Christ brought life and incorruption to light to fulfill the promise of life for a believer to be an apostle. Second Timothy 1:1 speaks of Paul as “an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus.” This verse indicates that Paul became an apostle not only through the will of God but also according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus. The divine life, which God promised in the Old Testament and which Paul received and lived by, constituted him into an apostle; by receiving, enjoying, and living by the promised life, he, the foremost sinner, became an apostle, even the foremost apostle (1 Tim. 1:15-16, 12).
The expression the promise of life in 2 Timothy 1:1 does not mean that we have only the promise and not the life. It means that we have received the promised life. A similar term, the promise of the Spirit, is used in Galatians 3:14. This term does not mean that we have received only the promise and not the Spirit; it means that we have received the Spirit who has been promised. In the same principle, the words the promise of life denote the promised life. Paul was an apostle according to the life which God had promised, which Paul had received, and which dwelt within him. Paul became an apostle by this life.
This indicates that we can receive this promised life so that we may not only have this life and live by this life but also serve God to the uttermost as an apostle. In the Bible the highest office for servants of God is that of the apostle (1 Cor. 12:28). The Old Testament speaks of priests as servants of God, but the New Testament speaks of apostles. Because the new testament economy is higher than the old testament economy, to be an apostle is higher than to be a priest. An apostle is one who has received the promised life and lives by this life; receiving the divine life and living by the divine life constitutes one to be an apostle. The divine life can do so much for us that by enjoying Christ as the One who brought life to light, we may serve God as apostles.
In keeping with this, 2 Timothy 1:11 says, “For which I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.” The relative pronoun which refers to the gospel of divine grace and eternal life. This corresponds with the gospel in grace and life presented by the apostle John (John 1:4, 16-17). For such a gospel Paul was appointed an apostle, one who sets up and establishes the churches for God’s administration.
Divine life was promised in the Old Testament, and this great promise of life is repeated and developed in the New Testament. Divine life is promised specifically in Habakkuk 2:4, which says, “The righteous one will live by his faith.” Here, to live means to have life and live. This word unveils God’s eternal salvation given to sinners. Under God’s judgment all sinners, whether Jews or Gentiles, are destined to die (Rom. 6:23). The unique way for sinners to escape God’s judgment and obtain God’s eternal salvation is to believe in God’s embodiment, Christ, that they may become righteous and be justified in order to have life and live (John 3:16-18). God’s eternal salvation is to save our entire being—spirit, soul, and body—for eternity (1 Thes. 5:23). The way for us to receive such a salvation is to believe in Christ so that we may be justified by God and thus be qualified to have the eternal, divine life and live by that life (Rom. 3:24; 5:1-2, 10, 17; Eph. 2:8). This is the New Testament gospel in an Old Testament prophetic book.
The apostle Paul quotes this word in Habakkuk three times in the New Testament (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). In Romans 1:17 Paul says, “The righteousness of God is revealed in it out of faith to faith, as it is written, ‘But the righteous shall have life and live by faith.’” This verse reveals that the righteousness of God justifies us so that we may have God’s life (5:18) and live by it. In this way this life will sanctify and transform us thoroughly. Romans covers mainly our being justified (1:1—5:11; 9:1—11:36), our having life (5:12—8:39), and our living properly by this life (12:1—16:27). In Galatians 3:11 Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4, “The righteous one shall have life and live by faith”; in Hebrews 10:38 he also quotes the verse, “My righteous one shall live by faith.” These three verses, in which Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4, stress our having life and our living by faith.
Second Timothy was written at a time when the churches established through the apostle’s ministry in the Gentile world were in a trend of degradation and the apostle himself was confined in a remote prison. Many had turned away from him and forsaken him (1:15; 4:16), including even some of his co-workers (v. 10). It was a discouraging and disappointing scene, especially to his young fellow worker and spiritual child, Timothy. Because of this, in the opening of this encouraging, strengthening, and establishing Epistle, he confirmed to Timothy that he was an apostle of Christ not only through the will of God but also according to the promise of life, which is in Christ. This implies that though the churches may become degraded and many of the saints may backslide in unfaithfulness, the eternal life, the divine life, the uncreated life of God, promised by God in His holy writings and given to the apostle and all the believers, remains forever the same. With and upon this unchanging life the firm foundation of God was laid and stands unshaken through all the tide of degradation (2:19). By such a life those who seek the Lord out of a pure heart are able to stand the test of the church’s decline. This life, which the apostle in 1 Timothy charged Timothy and others to lay hold on (6:12, 19), must have been an encouragement and strengthening to the apostle in perilous times.
When Paul was writing this Epistle, he was fully aware that the churches were declining. However, because he was one who laid hold on the promise of eternal life, he was not discouraged or disappointed. He had something within him which never changed—the eternal, uncreated, incorruptible life of God. No matter how the environment may change, this eternal life remains the same. Thus, he himself was encouraged in the life of God and not disappointed by the situation, because he laid hold on the eternal life promised by God in His holy writings. The life promised by God in the Scriptures dwelt within Paul.
The eternal life according to which Paul became an apostle is incorruptible and unchanging, for this life is actually the processed Triune God Himself. Because this life dwelt in Paul, not even the whole Roman Empire was able to prevail over him in its dealings with him. Paul was strengthened by the processed Triune God as life. Whatever we do and whatever we are must be according to the eternal life and by this life.