The Rejuvenating Power of the Gospel: Saved and Called to Holiness

2 Timothy 1:8,9a: Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling ...


Timothy was engaged in ministry and it was tough, much tougher than he thought it would be. The idolatrous culture of Ephesus was a constant force of opposition and it appears that Timothy's spiritual vitality was wasting away. He knew that his call was to swim upstream against the tide of culture, but the torrent was strong and the task was unrelenting. He needed rejuvenating. So what did Paul do? He invited Timothy back into the garden of grace we know as the Gospel.

The gospel begins with God. Paul declares that it is God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling. Several points fall out of this simple declaration. First, the gospel is all about God, not us. The power of the gospel is God and the purpose of the gospel is his glory. Too often today the gospel story starts with a focus on the human need to find a better life. It moves on from there to suggest that God is waiting to give this life, along with many other benefits, if we will only let him. He is there, pleading for a chance to help us, to right the wrongs, break the addictions, forgive our past indiscretions, and see to it that we begin living our best life now.

If that is really the gospel then Paul really got it wrong. He declares to Timothy that the gospel story begins with God. He is the savior, the rescuer, the one who deserves the priority and all the glory. We were those in need of rescue, and the clear teaching of the Bible is that, not only were we unable to effect our own rescue, we didn't deserve God's attention at all. Our brokenness was due to our ongoing willingness to live life on our terms, and the only thing God owed us was justice in the form of punishment for our crimes against his law. Paul starts off Timothy's spiritual therapy with a simple reminder that salvation is of the Lord, just as Jonah reluctantly came to realize in his waterfront room in the belly of the great fish.

Notice as well that Paul appears not to have heard of the controversy over Lordship salvation, over whether there is an absolute connection between our justification and our sanctification. He simply declares that those who are rescued by God have also been called with a holy calling. God did not save us for us; he saved us for himself. Elsewhere, in Ephesians 2:7 we find that God did not save us so we could feel good. He saved us so he could look good! He saved us in order that, in the ages to come he might show off the riches of his grace through us. Someone has stated it well: We've been saved from the wrath of God, by the grace of God, for the glory of God. And we will be seen as his workmanship, his "show off" pieces to the extent that our lives progress in holiness. Paul absolutely connects our salvation to our maturity in holiness. The same God that saves does so for the purpose of making us holy. Anyone who refuses to see this absolute connection is playing with a closed mind and closed Bible.

So, here's the rejuvenating part. Ever feel fatigued in your battle to stay unstained by the culture of our world? Ever become spiritually tired and thereby susceptible to the temptations of the flesh? Ever feel like the odds are so stacked against you that success seems out of the question? Remember this: the God of your salvation is the God of your sanctification. He has saved you for himself, to be his chosen bride, to be his workmanship. And he has granted you all the provision you need to run that race and fight the fight and be conspicuous for him. Paul, in Philippians 2:14-16, gives this same distinctive pep talk: "Do all things without grumbling or disputing so that you will prove yourself to be blameless and innocent,  children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation in which you appear as  lights in this world, holding fast the word of life." But be careful here. All the provision you need is found in Christ, not in yourself. Apart from him we can't do it. Found in him, we can walk worthy of our holy calling knowing that it is God who is at work in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure. And as Paul reminds us, we will know that the Lord is at work mightily in us when we are laboring and striving to live obediently for him (Colossians 1:29). For he has saved us, and called us with a holy calling. What a wonderful situation.

Hope this helps,

David