2 Timothy 1:12

For which cause I suffer also these things: yet I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day.

The problem of this verse regards just what Paul committed, or entrusted to God. As Hendriksen phrased it, "Is it the gospel or is it myself and my complete salvation?"[19] We shall not argue this point, simply because it is true both ways and was possibly intended by Paul himself to be understood in both ways. Approaching the end of life, Paul found no nagging uncertainty, no shadow of doubt, no waning confidence in the Lord, but an overwhelming certainty; and the basis of that certainly shines in this verse. It was grounded, not primarily upon what he believed, but upon WHOM he had believed, namely the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Saints of all ages have found in this marvelous text sufficient confidence and trust to fortify them against all the misfortunes of life and to enable them to face death itself in the beautiful serenity of full confidence in the Lord.

The thought of this verse ...

Is expressed in a metaphor drawn from the common action of one person entrusting another with some precious deposit, to be kept for a time and restored whole and uninjured. All the words in this sentence are part of this metaphor.[20]

As Ward noted:

The Greek reads literally, "my deposit," which some scholars regard as the gospel or as souls in Paul's pastoral care; others see in it a reference to Paul himself, his soul.[21]

Although, as noted above, the passage is true any way it may be interpreted, the thought of the Last Day, as well as the impending execution of the apostle, seems to suggest that it was particularly Paul's own soul that he probably had in mind in this metaphor.

[19] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 235.

[20] A. C. Hervey, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 21,2Timothy (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 4.

[21] Ronald A. Ward, op. cit., p. 155.