This teaching is the first part in a two part series. The first part considers the context of 2 Timothy 2:15, the second, that of 2 Timothy 3:16, 17.
The teaching looks at the warnings that Paul the Apostle had given to the believers of Ephesus. These warnings were about what would happen after he was gone and how people would turn away from the truth. When Paul writes the epistles to Timothy, Timothy is in Ephesus. He encourages Timothy to rekindle his ministry, to watch for those who were teaching other doctrines and to not be ashamed of Paul’s ministry. It would have been challenging for Timothy that Paul was in prison. He might have had cause to fear or to be ashamed. He encourages him to be strong in grace, to teach those who were faithful to the Scriptures, to be ready to endure hardship, to be circumspect regarding his faith and be prepared to work hard. He tells him that the Word of God can never be bound. The safest place to be in the dire circumstances of the Church was the Scriptures. This is the context of 2 Timothy 2:15 where Paul encourages Timothy to study the Scriptures, to be dilgent to rightly divide them and to stand approved before God of his workmanship.