{"id":8947,"date":"2022-06-01T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T14:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/?p=8947"},"modified":"2022-05-31T09:34:45","modified_gmt":"2022-05-30T23:34:45","slug":"faithful-to-the-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/2022\/06\/01\/faithful-to-the-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Faithful to the End"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Timothy 4:6-8\u00a06<\/sup>For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is\u00a0imminent. <\/i>7<\/sup>I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;\u00a0<\/i>8<\/sup>Finally, the crown of righteous is reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me in that day, and not only to me but also to everyone who has loved his appearing.<\/em><\/p>\n

Paul shifts from Timothy’s situation back to his own and again offers himself as an example of faithfulness to one\u2019s calling. He had a sense that his life would soon end. He was in a Roman prison about to face trial. He was not optimistic that this trial would go well for him. It is not clear whether God gave Paul this sense of imminent end or he looked at his present difficult circumstances.\u00a0Both Greco-Roman and Jewish contexts used drink offerings as a sacrifice. Paul had poured out his life in ministry. His final sacrifice was near, and his departure<\/em> to be with Christ was near. The perfect tense of is imminent<\/em> implies that death will not end Paul’s relationship with Christ.\u00a0It was almost time to pack the bags for heaven. He did not fear death because of \u201cthe promise of life that is in Christ Jesus\u201d (2 Timothy 1:1).\u00a0Paul would soon not be around, and so Timothy would be on his own. He needed to focus his ministry and serve in the pattern of Paul.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Verse\u00a07 gives three brief statements of Paul’s testimony of his faithfulness while challenging Timothy to remain faithful to his own calling. These descriptions should not be interpreted as Paul’s prideful boasting but as confirmation of his endurance by the grace of Christ. All three verbs are in the perfect tense indicating that Paul’s decision long ago to follow Christ has continued into the present.\u00a0The good fight<\/em> gives the image of the intense struggle Paul faced in his ministry. The finished<\/em> race<\/em> implies the goal and focus of his ministry. He had victory in both because he kept the faith<\/em>. He did not compromise or give up under pressure and persecution.<\/p>\n

Verse 8\u00a0shifts to the outcome of Paul’s faithfulness. Like ancient runners who received a wreath of honor for winning a race, Paul would receive the crown of righteousness<\/em>. The crown is described as righteous because it is a confirmation of God’s gift of righteousness and a reward for faithfully living out this righteousness. Jesus, as the impartial and just judge, will see Paul\u2019s faithfulness and reward him. This reward will come on that day<\/em> of final judgment when Christ returns (verse 1). Paul urges Timothy and the Ephesians to remain faithful as well.<\/p>\n

Paul is not the only one to receive this reward of righteousness but everyone who has loved\u00a0<\/em>and anticipated Jesus’ coming again.\u00a0Paul’s testimony should inspire us to serve the Lord with all our strength until our last breath. The coming of Jesus is not something to fear but to look forward to. It should motivate us to be faithful to the calling has given to each.<\/p>\n

For older posts, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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2 Timothy 4:6-8\u00a06For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is\u00a0imminent. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;\u00a08Finally, the crown of righteous is reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotions","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8947"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8965,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8947\/revisions\/8965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}