2 Timothy 1:1

Introduction (2 Timothy 1:1-2 ).

‘Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,’

With his coming death in mind Paul open his letter with a declaration of bold defiance against the forces of death and darkness that are around him. For he first boldly states that he is an Apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and then declares that that is in terms of ‘the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus’. Death may be facing him, but it will only be as the gateway to life. Beyond death, for him and for all who truly belong to Christ, lies the promised life of the ages to come, the ‘life which is in Christ Jesus’.

So as he regularly did Paul reminds Timothy, and all who read or hear his words at this time of emergency, that he is an Apostle, one of those especially ‘sent forth’ from God, an ambassador of Jesus Christ, and that in His case at least it is by the will of God. For as he had said elsewhere, ‘He -- had set me apart before I was born, and had called my by His grace, (and) was pleased to reveal His Son in me’ (Galatians 1:15-16). He had no doubt that God had chosen him, and that what he was now facing was within the will of God. As he was facing probable death nothing gave him more comfort than the fact that His life was safe in God’s eternal will (compare Romans 9:19; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 1:1; Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 1:1; 1 Peter 4:19; James 1:18). But why should Paul inform Timothy of what he knew only too well? The answer is simple. It was precisely because Timothy may have become too used to the idea that he needed to be reminded of it. He needed to recognise that it was not just his beloved and revered Paul who was speaking. It was one of the Apostles of Christ appointed by the will of God.

In the face of the threat of death Paul also wanted him to call to mind again that as an Apostle appointed by the will of God, he had come to offer the life that was in Christ Jesus. For his appointment as an Apostle in the will of God was ‘in accordance with the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus’. Rome might put him to death, but for him there would be a resurrection, for he would then enter into the fullness of life in Christ. It was a reminder, in the words of James, that ‘of His own will He begets us by the word of truth’ (James 1:18), so that we have eternal life within us (John 5:24) and the promise of it for the future (John 5:28-29). This reference to life takes us back to the promises of life in 1 Timothy 4:8; 1 Timothy 6:12; 1 Timothy 6:19, and there it is made clear that the promise had to be laid hold of. But here, in contrast, the life will lay hold of him. And that is what Paul’s message is all about. His message is one of life from God, both now and in the future (1 Timothy 4:8), and that a life which is found ‘in Christ Jesus’. It is as one who has been made one with Christ that he has this life (Romans 6:3-5; Galatians 2:20). ‘He who has the Son has life, while he who has not the Son of God, does not have life’ (1 John 5:11-13, compare John 5:24; John 20:31; Galatians 2:20). He is thus already basking in that promised life, and looks forward to enjoying it even more fully with God.