Summary:
The “charge” Paul is telling Timothy to keep is to “fight the good fight of the faith” (v.12). He reminded Timothy he professed he’d keep it “before many witnesses,” and now he reminds him God is watching to see if he’ll keep it too.
Knowing Timothy probably feared he might be killed for keeping Paul’s commandment, Paul reminds him that God “quickeneth all things.” But “all things” would include the living as well, who need quickening if they live in sin (Rom.8:11,13). Sin mortifies spiritual life to where it needs to wake up and rise from the “dead” (Eph.5:14), but fear can do the same thing (Ps. 119:25). The psalmist knew that quickening in such cases is done with the Word (cf.John6: 63). This quickening by the Word helped the psalmist keep God’s commandment (119:88), and being quickened by the Word could help Timothy keep His commandment as well.
Paul also reminded Timothy that the Lord Jesus Christ was watching him, the Lord who confessed a good confession before Pilate. The first thing the Lord confessed before Pilate was that He was Israel’s king (Mt.27:11). Paul cites this to remind Timothy that He was his king as well, and that he should keep His King’s commandment. The Lord said this to Pilate, who served the Roman emperor, and the emperors were known to kill rival kings (Mt.2:16). So Timothy could also learn from the Lord’s example to tell the truth even if it cost him his life. The Lord also confessed that His kingdom was not “now” of this world, so His servants wouldn’t fight to protect Him (Jo.18:35,36), teaching Timothy to similarly fight to keep the truth alive, not to fight to keep himself alive. The Lord also confessed He had been born to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37), reminding Timothy that he had been born again to bear witness to the truth. That was the Lord’s purpose in life. He fulfilled it, and now He’s watching to see if we’ll fulfill it.
Paul tells Timothy to keep the commandment “without spot,” i.e., flawlessly (Num.28:3 cf. I Pe.1:19). We can’t, every once in a while we’re going to drop the ball, but that should be our goal. You see, while not all spots are leprosy, all leprosy starts out as a spot (Lev.13:1,8). And not everyone who drops the ball about keeping the commandment to fight the good fight of the faith ends up in apostasy, but every apostate started down the road of apostasy by dropping the ball once. You might compare it to how Paul said to “pray without ceasing” (I Thes. 5:17) but the Lord ceased praying (Luke 11:1). It means never quit coming to God in prayer. And similarly, keeping Paul’s commandment without spot means to never stop fighting the good fight of the faith. If you drop the ball, pick it up and keep on running! That’s what it means to keep it “unrebukeable.” You don’t rebuke a man for dropping the ball once, but you rebuke him for quitting.
At the second coming, Christ will show He’s the only “Potentate,” meaning He’s more potent than the kings who will oppose Him in that day (Dan.2:44). The Greek word is dynastes, and dynasties are a succession of kings. The king of Babylon left his kingdom to the Medes when he died, who left theirs to the Greeks, who left theirs to the Romans, but Christ won’t leave His to others because He “only hath immortality” (v.16). Every other man on earth is capable of dying, but not the Lord (Rom. 6:9). But at the Rapture, He plans to give us immortality (ICor. 15:53).
The Christ “whom no man hath seen” is the Christ of judgment. John saw Him in a vision as one shining as the sun in his strength (Rev.1:12-17). Doesn’t that sound like One who dwells in the light that “no man can approach unto”? Can you approach the sun? Many people saw the Lord in humility, but no one has seen Him in judgment-yet!
Does “whom no man can see” mean no one will see the Lord when He comes in judgment? Only in the Exodus 33:20 sense; that is, no one can see Him in judgment and live. Remember, it says of Antichrist, “whom the Lord…shall destroy with the brightness of His coming” (ITh.2:8). Antichrist and all the people allied with him will try to approach the One who dwells in the light whom no man can approach unto, and it won’t end well for them. In the meantime, Christ is worthy to receive honor and power everlastingly (v.16) because He was slain for us (Rev.5:12).
