Fifth in a series of studies of 2 Timothy 2:22
“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).
In laying out this list of positive qualities for Christians to flee and to pursue, Paul is describing a lifestyle, not a one-time declaration. With this fourth quality to be pursued, he places a qualifier: pursue “peace” with those who are sincere in calling on the Lord.
While the Scriptures teach us to be at peace with all people, Paul emphasizes to this young preacher that he is to be especially persistent in cultivating a peaceful relationship with believers, thus assuring unity among God’s people.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus intensifies this command by pronouncing a blessing on those who are actually “peace makers”—those who help others achieve the kind of peace that passes all human understanding—peace with God and peace with our fellows.
This verse, thus, achieves the goal of describing a child of God whose depth of faith and whose righteous lifestyle provide a picture of the kind of individuals Jesus desires in His followers—those who by determination and self-discipline rise above the moral decadence sometimes found in our modern culture and soar to the high spiritual standards set by our Lord.
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