I want to put this old series of posts in the favorite posts section on the right sidebar, so I’ve been reposting them from my previous Blogger blog one by one. An explanation of this series of posts can be found here. You’ll find other posts in this series here.
Here’s how Paul uses of the word called in 2 Timothy 1:9:
… God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began…. (ESV)
Some scholars think this verse and the one following are part of an early Christian hymn. The language and thought, though, are not different from what Paul writes elsewhere, so if it’s a hymn, maybe it’s one that he wrote. At the very least, we can say that he approved of what was written here or he would not have included it in his letter to Timothy.
Here’s what I notice about the word call in this verse:
- Call is closely associated with salvation just as it was in 1 Corinthians 1 and 1 Corinthian 7.
- The call is to something—to a holy calling. Once more, there’s the thought of appointment or assignment. (See the two posts linked above for other similar uses of call.) Those who are called or saved are not only called from a life of sin, but to a life of holiness.
- Here, as in 1 Corinthians 1, the call is said to be based in God’s will or purpose or choice.
- This call is also based in God’s grace. Because God is gracious, he wills or chooses to call people. This fits perfectly with the statement that the call does not come to us because of (or based on) our works. Grace, at least in the way Paul uses the word, stands in contrast to human works. If something comes to us based on our works, then it cannot come as a result of God’s grace.
- The grace from which God’s call comes is given before the beginning of time. God’s call, then, originates in God’s precreation plan. The gracious choice to call was made “before the ages began.”
- Even though God’s choice to call was made before time, it is grounded in the temporal saving work of Christ. This grace is given to us “in Christ”; it is because Christ would come to abolish death (v. 10) that God’s choice to graciously call could be made in eternity past.
As always, these posts are a work in progress, so I welcome additional observations or corrections. What does your magnifying glass detect?