Commentaries:
What powerful words! He brought life and immortality. We have life—mortal life—but not immortality. Could "life," in context with the word "immortality," be a different kind of life than we are now living? We should be on the way to living this new life brought by the gospel. But it is not the kind of life human beings ordinarily live.
What kind of gift would immortality be to give eternal life to those who murder, rape, pillage, plunder, abuse children, or live in any other sin? If they were given immortality, would they not continue to do the things they had been trained from a child to do? Without a doubt, they would.
The life Paul writes about is the kind of life that came through the message of Jesus Christ. Contained within the gospel is God's life, a quality of life that God lives to which He is willing to add immortality. It is a powerful part of the good news of the Kingdom of God. Paul stated in an earlier epistle, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation" (Romans 1:16). And the gift of the Spirit God has given is one of power (II Timothy 1:7).
What is the gospel? It is just words, ideas. But those words impart power! They motivate our lives. They give us the will to do things in righteousness. They give us drive, endurance, perseverance, patience, hope, faith, understanding, gentleness, goodness, kindness, vision, direction. They give us a path for our lives, a way of living that produces a quality of life to which God will add immortality. God is training us in His way of life.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Guard the Truth!
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