THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL
“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” — II Tim. 1:8-10
This is a powerful passage in which the apostle Paul, seeking to encourage his younger associate, summarizes the essence of the gospel. It can serve the same purpose for any true believer in any generation and in any circumstance. From my perspective, it may best be addressed by moving through it in reverse.
The essence of the gospel, “made manifest” through the incarnation and earthly ministry of “our Saviour Jesus Christ,” is summed up in just two particulars: the conquest of death, and the revelation of “life and immortality.” Death (in the final, spiritual and eternal sense) is the enemy Christ came to conquer, and that He alone could vanquish. It is the inevitable destiny of every man without God.
We think backward about life. When a child is born, we say he/she is beginning to live. The tragic fact is, the child is beginning to die. When the child is born, the cup of life is full; we have no idea how full, but all its “life” is there. Every day that child lives, he is one day closer to death. Hence, the child is really not “living,” but dying. And the greater tragedy is that this is not merely physically true, but eternally so. And it is life’s only certainty! “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment [Heb. 9:27].” This is the grim foe Christ came to overthrow and to replace with “life and immortality;” that is, eternal life. Those who obtain it are the only ones who are really living, for they shall never die! (See John 11:26). That is, in essence, the glory of the gospel.
The second thing of note is the gift of the gospel. This “life and immortality,” replacing sin and death in the believer, is “given us in Christ Jesus.” “In Christ” is a cardinal phrase in the presentation of the gospel. Everything that relates to eternal life is “in Christ,” and the believer, the real Christian is viewed as “in Christ Jesus.” Reciprocally, Christ is in us: “Christ in you, the hope of glory [Col. 1:27].” It is a relationship enjoyed as a gift from God.
What is even more remarkable, this gift was “given us…before the world began.” It is as secure as God’s eternal decree. It never ceases to amaze me that God had the “Life Net” in place before Adam ever transgressed. It was not accomplished in history; it was only “made manifest;” it was accomplished in eternity past, hence there has never been a time when those destined for death could not obtain life. Such is the scope of God’s marvelous grace.
Then there is the ground of this gift of “life and immortality.” It is, as every saved soul must know, “not according to our works.” That means it is not the result of “good works,” or religious ritual. I has nothing to do with personal merit, which means the worst as well as the “best” of men have an equal opportunity to enjoy this gift of eternal life. On the contrary, it springs from the heart of God, “his own purpose and grace,” and since God “so loved the world,” and Christ is “…the propitiation… for the sins of the whole world [I John 2:2],” the remedy for the dreadful disease of sin and death is available to all. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved [Rom. 10:13].”
Finally, there is set before us here the goal of this glorious salvation. God has “saved us and called us with an holy calling.” The significance of this phrase is that the divine purpose in our salvation is the cultivation of holiness in us. Scripture everywhere confirms this. He saves us just as we are, immersed in sin and unrighteousness, but it is not His design to leave us ‘just as we are.’ The divine purpose, as far as it respects us, is to transform us into likeness to Christ. We are “called to be saints” (Rom. 1:6-7; I Cor. 1:2). He has “called [us] out of darkness into His marvelous light,” (I Pet. 2:9) and “unto glory and virtue.” (II Pet. 1:3). Hence, “…as He which has called [us] is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of [life].” (I Pet. 1:15).
How glorious is this Gospel in its power, privilege and purpose! Let us, indeed, not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, but honor and magnify His name and illustrate His grace and His glory daily in our walk before ‘the watching world.’
For the manifestation of “Christ in you”,
"Pastor" Frasier
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