Paul now turns his attention back to Timothy. He addresses him as a son. Leadership within the church is more than management, but involves relationship as well.The command he gave to Timothy (dealing with false teachers and teachings) was in line with prophecies that Timothy had received. The prophetic has a role to play in guiding individuals and churches. This does not mean that prophecies are accepted unthinkingly. As it says elsewhere, we must test everything. Above all everything must be tested against Scripture. We must also use common sense and intelligence. However, a stupid, and unbiblical, thing to do is to reject prophecy outright.
Next, note that Timothy has a battle to fight. The prophecies and Paul's exhortations were given to enable Timothy to fight the battle. As Christians we have battles to fight. He needs to hold on to his faith. Some do let go off their faith, their lives and their faith become shipwrecked. Paul cites two particular examples, whom he has handed over to Satan. What does he mean by this? It means that he either let them leave the church, or expelled them, letting them live as part of the world so that they could "enjoy" the consequences of their rejection of the faith. The hope is that this would lead to them seeing sense.
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