2 Tim 2:14, “Remind~~ people of these things and solemnly charge them before the Lord not to wrangle over words. This is of no benefit; it just brings ruin on those who listen.”
The ministry of remembering truths is emphasized eleven times in the New Testament. The present imperative to “be constantly reminding” with the prefix means to have a “hypermemory,” or to “repeatedly be putting something in mind.”
Important things have to be repeated because we “must be transformed by the [constant] renewing of the mind” (Rom 12:2). If retention of the principles of the word of God is important for a transformed life, we must constantly remind people of these vital truths. Expecting them to remember without repetition is a foolish error.
Timothy’s task was to “remind [the church] of [Paul’s] ways in Christ, as [he] [taught] everywhere in every church” (1 Cor 4:17). Peter considered it negligence if he did not remind believers of truths until they were established (2 Pet 1:12). Jude clarified this ministry objective, saying, “I want to remind you, though you once knew this” (Jude 5). We cannot assume that people remember important truths.
They were “not to wrangle over words”; this means they were not to “contend, dispute, or debate about trifles”—-that is, to have meaningless debates—-just to see who could win an insignificant point. This is especially the case with false teachers, who were “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:7).
As Christians become less familiar with Scripture and are not reminded of sound teachings, they become easy prey for biblical–sounding ideas that have nothing to do with Scripture. The invasion of psychological concepts and pseudo-spiritual ideas (e.g., “slaying in the Spirit” and “binding Satan”) in the churches tends to upstage the value of clear biblical teaching and submission to the commands to the “ruin of the hearers” (“overthrow, or overturn”). Beware when the messages are focused on phenomena and great men’s views with little to do with understanding Scripture.
“Lord, we want to argue about everything except what is important. We hurt each other with accusations and self–righteous criticism just to feel as if we are right and others are wrong. Forgive us, Lord, for corrupting our hearers.”