2 Timothy, Part Six
Our Motivation: God's Purpose and Grace
2 Timothy 1v9-10
19th June 2026
Paul has challenged Timothy to "fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you" and to "join with me in suffering for the gospel". He now gives a reason for rising to these challenges:
2 Timothy 1v9a
He [God] has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything
we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.
Surely God uses these words to urge you and me to do likewise, to maximise the gifts God has given us, and to risk suffering for the Good News of Jesus Christ, because we were once dead in our sins, without hope, without purpose, without understanding. By sending Jesus to die on the cross to pay for our sins, and sending us the Holy Spirit to convince us that we can be forgiven and saved through faith in His sacrifice, God has shown us love and mercy that we really don't deserve. He has done more for us than we once thought possible. He assures us of eternal life. If he was willing to die for us, should we not be willing to suffer for Him?
God has called us to a holy life. That doesn't just mean a pure life. It also means a life dedicated to God. We are His servants. In fact, we are His slaves. That's what the Greek word doulos means. As 1 Corinthians 6v19-20 says, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." That life of dedication means obedience to the Bible and a desire to glorify His name.
The Gospel – the Good News about Jesus Christ – is so very important. It's a matter of eternal life and death. Promoting the Gospel is the most important cause we can get involved with. Jesus instructed us:
Matthew 28v19-20
"… go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…"
True Christians are willing to suffer for the message of Jesus. Indeed, Peter and John had this experience:
Acts 5v40-41
... They [the Sanhedrin] called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then
they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted
worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
When did we lose this sense of rejoicing in our suffering, of being glad to be counted worthy to suffer for the Name of Jesus? In England, being a Christian has been easy for hundreds of years. It's a new experience for us to be at risk of suffering for Jesus, but it's not for most of the world. Perhaps we English Christians have grown soft.
Our motivation to serve Christ and, if necessary, to suffer for Him, is increased when we remember that our salvation is not because of anything we have done but because of his [God's] own purpose and grace. Particularly if we have served God more-or-less faithfully for some years, we can come to think that we've earned some sort of merit with God. That can lead us to forget that we could never have saved ourselves, that we were totally dependent on God for our salvation then, and we're still totally dependent on God now. I hope Timothy had not fallen into this trap.
Anyway, Paul reminds him that nothing he or we have ever done caused God to save us. God saved us because of his [God's] own purpose. That is, He saved us because He chose to save us, and he chose to save us for His own purposes.
And God saved us because of his own... grace. God chose to be generous towards us, even when we didn't know Him or respect Him. Thank God!
2 Timothy 1v9b-10
This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ
Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to
light through the gospel.
To emphasise the fact that God saved us because of his own purpose, Paul tells us that God made the decision to show us mercy, to save us, through Jesus Christ before the beginning of time. We were predestined to believe in Christ's redeeming blood before the world was created. How faithful God is! How certain are His plans! No-one can prevent those whom God chose before we existed from being saved!
Throughout the Old Testament period, there was a sense that our sins would be atoned for so we could be forgiven. Passages like Isaiah 53 speak about somebody suffering for our healing. That passage includes:
Isaiah 53v6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
But who this person would be, and how he would suffer for us, remained unclear until it happened.
Jesus Christ is our saviour. We could not save ourselves, and nobody else could save us. Only Jesus, the sinless One, could pay, and only His death was sufficient payment.
Jesus has destroyed death. If Jesus had not died on the cross to pay for our sin, every human would be subject to eternal spiritual death, separation from God for ever. As Romans 6:23 says, "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Now, for all who believe in Jesus, death has been abolished. We will live for ever with Him. Physical death has lost its sting. We know it's not the end, and it's not the doorway to hell; it's the entrance to heaven. Jesus has brought life and immortality to light thought the gospel.
Knowing all this, should we not be ready to suffer for the Gospel?