2 Timothy 2:8-10 - The word of God is not bound!

2:8,9

Paul then summarise the gospel, or rather points out two key elements of it. It is about Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead, and is descended from David. The resurrection is central, without it there is no gospel. But this did not happen in a vacuum, it is the culmination, the fulfillment of all the promises and plans that are revealed in the Old Testament. There are some apologists who are saying the resurrection is the only thing that matters, and everything else flows from this. On the importance of the resurrection we can wholeheartedly agree, but it does not stand in isolation. It is part of the whole narrative that runs from Genesis to Revelation, and can only be understood in that context. Otherwise it is just a “conjuring trick with bones” as one liberal bishop of Durham once infamously said.

2:10

Paul endures everything for the “sake of the elect. As is often the case in the Bible, we see love for God and love for man being intrinsically linked. The greatest example of this is when Jesus gives the two greatest commandments (Matt 22:36-40). The first is to love God, the second to love our neighbour, and Jesus says the second is like the first. John says that if don’t love our brother then any claim to love God is a sham (1 John 4:20). With Paul we are used to him being happy to suffer for the sake of Christ, but here he also says he is doing it for the sake of the elect. Our society encourages us to be utterly self-centred, and sometimes this ethos creeps into the church. The Bible teaches us to be God-centred and other people-centred. When we do this we truly become alive. We become people whose lives help others to obtain salvation in Christ and to share in eternal glory.