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As God’s image bearer on earth, Adam was charged with a twofold mandate—to “work it and keep it”—in his tending of the garden of Eden (Gen. 2:15). This command extended beyond the vocational work of his hands in the earth to all aspects of the creation ordinances, including his marital relationship with Eve and his worship of almighty God. Yet tragically, any work that Adam accomplished in these critical areas was quickly undone by his failure to keep watch, as the serpent craftily led him and his wife astray from God’s command. Simply put, Adam failed to guard that which God had so graciously given him, and his neglect “brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery” (Westminster Shorter Catechism 17).
Despite our fallen nature, God graciously gives good gifts to mankind and especially to those of the household of faith. These gifts must be guarded, for the world, the flesh, and the devil continually seek to undermine and pollute the blessings bestowed from God to His people in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2 Tim. 1:14). This Spirit-wrought guarding of the good deposit is especially entrusted to Timothy-like leaders of the church, but that responsibility extends beyond leaders to the entire congregation. So what is this good deposit that needs guarding?
First, the good news. Goodness exists in the world at all only because of the redemption of mankind through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God’s patience and goodness toward the world exists so that the gospel may be proclaimed throughout it. Therefore, this life-changing gospel—the good news of sinners’ being reconciled to a holy God—cannot be diminished by well-intentioned but lesser endeavors of the church. All our service and works must aim at making Jesus Christ known. Paul tells Timothy “not [to] be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, . . . who saved us and called us . . . because of his own purpose and grace . . . through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:8–10). This bold and courageous proclamation of the good news, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is the key that unlocks the good deposit for the church.
Second, the good confession. Closely related to the proclamation of the gospel is upholding and guarding the purity of the church’s doctrine. This standard of orthodoxy is what Paul refers to as “the teaching” (1 Tim. 4:16), “sound words” (2 Tim. 1:13), and the “good confession” (1 Tim. 6:12). Just as the devil was able to twist and deny the word of God with Eve—and again tried, yet failed, in the temptation of Christ—there remains a natural sinful drift toward heterodoxy and acceptance of false teaching. Defending the truth protects the beauty and riches that are ours in Christ Jesus. That is why Paul tells Timothy to “teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing” (1 Tim. 6:2–4).
Third, the good life. Jesus said: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). That abundantly good life does not begin someday in the by-and-by; it begins here below. The way of Christ is the path of blessing and joy. Yet the thief still tries to persuade us—and our children—that the good life is found outside Christ. We guard the good deposit by experientially demonstrating the joy of Christ to a watching world. Eat and drink and be merry, not because tomorrow we die, but because this is how we glorify and enjoy God today, in all of life. This good life is best enjoyed in the community of those doing the same.
Fourth, the good hope. Not everything in this present life is good. We suffer the afflictions of death, evil, a fallen world, and frail bodies. Yet these continual afflictions do not stop us from looking forward with the blessed optimism of a tomorrow that awaits all who love the Lord Jesus Christ—the day when Christ will return and restore all things in a way that is now unimaginable. In dark and discouraging days, this hope might dwindle, but the church must collectively keep this ever-present hope before us as we “meet together, . . . encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:25). This future day awaits, yet it carries a very present hope that shapes today and every day as we watch and wait. The Apostle Paul experienced more than his share of trials and suffering in his service to Christ, yet he writes, “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me” (2 Tim. 1:12). The good hope was sustained amid trials and suffering because Christ had not forgotten—and would not forget—him, nor others any who are His own.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery is guarded 24/7 by a member of the military chosen for this sacred duty. The significance of this place raises a natural question: Why would someone need to guard a tomb? The answer is that it is not the protection of a dead man’s bones that matters so much as the symbolic act of protecting the ideals of a nation that led to his sacrifice—for without that, his death would be in vain. Similarly, we as Christians are called to protect and defend the precious treasure secured for us in Christ, which comes from the empty grave of our resurrected Lord. Here is the living and eternal treasure of the good deposit. Let us therefore “guard the good deposit entrusted to [us]” (2 Tim. 1:14).