God’s Word for You

2 Timothy 1:1 The promise of life

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, May 27, 2026

2   T I M O T H Y

It was 66 or 67 AD. Quotations from this letter by the very earliest of the Apostolic Fathers (2 Clement 11:1; Ignatius to the Magnesians 15:1; Ignatius to Polycarp 2:3; 6:2; Polycarp to the Philippians 5:2; 7:1; 9:2; 11:4; Shepherd of Hermas [Hs] 6,3,6; 9,26,4) assure us that the traditional date is correct, for the letter could not have been written after it had been so universally quoted.

In Rome, Nero was on the throne, and Paul was once again in prison. This second letter to Timothy is the last of Paul’s letters. He was in prison once again in Rome, a few years after the earlier imprisonment when he had written Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and Philippians. In this letter, Paul is lonely, and he is beginning to get cold, and he misses his books (4:13). He uses this letter to say farewell, because he knows that he will be put to death soon, and be brought to heaven. He encourages Timothy (no longer the boy Paul once knew) to guard the Gospel, which he calls “the promise of life” (1:1) and “the good deposit” (1:14), and to carry on with the unending task of entrusting the Scriptures to the next generation, especially “to faithful men who will be able to teach others” (2:2). He urges that Timothy’s preaching and his own dear faith would remember Jesus Christ as “risen from the dead” (2:8), and who is always faithful, “because he cannot deny himself” (2:13). He also exhorts Timothy to watch his life closely, “to present yourself to God as one who is approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed,” and who “correctly handles the word of truth” (2:15). He warns about persecution that will come (3:12), but that in all circumstances, all of Scripture is useful for all purposes: “for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” (3:16).

Luther points out that Paul “prophesies in chapters 3 and 4 concerning the perilous time at the end of the world. It is then that a false spiritual life will lead all the world astray, with an outward show, under which every sort of wickedness and wrong will have its fling” (LW 35:389).

Professor Gerhard provides this outline:

I, Paul encourages Timothy to guard the soundness of doctrine with great zeal and not to allow any perils to move him from his confession (chapters 1-2).

II, He forewarns Timothy of misleading spirits that already at that time were springing up in the Church (chapter 3).

III, He explains his own situation to Timothy and asks Timothy to come to him, to bring Mark with him; and to bring some of his own things to him (chapter 4).

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus

This is Paul’s inscription, since letters were at that time signed at the beginning rather than at the end for better identification. The words Paul uses here are familiar and common to most of his other letters, except for one phrase. This is, “according to the promise of life,” or “according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.” With these words, Paul is saying what Timothy already knows, that he is not the preacher of an earthly kingdom, but of the promise. This is the promise of what is to come; the promise of eternal life in Jesus. This is one of the key passages that the Holy Spirit gives to us so that we can understand that the Bible talks about the gospel in more than one way. For the gospel is both the promise of the coming of Christ, preached in the Old Testament, and the declaration of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection in the New Testament, and the promise of the benefits of Christ for all believers, and this last is preached in both the Old and the New Testaments, for the comfort, faith, strengthening, and encouragement of sinners.

So the word “Gospel” is the message of free forgiveness of sins that is promised to believers for Christ’s sake. And “gospel” is also used when the Scripture is describing the promise which is offered through the message on account of faith. So we sometimes hear Paul talking about “the word of faith” (Romans 10:8), or “believing what you have heard” (Galatians 3:2), for faith looks to the promise of grace and not to the requirements of the law. So here Paul calls the gospel “the promise of the life that is in Christ.” John says the same thing: “the promise of eternal life” (1 John 2:25). The early church Father, Ignatius, rightly and delightfully says: “The gospel has a kind of preeminence: the coming of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, his passion, and his resurrection.”

Consider the way that Ambrose (d. 397) explained the difference between law and gospel to his congregation: “The Law has the severity of a sword, as a teacher possesses a stick … at least as a [threat] of punishment. But the gospel has forgiveness, by which sins are put away. Therefore Paul speaks correctly when he says (2 Corinthians 3:6) that the letter kills but that the Spirit gives life.”

In this verse, we correctly handle the word of truth by recognizing the supreme importance of the gospel, the message of Christ crucified for our sins and the promise of the good things we will have and experience forever in heaven on account of Christ and, there in heaven, in his presence. We also remember that those who reject Christ and even those who simply do not know him will have no place in heaven, but will be condemned, for “whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). This presses us forward to share the gospel with the world. For although we cannot force anyone to believe, we can share the message, and pray that the Holy Spirit will do his good work in the hearts of sinners, just as he has already done in us.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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