2 Timothy 1:9-10

2 Timothy 1:9-10 v. 9. 1. Paul here declares salvation which God accomplished for His elect: He hath saved, hath called us. A. This is the eternal salvation that is declared in the gospel, per v. 10. B. The gospel is the declaration of what God HAS done about sin and its consequence, death. C. This salvation is according to His purpose, grace and work, not according to our works. D. Since this eternal salvation is God's finished work, it is a secure salvation. JOH 10:27-29. E. This fact makes the afflictions of the gospel (v. 8) much more bearable. ROM 8:35-39. 2. God HAS DONE the saving. Scripture declares the eternal salvation of the elect to be a finished work. A. “...we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son...” (ROM 5:10). B. “...when he had by himself purged our sins...” (HEB 1:3). C. “...having obtained eternal redemption for us” (HEB 9:12). D. “...he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (HEB 9:26). E. “...he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (HEB 10:14). F. “...according to his mercy he saved us...” (TIT 3:5). G. “...which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1TH 1:10). H. “...who hath delivered us from the power of darkness...” (COL 1:13). I. “...I have finished the work...” (JOH 17:4). J. “...It is finished...” (JOH 19:30). K. The above statements are all lies if eternal salvation was not completed by Christ. L. A false savior is commonly taught who saved nobody at his first advent but only made salvation a possibility by his blood, death and resurrection. (1) Promoters of this savior scorn the doctrine of a limited atonement. (2) Who is really limiting the atoning blood of Christ: those who say that it actually saved all that the Father gave to Christ to save, OR those who say that it actually saved nobody? (3) Heaven will be a much emptier place on the basis of sinners choosing God than on the basis of God choosing sinners. 3. God calls those whom He saves. A. This call is by means of Jesus Christ. 1PE 5:10. B. This call is effectual. JOH 5:25. C. This is a holy calling. (1) God's call is a call to holiness. 1TH 4:7. (2) The recipients of this call are made holy. EPH 4:24. (3) Being called and made holy, they should BE holy. 1PE 1:15-16. (4) God does not save His people TO sin, but FROM sin. MAT 1:21. 4. Paul had personal assurance of salvation in that he said God “...hath saved us, and called us...” A. Christ loved the church (EPH 5:25). That Christ loved ME makes it personal. GAL 2:20. B. God has chosen His people (EPH 1:4). That God chose Rufus makes election personal. ROM 16:13. C. The fact that Christ died is history; the fact that Christ died for me is salvation. 5. God's salvation and calling are not according to (in a manner agreeing with, consistent with, or answering to) man's works. A. Sinners by nature have no good works. ROM 3:10-12; ISA 64:6. B. In salvation God does not cooperate with or respond to man's good works. ROM 9:11; 11:5-6; TIT 3:5. 2 Timothy 1:9-10 4-17-16 Page 1 of 3 C. Salvation does not agree with man's works; it rather destroys his works. COL 1:21-22; HEB 9:14. D. God's work of grace in saving the sinner precedes the sinner's good works. EPH 2:10. 6. Salvation is God's response to His OWN purpose. ROM 8:28-29; EPH 1:5, 11. 7. Grace was given to God's people IN CHRIST before the world began. A. God chose His people in Christ before the world began. EPH 1:4. B. Grace was then given to them in Christ, their representative. C. In Christ, the elect received saving grace before the world began! 8. There are different phases of God's work in eternally saving a sinner by grace. A. A sinner was legally saved when Christ died and rose again. GAL 3:13; ROM 4:25. B. A sinner is vitally saved when he is regenerated or quickened. TIT 3:5; EPH 2:5. C. A sinner is environmentally saved when Christ receives his soul upon death. PHIL 1:23. D. A sinner is perfectly saved at Christ's second coming. PHIL 3:20-21. E. But all of these phases of his salvation were PLANNED before the world began. 9. The gospel is the declaration of God's plans for God's glory. EPH 1:5-6, 11-12. A. The gospel does NOT magnify the will and ambition of men. 1CO 1:26-31. B. God does not save sinners because of anything of worth in them; but because of what is in HIMSELF, because of His OWN purpose. C. In the face of perilous times when “...men shall be lovers of their own selves...” (2TI 3:2), Paul recommends a bold defense of the God-exalting, self-abasing gospel. D. The gospel commands self-denial, NOT self-esteem. MAT 16:24. E. Satan's gospel magnifies self rather than God. 2CO 11:4; GEN 3:5; EZE 28:17. F. When one properly perceives God for whom He is, self-esteem is effectively quashed. ISA 6:1-5. v.10. 1. At 2. Jesus Christ is designated Saviour; He is the God Who hath saved us. ISA 43:11. 3. Jesus Christ HATH abolished death. A. He overcame death Himself; it has no power over Him. ROM 6:9. B. He has removed the sting of death. 1CO 15:55-57. C. He destroyed him that had the power of death (the devil). HEB 2:14. 4. Immortality is the condition of not being subject to death. A. Being raised from the dead, Jesus Christ is no longer subject to death. ROM 6:9; ACT 13:32-34; REV 1:18. B. When the mortal bodies of the saints put on immortality, they shall never be subject to death again. 1CO 15:53-54. 5. Jesus Christ brings life and immortality to light by means of the gospel. A. To bring to light means to reveal, to make known, to publish. B. The gospel reveals life and immortality; it does not give it. ROM 1:16-17. (1) v. 10 needs to be understood in light of v. 9 which declares that the work of salvation for the elect has been accomplished. (2) Those who publish the good news (gospel) are but declaring the fact of eternal life perfected in Jesus Christ. 1JO 1:2. (3) To Christ's ministers is committed the word of reconciliation: the announcement that God has reconciled sinners unto Himself in Jesus Christ. 2CO 5:18-19. (4) Therefore, whatever salvation comes of receiving the gospel must be supplemental to the completed salvation for the elect unto eternal glory which the gospel His appearing, Christ executed that which God planned before the world began. 2 Timothy 1:9-10 4-17-16 Page 2 of 3 declares! 2TI 2:10. C. When the gospel shines unto a redeemed soul, it assures that soul of its possession of life and the promise of immortality. 1JO 5:11-13. (1) Conversely, when the gospel shines light on the reprobate, it only manifests his natural enmity and spiritual death. JOH 3:19-20; 1CO 1:18; 2:14. (2) The gospel is to eternal salvation as light is to gold veins in a dark cave: it reveals what is already there awaiting discovery. (3) The gospel is to reprobation as light is to roaches: it exposes and repels. D. The working out of salvation that God has worked into the elect is the shining forth of eternal life in the believer: the gold begins to be mined by faith and brought to the surface where it becomes serviceable. PHIL 2:12-16. (1) The shining forth of life and immortality's light is not to be kept under a bushel. MAT 5:14-16. (2) How blessed are they who shine forth that light now---they shall shine it forth forever. ROM 6:22; MAT 13:43. 2 Timothy 1:9-10 4-17-16 Page 3 of 3