Paul the
apostle's desire for Timothy his “dearly beloved son” was
not to be “ashamed of the testimony of our Lord” nor of
Paul who was Jesus' “prisoner”. He rather wanted him to
“be partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God;”. This would mean sacrifice on Timothy's part,
and in chapter one and verse nine Paul began to give him the reason
why he should do so. We read:
Who has
saved us, and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began,
The
verse begins, “Who has saved us, and called
us with a
holy calling,...” Paul began by declaring,
“Who” speaking of
God, “has saved us”
or “rescued us from danger and destruction” “and
called” which means “invited with a loud
voice by name” “us with a holy”
or “sacred, pure and morally blameless” “calling”
or “divine invitation”. Jesus not only saved us, but gave us a
sacred and pure invitation to be in a relationship with Him.
The verse goes on to
say, “not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace,” Paul
went on to add, “not according to”
or “down from, through out, toward or along” “our
works” which are “our
business, employment, occupation, that we undertake to do,
enterprise, undertaking, product, or any thing accomplished by hand,
art, industry, or mind, an act or deed”. Paul continued, “but”
which is the disassociation conjunction that means what is about to
be stated takes precedence over what was just stated, “according
to” or “down from, through out, toward or along” “his
own purpose” or “a setting forth of a thing or plan, placing
of it in view like unto the showbread” “and grace” which
is “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm,
loveliness, loving kindness, goodwill and unmerited favor”. It was
not by our own merit that Jesus “saved” and “called”
us, but rather by His own demonstration of His unmerited favor.
Finally
the verse says, “which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began,” Paul
went on to declare when our salvation and “calling”
were originated, “which was given us”
or “granted, supplied, furnished and delivered to us” “in
Christ Jesus”
who is “the anointed one and Messiah whose name means Jehovah is
Salvation” “before” or
“in front of and prior to” “the
world began”
which in the Greek is “chronos
aiōnios” and
means “time without beginning or end, eternity, for ever and
everlasting”. In other words, our salvation and calling by the
purpose and plan of God was given to us before the world was even
created.
As
we think through these words of Paul, our minds cannot conceive of
such blessings from God the Father, and yet, He is God. He is able to
give and extend salvation and callings from everlasting to
everlasting because He lives outside of the time continuum. We must
remember that our salvation and calling did not happen because of our
own goodness, kindness or works, but it was solely because the
Heavenly Father desired to “show” or demonstrate His great
“purpose and grace”
to anyone who would observe it. In other words, we should be greatly
humbled that this Almighty and Most Powerful God would even think to
save us, never mind call us to be a part of His kingdom. Let us bow
our heads and lift our hand in praise to God for the awesome “purpose
and grace”
that was given to us through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Next
time Paul tells Timothy how God's “purpose and grace”
were “made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus
Christ”, so read ahead, and we
shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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