|
2 Timothy 1:10 |
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:
|
printer-friendly
MP3
Note:
before doing a study on any
single verse, read all the verses from the beginning
of the chapter to this point and maybe a verse or
two beyond. Do this so you have the verse in context
before you begin.
click here |
This section has 4 verses:
2 Timothy 1:8-11
8 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;
9 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,
10 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:
11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an
apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
A GOSPEL WORTH SUFFERING FOR
So, then, do not be ashamed to bear your witness to
our Lord; and do not be ashamed of me his prisoner;
but accept with me the suffering which the gospel
brings, and do so in the power of God, who saved us,
and who called us with a call to consecration, a
call which had nothing to do with our own
achievements, but which was dependent solely on his
purpose, and on the grace which was given to us in
Christ Jesus: and all this was planned before the
world began, but now it stands full-displayed
through the appearance of our Saviour Christ Jesus,
who abolished death and brought life and
incorruption to light by means of the good news
which he brought, good news in the service of which
I have been appointed a herald, and an apostle and a
teacher.
IT is inevitable that loyalty to the gospel will
bring trouble. For Timothy, it meant loyalty to a
man who was regarded as a criminal, because as Paul
was writing he was in prison in Rome. But here Paul
sets out the gospel in all its glory, something
worth suffering for. Sometimes by implication and
sometimes by direct statement, he brings out element
after element in that glory. Few passages in the New
Testament have in them and behind them such a sense
of the sheer grandeur of the gospel.
(1) It is the gospel of power. Any suffering which
it involves is to be borne in the power of God. To
the ancient world, the gospel was the power to live.
That very age in which Paul was writing was the
great age of suicide. The highest-principled of the
ancient thinkers were the Stoics; but they had their
own way out when life became intolerable. They had a
saying: ‘God gave men life, but God gave men the
still greater gift of being able to take their own
lives away.’ The gospel was, and is, power – power
to conquer self, power to take control of
circumstances, power to go on living when life is
unlivable, power to be a Christian when being a
Christian looks impossible.
(2) It is the gospel of salvation. God is the God
who saves us. The gospel is rescue. It is rescue
from sin; it liberates people from the things which
have them in their grip; it enables them to break
with the habits which are unbreakable. The gospel is
a rescuing force which can make bad people good.
(3) It is the gospel of consecration. It is not
simply rescue from the consequences of past sin; it
is a summons to walk the way of holiness.
(4) It is the gospel of grace. It is not something
which we achieve, but something which we accept. God
did not call us because we are holy; he called us to
make us holy. If we had to deserve the love of God,
our situation would be helpless and hopeless. The
gospel is the free gift of God. He does not love us
because we deserve his love; he loves us out of the
sheer generosity of his heart.
(5) It is the gospel of God’s eternal purpose. It
was planned before time began. We must never think
that God was once stern law and that only since the
life and death of Jesus has he been forgiving love.
From the beginning of time, God’s love has been
searching for us, and his grace and forgiveness have
been offered to us. Love is the essence of the
eternal nature of God.
(6) It is the gospel of life and immortality. It is
Paul’s conviction that Christ Jesus brought life and
immortality to light. The ancient world feared
death; or, if it did not fear it, regarded it as
extinction. It was the message of Jesus that death
was the way to life, and that far from separating us
from God it brought us into his nearer presence.
(7) It is the gospel of service. It was this gospel
which made Paul a herald, an apostle and a teacher
of the faith. It did not leave him with the
comfortable feeling that now his own soul was saved
and he did not need to worry any more. It laid on
him the inescapable task of wearing himself out in
the service of God and of other people. This gospel
laid three obligations on Paul.
(a) It made him a herald. The word is ke¯rux, which
has three main lines of meaning, each with something
to suggest about our Christian duty. The ke¯rux was
the herald who brought the announcement from the
king. The ke¯rux was the one who was sent when two
armies were opposed to each other, who brought the
terms of or the request for truce and peace. The
ke¯rux was the person whom an auctioneer or a
merchant employed to advertise the wares and invite
people to come and buy. So, the Christian is to be
the one who brings the message to others; the one
who brings men and women into peace with God; the
one who calls on others to accept the rich offer
which God is making to them.
(b) It made him an apostle, apostolos, literally one
who is sent out. The word can mean an envoy or an
ambassador. The apostolos did not speak for himself,
but for the one who sent him. He did not come in his
own authority, but in the authority of the one who
sent him. Christians are the ambassadors of Christ,
whose task is to speak for him and to represent him
to the world.
(c) It made him a teacher. There is a very real
sense in which the teaching task of Christians and
of the Church is the most important of all.
Certainly, the task of the teacher is very much
harder than the task of the evangelist. The
evangelist’s task is to appeal to people and
confront them with the love of God. In a vivid
moment of emotion, someone may respond to that
summons. But a long road remains. That person must
learn the meaning and discipline of the Christian
life. The foundations have been laid, but the main
structure still has to be built. The flame of
evangelism has to be followed by the steady glow of
Christian teaching. It may well be that people drift
away from the Church after their first decision, for
the simple yet fundamental reason that they have not
been taught about the full meaning of the Christian
faith.
Herald, ambassador, teacher – here is the threefold
function of all Christians who would serve their
Lord and their Church.
Now back to the list of what the gospel is...
(8) It is the gospel of Christ Jesus. It was fully
displayed through his appearance. The word Paul uses
for appearance is one with a great history. It is
epiphaneia, a word which the Jews repeatedly used of
the great saving manifestations of God in the
terrible days of the Maccabaean struggles, when the
enemies of Israel were deliberately seeking to
obliterate God.
In the days of the high priest Onias, a certain
Heliodorus came to plunder the Temple treasury at
Jerusalem. Neither prayers nor pleading would stop
him carrying out this sacrilege. And, so the story
runs, as Heliodorus was about to set hands on the
treasury, ‘the Sovereign of spirits and of all
authority caused so great a manifestation
[epiphaneia] . . . For there appeared to them a
magnificently caparisoned [harnessed] horse with a
rider of fighting mien . . . it rushed furiously at
Heliodorus and struck at him with its front hooves .
. . When he suddenly fell to the ground and deep
darkness came over him’ (2 Maccabees 3:24–7). What
exactly happened, we may never know; but in Israel’s
hour of need there came this tremendous epiphaneia
of God. When Judas Maccabaeus and his little army
were confronted with the might of Nicanor, they
prayed: ‘O Lord, you sent your angel in the time of
King Hezekiah of Judah, and he killed fully 185,000
in the camp of Senacharib [cf. 2 Kings 19:35–6]. So
now, O Sovereign of the heavens, send a good angel
to spread terror and trembling before us. By the
might of your arm may these blasphemers who come
against your holy people be struck down.’ And then
the story goes on: ‘Nicanor and his troops advanced
with trumpets and battle songs, but Judas and his
troops met the enemy in battle with invocations to
God and prayers. So, fighting with their hands and
praying to God in their hearts, they laid low at
least 35,000, and were greatly gladdened by God’s
manifestation [epiphaneia]’ (2 Maccabees 15:22–7).
Once again, we do not know exactly what happened;
but God made a great and saving appearance for his
people. To the Jews, epiphaneia denoted a rescuing
intervention of God.
To the Greeks, this was an equally great word. The
accession of the emperor to his throne was called
his epiphaneia. It was his manifestation. Every
emperor came to the throne with high hopes; his
coming was hailed as the dawn of a new and precious
day, and of great blessings to come.
The gospel was fully displayed with the epiphaneia
of Jesus; the very word shows that he was God’s
great, rescuing intervention and manifestation into
the world.
~Barclay Commentary
First to the Matthew Henry and its commentary on
verses 9 and 10:
Mentioning God and the gospel, he takes notice what
great things God has done for us by the gospel, 2
Timothy 1:9-10. To encourage him to suffer, he urges
two considerations: -
The nature of that gospel which he was called to
suffer for, and the glorious and gracious designs
and purposes of it. It is usual with Paul, when he
mentions Christ, and the gospel of Christ, to
digress from his subject, and enlarge upon them; so
full was he of that which is all our salvation, and
ought to be all our desire. Observe,
[1.] The gospel aims at our salvation: He has saved
up, and we must not think much to suffer for that
which we hope to be saved by. He has begun to save
us, and will complete it in due time; for God calls
those things that are not (that are not yet
completed) as though they were (Romans 4:17);
therefore he says, who has saved us.
Quoted verse:
Romans 4:17
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many
nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who
quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which
be not as though they were.
[2.] It is designed for our sanctification: And
called us with a holy calling, called us to
holiness. Christianity is a calling, a holy calling;
it is the calling wherewith we are called, the
calling to which we are called, to labour in it.
Observe, All who shall be saved hereafter are
sanctified now. Wherever the call of the gospel is
an effectual call, it is found to be a holy call,
making those holy who are effectually called.
[3.] The origin of it is the free grace and eternal
purpose of God in Christ Jesus. If we had merited
it, it had been hard to suffer for it; but our
salvation by it is of free grace, and not according
to our works, and therefore we must not think much
to suffer for it. This grace is said to be given us
before the world began, that is, in the purpose and
designs of God from all eternity; in Christ Jesus,
for all the gifts that come from God to sinful man
come in and through Christ Jesus.
[4.] The gospel is the manifestation of this purpose
and grace: By the appearing of our Saviour Jesus
Christ, who had lain in the bosom of the Father from
eternity, and was perfectly apprised of all his
gracious purposes. By his appearing this gracious
purpose was made manifest to us. Did Jesus Christ
suffer for it, and shall we think much to suffer for
it?
[5.] By the gospel of Christ death is abolished: He
has abolished death, not only weakened it, but taken
it out of the way, has broken the power of death
over us; by taking away sin he has abolished death
(for the sting of death is sin, 1 Corinthians
15:56), in altering the property of it, and breaking
the power of it. Death now of an enemy has become a
friend; it is the gate by which we pass out of a
troublesome, vexatious, sinful world, into a world
of perfect peace and purity; and the power thereof
is broken, for death does not triumph over those who
believe the gospel, but they triumph over it. O
death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy
victory? 1 Corinthians 15:55.
Quoted verses:
1 Corinthians 15:56
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin
is the law.
1 Corinthians 15:55
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory?
[6.] He has brought life and immortality to light by
the gospel; he has shown us another world more
clearly than it was before discovered under any
former dispensation, and the happiness of that
world, the certain recompence of our obedience by
faith: we all with open face, as in a glass, behold
the glory of God. He has brought it to light, not
only set it before us, but offered it to us, by the
gospel. Let us value the gospel more than ever, as
it is that whereby life and immortality are brought
to light, for herein it has the pre-eminence above
all former discoveries; so that it is the gospel of
life and immortality, as it discovers them to us,
and directs us in the ready way that leads thereto,
as well as proposes the most weighty motives to
excite our endeavours in seeking after glory,
honour, and immortality.
~Matthew Henry Main
Now to specific commentaries:
The verse is broken down into 4 parts:
1] But is now made manifest.
2] by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Note: Some
commentaries do not discuss this phrase as it is
self-evident. Some commentaries attached it to
the other phrases.
3] Who hath abolished death.
4] And hath brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel [some
commentaries do not show, "through the gospel." in
discussing the eight words prior.].
1] But is now made manifest.
But is now made manifest
- The purpose to save us was long concealed
in the divine mind, but the Saviour came that he
might make it known.
~Barnes Notes
2] by the appearing of our Saviour
Jesus Christ.
But is now made manifest by
the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ -
The grace according to which the elect of God are
saved and called; though it was given to them in
Christ, before the world was, yet lay hid in the
heart of God; in his thoughts, council and covenant;
and in Jesus Christ; and in the types, shadows,
sacrifices, prophecies, and promises of the Old
Testament; but is now made manifest in the
clearness, freeness, and abundance of it by the
appearance of Christ, as a Saviour in human nature;
who is come full of grace and truth, and through
whom there is a plentiful exhibition of it to the
sons of men: ~John Gill
3] Who hath abolished death.
Who abolished death.-
Took away from death his power, and will finally
destroy him. ~People's New
Testament
Who hath abolished death
- That is, he has made it so certain that death will
be abolished, that it may be spoken of as already
done. It is remarkable how often, in this chapter,
Paul speaks of what God intends to do as so certain,
that it may be spoken of as a thing that is already
done. In the meaning of the expression here, see the
notes at 1 Corinthians 15:54; compare the notes at
Hebrews 2:14. The meaning is, that, through the
gospel, death will cease to reign, and over those
who are saved there will be no such thing as we now
understand by dying.
~Barnes Notes
Quoted verses:
1 Corinthians 15:54
So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory.
Hebrews 2:14
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part
of the same; that through death he might destroy him
that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Who hath abolished death
- Who has counterworked death; operated against his
operations, destroyed his batteries, undersunk and
destroyed his mines, and rendered all his
instruments and principles of attack useless. By
death here, we are not to understand merely natural
death, but that corruption and decomposition which
take place in consequence of it; and which would be
naturally endless, but for the work and energy of
Christ. By him alone, comes the resurrection of the
body; and through him eternal life and glory are
given to the souls of believers.
~Adam Clarke
Who hath abolished death
- the law of sin and death, which is the
cause of death; and has destroyed him which has the
power of it, the devil; he has abolished corporeal
death with regard to his people, as a penal evil, he
has took away its sting, and removed its curse, and
made it a blessing to them; and he has utterly, with
respect to them, abolished the second death, so as
that it shall have no power over them, or they ever
be hurt by it; all which he did by dying, and rising
again: for though he died, yet he continued not
under the power of death; but rose again and
triumphed over it, as having got the victory of it;
and the keys of it are in his hand:
~John Gill
4] And hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel.
Brought life and immortality
to light.- Revealed them in the gospel.
~People's New Testament
And hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel -
This is one of the great and glorious achievements
of the gospel, and one of the things by which it is
distinguished from every other system. The word
rendered “hath brought to light” - φωτίζω phōtizō
- means to give light, to shine; then to give light
to, to shine upon; and then to bring to light, to
make known. Robinson, Lexicon. The sense is, that
these things were before obscure or unknown, and
that they have been disclosed to us by the gospel.
It is, of course, not meant that there were no
intimations of these truths before, or that nothing
was known of them - for the Old Testament shed some
light on them; but that they are fully disclosed to
man in the gospel. It is there that all ambiguity
and doubt are removed, and that the evidence is so
clearly stated as to leave no doubt on the subject.
The intimations of a future state, among the wisest
of the pagan, were certainly very obscure, and their
hopes very faint.
Many suppose that the phrase “life and immortality,”
here, is used by hendiadys (two
things for one), as meaning immortal or
incorruptible life. The gospel thus has truths not
found in any other system, and contains what man
never would have discovered of himself. As fair a
trial had been made among the philosophers of Greece
and Rome as could be made, to determine whether the
unaided powers of the human mind could arrive at
these great truths; and their most distinguished
philosophers confessed that they could arrive at no
certainty on the subject. In this state of things,
the gospel comes and reveals truths worthy of all
acceptation; sheds light where man had desired it;
solves the great problems which had for ages
perplexed the human mind, and discloses to man all
that he could wish - that not only the soul will
live for ever, but that the body will be raised from
the grave, and that the entire man will become
immortal. How strange it is that men will not
embrace the gospel! Socrates and Cicero would have
hailed its light, and welcomed its truths, as those
which their whole nature panted to know.
~Barnes Notes
Brought life and immortality
to light - The literal translation of the
original is, He hath illustrated life and
incorruption by the Gospel. Life eternal, or the
doctrine of life eternal, even implying the
resurrection of the body, was not unknown among the
Jews. They expected this, for they found it in their
prophets. It abounded among them long before the
incarnation: and they certainly never borrowed any
notion in it from the Christians; therefore the
Gospel could not be stated as bringing to light what
certainly was in the light before that time. But
this doctrine was never illustrated and demonstrated
before; it existed in promise, but had never been
practically exhibited. Jesus Christ died, and lay
under the empire of death; he arose again from the
dead, and thus illustrated the doctrine of the
resurrection: he took the same human body up into
heaven, in the sight of his disciples; and ever
appears in the presence of God for us; and thus, has
illustrated the doctrine of incorruption. In his
death, resurrection, and ascension, the doctrine of
eternal life, and the resurrection of the human
body, and its final incorruptibility, are fully
illustrated by example, and established by fact.
~Adam Clarke
And hath brought life and
immortality to light through the Gospel.-
Christ was the first that rose again from the dead
to an immortal life; the path of life was first
shown to him, and brought to light by him; and
though the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead
was known by the Old Testament saints, yet not so
clearly as it is now revealed in the Gospel.
~John Gill |
back to the top |
|
|