Overview
A torchbearer of the unfeigned faith is a believer who carries genuine faith, faith without hypocrisy, and hands it on to the next person by living it rather than by handing over a book. Rico Magnelli works through 2 Timothy, where Paul recalls the faith that dwelt first in Lois, then in Eunice, then in Timothy. Being strong in grace begins with remembrance, and the strength grace supplies is needed for four things Paul names: teaching faithful people, enduring hardness as a soldier, striving lawfully as an athlete, and cultivating as a husbandman who is first partaker of the fruit.
Transcript
What the Ancient Torch Race Pictures About the Gospel
Well, we wanted to do a time together with the leadership enrichment and handle some leadership aspects before we get into the weekend. What we want to talk about is being a torchbearer of unfeigned faith. The ancient Greeks would conduct torch races where one runner would pass on a lighted torch to another. And for us, it has become symbolic of the transfer of responsibility and knowledge or values. It’s like capturing the ongoing journey of the gospel, passing the torch one to another, just generations, and highlights the importance of mentorship. The torch represents bringing light and knowledge to others.
And this can be visualized, certainly in the modern Olympics. They have instituted this tradition, started back in 1936, where someone would have a lighted torch starting in Olympia, Greece, and then carry it to the host city of the Olympics. So it carries a lot of symbolism and significance. But what about the Christian? How is the Christian supposed to keep the journey going of the gospel, if you will? Well, Timothy is going to help us answer that question. Look at 2 Timothy, please. Graces are to be strong in grace to fulfill their calling.
God’s favor is how we receive the faith of Jesus Christ when we believed in His work. And very central to being strong in grace is just the simple idea of remembering, remembering. When you hear a teaching, it inspires remembering. When you read the word, it inspires us to remember what He said. When we’re interacting with fellow believers, and we’re speaking the word one to another, we remember His goodness, His grace, and His mercy. Remember is very central and very key. We remember how we got salvation, and it leads us to eternal life and newness of life today.
Remembrance and the Unfeigned Faith of Lois, Eunice and Timothy
The pure doctrine of the word, the pure teaching of the word ignites, invigorates, and refreshes, and builds remembrance so we can live and share it daily. And we’re going to see this transfer, this passing of the torch right here in 2 Timothy. In 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 5, when I, this is the Apostle Paul, when I call to what? When I call to what? Remembrance. It starts with remembering. See the world will drown out the message of Christ so quick and so thoroughly that you wonder that you ever even heard the message sometimes.
I call to remembrance. See it starts with an individual recalling to remembrance. Sometimes we get into challenging situations and we forget. We get fearful, anxious. We get distracted. We get overwhelmed. All of us have fallen prey to this. So no one can hold their head up and say they’re immune. I call to remembrance. I remember, Paul says. See that’s an energized ministry that remembers about the unfeigned faith, and he’s going to talk about it here in a second. Look at this. When I recall to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, watch this, which dwelt first in thy grandmother, Lois, and thy mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also.
Look at the passing of the torch. It started with Lois, the grandmother. There was something about the unfeigned faith that she had so embraced in her heart that she passed it on to Lois. And then Lois passed it on along with Eunice, grandmother and mother team, on to Timothy. See, this is what really we’re called to do. You put yourself in a position to remember. You read the word. You study the word, perhaps. You be around Christians and help you remember. And what are we remembering? The unfeigned faith because that’s the foundation of being strong in grace and living and sharing life worth living.
The unfeigned faith is the genuine faith, the faith without hypocrisy, no pretending, no playing church, no acting like a Christian or saying you’re a Christian and acting like a Gentile, if you will, blending into the world. Because at your very core is a fire that burns within you. At the very core of your soul, there is a fire that burns within you. And that fire was ignited by God when you confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised him from the dead. And then we need to remember. That’s not that hard.
Stir Up the Gift of God and the Spirit of Power
You think about it. What do you need to do? Remember. Then we need to be around people that will help us remember the unfeigned faith. You see right here, three generations, Lois, Eunice, Timothy. And that’s the way it’s transferred. It’s not transferred by necessarily giving somebody a Bible. The person that’s transferring it is living it. And then they transfer it by word and deed. What’s this? Verse six. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance, he’s reminding Timothy. See, if you and I are going to remind people you need to remember, I need to remember, especially when we get into challenging situations.
Sometimes I forget. I’ll be honest. I forget. And I get stressed out. That’s when I need to remember. That’s when I need someone to help me remember. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands, for God has not given us the spirit of fear, which is timidity or coward being a coward. But of power and of love and of a sound mind, we all can be intimidated. I know. And that’s why gatherings like this are so important, because we can remind each other what’s really important.
What’s really important is what God deposited in you and in me. What’s really important is that seed that was deposited in you is going to blossom one day into full effulgence at the return of Christ. When we all come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ at the return of Christ, at the day of Christ, that’s when it reaches its fullness. And that’s what we need to remind each other about.
Be Not Ashamed of the Testimony of Our Lord
Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. In other words, the witness of Jesus Christ, we should never be ashamed. The greatest of the great moved among sinners and the poor. He could deal with people of lofty position. No problem. But he was never intimidated or contaminated in any way. We should not be ashamed of his witness. Then Paul says, nor of me, his prisoner. He was a spiritual prisoner to Christ. But be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. In other words, when anyone takes part of moving the gospel, they are going to face some opposition that is going to happen.
This is not for the faint hearted. It isn’t. If you want to pass that torch on, it’s going to require some fortitude on the inside. And we’re going to get to that here in a little bit in chapter two, who has saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began before the beginning of time. We’ve had purpose and grace before the beginning of time, before you were even thought of in a earthly sense.
So purpose in life and grace is extremely ancient, is the word I’m thinking of, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He appeared on earth who hath abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. It’s through the gospel that we see His crucifixion and the life that He brought through His resurrection. Whereunto I’m appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.
Hold Fast the Form of Sound Words
I’m not ashamed. Sometimes you are going to fall down. Sometimes you’re going to need help. Sometimes you need support. Don’t be ashamed. Receive it. Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me. In faith, faith frames sound words. The accomplished work of Christ, which is the faith of Christ, frames sound words. That good thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us. This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia turned away, be turned away from me. And then he mentions Phygellus and Hermogenes.
They turned away. When they turned away from Paul, Paul was a torchbearer of the unfeigned faith. He had the light. It was in Him. The point I’m trying to make is the unfeigned faith doesn’t live in a book. The unfeigned faith lives in you, in me. It doesn’t actually even live in the Bible. The Bible is a book. The Word of God. Till someone believes it and embraces it, then it becomes alive. You can read it and read it and read it. But until someone decides that they’re going to believe it, that’s when it comes alive.
Be Strong in the Grace That Is in Christ Jesus
You know what I’m saying is true. Second Timothy chapter two. Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that’s in Christ Jesus. There is strength in grace. There’s strength in it. Why does He start off this second chapter with this? Because He’s about to go through why we need the grace. We need the strength that comes from that grace that’s in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit that a faithful man who shall be able to teach others also. There’s the passing of the torch.
There it is, right there. Just like Lois, Eunice, and Timothy. Right there. We have strength in grace. And the question is what do you need the strength for? Well, what we’re about to read. We need strength to teach the faithful. Sometimes you don’t want to teach. Sometimes you’ve been through enough enduring hardships. You need strength because there will be hardships. Resisting entanglements of this world. You need strength. The strength comes from grace competing within the boundaries. And I’m going to show you all these. They’re all in here. I’m not making it up.
Being a partaker of the fruit and finally understanding what God is communicating here takes strength that comes from grace, not our own works. If we apply our own works to this, we will not understand what we’re reading. It will not make sense to you. Paul says, and the things that thou has heard of me. I love this. Paul was an example of following Christ. He was an example of embracing the unfeigned faith. Faith without hypocrisy. Not pretending to be a Christian, be a Christian. And it says, among many witnesses, I love this.
Why Paul Was No Respecter of Persons
The message of grace that Paul lived was corroborated time and time again by many witnesses. It says, the way I’ve lived, you can check it out among many witnesses. I’m the same with Vera. I am the same with Mark. I’m the same with Michelle. I’m the same with Jeanette. The same witness is what Paul exhibited. This tells us that Paul was the same way with everyone. This tells you that Paul was no respecter of persons. This tells you that he demonstrated mutual respect. That’s part of being a torchbearer of the unfeigned faith.
You’re not a respecter of persons, because someone’s black, because someone’s white, because someone’s Hispanic, because someone’s short, someone’s tall, someone’s rich, someone’s poor. Someone has this education, that education, no education. You’re no respecter of persons. And it takes some intestinal fortitude, some strength that comes from grace to not yield to that. And we all get tempted. Sure, if we’re honest, sure. But we do not yield to that. Paul is saying the same, commit that a faithful man who shall be able to teach others also. The things that thou have heard of me among many witnesses, they’ll tell you the same thing.
What the Word Commit Means: Entrusting With Vision
Is Paul perfect? They’ll say no. Is he hypocritical? They’ll say no. Amazing, huh? It says commit. Commit, this word commit, has vision built in it. Has vision built in it. It’s to entrust, it’s to set before someone. The same word Jesus used when he prayed to the Father in Luke 23:46. This is what he said. Said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Talk about trust. Talk about vision, because he knew what was coming. And he knew that God, his Father, had to raise him from the dead. So he was going to his death with a full trust and the vision of a future.
Because it says so in Hebrews 12. For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame and sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. This word has vision in it. So we’re going to commit to faithful men. We have to have vision for people. You set it before them, you see them beyond where they are. We do it with our children. We do it with our friends. We do it with whoever. There’s vision in it. We’ll come back here. Look at Acts 14, please.
I’ll show you this word and how it’s used in this sense that we are currently discussing. In verse 22, it says, this is after an itinerary. Verse 22, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith. Whenever you see the faith, it’s not talking about some pseudo fake faith. It’s talking about the genuine deal, the unfeigned faith that has no hypocrisy in it. No respecter of persons. And that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. What that means is that there’s going to be mental pressure for you and I in this life.
Commending Believers to God in Acts 14 and Acts 20
If we are encouraging people to continue in the faith, there’s going to be mental pressure that’s going to resist God’s sovereignty. That’s what it’s telling you. You’re going to run into it that God is not sovereign in this situation. God is not sovereign in that situation. That’s what the kingdom of God means. His overall sovereignty and care. That is what’s going to happen. And when they ordained verse 23, them elders at every church and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believe. The word commended is that to set before with vision.
When you set before people the real deal, not your opinion or mine, not your personality or your real cool stories. When you set before people, the genuine, unfeigned faith have vision for them that they’ll carry it out. I’ll show you another one. Look at Acts 20. Here Paul is in a leadership group, Acts 20. And he says this in verse 32. And now brethren, I commend you to God. There’s the same word, to set before, to entrust with vision. And to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
There is blessings in this life and in that which is to come. Back to Timothy. We want to be torchbearers of the unfeigned faith. The unfeigned faith is not found in written material. You can read about it absolutely, 100%. But it doesn’t live. This is an inanimate object. It has no life in it, in the book. If we’re talking about the word of God, yes, there’s life. You understand? What I’m talking about and what the Bible is talking about is it has to live in you and it has to live in me.
Why the Unfeigned Faith Cannot Live in a Book
Now the doctrinal or the teaching deposit of the unfeigned faith is unlike what it says in 2 Corinthians 5:19, committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Remember that verse? Well, the text actually is put in us the word of reconciliation. See, this is an earthen vessel and it carries the message. And then I demonstrate it with words and deeds. I demonstrate it with actions and teaching, both. People can write books ad infinitum. I write books, but it’s not in the book. It’s when someone reads what’s in the book or the Bible and then they believe what it says and it lives within them.
That’s when it becomes alive. Or else it’s not alive and it’s never transferred. It has to live. Now somebody can pick up the Bible who’s never read it and believe what it says and all of a sudden within them is ignited the unfeigned faith. Absolutely. 100% that can happen. The process of transfer began with Christ. He passed the torch, if you will, to the 12 apostles. And they passed it on to successive generations who preserved its intentional transfer by handoff like Lois to Eunice to Timothy. It’s very deliberate. And the preservation of the doctrine is ignited when successive generations’ eyes are open, when their hearts are filled with light, when they begin to live and teach the message of Christ.
That’s when it’s alive. Then you’ve handed the torch. They’re living it. You know, evil cares little about printing Bibles. Doesn’t say he’s endorsing it. But he cares little. What he really cares about is opposing anyone that dares to live it and teach the truth. That’s what he’s diametrically opposed against. So it isn’t just handing somebody a Bible. It’s holding the torch of the unfeigned faith in deed and word and then transferring it to the next generation till they hold up the torch. And it may not be exactly the way that you do it or I do it.
Endure Hardness as a Good Soldier of Jesus Christ
Okay. Now, what’s going to stop you and me? Keep reading. Verse three. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. It’s a fight. This is why we need strength. We’re in second Timothy chapter two. For someone to teach the faithful, one must remember the unfeigned faith. Do you know that recognition you have on the inside when you feel so pure? You’re so pure because Christ has purified you when you know it on the inside. You’re not in condemnation. You’re not in any egotistical high tower. You’re just at peace on the inside.
You recognize the purity of Christ that’s in you. That’s what we want to ignite. And that’s what you want to remember. The world will take out your purity and your innocence. The world will destroy that if you let them. And carnal Christians at times don’t contribute. They don’t help at times. Jesus says in John seven, verses 16 through 18. John seven, 16 through 18. He says, Jesus answered them and said, my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. He gave the glory to God. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.
He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory. But he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true and no unrighteousness is in him. Wow. The unfeigned faith torchbearers endures like a soldier. Soldiers deal with conditions which are not always ideal. At best it’s uncomfortable, annoying. At worst it’s life threatening. But grace provides the strength in those situations to see the task through, staying spiritually productive under pressure. That’s what a torchbearer of the unfeigned faith is like. Paul is drawing an illustration from a soldier. Not everything about a soldier, but the point about a soldier endures and sees it through.
Then he goes on to say, no man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. So to pass on that torch, we are gonna be tempted to be entangled. In the classical Greek, they use this word for soldiers entangled in branches or in thickets, it really slows them down. Makes fighting difficult. But it’s also used of fishes and nets. People tied up in legal battles. The unfeigned torchbearer of the faith avoids earthly entanglement to please him who chose him to fight.
Striving Lawfully: The Athlete Who Competes Within the Rules
Not only that, Paul’s gonna use a soldier. Now he’s gonna go to an athlete. Verse five, and if a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned except he strive lawfully. So the torchbearer of the unfeigned faith strives for the masteries lawfully, meaning the athlete competes within the rules. Now you gotta figure that one out for yourself, how it applies to you. They can be social rules. They can be rules at work or boundaries at work, school, home, public settings. You’re on a plane, you’re at the store, at a friend’s house, at the park, in traffic, and the list goes on.
But you’re aware of your surroundings and you conduct yourself appropriately. That doesn’t mean that the right thing to do at times is to deviate. Gotta work in you to deviate if you need to. But the torchbearer of the unfeigned faith is aware of his or her surroundings or who they are with and functions within that frame. That’s why he brings in the athlete illustration because an athlete to compete has to compete within the rules of whatever competition they’re involved in. I’ll give you an example. Perhaps this communicated to me, when Jesus was baptized by John, did Jesus need to be baptized?
No, he had no sin. What are you baptizing the guy for? But because John was baptizing, Jesus capitulated. Jesus said, let it be. Just do it. He didn’t need to submit, but he submitted. It was the right thing to do. How about Paul and Athens? Paul and Athens declares the unknown God. Now that’s a whole background to that record. Because back in 399 BC, Socrates was put to death because he was accused of corrupting the youth there in Greece because he would not recognize the city’s gods. And therefore they charged him with introducing new deities.
The Husbandman Must Be First Partaker of the Fruit
So that was still lingering. And Paul used what they had in place that was already there, the unknown God, and that’s who he used to communicate. He worked within their framework. Amazing. Paul appealing to Caesar as a Roman citizen. He worked within the legal framework within which he found himself. That’s part of what we’re talking about here. And then finally, it says the husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. So the torch bearer of the unfeigned faith cultivates like a farmer and receives the first benefits.
What does that mean? We are not to be martyrs in the negative sense. Martyr is from a Greek word, martus, which just means witness, but it’s been turned into people that are willing to die for their faith. You know, admirable as it is, God doesn’t always want you to die. In fact, he doesn’t want you to die. See, the torch bearer of the unfeigned faith understands true service and understands that we are in a master-servant relationship and the master always takes care of the servant. Realizing what true service is, the master-servant relationship is extremely significant.
So just because you put the work in in this category, it doesn’t mean that it automatically corresponds in the same way God gets it back to you. It may come a totally different way. But the point is you keep cultivating and you’re partaker of the fruit. And the fruit is the love, the joy, the peace, the goodness, the gentleness, the meekness, the self-control, the faith. The fruit of the spirit is what you want back. So you know you’re on the right track. And then Paul ends here in this section, verse seven.
Consider What I Say: Understanding in All Things
Consider what I say and the Lord give the understanding in all things. Well, there’s not many places where God tells you you can have understanding in all things. Here’s one of them. There’s not many. Why is that? Because look at the level of heart that’s involved here. You’re strong in grace and you need the strength to teach others also, teach the faithful, to endure hardships. At times, living and sharing the gospel will not be convenient and at times it will be difficult. You’re aware of your surroundings and you function within the proper framework and you cultivate with the idea that God will take care of you just like when the farmer puts the plant or the seed in the ground, he’s not throwing it away.
He doesn’t think, oh, what a waste. No, God says, I’m not planting that seed, dude. You plant it. I’ll make it grow. You cultivate it, I’ll make it grow. Only I can do that part. And the husbandman understands this. This is all part of transferring the unfeigned faith but this has to live within you. You can’t pull out your notes and, you know, wait, let me check my notes, you know? It’s gotta live within you. That’s how it’s transferred. And when the next generation reads the word, hears the word, God inspires the word in them and it’s ignited in them and they realize what they want is the unfeigned faith to pass on that they’ve received, that they wanna pass on that is what we’re after.
Not more followers and more people on a register or more money or more recognition, more likes. That’s not what we’re after. We’re after transferring something that cannot be carried by anything on this earth except a Christian believer. That’s the only one that can carry the unfeigned faith. You can have a scholar that could teach Second Timothy all the Greek and whatever but if it’s not living within them, there’s no transfer. It’s when that person receives it and then it’s ignited within them, boom. Then there’s the transfer and you never know when that’s gonna be.
Holding Up the Torch for the Next Generation
I know we want it right now. There’s people in our lives that we want them. Hello. But that’s not exactly the way it works. Our job is to hold the torch up and look to who you can deposit it. Who can you hand it off to? Hold it up. And it’s the unfeigned faith and you see the exact pattern here in Second Timothy. And this is very key and very integral to where we’re going in the conference, living your God-given identity always because it’s the leaders and I don’t mean with titles, I just mean people that take the lead in a situation.
That’s what I mean. That wanna hold up that torch and this is the same torch that Jesus Christ held up. It’s the same one. It’s the same one that 12 apostles held up on the day of Pentecost. It may be worded differently but it’s in essence the same thing. It’s the same torch that’s been handed down by families, untold families, unnamed families, people down through the ages that no one even knows their name anymore. God knows their name. That they held up that torch in their little family, mom and dad and the little ones.
They held up that torch. Maybe they had to hide because they were being persecuted but they held up that torch and the little ones got it. Someone has transferred this unfeigned faith down through the centuries. Let’s be those people and not follow the mainstream that’s interested in some things but how about this thing? How about faith without hypocrisy? Faith that’s genuine. That when you’re around people, they know you’re genuine. And Paul says, I’ll tell you what, the things that you heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit that of faithful men.
By the Grace of God I Am What I Am
Because when I was with that person, I was the same as I was with that person and that person, that’s unfeigned faith. And this is what is involved in leadership. And that’s why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, we’ll close here in verse nine, for I am the least of the apostles. Not really. And I’m not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. He had a lot to overcome in his past. But look at this statement. But by the grace of God, I am what I am.
I’m not defined by you. I’m not defined by them. I’m not defined by what I wear. I’m not defined by where I live. I’m not defined by what I eat. I’m not defined by what I look like. I’m defined by the grace of God. The unmerited divine favor of God that called me. And as a result, what happened? This grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. It was not empty. I didn’t do nothing with it. I held up that torch, the unfeigned faith. But I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, he’s really clear, but the grace of God which was with me.
Now that is an affirmation to aspire to. That is something to transfer to other people. I am what I am by the grace of God. So are you. That is where we’re going in this conference.
Key Takeaways
- Unfeigned faith means genuine faith without hypocrisy: no pretending, no playing church, no blending into the world.
- Paul traces the transfer through three generations, from Lois to Eunice to Timothy, and it moves by word and deed rather than by handing someone a Bible.
- The unfeigned faith does not live in a book. It lives in a person, and it comes alive when someone believes what the Word says.
- The word commit in 2 Timothy 2:2 means to entrust or set before someone, and it carries vision, the same word Jesus used in Luke 23:46.
- Paul was no respecter of persons: he was the same with everyone, and many witnesses could corroborate it.
- Grace supplies the strength for four roles in 2 Timothy 2: teaching the faithful, enduring as a soldier, striving lawfully as an athlete, and cultivating as a husbandman.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does unfeigned faith mean in 2 Timothy?
Unfeigned faith is genuine faith, the faith without hypocrisy. Rico Magnelli describes it as no pretending, no playing church, and no saying you are a Christian while blending into the world. It is the fire ignited by God at the core of a person when they confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised him from the dead.
How was the unfeigned faith passed from Lois to Eunice to Timothy?
Paul recalls in 2 Timothy 1:5 the unfeigned faith that dwelt first in the grandmother Lois, then in the mother Eunice, and he is persuaded it is in Timothy also. The transfer was not made by giving somebody a Bible. The person transferring it was living it, and it moved to the next generation by word and by deed.
What do the soldier, the athlete and the husbandman illustrate in 2 Timothy 2?
They show why a torchbearer needs the strength that comes from grace. The soldier endures hardness in conditions that are not ideal and stays free of the entanglements of this life. The athlete strives lawfully, competing within the rules and functioning appropriately within his surroundings. The husbandman cultivates and is first partaker of the fruit, trusting the master to take care of the servant.
Scripture References
2 Timothy 1:5-15; 2 Timothy 2:1,2; Luke 23:46; Hebrews 12:2; Acts 14:22,23; Acts 20:32; 2 Corinthians 5:19; 2 Timothy 2:3; John 7:16-18; 2 Timothy 2:4-7; 1 Corinthians 15:9,10
This text was prepared from the teaching audio and notes. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
