The Rejuvenating Power of the Gospel: According to His Purpose and Grace

In 2 Timothy 1:9 Paul reminds Timothy that the gospel is not just the story of God's grace to the unbeliever. It is also a daily means of refreshment to the believing heart. In the gospel we are reminded of God's greatness, our brokenness, and the privilege we've been afforded to live out a redeemed life. Timothy was in great need of these reminders. He was burned out. He needed to be directed away from his own efforts and plans and back into the garden of God's grace in the gospel.

Paul has stated it very simply. God is the one who has saved him, and in so doing also called him to holy living. He has been rescued and is now being reformed according to the image of Jesus Christ. God is doing great things in Timothy, and Paul reminds him that he can't take credit for any of it. His standing in the family of God wasn't earned, and can't be improved; it was fully accomplished forever by Jesus Christ.

Now Paul goes on to give the another piece of the story. Far from salvation being earned, bought, or merited through out best efforts, it is, in its entirety, conditioned only on God's sovereign purpose and made active through his grace.

Let's look at some words in order to get the whole picture. Notice the "not ... but" construction in vs. 9. Paul is clear. "Not this ... but this." Not our works, but God's purpose. Paul is setting out a stark contrast between what we do and what God does in accomplishing the work of justification and sanctification.

Next, let's look at the words "purpose and grace." In several places Paul states that God has a definite, intentional plan for history. In Ephesians 1:5, 9 it is called the "kind intention of his will." In the same chapter  he calls it the "counsel of his will"  and states that God works "all things after the counsel of his will" (vs. 11).  Later in Ephesians 3:11 Paul refers to this plan as the "eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord." Further, we find that this "purpose/plan" was fully formed and implemented before time began. Paul states it clearly in our text (vs.9: "from all eternity) as well as in many other places (see: Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20; John 17:24). All this adds up to one undeniable truth: God has been operating in history according to a specific, sovereign plan that was decided upon and enacted even before time as we understand it began. Before the ages of any history, God was at work accomplishing his purpose through a plan designed to finish something that was worthy of God's attention.

The word "grace" helps us understand the center of God's plan. We might ask "just what was worth God's intentionality in putting in place such a massive plan?" The answer can only be that God's glory is best seen in the rescue of those who neither deserve rescue nor can accomplish it themselves. Our holy God has determined that he wants to be known for accepting the unholy and reforming them to share his holiness. Further, he wants to be known for accomplishing this quite apart from any merit or works on their part. This is what grace means. He wants to do it freely, graciously, unconditioned upon anything other than his own will to do so. His purpose demands that his grace does it all.

So, how do you think these words of the Apostle fell on the ears and heart of Pastor Timothy? How do they fall on your heart? Does it make your pride sit up and start boasting that you've actually been a good "save" for God? That he's pretty fortunate to have found you and adopted you into the family? Or is it quite humbling to recognize clearly that God could have left you in the stream of sin, willfully floating on the current of self-centeredness, foolishly refusing to believe that you were heading for that steep, thundering waterfall called eternal judgment? Do just a few chills cause you to shudder when you understand just how long it has been since your sense of self importance was flattened by the grandeur of God's undeserved power in your life?

The idea that our standing before God is a result, not of our works, but of God's sovereign purpose is a truth that often doesn't sit well in our day. We Americans are raised on the bread of equality where everyone deserves the same chance as everyone else. We believe we all enter life on good footing, in a land where dreams come true, and that society owes it to us all to provide whatever is necessary for our success. Awash in this democratic egalitarianism it is often hard to understand the reality that God isn't a president, he's a king. And while we all do enter life on equal footing, it is as sinners whose trajectory is heading toward God's wrath unless our nature is radically changed. The direction of our lives has already been set by the corruption that comes pre-installed on our human hard drive. The virus of sin has already infected our operating system, and left to ourselves we will willingly and joyfully pursue our own course, pull our own strings, and try to find all the pleasure we can in this life ... all at the expense of loving and obeying the law of God.

Given this it is understandable that so many believe God owes them something. He owes them a good life in exchange for some religious acts and a mostly moral life. And he certainly is not allowed to have a plan that doesn't include them. After all, this is America! In the end what we see all around us is a tendency to see God as working for us and obligated to us even though largely forgotten by us. But in reality this just isn't true.

When a society begins to humanize God in order to deify man, it ends up minimizing sin. When we erode God's sovereignty in order to promote our rights all we end up with is a man centered story that makes God our servant, his church our club, and our well-being his goal. Maybe Timothy was falling into this. Maybe the Ephesian culture was pulling him into its mold. We don't know. But what we do know is that Paul thought it important to remind him of the gospel story in all of its simplicity and beauty.

God has a plan, and it will be worked out perfectly. Our privilege as Christ-followers is to live every day humbled that we've been included, adoring him and courageously extending his gracious offer of life to those around it. And, just in case you've forgotten, we're called to do it with smiles on our faces testifying to the unquenchable joy that comes from living in the garden of grace we call the gospel.

Hope this helps,

David