Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. (2 Timothy 2:19-21)

Paul writes that the false teachers “destroy the faith of some” (v. 18). He does not mean that true faith can be overturned, because he adds, “God’s solid foundation stands firm…The Lord knows those who are his.” To “know” here must refer to more than mere awareness. The assertion is that God’s foundation remains firm, but if the individuals that constitute God’s people constantly alter, so that some who were not his become his while some who were his become not his, then a mere awareness, a mere keeping track of, the identities of these individuals would not count as a solid foundation that stands firm. Rather, consistent with biblical usage, to “know” here refers to a positive relationship established by God’s choice.

God is the creator, and all “are his” in this sense, but he has not established a friendly, loving, and saving relationship with every individual. The idea is used in a different sense here, namely, those whom he has chosen to have this special relationship with him “are his.” Because God has made his selections even before the creation of the world, there is a fixed list of individuals who would have such a relationship with him through Jesus Christ. Therefore, even when false teachers lead people astray, and appear to destroy the faith of some church members, God’s foundation remains firm.

This means that those whose faith are destroyed by false teachers have never been true Christians in the first place. As the apostle John writes, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19). God’s foundation is his own decision, enforced by his own power. It can never be shaken or altered. And thus the church cannot be destroyed by evil influences.

There is a second part to this: “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” God has chosen a fixed list of individuals to have a special and saving relationship with him through Jesus Christ. And he causes these individuals to come to him through Jesus Christ by performing a direct action in their souls, regenerating them and producing faith in them. They in turn confess the name of the Lord.

Reprobates can imitate the physical action of confessing the Lord; however, the relationship that the chosen ones have with God is not founded on their confession as such, but on God’s election of them, which produces the confession. Thus the confession is an effect of election and regeneration. True confession is not something that can be imitated, or something that anyone can put on. Those who truly confess the Lord Jesus have the power of God within them, and they are in covenant relationship with God. They must and they can turn from wickedness. This is something that the reprobates cannot do.

In the context of our passage, wickedness must include false doctrines, and not only immoral actions. Likewise, when the apostle proceeds to the metaphor of household articles, the cleansing that he speaks of must also include false doctrines. Of course a person must be cleansed from immoral actions and habits in order to become one of the more useful articles in God’s household, but he must also, and in this context he must mainly, be cleansed from false doctrines. Otherwise, he would be as one of the “ignoble” vessels, which in the ancient household, would probably be used to gather rubbish or excrement. Anyone who respects God’s word – who respects God – must agree with his judgment. Non-Christians and false teachers are as excrement containers. They are toilets.