The Promise Used For This Life

At a glance

Relevant Scripture

“For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”

1 Timothy 4:8 KJV

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Chapter 16 of the LibriVox recording of According to Promise, streamed directly from the Internet Archive (public domain, CC0).

UECF.NET summary

The book's later chapters turn from the origin and certainty of the promises to their practical use, beginning here with a chapter on their relevance to present, ordinary life. Spurgeon draws on 1 Timothy 4:8's striking claim that godliness carries promise not only for eternity but for “the life that now is” — daily provision, guidance, comfort in trouble, and strength for present duty, not merely a hope reserved for the world to come.

This chapter, in the spirit of the book's broader argument, presses believers to bring specific present concerns — health, work, family need, ordinary anxiety — to the same promises they would readily apply to the question of eternal salvation. A faith confident about the distant future but timid about today's needs has, in effect, only half believed what Scripture actually claims for godliness.

The pastoral aim is to widen, not narrow, how a believer expects God's word to function. The promises are not reserved for spiritual crises or theological argument; they are meant to be lived on in the ordinary texture of a week — its work, its worries, and its small, unremarkable needs — precisely because Paul insists godliness holds promise for the life that now is.

Main theological themes

• 1 Timothy 4:8's promise of godliness for present, ordinary life as well as eternity
• The tendency to apply God's promises confidently to eternal salvation but timidly to daily, present needs
• Living on God's word in the ordinary texture of work, health, and everyday need, not only in crisis

Key ideas

• Scripture explicitly claims promise for “the life that now is,” not only the life to come.
• A faith bold about eternity but timid about today has not yet believed the whole of what is promised.
• Ordinary daily needs are legitimate ground for claiming God's promises, not a distraction from spiritual ones.
• Present provision and eternal hope rest on the same promising God, not on two different bases of confidence.

Important concepts

• Godliness with promise — Paul's teaching in 1 Timothy 4:8 that a godly life carries real benefit and promise for present circumstances, not only for eternal destiny.

Related Bible references

• Psalm 37:25
• Matthew 6:33
• Psalm 23:1
• Philippians 4:6–7

Practical Christian application

• Bring one ordinary, present concern to God this week on the same promise-based confidence you would apply to eternal matters.
• Notice where you have quietly assumed God's promises are mainly for “spiritual” concerns rather than everyday ones.
• Thank God for one specific way His promise has already provided for present, ordinary need.

Questions for study