Lest anyone think that Timothy himself needed such instructions, the apostle says: remind others.
2 Tim. 2:14. Charging them before the Lord not to engage in disputes about words, which serves no benefit whatsoever, but rather to the ruin of the hearers.
Since this has a certain appeal and the human soul is always inclined toward contention and disputes about words, you, says the apostle, charge them before God not to engage in disputes about words, that is: teach them, call God as witness, so that they may know that if they disregard you, He will condemn them. Disputing about words not only brings no benefit or advantage, but on the contrary, causes great harm. For by the battering rams of word-disputes the faith of the listeners is overthrown, like a pillar.
2 Tim. 2:15. Strive to present yourself to God as worthy, a worker beyond reproach.
He explains how one can become skilled, namely, if he is "a worker who has no need to be ashamed": that is, if he is not ashamed to do everything that pertains to godliness. In this way you will earn approval from the Master, if you endure everything for His sake, if you fulfill everything. Everywhere with great earnestness the apostle speaks about shame, because for the majority, both the cross of Christ and the preaching about Him, as though it were ignorant, as well as the apostles themselves, as simple people who endured all things, were a source of shame. So then, he says, do not be ashamed.
2 Tim. 2:15. Rightly dividing the word of truth.
Many either take away from it or add to it, but you guide it on the right path. Or, since the apostle did not say "rightly directing," he implied something else. Cut away, he says, what is foreign to the preaching, as if cutting off superfluous growths on skin and leather, and destroy it with the sword.
2 Tim. 2:16. But shun profane empty talk.
That is, flee. Saint John Chrysostom everywhere gives us to understand by "empty talk" – κενοφωνία – new currents – καινοτομίας in teaching and in those who follow it. Some, however, instead of "avoid" – περιίστασο read: περισσωσίστασο – pay more attention to stopping and restraining them. This is not so.
2 Tim. 2:16. For they will advance still further in ungodliness, and their word will spread like a gangrene.
An incorrigible evil, he says, one that admits of no remedy: it infects everything, and people are incorrigible.
2 Tim. 2:17–18. Such are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they overthrow the faith of some.
He said well above: "they will advance still more in ungodliness." It would seem that the only evil consists in what they say about the resurrection. However, great consequences follow from this. For if the resurrection has already occurred, then judgment and recompense are also abolished, and the good have enjoyed sorrows and afflictions, while the evil have been punished by wallowing in pleasures. What need, then, is there to hold to virtue, if such are the recompenses? He did not say: of all people, but: of some, that is, the weaker ones. Therefore he adds the following as well.
2 Tim. 2:19. But the firm foundation of God stands.
Here is what the apostle says: not all were led astray, but the unsteady ones. And if they had not been such, they would not have fallen away either. Just as Adam too was not firm before the temptation. Those perfectly inspired in the faith stand firm and immovable. And notice, he says "firm," and: "foundation." Thus we ought to hold fast to the faith.
2 Tim. 2:19. Having this seal: "The Lord knows His own"; and: "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity."
That is, just as inscriptions are carved on a stone, so too in his very deeds are imprinted the signs that point to him, namely: "the Lord knows" and so forth. That is, these people or such souls are foreknown by God as belonging entirely to Him, and are fore-chosen so that they would not be led astray together with the weaker ones. By "unrighteousness" the apostle means either error in doctrines or injustice in general. He who acts unjustly has no foundation, does not belong to God. For how can he belong to God, when God is righteous? He does not have the seal. Consider: if he who names the name of the Lord must depart from unrighteousness, then he who does not depart is unworthy to name His name. For praise is not fitting in the mouth of a sinner.
2 Tim. 2:20. But in a great house there are vessels not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and of clay.
Since many are troubled by why evil people exist in the world, Paul, setting aside other reasons, now points to this one: because in a great house there are different vessels. By the great house he means the world, and not the Church; he desires that not a single wooden vessel, but all gold and silver vessels be found in the Church, where the Body of Christ is, where the Virgin is, having no blemish.
2 Tim. 2:20. And some for honorable, and others for dishonorable use.
Golden vessels, that is, virtuous people, are for honorable use, while wooden and clay ones, that is, wicked people, are for lowly use. He did not say "useful" and "not useful," because even wicked people, although they are unfit for virtue, are still useful in the general state of the world, for a certain economy, as for example, Pharaoh.
2 Tim. 2:21. Therefore, whoever will be clean from these things, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified.
Do you see that being golden or earthen depends not on nature or material necessity, as the Manichaeans suppose, but on our will? For it is possible for each person to cleanse himself, that is, to completely free himself from what is earthen and wooden and to establish in himself a golden and silver disposition. Paul was earthen, but became golden. Judas was a golden vessel, but became earthen. So then, if earthen vessels are held in dishonor, how does the apostle say in another place: "we have this treasure in earthen vessels" (2 Cor. 4:7)? There he speaks of the nature of our body. For just as an earthen vessel is nothing other than fired clay, so also our body is nothing other than earth held together by the warmth of the soul. Here, however, the apostle speaks of free will.
2 Tim. 2:21. And fitting for the Master.
So, the earthen vessels are unfit for the guiding purpose of the Lord God, Who desires that all be saved, although, as has been said, these vessels do appear suitable for other use.