God’s Word for You
2 Timothy 2:14 Remind them
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, June 22, 2026
14 Remind them of these things. Warn them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, and only ruins those who listen.
“These things” that Paul wants Timothy to remind people of, especially the other ministers under his care, are the vital doctrines of Scripture. Paul has already stressed “the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, the one who destroyed death and who shone light on life and immortality through the gospel” (1:10) as well as enduring “all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, along with eternal glory” (2:10). These things encapsulate the essentials of both justification, that God has forgiven all of mankind’s sins through the blood of Christ, and also sanctification, which is our thankful response to this atoning gift, especially remembering the benefit to the lives and souls of others.
To quarrel about words was a problem among Timothy’s Ephesian Christians. This seems to have included several things, or several variations:
1, False doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3, 6:3). However, refuting false doctrine is not to be avoided, because souls are at stake. But false doctrine that quibbles about useless or trivial things is not helpful, and arguments about that are to be avoided.
2, People devoting themselves to godless myths (1 Timothy 1:4, 4:7). Mythology was commonplace in ancient Greek and Roman culture.
3, “Old wives’ tales” that did not promote faith (1 Timothy 4:7). Bugenhagen writes: “Very many disagreements had developed first from profane words (that is, from words which Scripture doesn’t know), when those words were taken into sacred doctrine. For that reason, those disagreements have wretchedly taken over not only people’s books, but also their hearts.”
4, People getting wrapped up in “endless genealogies” (1 Timothy 1:4). For many ancient Jews, this was not simply the list of ancestors going back to Abraham or Adam, but the supposed numeric value of the names, like a sort of linguistic astrology, to deduce hidden meanings from what mothers named their babies.
5, Controversies rather than God’s work (1 Timothy 1:4, 6:4), which may have included beating down one’s opponent with clever words of logic or confusing arguments; “an unhealthy interest,” Paul had said, “in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction from men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth, and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (1 Timothy 6:4-5).
6, Perhaps this also included “seizing upon some word or expression that an opponent had used, twisting its meaning to discredit him, and thus losing sight of the point at issue” (Habeck).
7, Professor Habeck also proposes, as a parallel to (5) above, that it might mean arguing interminably about the meaning of some word even though the entire matter is trivial.
These things are completely different from arguments about words that are important and vital to the life and health of the church and of people’s faith. Is Christ divine or not? If the church did not stand on the word of Scripture on this point, many souls would be lost, giving up on the salvation that could be theirs just like someone clinging to a useless idol (Jonah 2:8). And again, what does the word “is” mean when Christ says “This is my body” (Matthew 26:26)? When Luther found that he and Zwingli agreed on just about everything except that one point, he realized that they could never be in fellowship. Zwingli had said, “The body of Christ is in the bread, but only spiritually, because I think it is in the bread.” The text, however, does not say that the presence of the body of Christ in the bread depends on the faith of the one receiving it, but in the words of Christ who tells us that it is there.
To argue about useless things only confuses and frustrates people, and most especially ordinary folks in the pews. There would be nothing more delightful than to count myself among such good Christians, plain, ordinary believers who were baptized and later confirmed, who go to church each week and sit in a Bible class whenever they can, and who simply and fully rely on their Lord. These are the salt of the earth. To confuse them is the dastardliest of crimes; to lead them astray from Christ is the grossest offense. When one of them asks a question that might be trivial, they must not be trampled on or beaten down, but they should be answered directly and clearly with the Word of God what the answer is and where they should put their faith, which is Christ alone. They will be grateful for it. But when a rascally false teacher wants to stir the pot because they have the opinion that it would be good for the common folk to think about this or that, simply because they are wicked and cruel, they should be treated like any pagan or tax collector in the days of Jesus our Lord, and thrown out of the church. They should be put across the Mississippi with a mule and a shovel and told never to return.
However, when a false teacher, or someone involved in some petty controversy, is shown their error and comes to repentance, they must immediately be forgiven in the name of Christ Jesus. And here we remember the words of Dr. Luther about confession and absolution (forgiveness) in the Large Catechism. For confession should never be forced or compelled on anyone, but when someone wants to confess, then the minister is compelled to hear it! “If you are a Christian, you should be glad to run more than a hundred miles for confession, not under compulsion but rather coming and compelling us (your pastors) to offer it. For here the compulsion must be inverted; we (pastors) must come under the command and you must come into freedom. We compel no one, but allow ourselves to be compelled, and just as we are compelled to preach and administer the sacrament.” (Large Catechism, “A Brief Exhortation to Confession” 30,31). And therefore we return to Paul’s words: “Remind them of these things.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.