2 Timothy 2:10

2 Timothy 2:10, in plain English

I'm willing to endure all of this suffering because I know God has chosen certain people for salvation, and my faithfulness helps bring them to the fullness of that salvation in Christ.

Why it's here

This reveals Paul's deepest motivation. He's not suffering for a cause or an abstract principle—he's suffering because real people matter to him and to God. His perseverance serves their ultimate good and their eternal destiny.

Who's speaking

Paul, explaining the 'why' behind his willingness to suffer

Where it sits in the story

This echoes Paul's statement elsewhere that he would willingly be separated from Christ if it meant salvation for his kinsmen. Love for God and love for people are the engines driving everything he does.

The scholarly reading

Paul endures all hardships for the sake of God's elect—the chosen community destined for salvation—so that they may obtain the salvation achieved through Christ and its attendant eternal glory.

Language and setting

The phrase 'dia touto' (for this reason) connects Paul's suffering to a redemptive logic: his perseverance serves the welfare of others. The 'eklektoi' (elect) here refers to those whom God has called, a term pregnant with Pauline theology about predestination and divine election (Romans 8:28-39; Ephesians 1:4-5). Paul's suffering is not meaningless privation but missional—oriented toward the 'sōtēria' (salvation) and 'doxa' (glory) that constitute the eschaton. This expresses Paul's understanding of Christian ministry as vicarious, taking up the sufferings that belong to Christ's body.

Voice

Paul the Apostle

Significance

This incarnates the principle articulated in Colossians 1:24 ('I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions') and develops the theology of the apostolic office as sacrifice. It also grounds the later Christian concept of intercessory suffering and the communion of saints—the notion that the sufferings of the faithful somehow participate in and serve God's redemptive purposes.

8Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David, as proclaimed by my gospel,

9for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained!

10For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

11This is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him;

12if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us;

Read all of 2 Timothy 2 — Endure hardship like a soldier, compete by the rules like an athlete, work hard like a farmer. Paul gives Timothy three metaphors for faithful ministry.