Tag Archives: Ministry

A Good Soldier of Christ

Posted on by
2

Every Christian is called into ministry. The moment we believe in Christ for salvation, we are enlisted into God’s service, assigned a spiritual gift, expected to learn and live God’s Word, and given a mission. The question is not whether we will serve, but whether we will execute our assigned roles effectively. Paul makes it clear that the Christian life is not passive—it is an active engagement in spiritual warfare. Each of us, whether as pastors, teachers, evangelists, or faithful servants in the local church, has a function within the body of Christ. To neglect that function is dereliction of duty. As Christian soldiers, we must train, prepare, and engage in the spiritual battle, recognizing that our objective is to glorify God through the effective use of our spiritual gifts.

The apostle Paul told Timothy, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Tim 2:3-4). Paul uses a military analogy to communicate principles of spiritual focus, discipline, and endurance for the believer advancing to spiritual maturity. Paul, writing from prison under hardship, exhorts Timothy to develop the mental toughness necessary for sustained spiritual combat. Paul had used a military metaphor in his first letter to Timothy, telling him to “fight the good fight” and keep the faith (1 Tim 1:18-19). Wiersbe states, “Many people have the idea that the ministry is a soft job…But a dedicated Christian minister is in a battle that requires spiritual endurance.”[1]

The phrase “suffer hardship with me” translates the Greek verb sugkakopathéō (συγκακοπαθέω), which is in the active voice and imperative mood. This grammatical structure indicates that the believer has the personal responsibility (active voice) to obey this command (imperative mood) and to share in the pressures that arise from executing the plan of God in the devil’s world. Executing God’s plan is accomplished by maintaining a walk of faith through the consistent intake and application of God’s Word, especially in the face of adversity. And there will be adversity in effective Christian ministry, as evidenced by Paul’s list of hardships endured in ministry (2 Cor 11:23-29).

The phrase “as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” underscores the necessity of spiritual training. Paul employed this language elsewhere, referring to both Epaphroditus and Archippus as “my fellow soldier” (Phil 2:25; Philem 1:2). Just as there are good soldiers, there are also bad ones—Christians who fail to live spiritually and walk by faith. A good soldier, however, submits to his Commander, the Lord Jesus Christ, who directs him into service and combat. Furthermore, a good soldier submits to rigorous preparation, living a disciplined life in anticipation of spiritual conflict. Likewise, the believer must engage in daily spiritual training by consistently learning and applying God’s Word. Spiritual victory requires humility (1 Pet 5:6), positive volition (John 7:17), and a steadfast commitment to learning and living God’s Word (1 Pet 2:2), all under the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18; Gal 5:16).

Paul drives home the principle of spiritual focus, saying, “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life” (2 Tim 2:4a). The verb entangles (empléketai) means to become ensnared, distracted, or bogged down by the details of life. Paul is not advocating monasticism or suggesting that believers neglect legitimate responsibilities such as work, family, or community life. Rather, he is warning against becoming so absorbed in secular pursuits that one loses sight of their spiritual mission. The issue is priority. A soldier on the battlefield can’t afford to be distracted by nonessentials—he must stay mission-focused if he’s going to achieve victory. According to Constable, “Paul did not mean that a minister should always give all of his time to preaching and teaching to the exclusion of other activities. He himself practiced his trade of tentmaking on occasion. He meant that he should not let other duties drain off his energies or interests or divert him from his primary responsibilities as a Christian soldier.”[2]

The goal of the soldier is clearly stated, “so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Tim 2:4b). The enlisting officer here represents the Lord Jesus Christ, who has called every believer to a life of service in this fallen world. MacDonald states, “A soldier on duty keeps himself in readiness for orders from headquarters. His desire is to please the one who enlisted him. The believer, of course, has been enlisted by the Lord, and our love for Him should cause us to maintain a light hold on the things of this world.”[3] The objective is to execute the plan of God under His authority and for His glory. This requires consistent spiritual growth, discernment, and divine viewpoint thinking. We live to please the Lord, not people (cf. 2 Cor 5:9), and that means staying the course no matter what opposition, suffering, or distractions arise.

In summary, Paul’s use of the soldier analogy in 2 Timothy 2:3-4 is a tactical reminder that the Christian life is a battlefield, not a playground. The spiritual warrior must train daily, avoid entanglements, and maintain unwavering focus on the mission: glorifying Christ through spiritual growth, service, and doctrinal integrity. Only by staying locked in on the Word of God, regardless of suffering, can the believer advance to spiritual maturity and fulfill the divine mandate to fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim 6:12).

Dr. Steven R. Cook

If this article has enriched your understanding and walk with Christ, and you feel led to support my ministry, your generosity is greatly appreciated. Your gifts enable me to continue sharing the gospel of grace and providing in-depth biblical teachings. Thank you for partnering with me in this mission.

Related Articles:

[1] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 245.

[2] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), 2 Tim 2:3.

[3] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 2114–2115.

How to Know Your Call to Ministry

Posted on by
Reply

How can you know your call to ministry is from the Lord? In the Bible, people such as Samuel (1 Sam 3:4-10) and Isaiah (Isa 6:8) experienced direct, audible calls from God. These instances left no doubt about the divine origin of call to ministry. However, these cases were unique and often accompanied significant shifts in God’s work in history. Today, God still calls people to ministry, but He does so through less overt means.

Asian Woman Welcoming GiftFirst, it should be noted that God gives every Christian a spiritual gift, which means every believer is called to some level of ministry. Paul wrote, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all…[and] a spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other” (1 Cor 12:4, 7). Peter wrote, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet 4:10). Whatever your spiritual gift, whether pastor, teacher, leadership, administration, serving, giving, helps, or mercy (just to name a few), it should be employed to help and bless others. Moreso, ministry relates to everyone, everywhere, all the time. And ministry is evangelistic toward the unsaved, and doctrinally encouraging to the saved. Those whom God calls, He equips to serve, and the blessing of service will edify others. Knowing your specific call to ministry is based largely on desire, ability, conviction, confirmation, and opportunity.

Concerning desire, Paul wrote, “if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do” (1 Tim 3:1). The word “desire” translates the Greek verb epithumeō (ἐπιθυμέω) which means “to have a strong desire to do or secure something, desire, long for” (BDAG, 371). The true desire to minister originates with God, and you will realize “it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). Furthermore, the desire will always seek God’s glory (1 Cor 10:31), align with His Word (2 Tim 3:16-17), and promote His interests in the lives of others, whether to lead the lost to eternal salvation (2 Cor 5:18-20), or Christians to spiritual growth (Heb 6:1), encouraging them to learn His Word (2 Tim 2:15; 1 Pet 2:2) and walk by faith (2 Cor 5:7; Heb 10:38; Jam 1:22).

A Man Studying the BibleConcerning ability, God will equip those He calls to ministry by giving them a spiritual gift (Rom 12:6-8; Eph 4:11-12). The spiritual gift is the personal possession and responsibility of each believer. If God calls one to be a pastor or teacher, He will provide the means for that man to receive the appropriate education necessary to properly study His Word and communicate it to others, first through the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit (John 14:26), and then through others (Acts 18:24-26; 19:9-10). If the spiritual gift is giving, God will bless that believer with the finances to be able to support others, much the way He used several women to financially support Jesus and His apostles (Luke 8:1-3), or the Christians at Philippi to support the apostle Paul (Phil 4:15-18).

Concerning conviction, each believer will have a desire to be guided by God’s Word. A psalmist wrote, “O how I love Your instruction! It is my meditation all the day” (Psa 119:97). God’s Word is what provides us the divine perspective on life and trains us in righteous living and good works. Paul wrote, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17). The constant intake and application of God’s Word is necessary for spiritual growth and ministry to others. One can see this pattern in Ezra, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel” (Ezra 7:10).

Concerning confirmation, others will often recognize and affirm your spiritual gift. Paul wrote about himself, saying, “seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised…James and Peter and John…gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship” (Gal 2:7, 9). Paul’s ministry was confirmed by others who gave their support. And the confirmation of Paul’s ministry serves as an example for today’s church, as it underscores the importance of spiritual leaders to recognize and affirm the gifts and callings of others, particularly those who demonstrate clear evidence of God’s work in their lives.

An Open Door 3Concerning opportunity, Paul reported how God “had opened a door” for him to minister the gospel to Gentiles (Acts 14:27), and how “a wide door for effective service” had opened for him in Ephesus (1 Cor 16:9), and when he came to Traos, he said, “a door was opened for me in the Lord” (2 Cor 2:12). When God calls and equips His children for service, He also provides opportunity. But believers must also recognize there will be times when God, for reasons known only to Him, closes a door of opportunity. Luke recorded an event where Paul and his companions had “been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them” (Acts 16:6-7). But a closed door for ministry might indicate a calling elsewhere, for though Paul had been denied ministry in Asia, afterwards, he’d received a vision about Macedonia (Acts 16:9), and “When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:10).

Whatever the Lord calls His people to do, He will provide for them, for “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Th 5:24), and “God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19), for “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Cor 9:8). Whether intellectual, relational, or financial, God provides the resources necessary for His servants to fulfill their calling. 

Dr. Steven R. Cook

If this article has enriched your understanding and walk with Christ, and you feel led to support my ministry, your generosity is greatly appreciated. Your gifts enable me to continue sharing the gospel of grace and providing in-depth biblical teachings. Thank you for partnering with me in this mission.

Related Articles:

—

The Power of Encouragement: Lessons From the Life of Barnabas

Posted on by
Reply

There are several believers in the Bible I admire in one way or another, but none more than Barnabas. I admire him because his life is marked by faith, grace, and because he was an encourager to other believers. Faith, grace, and encouragement. That resonates with me.

We first hear about Barnabas in the book of Acts where we learn his name was “Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles” (Acts 4:36a). Luke informs us that Joseph was also known as Barnabas (his nickname), which means “Son of Encouragement” (Acts 4:36b).[1] To be a son of something meant that one was characterized by the quality of the word that follows. In this case, the quality is that of encouragement, which translates the Greek noun παράκλησις paraklesis, which denotes “emboldening another in belief or course of action, encouragement, exhortation…[the] lifting of another’s spirits.”[2]

No doubt, Barnabas’ life reflected what He saw and experienced in his relationship with God. In Scripture, we learn that God the Father is described as “the God of all grace” (1 Pet 5:10), Who sits upon a “throne of grace” (Heb 4:16), Who “gives grace to the afflicted” (Prov 3:34), and provides salvation “by grace” through faith in Jesus (Eph 2:8-9; cf. Acts 15:11; Rom 3:24). Jesus is said to be “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14), and the Holy Spirit is called “the Spirit of grace” (Heb 10:29). Grace (χάρις charis) is undeserved favor. It is the love, mercy, or kindness that one person freely confers upon another who deserves the opposite (Matt 5:44-45; Rom 11:6; Eph 1:6; 2:1-9; 2 Tim 1:9; Tit 3:5-7). And there is nothing more powerful or encouraging than God’s grace to warm and motivate His people to action. For what flows down from God to his children, when received with an open heart, will find natural outward expression to others, who will “encourage one another and build up one another” (1 Th 5:11a), and will “encourage one another day after day” (Heb 3:13a). I believe Barnabas was one who drank deeply from the well of God’s grace and goodness, and being blessed and encouraged by the Lord, was motivated to do the same to others.

Woman Offering ForgivenessBarnabas’ first act on encouragement was witnessed in his willingness to give of his own resources for the benefit of others; specifically, we are told he “owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet” (Acts 4:37). Barnabas was a man of financial means as he owned land, perhaps on the island of Cyprus. Being a man of grace, he sold his property and gave it to the apostles to be used for ministry purposes. The sale of private property was not a common practice among Christians, which is what set Barnabas apart and made him an exceptional person. If such behavior had been practiced by all, there would have been no need to focus on Barnabas and his gracious act. It is a truth of Scripture that God’s blesses believers who are gracious in giving, for “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness” (2 Cor 9:10). And Scripture also reveals these openhanded believers will be rewarded by the Lord in eternity (1 Cor 3:10-15).

Later, in Acts, we’re told that the church at Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch (Acts 11:22), and “when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God” (Acts 11:23a)—there’s that grace again!—he “rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord” (Acts 11:23b). Here, the word encourage translates the Greek verb παρακαλέω parakaleo, which means to “call to one’s side.”[3] The picture is that of one person who comes alongside others and encourages them to accomplish a task or finish a race. In this case, it meant encouraging these Christians to press on and do God’s will. Encouraging other believers “to remain true to the Lord” is what healthy encouragement looks like.

Helping the Poor 3We also learn from other biblical passages that Barnabas was pivotal to the growth of the early church. For example, it was Barnabas who supported Paul shortly after his conversion, even though others had reservations about him (Acts 9:27). It was Barnabas who bridged the relationship between the church in Jerusalem and the church in Antioch (Acts 11:22). It was Barnabas who partnered with Paul and formed a teaching ministry in Antioch that lasted for a year (Acts 11:25-26). It was Barnabas—along with Paul—who was entrusted to deliver a financial donation to suffering Christians in Judea (Acts 11:27-30). It was Barnabas who helped launch the first significant missionary journey into the Gentile world (Acts 13:1-4). It was Barnabas who helped resolve the first major theological issue facing the church (Acts 15:1-25). It was Barnabas who supported Mark, his cousin (Col 4:10), even after Mark had failed to complete a missionary journey (Acts 15:37-38). Unfortunately, Barnabas’ support of Mark resulted in a major conflict with Paul that resulted in their breaking fellowship for a while (Acts 15:39-41). However, from later biblical passages we know that Barnabas and Paul—men who were both known for their grace and love—reconciled their differences and were reunited in fellowship and ministry (1 Cor 9:6; Gal 2:9).

Overall, Barnabas was noted as being an encourager (Acts 4:36; 11:23), who sacrificed his own resources to be a blessing to others (Acts 4:37). He was called “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Acts 11:24), and one—along with Paul—who “risked” his life “for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 15:26). Barnabas was not without his flaws; however, he possessed the qualities one would like to see in a Christian leader, as he sought to build the Christian community by means grace, love, and solid biblical instruction. Churches and Christians need people like Barnabas, who will stand with them, give them wise counsel, and encourage them in their walk with the Lord.

Dr. Steven R. Cook

Related Articles:

[1] The name Barnabas, as it appears in Hebrew (ברנבו), actually means son of a prophet. The question among some Bible scholars is how this could translate as Son of Encouragement? I think Paul helps us here when he spoke to prophets at the church of Corinth, saying, “For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be encouraged” (1 Cor 14:31). The idea is that a prophet of the Lord would function as one who encouraged others to walk with the Lord and remain faithful to Him.

[2] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 766.

[3] Ibid., 764.