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godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution' (3: 12 R.V.) and this is a reminder to all of
us that there is a price to be paid if we want to be counted among those whom the Lord
deems `faithful'. Let us not therefore be surprised when the tests and difficulties come.
However, it is indeed good to realize that the almighty power of God is the source of
all strength, wisdom and endurance and again and again the Apostle relied alone on this
and urged other fellow-believers to do the same. To trust in anything else is to court
disaster; to rely on the exceeding power that conquered death is to find it always more
than sufficient for every need. So Timothy is urged not to fear the consequences of
standing loyally for the sacred trust committed to him, for this glorious power could be
his at all times, enabling him to triumph over all the trials and persecution through which
he might have to pass.
Paul now continues:
"God, Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose (plan) and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the age-times" (1: 9, R.V.).
While the Bible is the revelation of a mighty plan conceived by God in past eternity
involving both heaven and earth, how wonderful it is that the individual child of God is
not lost in all its vastness! Each member of the Body of Christ did not come into this
relationship by accident or human choice. It was all part of the Lord's design and
exceeding grace and love. Human merit could not come into it, for there was none (`not
according to our works'). Just as Eph. 1: 4 assures each member that he was `chosen in
Christ before the foundation of the world', so here a glorious part was given to every
member in Christ Jesus before the age-times (literally), a unique time period, as we have
seen when studying Ephesians. Other phases of God's purposes are linked with the
period `since the foundation of the world' and if words mean anything, these two periods
must be distinct, for before an event and after an event express two distinct aspects of
time. We have the same expression in Titus 1: 2 which the A.V. translates `before the
world began'. J. N. Darby renders both `before the ages of time' and Weymouth's
original version reads `before the commencement of the ages', which are both truer to the
original God-inspired Greek than the A.V.
In contrast to this vast look back into the past and the beginning of God's great plan
for His creation is the now of manifestation:
"But hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, Who
abolished death, and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel, whereunto
I was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher" (1: 10, 11, R.V.).
This is parallel again to the opening of the epistle to Titus, the `now' of II Timothy
corresponding to the `due times' of Titus 1: 3 A.V., or as the R.V. renders it:
"God, Who cannot lie, promised before times eternal (lit. age-times), but in His own
seasons manifested His word in the message wherewith I was intrusted according to the
commandment of God our Saviour."