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"Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules." ~ 2 Timothy 2:5
We come back to 2 Timothy 2 where the theme of growing stronger in God's grace is found. Having considered the first two steps in the process of growing in His grace, in this section of 2 Timothy, the Apostle Paul provides another analogy to convey to us elements of spiritual strength that is the product of growing strong in God's grace.
Paul wrote, "Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete."
The word "anyone" clearly shows any believer in Christ can do this. But, we must be well-trained spiritually by the grace of God which is His undeserved favor that equips us to compete, to endure, to persevere. And, the competition that believers in the Lord Jesus are called to is different than any other. This is really a competition against ourselves, fighting off those things that prevent us from investing in others.
The first thing the Apostle points out here in this verse is the idea that the athlete competes. In doing so, he uses the Greek verb athleÅ for the word translated "competes." This means the athlete gives great effort to be defined by God, and in so doing, he points us back to the Word of God.
That which separates the winners from the losers is not always talent, but it is always the effort to be defined by God. And not just the effort of being defined at a particular time, itself, but the effort long before the definition was needed. If anyone is going to compete as an athlete, there is a tremendous price to pay in terms of discipline by and preparation in the Word of God. This work is done while meeting with God through His Word.
Just as the athlete competes to win the contest, the believer who is growing stronger in God's grace does not run the race without forging to the finish line. There has to be a goal in mind. The believer who is being trained in this way is a competitor who presses foward to victory. And, if we win, it will be due to the tremendous work ethic and internal passion that is produced by the Word of God as we study Him. The competitive athlete will be the picture of self-denial, self-sacrifice and tremendous effort because this is who the Lord Jesus is, and He is revealing Himself through the yielded believer.
The Greek word the Apostle Paul uses here translated in the English as "the victor's crown" is stephanos. Used eighteen times in the New Testament, "stephanos" is used to describe the reward for the running the race well. This crown does not represent salvation, otherwise we would be teaching that we earn our salvation which we could never do. This crown is used of one who is motivated by God's grace to endure tremendous testing which yields a tremendous testimony in the eyes of others and God.
In the Greek games, there were three prerequisites that every athlete had to fulfill. One, he had to be a true-born Greek. Two, he had to prepare for ten months and stand before a statue of Zeus and swear that he had prepared for ten months. And if he had not, then he gave Zeus the liberty to take his life. Then, he had to stay within the rules of the event.
Now, if he was found not to be a true-born Greek, if it was found to have not prepared for a full ten months, and if it was found to violated the rules of his event, he was disgraced and instantly disqualified.
This is the picture the Apostle Paul had in mind as he wrote our text for today. The Greeks were very careful to keep the rules of training, the rules of birth, and the rules of competition. In like manner, the believer who is being trained by God's grace must be related to God as His son through the Lord Jesus Christ. He must have trained in the matters of self-denial, given over himself full-time to spiritual training. And, when those things are in place, he will compete according to God's definition of all things.
Like the competitive athlete, the believer in Christ is one who is learning to be retrained to think like God. With the aid of the Holy Spirit, the believer's mind is being reprogramed by God and His Word. It takes years of time to be trained by the Lord Himself, so be patient with yourself and the Lord as He makes you strong in His grace.
