The previous article considered how Paul changed paths in life, taking a harder role at God’s calling and leaving a popular life behind. Let’s take a second look at the passage from the preceding article.
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 1:11-12 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/2ti.1.11-12.NIV
So, why wasn’t Paul embarrassed about the gospel, even when his previous role gained him fame and recognition, but his role in sharing the gospel cost him something? For one thing, Paul had an appointment by God.
Paul realized that it was better to succeed and suffer in what God calls us to do in His plan, than to merely look good or feel good in a fallen world and end up losing out on living out the purpose for which we were created.
Think about it: what a sad thing it would be to live an entire life and find out that there was something so much better we could have been doing, realizing that we just wasted our efforts on trivial things that never really satisfied us.
In God’s grace, though, He offers those who turn to Him (even at the end of their lives) both a purpose and an eternity with Him. Imagine that: to look back and see a wasted life behind us, but to look ahead and see a life of purpose ahead of us, both what remains of this mortal shell and then eternity! When we let God make us new, the “after” picture lasts longer than the “before” picture.
So, let’s dwell on what God has in front of us, and not regret what time and opportunities we think that we lost. God can use even those as part of His plan, since nothing is “retroactive” to a God who already knows all of time!
In addition, Paul wasn’t ashamed of the gospel because He knew the truth of what he was preaching.
It boggles the mind to even consider that any of the apostles somehow knew (as some have suggested) that they had faked Jesus’ resurrection – overpowering Roman soldiers? really? – and yet endured unthinkable torture for something that they knew to be false.
It’s generally pointless to suffer for a lie (other than maybe to coddle our ego and our pride, but they give lousy rewards when we make them our masters). On the other hand, when someone else needs to know the truth (like when a loved one needs to take medicine for a condition that they have), sometimes we need to deal with their pushback for a while and keep working to help them see the truth until they finally understand and act accordingly.
Here, though, Paul knew – both firsthand and through the testimony of God and others – that the gospel was true.
Along these lines, I think that the glory of the gospel – the very idea that humankind could find life with God again after we had broken things so badly – makes it compelling to tell others. Paul realized that animal sacrifices (which his old life had a lot of) could never take away our sins, but he also now knew that – despite our having no hope of getting back to God on our own – God had made another way. This was a truth worth telling, even if Paul had to take abuse for telling it.
Finally, Paul had no reason to be ashamed of Jesus, because Paul knew – personally – just how reliable and faithful God was. Paul knew Who had brought salvation, Who had shared the truth about it, and Who would fulfill salvation in eternity.
- Paul trusted Jesus, who made salvation possible through His perfect sacrifice for our sins.
- Paul trusted the Holy Spirit, who helped Paul know the right things for him to say and to do within God’s plan.
- And, Paul trusted God the Father, whose prophecies about the Messiah were fulfilled in Jesus, who Paul had been able to rely on every single time in the past, and who Paul knew he could trust in eternity.
Now, what did Paul trust God for? Paul knew that his eternal destiny wasn’t tied to his sufferings or his success or his circumcision. Paul knew that his eternal destiny – living in a perfectly righteous state, in a new body, with the perfect, holy, loving God of the universe – was based upon God’s promise, God’s faithfulness, and God’s unchanging holiness. He could confidently trust God for these things!
And why did Paul trust God? Because Paul knew God: he had a personal, close relationship with the God of the universe. Paul didn’t claw, debate, bully, or earn his way back to God, but God made a way to restore Paul’s and God’s personal relationship, and Paul now lived in that wonderful state.
I’ve mentioned before about how our own testimonies include sharing about how we know God, and what we have personally found Him to be like, because we are in a close personal relationship with Him. These were also part of Paul’s testimony, for sure, but they were also part of his inspiration and his rationale for choosing to keep following God and doing what God called him to do, even if it wasn’t always comfortable.
I don’t think that I can top Mark Scott’s comment from the study guide (cited below): “This gospel caused suffering in an upside-down world. But Paul’s encouraging testimony to Timothy was that he did not care.” [emphasis mine]. The gospel is simply too important to worry about transient issues that result from a sinful world’s pushback.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for March 16, 2025
References:
- 1717 Bible Studies, 2 Timothy, © 2025 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1, 2 Timothy & Titus, by C. Michael Moss. © 1994 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 