“And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.”
King James Version (KJV)
2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself - Any more than is unavoidable. In the affairs of this life - With worldly business or cares. That - Minding war only, he may please his captain. In this and the next verse there is a plain allusion to the Roman law of arms, and to that of the Grecian games. According to the former, no soldier was to engage in any civil employment; according to the latter, none could be crowned as conqueror, who did not keep strictly to the rules of the game.
2:6 Unless he labour first, he will reap no fruit.
2Ti 2:5 And if a man also striveth for masteries. In the various athletic games of the Greeks. [Yet] is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. Unless he complies with the regulations, no prize will be assigned to him in any contest. So one, striving for the Christian crown, must seek to please the Master.