⁸Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, ⁹ who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all time, ¹⁰ but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, ¹¹ for which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher. ¹² For this reason I also suffer these things; but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to protect what has been committed to my charge until that day. ¹³ Hold on to the example of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ Protect, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the good deposit which has been entrusted to you (2Tim1:8-14)

Death is abolished😲

Moving on to Paul’s second letter to Timothy, I have selected the passage which most impacts upon the subject matter under consideration, being the breadth of God’s benign divine providence. Potentially the most exiting statement is in verse 10, that our Saviour Jesus Christ has abolished death. For sure, most Christians understand that by dealing with mankind’s sin, Jesus opened the way by which individuals might attain to life after death. But that death itself should be “Καταργήσαντος”, i.e. totally eradicated is something truly to thrill the soul.

It is almost too wonderful to relate, albeit clearly there are aspects to Christ’s victory over death that have yet to be realized – but they were inaugurated at Calvary. And for the Christian that starts with abolishing what Paul describes as “the body of this death” (Rom7:24), by which aided by the Holy Spirit the believer is enabled to “put to death the deeds of the body and Live” (Rom8:13) – a subject covered in an earlier post.

Elective grace

The other highlighted phrases pertain to matters to which  I have also frequently referred. Firstly (verse 9), that a Christian’s calling is by grace alone. It has no reference to the performance of good works or God’s foreknowledge that an individual would of his own volition forsake the earthly aspirations he had for his own life and choose the narrow, arduous path of following Christ. Now that would be the ultimate good work – never a matter of grace alone. Saul of Tarsus was himself the classic example of elective grace, being the archenemy of Christ and his people up to the point of his conversion.

But the related point being made is that it is only the calling that is all of grace, not going on to complete the course, or in Paul’s language, winning “the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil3:14). What? Did you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win! (1Cor9:24).

Perseverance of the saints?

That leads on to my second point  that the doctrine of guaranteed perseverance of the saints is a no-no. [If you still think otherwise, wait till we get to Hebrews, albeit it should be evident enough from the tenor and tone of Paul’s letters on the subject]. For 28 years I did think otherwise, and in the context of 2Tim as a young Evangelical I remember singing with gusto “I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day”. Refer to verse 12 (above) and see how that statement of Paul’s is better translated (the Complete Jewish Bible and Mounce’s Revers Interlinear concur).

The Greek text and context make it clear – Paul is not referring to what a believer has committed to God but to what God has entrusted to him (τὴν παραθήκην μου φυλάξαι). And that does not refer to all believers – Paul is alluding to his calling as an apostle (v11) – a deposit that God has committed to his charge, likewise the good deposit that Timothy has received to be a leader within the Church (v14). It has no direct reference to personal assurance of salvation.

God’s equitable justice

These points (galling for many) concerning calling and perseverance need to be reaffirmed as they are essential to demonstrating God’s fairness and munificent providence as well as resolving the related  “divine justice/predestination/free will” conundrum considered in more detail in a recent post.

That longed-for resolution also hangs on the fact that there are not two but three soteriological outcomes, alluded to as recently as the previous post  under the subheading “God is good”. But then affirming God’s divine benevolence is pivotal to everything I write, together with the blessings that flows from it towards His whole creation, and “especially those who believe” (1Tim4:10 cf. Enoch93:10Charles).

*The LITTLE BOOK OF PROVIDENCE: a seven-part synopsis of the bible: – available as a paperback from Amazon or FREELY as a PDF file https://richard-777.blog/free-download-of-pdf/