The Triumphant Churchthis passage in the context in which it was written.
2 TIMOTHY 2:3-6
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a GOOD
SOLDIER of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that WARRETH entangleth himself
with the affairs of this life; that he may please
him who hath chosen him to be a SOLDIER.
5 And if a man also STRIVE FOR MASTERIES,
yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
6 The HUSBANDMAN that laboureth must be
first partaker of the fruits.
In these verses, Paul uses military, athletic, and
agricultural terms to illustrate various aspects of the
ministry. He uses the word "soldier" in verses 3 and 4 to
depict the hardiness, discipline, and dedication it
sometimes takes to fulfill the call of God. The
expression, "striving for masteries" in verse 5 refers to
winning first place in an athletic event. And the word
"husbandman" refers to a farmer reaping a crop.
So based on these scriptures taken out of context, if
we're supposed to be a "militant" Church so we can fight
the devil—then based on Second Timothy 2:3-6, we
should also be an "athletic" Church and all come to
church in sweatsuits, or we should be an "agricultural"
Church and come dressed like farmers!
Do you see how ridiculous this is? We were never
meant to establish outward practices based on verses
used as illustrations. These verses were only meant to
illustrate different aspects of the Christian life and
ministry.
Some folks—good, well-meaning Christian people—
are coming to church or going to prayer meetings to
make war on the devil in prayer. We aren't supposed to