by David McClister
Synopsis: Exhortation is strong encouragement to obey the gospel and be faithful to its inspired message.
According to the Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich lexicon, the various occurrences of the Greek word that is translated "exhort" in our Bibles can be put into five groups. Our concern here is with one of them, the one that is operative in 2 Timothy 4:2, namely the meaning "to appeal to, to urge, to encourage." One way to understand a word is to note other terms that are used roughly synonymously with it. So, in 1 Thessalonians 2:11, Paul said "just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you." The idea of exhorting is to promote or press an idea or action. (In the following quotations from the Bible, I have italicized the English word that represents the Greek term under discussion. Quotations are from the NASB.)
Given the basic meaning of the word, perhaps the first question that arises is "Encourage, urge, or appeal—to do what?" Again, the context reveals the answer. The basic charge to Timothy is "preach the word," that is the gospel, the word of God. In that context, exhortation is part of, or a way to accomplish, what Paul charged Timothy to do in fulfilling his work as an evangelist. To exhort is to urge someone to follow the gospel, to encourage them to follow the example and teachings of Christ.
As someone once said, exhortation marks the transition from the indicative of the gospel (what the gospel is) to the imperative of the gospel (how we should live). Acts 2:40 captures the essence of it. After Peter preached the gospel, he "kept on exhorting them, saying, 'Be saved from this perverse generation!'" That is, Peter encouraged them to obey the gospel they had just heard. Paul did the same thing in 1 Thessalonians 4:1: "Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more." Ephesians 4:1 has the same idea: "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called." In fact, preaching to Christians may consist mainly of exhortation (as the need arises). This is how Paul's words to the Ephesian and Macedonian Christians are characterized in Acts 20:1-2: "After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia. When he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece." That is, Paul encouraged them to faithfulness.
The need for exhortation arises from two fundamental considerations. First, living a Christ-like life, and following His teachings, is easier said than done. We all come short of it in many ways. Living the Christian life is difficult enough, but it would be even more difficult to try to do it alone. This is one reason the Lord has put Christians together in the local church, because we benefit from the strength, examples, and encouragement of each other. Thus the well-known verse: "Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near" (Heb. 10:25). It may take the form of encouraging the fainthearted and helping the weak (1 Thess. 5:14). Exhorting can be of a positive nature, as in 1 Timothy 1:3, where Paul said, "As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines." Even stronger, in 2 Thessalonians 3:12, Paul couples exhorting with commanding. It can also have a negative sense, as in Titus 2:15, which says, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires. . . These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority." In this sense, exhortation is similar to warning and reproof. Either way, the idea is to urge fellow-Christians to stand in the faith, excel in it, and to persevere. By such encouragement, we help each other be strong in our commitment to the Lord.
This brings us to an important point: Exhorting or encouraging in the New Testament is not simply speaking kind or motivating words to another person, or like giving someone a secular "pep talk." In the New Testament, exhorting is always on the basis of the word, the gospel, and the relationship with Christ that it creates. God's word is the source of our encouragement: "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Rom. 15:4). Paul also speaks of "encouragement in Christ" (Phil. 2:1). Biblical exhortation is specifically rooted in, and aimed at, the believer's relationship with God through the gospel. We have not exhorted someone in the biblical sense if we have not mentioned God's word or their relationship with the Lord Jesus.
The second reason exhortation is needed involves the "big picture" of things. Jesus has come and dealt the death blow to Satan and his kingdom of sin and death. By His death, He has liberated us from our imprisonment to sin (2 Tim. 2:26), and by His resurrection, He has broken the power of death (Heb. 2:14). The outcome for Satan and those who follow him has been determined. There is no way the enemy can win. All that remains is for Jesus to bring us into the final aspect of this great victory when He raises His saints from the dead in the end (1 Cor. 15:50-58). In Paul's words, the time in which the world lay in darkness has begun to end. The light has now dawned with the victory of Jesus. It will culminate in the full shining of His glory, when the darkness will be fully destroyed. He calls all people now to join Him in His kingdom of light, life, and righteousness.
. . . it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts (Rom. 13:11-14).
The reason exhortation is needed is because our hope of eternal life with God and Christ is at stake. Now, more than ever, is the time for us to be faithful and strong. To fall from faithfulness is to miss out on the impending, eternal salvation, joy, and heavenly glory that is coming for God's people. Thus Paul said, "We urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain" (2 Cor. 6:1).
We exhort each other because we love each other. We do not want anyone to fall short of the heavenly rest that God has promised to the faithful (Heb. 4:1). We must always exhort after the example of the meekness and gentleness of Christ Himself (2 Cor. 10:1), but always with a sense of the magnitude, seriousness, and urgency of our situation.
