Death Abolished!
- Some Fool
- Dec 2, 2025
- 11 min read
2 Timothy 1:9–10 “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,”
We see here that God has saved us; salvation truly is of the Lord (Jon 2:9). From Alpha to Omega, from the beginning to the end, salvation is truly a free gift from God (Eph 2:8–9). God has called us with a Holy Calling. This is not a mere invitation; this is not the gentle whisper of some passive God calling to us from the sky. This is the God whose voice thunders from heaven as the sound of many waters (Ps 29:3–4; Rev 1:15). This is the God who sits in the heavens and does as He pleases (Ps 115:3), the sovereign God, the only God—calling His people out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9). This call is the command of God to LIVE, as He said to Israel when He found them squirming in their own blood, LIVE (Eze 16:6); as He spoke to Lazarus and commanded him to COME FORTH (Jn 11:43). Everyone who receives this call will be saved, for all that the Lord calls He justifies, and will one day glorify (Rom 8:30). This call always results in being born again, in being regenerated by God (Jn 3:8; Jas 1:18; Eze 36:26–27). For this call is that sovereign summons, it is the decree of Yahweh—it is Yahweh calling His people out of darkness into the marvelous light of Christ (1 Pet 2:9).
Next, we see that this salvation and calling is not based upon our works. Scripture speaks of salvation as not based upon works, such as baptism or the Lord’s Supper (Tit 3:5; Eph 2:8–9). Not based upon the law, such as the Ten Commandments or the law of God that is written in our conscience (Rom 3:20; Gal 2:16). Not based upon “he who runs,” that is to say, human effort or some great achievement (Rom 9:16). Nor is it based upon “he who wills”; salvation is not something we choose (Jn 1:13). We don’t call ourselves out of darkness into the marvelous light of Christ (1 Pet 2:9).
Salvation is not in any way attributed to the work, accomplishments, merit, knowledge, choice, or designs of any human, ever. If we found a thousand doctrines from the Word of God that we believe are clearly taught this stands above them all for simplicity. If God has made one thing clear, it is that salvation is not something men can earn or claim to deserve. This is that great stumbling stone and rock of offense that men hate. Anyone who thinks he has played a role in his own salvation is further from the kingdom of God than any prostitute or swindler ever could be. Yet despite the straightforward and simple clarity of God’s word we see dozens of false, works-based religions leading men to hell, based upon the delusions and imaginations of men who twist and pervert Scripture to their own destruction (Rom 9:16; Isa 8:14; 1 Cor 1:23). Very well then, if we have this long list of what salvation does not consist of, then what on earth is it based upon? Why is there a narrow road that leads to life that few people find and a broad road leading to destruction that the masses walk every day? Put simply: What is salvation based upon?
This verse reveals that the salvation God provides is according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus from eternity past. We now arrive at the height of the gospel, and see it not merely as something Christ accomplished in time, not merely as a free gift to be received at the moment one calls upon the name of the Lord, but rather now we look into the very heart of the gospel, into the mind of the Godhead Himself, and we see the genesis and origin of God’s gospel. The good news that Christians believe is something that began before the world was created, in eternity past, long ages ago.
The Trinity held a sacred counsel, and according to the counsel of God’s will and His eternal purpose, God decreed who would be saved (Eph. 1:11). The salvation of God’s people was secured before they were born, before any matter existed. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4); He wrote the names of His children in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth (Rev. 13:8). Then when the fullness of time came God’s eternal purpose and grace was manifested by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. God the Father sent His only begotten Son, our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, to pay the actual and literal sin debt that His children had incurred, He sent the Holy Spirit into the world to regenerate our hearts and seal us for the day of redemption the moment we believed in Christ. Finally, God sends his children out as lights in a dark world, sharing the good news of God’s eternal grace which has been revealed by the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, in this sacred counsel, God determined that He would save a people based upon His grace alone. He did not look down the corridor of time to see who would choose Him, for “there is none who seeks after God” (Rom. 3:11). Nor did He look for some great class of men that might earn salvation, for “all our righteousness is like filthy rags” before a holy God (Isa. 64:6). Despite the entire race of humanity rebelling against Him, the Lord determined that He would not allow all to go to perdition. Rather, for the glory of His own name and the demonstration of His glorious grace, He purposed to save a people for Himself (Eph. 1:5–6).
Therefore, in eternity past, God did not merely decide whom He might save, nor did He decide who could be saved if they met a specific set of conditions. Instead, He actually gave certain people grace—grace unto eternal life—in eternity past. This is why Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37), and why He told His disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16).
Rejoice saints! For God has revealed his eternal purpose for you in Christ! Solomon said that God has put eternity into the hearts of men (Eccl 3:11), and where else can you find something so refreshing as the words set before you? How comforting to think of the Eternal Father choosing you before time began, his thoughts towards us truly are, like the sand of the sea! (Psalm 139:18). Can you imagine your name on his lips and in the heart of Christ long ages before he died for you! Where else can you find comfort like this, where else is there security like this? How this bolsters the soul against depression, anxiety, worries, and arrows of the wicked one! Rejoice saints, for God has loved you with an everlasting love, therefore he has drawn you to himself (Jeremiah 31:3)
But what about the wicked? Dear sinner, if you are reading this, it ought to terrify you. If you are outside of Christ, if you have rejected Him, if you have not responded to the gospel, what a fearful thing I have just described. Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, claimed that nothing can be added to God’s purpose, nor anything removed from it, for God has done this so that men might fear Him (Eccles. 3:14).
You must let this reality sink into your mind: there is absolutely nothing you can do as a sinner to save yourself. Your only hope is the sovereign purpose and grace of God. If He did not choose you, you will end up in hell, and there is nothing you can do about it. Tremble, tremble, my friend, and beg God to forgive you. You may find this approach odd; perhaps you believe that rather than calling you to Christ, I am destroying all of your hope and making you feel despair. To this I would respond that I am doing both. I am attempting to destroy any hope you might have in saving yourself, and any self-reliance or self-righteousness—these indeed I seek to destroy. However, I only do this so that your heart might be churned over to lay hold of the eternal grace that God offers you in Christ.
God has not commanded you to attempt to find out if you are elect. He has commanded you to go to Jesus, to run to Him, and to beg that God would forgive you and wash you of your sins. Furthermore, dear friend, God has promised that anyone who goes to His Son will be received by Him. This is why Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37). So why wait another moment?
Now the question may arise, why Jesus? Of all the places I can go, why would I decide to “go to Jesus?” And the Scripture above makes this as clear as day, because He has abolished death! (2 Tim 1:10). That is to say, He has made death null and void; He has rendered it powerless; He has offered a true solution for death. This is the simplicity of the gospel. You may find a Harvard-educated atheist or a godless pagan living on some island in the Pacific, and they will have one thing in common: they wish not to die. Death is the great enemy of humanity that sits above us all and mocks our wisdom. Death, my dear friends, all religions—true or false—seek to offer you some sort of solution for death, and how our souls naturally crave it. The scientist seeks to escape death through knowledge, though he knows not why. The aesthete seeks to maintain his or her beauty so that they might appear younger and further away from death’s doorstep. The young man obsessed with retiring very early in life, so that he might enjoy a few carefree years, has no concept of why he is so afraid of wasting his time; it is ultimately that he is afraid of death! Death is the great problem, and Christ is the solution, for He has abolished death (2 Tim 1:10); but how?
Death is very simple, my dear reader. Death is the visible manifestation of the wrath of God for our violation of His law. Death entered through sin (Rom 5:12), and the power of sin is the law (1 Cor 15:56), my friends. The law of God reveals our sin (Rom 3:20), aggravates our sin (Rom 7:13), condemns our sin (Gal 3:10), and ultimately the demands of the law must be satisfied, or God would not be just! So how then could Christ conquer death? He did it by entering His own creation. He was born; He took on flesh; the incarnate Son of God fulfilled the requirements of the law (Matt 5:17). How, might you say? By living a perfect life, fulfilling the righteous requirements of God’s law on our behalf (Rom 8:4); then dying as a spotless substitute in the place of sinners on the cross (1 Pet 3:18). Death is simply a debt we owe God for our sin, and Christ has paid the debt in full for the sins of all those who will ever believe in Him. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 6:23).
Salvation is not less than being saved from God’s wrath; but glory be to God, it is far more than that! For Christ not only abolished death, but He also brought life and immortality to light! (2 Tim 1:10) Jesus of Nazareth has revealed things—brought them to light—that were kept hidden from the foundation of the world (Matt 13:35). Why do men die? How can men be right with God? How can we live forever in a joyful state we crave so badly? All of this is revealed in the gospel, the message from God concerning His Son. The life that Christ offers is more than a meager existence, for He tells us that eternal life is to know the one true God and Jesus whom He has sent (John 17:3). Eternal life is an everlasting festival, an endless love song, an eternal relationship with the God who created you and whom you were made for. The joy and hope of all saints is that one day they will see God face to face (Rev 22:4). Can you imagine the day when you see the beauty of not only the One who created your eye, but the One for whom your eyes were created to behold? Can you imagine living in an eternal relationship with the fountain of life (Ps 36:9)? The One who loved you and released you from your sins by His own blood (Rev 1:5)? The quality of this life is beyond our imagination, and the quantity of it is without end. This is what the text means as the difference between life and immortality. Eternal life speaks to the quality of life we will have with our Creator, and immortality speaks to the quantity of it.
When Christ rose from the dead, He not only proved that He had truly abolished death (Acts 2:24), but also that immortality has been purchased for us! Do you see Christ risen from the dead as proof your sins are forgiven? (Rom 4:25). Then go a step further, my dear friend, and see yourself as rising from the dead in Him! (Rom 6:5) His resurrection is proof of yours to come, for He promises you that the hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live! (John 5:25). An immortal and eternal life, with a God who became a man and died for us (Phil 2:6–8). There is nothing like this in all the religions of man; may anyone who dare try to compare this gospel with any contrivance of man, or twist and pervert its truth, be devoted to destruction! (Gal 1:8).
In conclusion, my dear friends, we see that God has saved us. Saved us from death and hell, saved us from His very own wrath that we righteously deserve (1 Thess 1:10). That He has gone further and called us with a Holy Calling (2 Tim 1:9), calling us out of darkness and into His marvelous light and the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13). This was not based upon any work of our own (Eph 2:8–9), nor did we do a single thing to deserve these great privileges. Rather, it was based upon His own purpose and grace which He bestowed on us before time began (2 Tim 1:9). Then, in the fullness of time, God manifested His superabundant grace by the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 4:4). The incarnation, the life, the death, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ revealed God’s gracious plan of salvation for us. Jesus did this by abolishing death (2 Tim 1:10), dying as a substitute in the place of sinners (1 Pet 3:18). In doing so, He brought eternal life and immortality to light (2 Tim 1:10). What once had been shrouded in mystery and darkness long ages past has now been revealed (Rom 16:25–26). The way of life, the way back to God, the way of salvation, has been made known, and how?
This I will close with; this I will leave you with, dear Christian. All these magnificent things have been brought to light through the gospel (Rom 1:16). The same gospel you believe, the same gospel that brought you to life (Eph 2:5), the same gospel that is in your heart, is how God brings to light His divine truth. How on earth can you keep this good news to yourself? Go, fly, run, flee, and tell it on the mountains (Isa 40:9), my dear friend—Christ has come (Matt 1:21), He has died for sinners (Rom 5:8), He has risen from the dead (Matt 28:6). This is how God brings people to life! Don’t be foolish, don’t waste your life, Christian! Tell people—they must know what Christ has done; they must believe in Him (John 3:16), and the gospel you believe is their only hope (Acts 4:12). God has revealed His will and grace through the gospel (2 Tim 1:10), and He has trusted you with its sacred contents (1 Thess 2:4)! The eternal plan of God has been manifested, and I beg you, dear reader, do not hide your lamp under a basket (Matt 5:15). Tell the world about Christ, before it is too late (2 Cor 6:2).
