Looking facts in the face (2)

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Paul knows that his life on earth is coming to an end. In the verses just before these – verses 1-5 – he offers his protégé Timothy some advice to help him in his ministry, and now, in verses 6-8, he reflects on his own experience.

I said last time that I wanted to draw out three aspects of his attitude – first, his unflinching realism as he faces the prospect of death; second, his quiet satisfaction as he looks back on the fight he has fought, the race he has run, and the faith he has held on to; and third… but that was where I ran out of space.

So now, focussing on verse 8, the spotlight falls on the reward he is anticipating: “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day”.

One thing is crystal clear: death is not the end! Paul believes that there is more “in store for” him, and he describes it as “the crown of righteousness”. That’s a striking expression.

Is he still thinking here of the running of a race? – for the word “crown” could apply to the wreath or garland that a successful athlete was awarded. Whatever, it is a trophy, a sign of distinction, honour and victory. And, of course, a sign of holiness – for it is the crown of righteousness.

Paul loves the word “righteousness” – you only have to skim through a chapter such as Romans 3 to see how much it means to him. We might take it as just a rather old-fashioned word for “goodness”, and sometimes in the Bible that is pretty much what it means. But in Paul’s eyes, and in general in the New Testament, it has a far richer significance than that.

We might sum it up by saying that righteousness is, first, a status we receive from God as a gift; and, second, an ideal towards which we must then strive.

To be righteous is, in essence, to be right with God: that is, to be forgiven by him and in a good relationship with him. Left to ourselves, though, this is impossible, because of the sin which forms a barrier between us and God, who is perfect and holy.

But the good news of the gospel is this: what we could never do for ourselves he himself has done on our behalf – according to Romans 3:21-22, a new, God-given righteousness is available to us “through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe”. Yes! Once you confess your sin and put your trust simply in Jesus – once you accept his sacrificial death on the cross as the price that had to be paid – the gift of righteousness is yours.

That’s the status part: you are, here and now, a forgiven sinner.

But once you have been made righteous in this way, you now need to become righteous. As it has sometimes been put, however odd it seems: we have to become in reality what we already are by faith. And this, of course, involves constant struggle and will-power: as Jesus himself put it, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6).

So there you have the ideal, something practical to aim for day by day.

You can put it in a nutshell like this: We seek righteousness not in order to be put right with God, but because we have been put right with him.

All this, and much more, is wrapped up in the image of the “crown of righteousness” which Paul looks forward to receiving once his earthly life is over. Going back to 2 Timothy 4, he sees himself being “awarded” it by “the Lord, the righteous judge”, that is, by Jesus himself.

When will this happen? Paul answers: “on that day” – that is, on the day Jesus returns in glory to wind up the affairs of our world.

But given that Paul has now been dead for nearly two thousand years, and given that “that day” still hasn’t happened, does that mean that he and the untold millions like him are still waiting in a kind of death-sleep? Or has he, by death, passed out of the realm of earthly time, so that for him it has already happened?

An interesting question. But not for now!

All that matters is that the resurrection life and the crown of righteousness are for “all who have longed for his appearing”, whether still alive today or long dead. “Not just me!” says Paul. No-one who trusts in Jesus will miss out!

Which leaves us with a challenging question – and a question that is very much for now: does that include you? and me?

Are you confident of one day receiving that beautiful crown of righteousness? You can be!

Father, thank you for the promise of eternal life. I know that I can never be worthy of the crown of righteousness, and that it can only ever be a gift. But help me to live day by in expectation of it, and to reflect the beauty of Jesus in all I do and say. Amen.