The Gospel of God’s Grace

Second Timothy 1:9–10 gives us a summary of the gospel, a summary of God’s grace of salvation. In the preceding passage, Paul exhorted Timothy, his beloved son in the faith, to fan into flame the gift of the Holy Spirit that was in him so that he would not be ashamed of the gospel, but join with the apostle in proclaiming the gospel, as well as suffering and dying for the gospel, in the power of God.

It is the will of God that all true believers suffer for the gospel. Paul told the Thessalonian believers he was sending Timothy to encourage them “so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.” Then he told them, “You know quite well that we were destined for them” (1 Thess. 3:3). He wrote to Timothy, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).

The gospel declares that Christ Jesus by his death and resurrection destroyed the wages of our sin, which is death, and brought life and immortality to light. Every unbeliever should be afraid of death, but believers in Jesus Christ need not fear. Second Timothy 1:9–10 gives us therefore a summary of this glorious gospel of our salvation.

God Saved Us

Paul begins, “who has saved us” (v. 9). The first point Paul makes is that God saved us. True believers in Jesus are able to suffer and die for the gospel by the power of God. They can do so because God has already saved us from eternal death by his eternal purpose, plan, initiative, and action.

Our heavenly Father planned our salvation in eternity—before we were born, before history, before time, before creation—and gave us to his Son to save us. The Lord Jesus said, “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours” (John 17:9). In eternity, God loved us as he loves his own Son Jesus Christ and gave him grace to save us. So Jesus said, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23).

In history, Jesus Christ, by his incarnational life, accomplished our salvation, and the Holy Spirit applies this great salvation to every elect sinner who is enabled to believe in Jesus. Therefore, we are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved.

The Holy Spirit regenerated us and granted us repentance and faith. Thus, all our sins are pardoned. We are justified and adopted, we are being sanctified, and we will be glorified.

God Called Us to a Holy Life

Then Paul says, “who . . . called us to a holy life” (v. 9). God saved us by his effectual calling of the gospel, as it was preached to us by God-appointed ministers. Elsewhere Paul wrote, “‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?” (Rom. 10:13–15). When we hear the gospel preached, we can know that God has loved us. This is our grand opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved.

God is calling us with a holy, high, and heavenly calling. He calls us to be his saints (1 Cor. 1:2). He calls us to eternal life (1 Tim. 6:12). He calls us to freedom (Gal. 5:13). He calls us to holiness (1 Thess. 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:15–16). He calls us to unity, not division (Col. 3:15). He calls us to fellowship with God’s Son (1 Cor. 1:9). He calls us to glory (2 Thess. 2:14).

God calls us with a holy calling to live holy and obedient lives. Antinomianism, which has become increasingly popular in evangelical circles, represents a different gospel, a different Jesus, and a different Spirit. Antinomianism is immorality seeking a theological justification in cheap grace. It is a contradiction to Scripture and the Reformed standards, such as the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechism. Preachers who preach antinomianism are agents of Satan and condemned by Christ. They are producing an unholy, worldly church that is unqualified and unfit to be the bride of Christ (see 2 Cor. 11 and Gal. 1:6–8).

Brothers and sisters, we are called to holiness. Paul began his letter to Titus, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness” (Titus 1:1). Anyone who practices sin is not saved. Elsewhere he says, “God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life” (1 Thess. 4:7). To Timothy he wrote, “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness’” (2 Tim. 2:19). In Hebrews 12:14 we read, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Jesus himself taught us in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8).

God justifies the ungodly to make them godly, to make them like Jesus Christ, God’s Son (Rom. 8:29). The justified are always being sanctified. We must never separate justification from sanctification. That is what antinomians do. Jesus saves us from our sins, not in our sins, and not with our sins. So we read, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer” (Eph. 4:28). Christians are no longer darkness; they are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14). So Paul writes, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).

We Are Saved by God, Not by Works

Paul says God saved us, “not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace” (v. 9). Roman Catholicism teaches that people can be justified and saved by faith plus works, but that is not correct theology. We are saved by God, not on the merit of our works, for we were dead in trespasses and sins. We were the worst sinners, like Saul of Tarsus, who later stated, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). In his Epistle to the Philippians, Paul describes his own good works as filth, as dung: “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:8).

We are not saved by our works. Paul writes about Jacob and Esau, “Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—[Rebekah] was told, ‘The older will serve the younger’” (Rom. 9:11–12).

Any Pharisee who glories in his works of dung will go home condemned. But the publican who pleads for mercy will go home justified (Luke 18).

Grace Was Given to Us in Eternity

Paul continues, “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (v. 9). We are saved on the basis of God’s own eternal purpose achieved by grace alone. God’s wise, fixed, and definite plan to save his elect sinners is by grace, love, and mercy, not by our good works. So we read, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:4–5).

We were dead in our sins. Grace, therefore, is the basis of our salvation. We merited eternal death; grace gave us eternal life. We merited hell; grace gave us heaven. And this grace is the righteousness of Christ.

God’s purpose saved us. Paul writes, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29–30). He also says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his [eternal] purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Elsewhere we read, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Eph. 1:11).

This grace of salvation was a divine gift of the Father given for us, his elect, to Christ, God’s Son, in eternity that he may save us in time. This tells us that we were loved by God the Father in eternity in his Son. So the Father loves us as he loves his own Son. Jesus himself said, “I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23).

All persons of the holy Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—loved us in eternity past, love us now in time, and will love us in eternity future. In all things, God will always work for our good, including in troubles, problems, persecutions, and even our own death.

Praise God, nothing in all creation can cut us off from God’s love revealed to us in Christ Jesus. So, beloved saints, do not be anxious or afraid: God is with us, God is in us, and we are in God. We are secure forever.

God Revealed This Hidden Grace Now in Time

God is eternal, and his gracious plan to save us by his Son was eternally hidden in him. We are the Father’s gift to his Son so that he may save us in time by his grace. So Paul writes, “But [this grace] has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus” (v. 10). Thank God, this grace was not just hidden; it has now been revealed. Now, in time, in human history, this hidden eternal plan of God’s grace has been made manifest to the whole world in the life and work of Jesus of history.

God divided time into before Christ and anno Domini. So we read, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, [by whom we cry] out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Gal. 4:4–6). We also read, “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord’” (Luke 2:10–11). This child is our Savior, he is Christ, and he is our Lord. Elsewhere, Paul writes of our faith as “a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior” (Titus 1:2–3). God’s eternal plan has now been revealed in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

It is an eternal plan. Paul says, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Eph. 1:4). Peter writes, “[Christ] was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God” (1 Pet. 1: 20–21). Paul also says, “We speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began” (1 Cor. 2:7). And 2 Timothy 1: 2, 8, 10, Paul tells us that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. The question is, is he your Savior, your Christ, your Lord? There is no other savior.

This grace of God is no longer hidden. Now the gospel is preached to every creature, and now the elect of God from every nation are being saved by grace. This grace was made manifest in Jesus Christ. In his person and his work, we see grace. His life and work is the revelation of grace. We see grace in his virgin birth, in his life, in his teachings, in his miracles, in his death, burial, and resurrection, in his post-resurrection ministry, in his session as King of kings and Lord of lords, in his high priestly intercession for us, and so on. All of this is God’s grace!

God loved us before time, in eternity past, and he promises that he will never leave us nor forsake us. So Jesus taught, “Do not be anxious,” and, “Do not be afraid.” And he gave the reason we need not worry or fear: “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the ages” (Matt. 28:20). So Paul wrote, “Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him—to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen” (Rom. 16:25–27).

This grace was made manifest in the life of Jesus in his first epiphany [the word used in the Greek text], that is, in his first coming. Christ first came in humiliation. Paul tells us, “[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:6–11). And let me ask you: Have you bowed your knee before him? His people will do that when they hear the gospel. Let me assure you, he will save everyone who believes in him.

But in his second epiphany, Jesus Christ will be coming in glory to judge those who refuse to honor him by confessing him as Lord and serving him. Paul writes, “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you” (2 Thess. 1:6–10). Our God is not just love. He is also Judge, and he is coming again.

This Christ Jesus is our Savior, and there is no other. The apostles declared, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). There is no other sacrifice of atonement. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). There is no other Lord (2 Tim. 1:2). There is no other religion that can save us. There is no priest, no pope, no pastor who can save. Jesus alone saves all who believe and obey him.

Eternal life, therefore, is found in the Son alone. John writes, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11–12).

Jesus Destroyed Death and Brought Immortal Life to Light for Us

Paul writes, “Christ Jesus . . . destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light” (v. 10). The wages of sin is death; Jesus Christ abolished our death by his atoning death on the cross. Notice, he abolished the death of only those who trust in him. He did not abolish the death of sinners who refuse to believe in him.

Through the devil, sin entered the world. And through sin, death has come to every child of Adam. Christ, by his death for our sins and in our place, defeated the devil and abolished death for us. So we read, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Heb. 2:14–15). We are free! Christ destroyed death for us and we have been set free. Jesus himself said, “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out” (John 12:31). John writes, “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8).

The essence of the gospel is found in Romans 4:25: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” Elsewhere Paul writes, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:56–57).

We all must die, unless Christ comes. But what is death? Spiritual death is separation of the soul from God. (PGM) Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. Eternal death, also known as the second death, is the separation of the soul and body from God forever in hell. All this is true for unbelievers.

But for those who trust in Christ, it is a different story. When a believer dies, his soul goes to be with Christ. So, for Christians, death is, according to the Bible, “gain”; “profit”’ “a blessed experience”; “precious”; “better”; and to be “present with the Lord.” All this is because Jesus Christ has abolished our death.

Grace destroyed death and brought to light for God’s people immortal life in the death and resurrection of Christ. Paul writes, “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor. 5:14–15). He also says, “We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. . . . For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words” (1 Thess. 4:14, 16–18).

Life eternal is found, not in money, not in becoming the president of this country, or in anything else but in Jesus Christ. There is only one thing needful: to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved forever.

We will experience the final fullness of this immortal life only when Christ comes again in glory. Paul writes, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Phil. 3:20–21).

Yet even now we have crossed from death to life. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). He also said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (John 10:28).

Fullness and glory await us, the people of God. Paul writes, “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’” (1 Cor. 15:50–54). And this has already happened in principle by the death of Christ.

The devil and all his angels and all unbelievers will experience eternal death when Christ comes again. John writes, “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. . . . Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death” (Rev. 20:10, 14). All those whose names are not recorded in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire.

Through the Gospel

This glorious salvation comes to us “through the gospel” (v. 10). God’s glorious salvation is made known to the world through the proclamation of the gospel, especially by Christ-appointed, godly ministers. Paul gives us the essence of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve” (1 Cor. 15:3–5).

All who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved. Paul writes, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Rom. 1:16).

The gospel alone reveals God’s grace of salvation in the person and work of Christ. So we proclaim the gospel by the power of the Spirit. We do so without shame, ready to suffer and die, knowing that Jesus has triumphed over the devil, demons, sin, death, the world, the flesh, and given us eternal life. It is through the gospel we have come to know this. It is through the preaching of the gospel that God saves his elect sinners. There is no other way to be saved.

Therefore, it is the duty of every believer to share the gospel. In fact, it is a sin not to share the gospel. Gospel means good news. The gospel alone saves us from eternal death by giving us eternal life. We must proclaim the gospel. Think about this: Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Every Spirit-filled person will speak of Christ, for the Holy Spirit always glorifies Christ. To share the gospel is to glorify Christ. Jesus said, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26–27).

Not to testify for Christ is to disobey the Holy Spirit. We read, “Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him’” (Acts 5:29–32). In context, we can say that we must obey him especially in bearing witness to Jesus Christ.

Consider the great commission of Jesus himself: “Then Jesus came to [his disciples] and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore 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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Matt. 28:18–20).

The gospel alone is good news to sinners condemned to die. Jesus will save every publican who cries out to him, “Have mercy upon me, a sinner.” Such a person will go home justified, walking and leaping and praising God for grace amazing.

May God help us to be strong in our faith! Once we were without hope and without God, but now we are with hope and with God. Therefore, we need not fear anything. May God help us testify to this glorious gospel of our salvation. And may God have mercy on those who are outside of Christ. May he grant them faith to believe in Jesus and be saved.