Paul had just told Timothy to flee from ungodliness, pursue righteousness, fight against Satan’s lies and hold onto eternal life (1 Timothy 6:11-12).  It was to be his character witness to the life of Christ within him, as well as his spoken witness of the gospel in a hostile world.  In his lifestyle Timothy was accountable to God the Father and God the Son.  

As a follower of Jesus, Timothy must be like His Master who was unashamed to speak the truth before Pontius Pilate during His mock trial saying, “My kingdom is not of this world … the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.” (John 18:36-37).  The word ‘testify is ‘martureo’ in Greek from which we get ‘martyr’ in English.  Yes, Jesus died as a willing sacrifice, but He also died as a martyr – because He was unashamed to be a witness to the truth.  That was Paul’s charge (divinely authorised command) to Timothy.  Timothy must never be ashamed of living or speaking the gospel or dissociate from gospel-bearers like Paul (2 Timothy 1:8), even if they both became martyrs, like Jesus.

Timothy must take every step to ensure that his life was kept pure and his doctrine free from error because the Lord is coming back (2 Timothy 4:1-2).  It was a very strong command, which still applies to every believer and especially those who have spiritual responsibility for others (James 3:1).  The physical return of Jesus is the hope of every believer (1 Corinthians 15:51-54).  God alone knows when, but Jesus has promised to come again in glory with authority to judge all people (Matthew 26:63-64).  Nobody will be able to contest God’s judgement (Malachi 3:2): it will be perfect because God is supreme and His true Word will stand for ever (1 Peter 1:24-25).
 
The Christian faith is not a religious game.  It is a serious relationship which begins when we receive Jesus Christ as Lord.  It continues as a personal struggle to serve the Lord righteously - resisting temptations to think and behave in an ungodly way - until we meet Jesus face to face.  The solemnity of that responsibility comes through in these verses which describe the awesome majesty of God who is beyond the reach of any human manipulation.  Our only wise response is to trust the Lord and obey Him in every area of life.