2 Tim 1:8-12 Be
not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his
prisoner, but labour with me in the gospel according to the power of
God, who hath delivered us and called us with his holy calling, not
according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the times of the world, but is now
made manifest by the illumination of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath
destroyed death and hath brought to light life and incorruption through
the gospel, wherein I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a
teacher of the Gentiles. For which cause I also suffer these things, but
I am not confounded. For I know whom I have believed and I am certain
that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that
day.
Since
thou hast not received the spirit of fear but of power and of charity,
therefore be not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ —
that is, not only shouldst thou not fear, but thou shouldst not even be
ashamed to preach Christ crucified, for he is risen, and therefore the
glory of the resurrection wholly excludes the shame of the cross. Since
he is our Lord whom all ought to serve, be not ashamed of his testimony —
that is, let it be no cause of shame to thee to preach this God made
mortal, who in the flesh he assumed deigned for a time to taste death on
behalf of all, lest thou fall under that threat which he spoke: He that shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he shall come in his majesty.
Neither be thou ashamed of me his prisoner, because there is no shame
of disgrace in suffering bonds for justice. There is in this matter
nothing whatsoever of shameful conduct, and therefore be not ashamed, on
account of the insults of unbelievers, that I am bound for Christ, but
labour together with me — that is, labour for the advancement of the
gospel — according to the power of God, that is, according to the power
given to us by God, who delivered us by the blood of Christ from the
yoke of the devil, just as formerly by the blood of the lamb he
delivered the children of Israel from the power of Pharaoh, and through
evangelical preaching called us who had turned away.
He
called us with his calling — that is, with a calling befitting him
alone; a holy calling I say, directed toward this end, that he might
make us holy. The Apostle doubles the word calling so as to
intimate that we are called by God both as sons and as apostles. He
called us, and this not according to our works, because we had not
performed works for which we deserved to be called by him — rather we
deserved to be condemned — but he himself, without any preceding good
works on our part, mercifully called us according to his own purpose,
that is, according to what he had purposed: to save by mercy those whom
he could condemn by justice. He called us according to his own grace,
that is, according to the gratuitous gift of God, which was foreseen as
to be given to us in Christ Jesus before the times of the world — that
is, before these times began, which roll on and pass away with the world
in their appointed spans. For before the world there was no time but
eternity, but with the world, as we have said, time had its beginning
when changeableness and the alternation of day and night began. And in
that age of eternity, before the world was made, this grace was given to
us in the counsel of divine providence through Christ; but it is now
made manifest in the completion of our calling and salvation, through
the illumination of our Saviour Jesus Christ — that is, through the
illumination of the new knowledge which the Saviour brought and by which
he enlightened us, opening our minds to understand the scriptures.
Who hath destroyed,
etc. This is that grace — namely that the Saviour destroyed our death,
and brought to light life and incorruption by his resurrection — that
is, manifested them in clear light — so that there might be life and
incorruption of soul and body, toward which he willed us to tend. And
this illumination he accomplished through the gospel, that is, through
the manifestation of the gospel, in which those things are laid bare
which were veiled in the law. In which gospel I am firmly appointed: a
preacher, that is, a herald crying aloud; an apostle, that is, a legate
having authority; a teacher of the Gentiles, that is, daily instructing
the nations.
For
which cause — because I preach the gospel — I also suffer these great
adversities now at Rome, but I am not confounded, that is, I am not
ashamed amid all the insults and torments which I endure, knowing that
through these things I am acquiring glory. For I know whom I have believed — I know who he is to whom I have committed my faith — and I am certain that he is able — for he is omnipotent — to keep that which I have committed to him,
that is, the treasure of my merits which I have secretly entrusted to
him for safekeeping. He is powerful enough to keep this precious deposit
of my righteousness, deferring it until that day — that
notable day of judgment — so that he may then restore it to me and
render back the riches of righteousness which I have entrusted to him.
Until that day of judgment, of which I so often speak and think, he is
able to guard the treasure of my spiritual riches committed to him, so
that he may then restore it to me more abundantly and fill me with great
wealth.
CONTINUE
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