 |  |
The mention of the crown here makes this promise parallel with the crown and
reigning of II Tim. 2: & 4:, and with the prize of I Cor. 9: and Phil. 3:: "So run that
ye may obtain."
#12.
"The promise of life" (II Tim. 1: 1).
pp. 227 - 230
Let us conclude this series of simple studies by noticing the way in which "the
promise" is introduced in the pastoral epistles, namely, those to Timothy and Titus:--
"Bodily exercise profiteth a little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having
promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" (I Tim. 4: 8).
"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life
which is in Christ Jesus" (II Tim. 1: 1).
"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began"
(Titus 1: 2).
In these three references we shall find life in three aspects as the subject of promise:--
(1)
The life that now is and the life that is to come. The latter includes;
(2)
Life which is in Christ Jesus.
(3)
Aionion or age-abiding life.
One feature must strike every reader, and that is the prominence that life receives in
these references to promise. Granted that one has life, all other blessings may be
enjoyed, but apart from the possession of life all else is impossible. It is surely a feature
not to be despised, that "the life that now is" is a matter of promise and of godly
concern:--
"God is the Saviour of all men."
| "The life that now is."
"Specially of those that believe."
| "The life that is to come."
(I Tim. 4: 8-10).
What are we to understand by "bodily exercise"? Paul makes frequent allusions to the
athletic games and contests that occupied such an important part in the life of the Greek
and Roman world.
Very parallel to the statement that "bodily exercise profiteth for a little"--both as to
degree and duration--is the passage dealing with Corinthian athletes in I Cor. 9: 24-26:--
"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So
run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all
things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I
therefore so run, not as uncertainty; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air."