Grace Before the Beginning of Time

The second book of Timothy is most likely the last of Paul’s letters that we have in the Bible, and perhaps the last that he wrote. He was in prison in Rome, and soon to be executed under Nero’s post-fire persecution of Christians. It is very personal, since Timothy was a great friend, a younger man who Paul refers to as his dear son. There were tears when they last parted (2 Timothy 1:4). Paul probably knew he didn’t have long to live, and he was keen to exhort Timothy, overseer of the church in Ephesus, to continue strong in the faith.

If like me you have attempted any sort of Bible memorization programme, such as the Navigators and others recommend, you will probably remember 2 Timothy 2:2, if only because the 2’s stick in your head! This is the lovely principle of training or discipling each new generation: Paul taught Timothy, and Timothy was to train up reliable people who would be able to teach others. And so on…

But the first verse I want to look at today is the verse before that one:

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:1, NIV

Grace doesn’t seem to be a major theme of the book, but the first main part of the letter in chapter one has much to say about two of Paul’s most loved and closely connected themes, the gospel and the grace of God. I was drawn back to 2 Timothy 1:9, which states that “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” Matthew Henry’s commentary (highly recommended and freely available on Bible Gateway) says this means that this grace is ‘in the purpose and designs of God from all eternity’.

What else can we say of this grace from the passage? It is given in Christ Jesus, revealed through the appearing of our Saviour (nice Christmas connection!), according to verse 10. It is a grace that destroys death and shows us the way to ‘life and immortality‘ – amazing grace indeed! Yes, He has saved us, and called us to a holy life, and it’s all His grace, ‘not because of anything we have done‘ (v9). His grace also gives us boldness (v8), power, love and self-discipline (v7), and it may also lead us into suffering for the gospel of Jesus, as Paul was suffering then.

All this grace is in the purpose and designs of God from all eternity, planned and prepared before the beginning of time. We are reminded of Revelation 13:8, where Jesus is referred to as ‘the Lamb slain from the creation of the world.’ This should continually encourage us, as we understand that God’s purposes are being worked out on a grand scale, and we are a significant part of those purposes, as trophies of His grace, the reward of His suffering.

So like Timothy let us be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Not strong in our own strength, not even strong in the grace we have already received, but strong in His grace, continually relying on our Lord Jesus, for as John says “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).