and they may recover themselves out of the devil’s snare, having been taken captive by him to his will.
Spiritual intoxication causes the snare; they must awake to soberness. Yet notice the pronouns shift: it is not Satan's will they obey at last, but the Lord's will, for God goes before giving repentance, and the servant's work follows to crown success with willing captivity to Christ.
AI summary
Those trapped by error and heresy are like drunken men stupified and senseless; when their minds are lit and they recognize their evil tenets, they awake and escape the devil's snare. Satan catches some in lusts, others in false doctrine, holding them captive to do his will until God pleases to deliver them.
AI summary
Be strengthened in grace, not as a permission to sloth, but as a command to shake off the flesh's sluggishness. Even the most gifted lose heart midway unless they are constantly aroused and reminded that their strength comes not from themselves but from Christ.
AI summary
Commenting on 2 Timothy 2:1-26