For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
All Commentaries on 2 Timothy 4:6 Go To 2 Timothy 4
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Hear Paul the apostle first acknowledging grace and afterwards seeking what was owed. What is the acknowledgment of grace in Paul? He “was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and contumelious,” he says, “but I obtained mercy.” He said that he was unworthy to obtain it, but that he obtained it not by his own merits but by the mercy of God. Hear him now ready to receive what is owed, he who had first accepted unmerited grace. He says, “For I am even now ready to be sacrificed, and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice.” Now he demands what is owed. Now he exacts what is to be paid. For look at the following words: “Which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me in that day.”
