O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. - 1 Timothy 6:20
I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. - 2 Timothy 1:12
By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. - 2 Timothy 1:14 (ESV)
Protecting the good that has been entrusted to us. When one considers the scope of these two letters, the 'deposit' probably refers to the doctrine that Paul has passed down to Timothy. A couple of points:
First, there is an interesting interplay between having good doctrine and unity within the church. Not one to the exclusion of the other, but both. Without good doctrine you may get quite a few people under the same banner, but what can such a banner really say? This deposit is worth keeping, worth protecting, worth passing down.
Second, the protecting work is not by our sheer will, but it the work that God does in Christ and by the Holy Spirit. God is interested in protecting this deposit as well.
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