Blessed Assurance

193 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Ti 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, In Paul's introductory remarks in his first letter to Timothy, he emphasized his authority as an Apostle in order to underline the veracity of the letter that Timothy would have in his hand to show the churches that the instructions and exhortations that young Timothy would be delivering to these congregations carried the full Apostolic weight of Paul! In this second, more personal, letter to his beloved Timothy he emphasizes the promise of eternal life that awaits all Apostles and believers who remain faithful to the end. It is the promise of eternal life through faith in Christ that motivates the Apostles to follow their calling, and it is this hope that Paul wished Timothy to cling to as he follows his calling. Difficult days lie ahead and this promise will help carry him and us through! Remember Paul is facing certain execution as he writes this letter, and he uses these words to assure Timothy, that he will be just fine after his execution because of the promise of life in Christ Jesus. This is not some sort of false bravado on Paul's part. He wants Timothy to know for sure that he will be okay, and indeed that Timothy and all those who follow in the faith will also be okay no matter what they may face in this life! This little phrase in Paul's greeting, “according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,” is just another way of stating, Ro 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. How often the saints through the ages, and yes, even you and I need to be reminded of this truth. No matter what kind of persecution comes our way, no matter what calamity, what trial, we have Christ Jesus and a guarantee of arriving at heaven's shores “according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus!