, separated for the exclusive use of our Master, Jesus Christ. Let us, then, examine from this passage how to live holy lives in God’s holy church.

Specific Ways to Live a Holy Life (2 Timothy 2:20–26)

Verse 20 says, “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble,” that is, for shameful purposes. The big house in this verse represents the visible church in this world where there are true believers as well as temporary believers, regenerate people as well as unregenerate people, holy people as well as unholy people. There are people unto honor and people unto shame in the church. There are vessels of gold and silver used by the Master for honorable purposes, and there are cheap vessels of wood and clay, used for dishonorable purposes, such as carrying away filth.

Paul was probably speaking about his own father’s house in Tarsus in Cilicia when he wrote this. His father was a rich Roman citizen. Paul himself was born a Roman citizen and so was brought up in a large house. Paul uses a similar comparison in 1 Timothy 3:15, where the church is pictured as God’s household, God’s house.

Verse 21: “If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” This is a difficult verse to interpret. Yet this verse gives us a message of hope. Every believer is counseled to cleanse himself thoroughly (that is the meaning in the Greek), so that he may become a vessel of honor in the service of the Lord. Praise God for that opportunity!

We previously read in 2 Timothy 2:19 that the church Christ is building has a solid, enduring foundation. It has two inscriptions on it as a seal. The first inscription is, “The Lord knows those who belong to him.” They are his elect from eternity. The second inscription gives the reason: “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” In other words, the elect will separate themselves from wickedness as well as from wicked people (2 Tim. 3:5).

God’s people are called to be holy. Paul says, “What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Cor. 6:15b). The answer is nothing. He also writes, “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Cor. 7:1).

We must understand who we are. God’s people are the light of the world. As such, we are to shine as stars in the universe, holding forth the word of life. We are to live as children of light in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. And we are to sanctify ourselves because the Lord we serve is holy and he will make his people holy by the operation of the word and the Holy Spirit.

God’s people can be compared to vessels of gold and silver. Every believer, as he or she lives a holy life, becomes a vessel for honor like a gold or silver vessel. Thus, each of us can look at our own life and judge whether we belong to Christ or to the devil. Are we living a life of repentance and faith? Are we living a holy life? Do we obey God? If not, I pray that you will stop living as a vessel of shame and dishonor. God will help you, through his sanctification, to become a vessel of honor. I will pray that we will all live for God’s glory and for our own great joy! May we be made holy by God to live holy lives.

An unholy person is useless to the Master, the Lord Jesus. He is also useless to himself and to his family. But as we live obedient lives, we will be useful—used by our Master unto honor. Peter says, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:13–16). He also says, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Pet. 1:22).

Those who practice holiness are made ready for every good work. They are ready to obey God. Paul writes, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10). He also says, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God” (1 Thess. 4:3–5). We are different from the pagans. He also prays, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thess. 5:23–24).

The Lord Jesus Christ will have a pure virgin, a holy bride. That is why God says, “Be ye holy for I am holy.” So the next instruction Paul gives to Timothy is in verse 22: “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” This is specific counsel. Negatively, he is told to flee. Flee! Shun! Have nothing to do with it! Flee youthful evil desires, just as Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:12).

We must have nothing to do with evil. Elsewhere, Pastor Timothy was told to treat younger sisters with all purity (1 Tim. 5:2). (PGM) And Paul instructed the Corinthians, “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Cor. 6:18). He also said, “Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good” (Titus 2:6–8).

Flee from sexual immorality! Flee from lack of self-control! Flee from impatience, arrogance, and any other sin! Peter admonishes, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul” (1 Pet. 2:11). A true Christian is always at war against sin. Paul also writes, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Gal. 5:16). What a great promise! As we are led by the Spirit and filled with the Spirit, we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh that war against our souls. We cannot be neutral. We must stand with Christ and be filled with the Spirit. And as we obey God’s word, we will fulfill the desires of God, rather than those of the flesh.

But that is not all we need to know. That is negative aspect. Positively, Paul says, “Pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” We must pursue, run after without looking back, spiritual virtues, the fruit of the Spirit. Paul also says that we are “to be made new in the attitude of [our] minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:23). Notice, we do not just put off; we must also put on the new self. And what are we to pursue? We are to pursue the fruit of the Spirit, which is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23). What is self-control? The Spirit’s control. Paul concludes, “Against such things there is no law.”

In the Greek, the word is diôke, which means to pursue continually. It is a present imperative. So we are to pursue continually, first, righteousness. In this context, righteousness means doing what is right in the sight of God (Deut. 6:18). It means to be led by the Spirit. It means to hear and do the word of Jesus as given us in the holy Scriptures. Elsewhere we are told that “the kingdom of God is . . . righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). Righteousness means doing what is right.

Is your home an aspect of the kingdom of God? Then you will do what is right in his sight. John Calvin said, essentially, “What God demands in his word, we do by his Holy Spirit.” It is hard being a Christian but we are given the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes, “To this end I labor [meaning hard work], struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” (Col. 1:29). We must not complain that we do not have strength. In fact, God does not want us to act in our own strength. We must do what God demands by his strength, by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. We must not grieve the Spirit; we are to obey him.

God’s people are to be obedient children of our heavenly Father (1 Pet. 1:14). Pastors also must obey. They are to be holy by living holy lives and especially by interpreting Scripture correctly (2 Tim. 2:15). Children should also be holy. Paul writes, “Children, obey your parents” (Eph. 6:1). They should obey immediately, exactly, and with joy. Paul also writes, “Wives, be submissive to your own husbands as to the Lord in everything” (Eph. 5:22–24). And a husband must do two things: love his wife as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25), and provide for his family (1 Tim. 5:8).

Second, Paul calls on us to pursue pistis (faith), which actually means faithfulness. That means people can count on our word and our promises. We are reliable people. And the most important promise we make is saying that Jesus is Lord. We must keep that oath and live that confession throughout our lives, “even when it hurts” (Ps. 15:4).

There are people in the visible church who are unfaithful. Demas was a fellow worker with Paul for many years. But at the end of his life, Paul wrote, “Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica” (2 Tim. 4:10). Demas became untrustworthy. We also have seen people who said, “Jesus is Lord.” But in due time, because they were unregenerate, they abandoned Christ. That is why Paul exhorts Timothy, “Entrust the gospel to reliable men,” 2 Tim. 2:2), not to those who will sell Jesus for the world.

Third, we are told to pursue love, meaning love for God’s people. John’s first epistle is written to exhort us to love one another, not only with words but also by giving people our money and resources to meet their needs (1 John 3:16). Beyond that, we are to show love to one another by rebuking and correcting them when we see them engaging in evil. It is our responsibility, not just the responsibility of the pastor. Paul told the Roman Christians that they were competent to counsel their brothers (Rom. 15:14).¹ So we are told, “Over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Col. 3:14).

Fourth, we are to pursue peace. Paul writes, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). He also says, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God” (Rom. 5: 1). We possess peace, a peace that was brought about by the atoning and reconciling work of Jesus Christ when he died on the cross. In fact, we are told that he is our peace (Eph. 2:14). Jesus brought us peace with God, peace with others, and peace even within us. So Paul writes, “The peace of God that passes all human understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). This is also why the moment we sin our peace goes away because we have grieved the Holy Spirit. When we sin, we have no peace until we repent. But when we repent, we will again have peace. And where there is such peace, there will be unity. Where there is no peace, there is no unity. So, for example, two people, a husband and wife, cannot get along if one of them sins. Sin destroys peace.

Paul says that we are to pursue these spiritual virtues together with God’s holy people who worship God with a clean, holy, pure heart. This is the definition of a member of God’s church. We have a new heart, a holy heart.

This also means that we cannot worship with people who are wicked. Paul wrote, “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus”— he is speaking about definitive sanctification— “and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:2). We cannot worship God with those believers who are dishonorable vessels living in sin. We must call on them to repent and start living holy lives. And if they persist in disobeying Christ, the church must expel them until they repent truly. So Paul says, “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people” (Rom. 16:17–18).

Verse 23: “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.” Again, we are told to reject, shun, and have no part in these things. A holy pastor should have no part in foolish and ignorant arguments, speculations, debates, questionings, and godless reasonings. Why? Because they are outside of God’s word. Additionally, they do not edify anyone. In fact, they only breed quarrels.

The source of such debates is the devil himself. This is what the devil did in Genesis 3:1–7. He asked, “Did God say?” And the answer came: “Yes, he did.” But then the devil negated God’s word: “Don’t worry. You shall not surely die.”

Such arguments are also called hollow philosophies (Col. 2:8). They are from the devil, whom Jesus exposed, saying, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). There are many pastors who lie, who will never preach the word of truth. But such speculations are mere gravel; they are not the bread of life. Jesus is the bread of life and the water of life. When a true pastor preaches the gospel, he is lifting Jesus Christ up so that he may draw men to himself (John 12:32).

A holy pastor is called to preach the true gospel and nothing else. Paul exhorts, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Tim. 4:1–3).

Verse 24: “And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.” A holy pastor is a slave of the Lord, who himself obeyed his Father perfectly. A pastor is a bondservant of the Lord. He is given authority by Christ to preach the gospel, and he serves the Lord exclusively. He must not quarrel with wicked people, who reject the gospel. He is to preach the gospel even unto death.

He does not quarrel with those who reject the gospel because they are non-elect. When the gospel comes, the elect will believe, but the non-elect will never believe. So a pastor is to shake the dust off his feet from them and go speak the gospel to others who will listen.

The same gospel that comes out of the pastor’s mouth produces life in the elect and death in the unbelievers. But instead of quarreling, the pastor is to be kind and gentle to all people, both believers and unbelievers. He is to bless those who curse him. He must be competent to teach the word. He must be able to suffer evil from those who oppose him.

Verses 25–26: “Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” The holy pastor must, in humility, teach and correct his opponents from the word of God. He must do so hoping that God, in his sovereign will, will grant his opponents the gift of repentance, though it is a rare thing. Those who leave God’s church and come back, saying that they are repenting, usually will go back to their sins, in due time.

No one can repent on his own; both repentance and saving faith are gifts from God to the regenerate, as we read in Acts 11, “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life’” (Acts 11:18). We also read, “For they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess. 1:9).

A sinner hates God and his truth. He continually suppresses the knowledge he has of the true God in creation, in conscience, and in the canon of the holy Scriptures. If God gives repentance, the sinner will repent and believe in Jesus and live a holy life, all of life.

To repent means:

1. to think again;
2. to think correctly;
3. to think in reality;
4. to think according to the Scripture, correctly understood;
5. to turn from idols and turn to the living and true God as revealed in the Scriptures;
6. to serve as God’s slave all of life, hearing and doing the will of the Lord Jesus Christ;
7. to think with one’s new heart as enabled by the Holy Spirit;
8. to turn from being a slave of the devil to being a bondslave of Jesus, which is perfect freedom. So a thief stops stealing and, instead, he works hard to support his family and to give help to those in need. It is a one hundred and eighty degree change.
9. to lead a sinner from a depraved mind to a new mind by which he will declare the truth of the gospel by confessing, “From this day forward, ‘Jesus is my Lord.’”

Verse 26 speaks about a repenting person coming to his senses. Such a person can be compared to the demon-possessed Legion man whom Jesus saved (Luke 8). He was a restless wanderer, naked, uncontrollable, destructive, and crazy, with a depraved mind. But Jesus saved him. He regenerated him. And in Luke 8:35 we read that he was sitting down, clothed, and in his sound mind, a mind controlled by the Holy Spirit to think God’s thoughts after him. He became sober, which also happened to the prodigal son (Luke 15:17–20).

If God gives us repentance, we will escape from the trap of the devil, into which every unbeliever is caught alive through the bait of the pleasure of sin. To the wicked, sinning is very pleasurable. Though Satan comes only to deceive, to steal, kill, and destroy, sin is pleasurable because it is transgression of God’s law. It is like spitting on the face of him who gave us the law.

But the wages sin pays is eternal death, as we saw in Genesis 3. The devil said to Adam and Eve, “Go ahead, eat the fruit; you shall not surely die. Your eyes will be opened and you will realize that you are gods and you don’t have to be under authority to this God who created you. You can be liberated into the glorious freedom of autonomy. You can be a self-determining being. You can be free at last!”

They believed this anti-gospel and they died. The devil became their father and the devil’s destiny became theirs (Matt. 25:41, 46). They and their descendants were caught in his trap to do his will. They will die the second death, entering the eternal death of hell, in body and soul.

This is the condition of every unbeliever in Jesus. He is not free. He is caught alive in the trap of the devil to obey always his will. The only one who can deliver him from the devil’s trap is Jesus Christ, who defeated the devil forever on the cross.

So we read, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Heb. 2:14–15). We also read, “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8). Jesus himself said, “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out” (John 12:31). Read the entire book of Revelation. Christ wins, and his enemies lose.

If the Son sets us free, we will be free indeed. So you may ask, “What must I do to be saved?” The simple answer is, “Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be set free by Jesus Christ and you will be saved forever.” It is that simple. My prayer is that you will do that, be baptized, and join a church where the gospel is preached.

¹ My former professor, Jay Adams, wrote a book called Competent to Counsel (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1970).