2 Timothy 1:2 – Pulsating with Peace
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, a beloved son:
Grace, mercy, and peace…
In his Morning and Evening devotional, Charles Spurgeon yawps with especially intense fervor on the reality of the position of God's people, declaring, "They shall walk in white"; that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith; they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen snow."
Walking in white has been a literal phenomenon. It was for the high priest whose filthy garments the Lord exchanged in Zechariah 3. Until it is literal again in Heaven, we can look at Paul's example in his ecstatic opening list in 2 Timothy 1:2 and know that we can give off the piece of our perfected position, a reality as resplendent as a wardrobe will one day be.
Because of what Christ has already done and the way in which He has positioned us, we can second John Calvin's declaration over Philippians 1:26, "Faith is itself goodness of conscience." A sense of our righteousness in Christ cleanses us internally in Him and gives us an assurance by which we wade into otherwise difficult situations. Spurgeon, in Morning and Evening again, reasons for us, "They shall walk in white"; that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith; they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen snow."
Our vulnerability, then, is of the truest kind. We can confess that He has positioned us, that He has candidly given us any influence we possess, as Paul has. We can, even as men, be honest about our concerns for one another, bravely admitting in such an action that people might disappoint us and that the world so used scoffing may well scoff at
the closest phenomenon we will experience to authentic relationships this side of Glory.
We are not vulnerable, then, in the begrudged sense that we are looking for commiseration from our compatriots, fellow litigants in our class-action suit against the world. We are past all that. We have experienced victory in Christ. Though the intentions of His enemies flare up now and again by His permission to give us practice with His arms, the war is essentially over. Christ's, "It is finished!" rasped in its utterance yet thunderous in its impact, covers us. In that sense, every word speak is besotted with peace.
2 To Timothy, a beloved son:
Grace, mercy, and peace…
In his Morning and Evening devotional, Charles Spurgeon yawps with especially intense fervor on the reality of the position of God's people, declaring, "They shall walk in white"; that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith; they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen snow."
Walking in white has been a literal phenomenon. It was for the high priest whose filthy garments the Lord exchanged in Zechariah 3. Until it is literal again in Heaven, we can look at Paul's example in his ecstatic opening list in 2 Timothy 1:2 and know that we can give off the piece of our perfected position, a reality as resplendent as a wardrobe will one day be.
Because of what Christ has already done and the way in which He has positioned us, we can second John Calvin's declaration over Philippians 1:26, "Faith is itself goodness of conscience." A sense of our righteousness in Christ cleanses us internally in Him and gives us an assurance by which we wade into otherwise difficult situations. Spurgeon, in Morning and Evening again, reasons for us, "They shall walk in white"; that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith; they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen snow."
Our vulnerability, then, is of the truest kind. We can confess that He has positioned us, that He has candidly given us any influence we possess, as Paul has. We can, even as men, be honest about our concerns for one another, bravely admitting in such an action that people might disappoint us and that the world so used scoffing may well scoff at
the closest phenomenon we will experience to authentic relationships this side of Glory.
We are not vulnerable, then, in the begrudged sense that we are looking for commiseration from our compatriots, fellow litigants in our class-action suit against the world. We are past all that. We have experienced victory in Christ. Though the intentions of His enemies flare up now and again by His permission to give us practice with His arms, the war is essentially over. Christ's, "It is finished!" rasped in its utterance yet thunderous in its impact, covers us. In that sense, every word speak is besotted with peace.
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