The Path of Transformation
John Kitchen
How does God use a Paul to produce a Timothy? How does God use you to produce mature disciples of Jesus Christ?
Second Timothy 3 and 4 provide us with a glimpse of that divine process.
Paul characterizes the corruption of the people of the last days (3:1–9). He then contrasts this (“You, however …,” v.10; “but as for you …,” v.14, ESV) with the man of virtue and integrity Timothy is becoming (vv.10–15). That transformative process in Timothy’s life was brought about, humanly speaking, through a network of relationships that included his mother and grandmother (1:5; 3:15), the Apostle Paul (3:10–11, 14), and others (v.14). Timothy is charged with repeating this transformative process in his relationships with “faithful men” (2:2).
A careful reading of these chapters reveals a pattern that is consistent throughout the process of discipleship, the purpose of Scripture, and the practice of preaching. Uniting these three spheres, the Apostle Paul lays out what appears to be a progressive process of transformation through which Timothy passed. Let’s examine that process together and discover what it prescribes for our own discipleship process and ministry practice.
Transformative Discipleship
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (3:14–15).1
There is a logical flow to what Paul describes. Each one must move through this process:
Acquaintance – Learning – Conviction – Wisdom/Salvation
You must have an acquaintance with the truth of the Scriptures (“you have been acquainted with the sacred writings”) before you can believe and be transformed by that truth. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). Jesus confirmed that you must “know the truth” before you can be set free by it (John 8:32).
Having taken in the information of the Scriptures, you are then able to learn from it (“what you have learned”). The Scriptures stand over against other ideas, claims, and calls. Its teaching makes a divide and invites you to see what the difference is between its claims and offers and those of others.
This brings you to the point of faith. With the line of demarcation laid down, you must decide on which side of the line of revelation you stand (“you . . . have firmly believed”; cf. “you have . . . become convinced of,” NASB). The revelation calls for conviction – either you are in or you are out. There is a call that goes out in the sounding of the Scriptures, and you must either respond to that call or ignore, deflect, deny, and reject it.
When you rest yourself on the truth of Scripture, God-given, Biblical wisdom begins to form in your heart (“which are able to make you wise”). Then comes freedom (John 8:32). Life begins to change. Your discernment has changed. Your choices are different. You have stepped onto the path of discipleship.
This process and the transformation it works don’t just happen. Timothy was early exposed to the truth of Scripture by his mother and grandmother (1:5; 3:15). He heard it expounded by the Apostle Paul (3:14) and saw it modeled in his life (3:10–11). This is why Paul now holds out the purpose of the Scripture. Notice the parallels.
Scripture’s Purpose
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (3:16).
Teaching – Reproof – Correction – Training
Significantly, Scripture’s purpose reflects the pathway of discipleship.
Teaching communicates the basic information of the Scripture passage so that you are familiar with the facts.
Reproof then takes the basic facts set out from Scripture and reveals how they stand in relationship to other thoughts, ideas, perceptions, and claims. The Scripture reproves the other claims to truth by setting out what is in fact true. It is only in this that you learn.
But teaching and reproof are not far enough. Correction, therefore, aims for your commitment as one now acquainted with the claims of Scripture and seeing them rightly in relationship to other claims and ideas. It calls for faith and forms conviction. You have gone from not knowing the truth of Scripture and, therefore, not seeing how other ideas and claims stand in relationship to the reality it holds forth, to the call for commitment and the forming of conviction. You now announce, “This is true for me!”
There is, however, still more. The inward conviction and commitment must become outward action in obedience. In addition to informing, exposing, and calling for commitment, the Scripture now guides the transformation of your life through training in new steps of obedience that become a new pattern of living.
All of this – the process of discipleship and the purpose of Scripture – is matched then by the practice of preaching.
Preaching’s Practice
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (4:1–2).
Preach – Reprove – Rebuke – Exhort
Preaching announces what is true (teaching/acquaintance), thereby reproving and exposing other claims and ideas (reproof/learning) and calling for personal commitment (correction/conviction) that takes the form of new steps of obedience that become a new way of life (training/wisdom).
We each can thus say:
I preach because the Scriptures were given for teaching and with the goal of giving my listeners an acquaintance with the truth of God.
I reprove because the Scriptures were given for reproof and with the goal of my listeners learning what the truth they’ve become acquainted with means.
I rebuke because the Scriptures were given for the correction of the hearer and the formation of convictions regarding the truth they have learned.
I exhort because the Scriptures were given for training listeners to live out the truth they have learned and come to live in the saving wisdom of God.
This divinely conceived, God-breathed process of transformative discipleship requires a faithful and intentional commitment to the Scriptures, faithfully handling them, and pastorally proclaiming them. If we uncouple faithful preaching from the life of the church, we hamstring the discipleship process. If we preach but do not faithfully handle and apply the Scriptures at the same time, we restrict the discipleship process. Transformative relationships require the faithful handling and proclamation of God’s Word to God’s people. Discipleship cannot be limited to the public preaching of the Scriptures to God’s gathered people. Timothy’s transformation took place within a context of diverse, Christ-centered, Word-infused relationships (3:10–15). God intends for us to build one another up in love (Eph 4:16). But the corporate and personal discipline of regularly coming under the authority of God’s Word cannot be removed from the process without affecting its outcomes. Let us faithfully do the work of the Word, not for preaching’s sake, but for the sake of the people, mission, and glory of God.