Jesus has “abolished death” in that when his disciples die they simply fall into a sleep from which they will awake at the resurrection. The good news is that life and immortality can be obtained through Jesus.v.102 Timothy 1:10XWaiting for response But, this is conditional, and one of the conditions is that disciples “hold fast the form of sound words”, learned through the apostles, “in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus”.v.132 Timothy 1:13XWaiting for response Unfortunately, many of the disciples did not do this, as Paul said: “all they which are in Asia [the Roman province where Paul did much of his preaching] be turned away from me”.v.152 Timothy 1:15XWaiting for response However, there were some faithful individuals, including Onesiphorus and his family,v.162 Timothy 1:16XWaiting for response and Paul prayed that such will “find mercy of the Lord in that day”,v.182 Timothy 1:18XWaiting for response i.e. the day when Jesus returns to reward every man according to his works.
Verses 1-9
2 Timothy 1:1-9XWaiting for responseIn his second letter, Paul expressed his care for Timothy vs.1-52 Timothy 1:1-5XWaiting for response and exhorted him to use to the full the Spirit gift he received by the laying on of Paul’s hands.v.62 Timothy 1:6XWaiting for response The disciples had to preach the gospel in times of great difficulty and persecution vs.7-92 Timothy 1:7-9XWaiting for response but their salvation in Christ had been in God’s purpose from the very beginning.v.92 Timothy 1:9XWaiting for response If these words were taken literally they would mean that the disciples existed “before the world began” but this form of language is common in the Bible by which God, who knows everything in advance, speaks of things that are not yet as though they were. The word “world” here is “aion”, referring to the Mosaic age before which God spoke of the saints who would live in the future, e.g. the multitudinous seed of Abraham who would inherit the land with him. Unfortunately, when this form of speech is used concerning Jesus people take it to mean that he literally existed “before the world began”, whereas he was simply spoken of by God long before he was born of Mary and before he existed.