By David Ettinger
The Final Sacrifice
As the apostle Paul sat in his final home – a dark, dank prison cell – he knew his life on this earth was coming to an end.
In summing up his perception of these last days of his mortality, Paul wrote to his beloved “spiritual son” Timothy: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come” (2 Timothy 4:6).
The drink offering Paul refers to comes out of the Old Testament and was a part of ancient Israel’s sacrificial system. Specifically, the drink offering was a cup of wine a Jewish priest poured out beside the altar following the offering of a ram, lamb, or bull in the Temple (see Numbers 15:1-10; 28:4-7).
The drink offering was the final offering following the burnt and grain offerings. According to John MacArthur, “Paul saw his coming death as his final offering to God in a life that had already been full of sacrifices to Him” (The MacArthur Study Bible, p. 1851).
A Lifetime Sacrifice
But more than just a final sacrifice, Paul most likely saw his entire Christian life as being an offering to God. To understand this, we must go back a chapter, to 2 Timothy 3:10-12:
Now you [Timothy] followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith,
patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as
happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra; what persecutions
I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! Indeed,
all who want to live in a godly way in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
It is clear that Paul was at all times “pouring himself out” as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1; see also Philippians 2:17). The proof of this is the “persecutions” and “sufferings” he endured.
Indeed, the entirety of Paul’s Christian life had been an ongoing drink offering being poured out to God, and his death would be the final emptying of the cup.
Pouring Out Ourselves
Note, too, Paul’s words to Timothy when he wrote, “all who want to live in a godly way in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
I have heard it said that if Christians are not being persecuted, they are not doing much for the cause of Christ.
Of course, Christian persecution in Iran and China looks nothing like Christian “persecution” in the West, but the thought is well taken: If believers in the West are living perfectly peaceful lives, we are probably not doing all we could be doing for Christ.
And it is a good bet we are not “pouring themselves out” for Christ.
This is not to say that Christianity is based on works, as salvation is by grace alone through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, believers are to express their already-found faith through works (Ephesians 2:10; James 2:14-26).
The question naturally follows: What kind of works should we do? Well, we are “to look out … for the interest of others” (Philippians 2:4) and “Bear one another’s [fellow believers’] burdens” (Galatians 6:2), but I believe Paul was specifying his work in spreading the Gospel.
After all, it wasn’t for his kind treatment of others that he was being persecuted; rather Paul was suffering hardships as result of his Gospel endeavors.
Another question that arises is, What does it mean to “pour out” one’s self? A good definition is to be totally dedicated to the work of sharing the Gospel. In today’s vernacular, the phrase that best fits is “being sold out.”
To pour out our lives for Christ, or to be totally sold out to Him, means – according to the context of 2 Timothy 4:6 – to be looking for opportunities to share the Gospel anytime, anywhere, and with anyone. And we are to do so regardless of the potential consequences.
Self-Examination
The question now is: According to Paul’s example, are you pouring yourself out for Christ – that is, are you completely dedicated to looking for Gospel-sharing opportunities at every turn?
I can’t say that I am, and I imagine quite a few you are the same. If so, we owe it to our beloved Savior to seek His grace and enpowerment in being more active sharers of His Word, always seeking fresh opportunities to do so, and resolving to be ambassadors for Christ in this perishing world.
May we be found faithful in pouring out our lives as a drink offering to Him!
David Ettinger is a writer/editor at Zion’s Hope, Inc., and has written for Zion’s Fire magazine since its inception in 1990.
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