Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

quickeneth all things--that is, "maketh alive." But the oldest manuscripts read, "preserveth alive"; as the same Greek means in Act 7:19; compare Neh 9:6. He urges Timothy to faithfulness here by the present manifestation of God's power in preserving all things, as in Ti1 6:14, by the future manifestation of God's power at the appearing of Christ. The assurance that "eternal life," Ti1 6:12, will be the result of "fighting the good fight," rests on the fulness and power of Him who is the God of all life, present and to come. witnessed--It was the Lord's part to witness, Timothy's part to confess (or "profess," Ti1 6:12) "the good confession" [BENGEL]. The confession was His testimony that He was King, and His kingdom that of the truth (see on Ti1 6:12; Ti1 6:15; Mat 27:11). Christ, in attesting, or bearing witness to this truth, attested the truth of the whole of Christianity. Timothy's profession, or confession, included therefore the whole of the Christian truth.