2 Timothy 1:10

Note

From a prison where he awaits death, Paul writes that death has been abolished. Having called Timothy to share in suffering for the gospel, he sets down in one sentence what that gospel is, and this verse is its summit.

In Greek, verses 9 and 10 are a single sentence. God "has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began" (2 Timothy 1:9). That grace, given before the ages and long hidden, has now been made visible. In the next verse Paul says it was for this gospel that he "was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher" (2 Timothy 1:11); near the end of the letter he writes, "the time of my departure is at hand" (2 Timothy 4:6).

euangelion (εὐαγγέλιον) is a genitive with διά, "through": the gospel is the means by which Christ brings life to light. Two aorist participles then describe Christ. He has abolished death (katargeō (καταργέω)) and has brought to light life and incorruption (phōtizō (φωτίζω)). Katargeō means less to annihilate than to make powerless, to put out of action; it is the verb behind "The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:26). Death still comes, but it no longer has the last word. What Christ has done, the gospel shines a light on, so that people can see it.

The KJV's phrase is famous: "hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel". The LSV is as literal: "enlightened life and immortality through the good news". The BSB adds a few words, "illuminated the way to life and immortality", which makes the gospel a lamp on a road. "Immortality" here is aphtharsia (ἀφθαρσία), strictly "incorruptibility", the word Paul uses of the resurrection body: "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable" (1 Corinthians 15:54). It is not only a life that does not die, but a life that cannot decay.

Wesley explains "abolished death" as "Taken away its sting, and turned it into a blessing" Wesley, and says the gospel has clearly revealed the "immortal life which he hath purchased for us" Wesley. Matthew Henry writes that "Salvation is of free grace" Matthew Henry, and that there is "so clear a prospect of eternal happiness by faith in Him, who is the Resurrection and the Life" Matthew Henry.

These words also rang with the language of the empire. Savior (sōtēr (σωτήρ)), appearing (epiphaneia (ἐπιφάνεια)) and good news belonged to the praise of the emperor. The Priene inscription of 9 BC hails Augustus as a savior and says that when he appeared (ἐπιφανείς, from the verb behind epiphaneia) he surpassed the hopes of all who had looked for good news the Priene inscription. Paul uses the same words of a different Savior: not one who ended a war, but One who abolished death.

Death came to Paul too, and he wrote this sentence facing it. The gospel does not promise to spare anyone from dying. It announces that death has been disarmed, and that life has been brought out into the light.