Verse 3
but in his own seasons manifested his word in the message, wherewith I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
Here the great truth shines that the promise of eternal life is "manifested," that is, made known, or made available to men "in the message," that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ as brought by the Lord himself and delivered unto mankind by his apostles. Thus eternal life is conditional, only those who are willing to hear and obey the message being eligible to receive it. Thus Hendriksen's deduction is correct, that, "Strictly speaking, it was not life everlasting that was revealed, but the word of God with respect to it."[14] However, Christ was manifested; and the life eternal is in him, Jesus himself being in fact "the life" (John 14:6), enabling the apostle John to refer to Jesus as "the Word of life.., which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled" (1 John 1:1). Therefore, in the sense of this passage, eternal life was indeed manifested. But for the myriads of men who have lived since the apostles, it is still "the word of God with respect to eternal life" that has been manifested to them.
In his own seasons ... There is a heavenly chronology according to which all of the plans of God are being effectively achieved (Acts 17:31).
God our Saviour ... It is appropriate to refer to God as the Saviour of men because all of the initial plan was his. Note also that Paul referred to Jesus as "our Saviour" in Titus 1:4, thus giving another testimony to the status of deity which Paul attributed to Jesus.
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