that, in his previous letter, Paul admonished Timothy to “keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 6:14). In his letter to Titus, written perhaps a year before 2 Timothy, the apostle wrote, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of