He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.  2 Timothy 2:9 – 12

It is hard for me to imagine what Paul went through on that final swing around the churches he helped to plant in Turkey.  When he describes that journey he points to intense suffering that he endured.  He had suffered on his earlier journeys with his team of Timothy, Silas and Luke, but it seems like his suffering then was soon caught up in the exaltation of seeing men and women coming to Christ in Greek settings.   Not so on his most recent visit.  We know very little detail.  Paul is not one bit interested in defending himself or even explaining what happened.  Rather, all of that pushed him to deal with the issue of suffering for Christ’s sake.  This comes out in this final letter to Timothy.

Look into Paul’s heart.  He never forgot that he was saved by Jesus Christ and was called to live a life of holiness that is a gift of God, not something that we work out or conjure up.  God’s grace is the constant.  Even before time that grace compelled God.  We see it pushing in the Old Testament.  Now, Paul says, that grace of God is revealed through the appearing of Jesus Christ.  He destroyed death, brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. All of this was of God and all was the result of his active grace.  Paul owed everything to that grace, the same grace that Jesus displayed.

As Paul received that grace, he realized that he, himself, was called to proclaim this Gospel, serve as an apostle of Jesus Christ and to teach all who would listen about the offer of free salvation to all. That sounds nice.  But Paul hastens to say, That is why I am suffering as I am. He goes on to explain to Timothy, Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

We can all bathe in that truth even today.