<p>4:6 <i>For I am already being offered- </i>Paul has in view his imminent death, but he sees it as on ongoing death. Alternatively we can read this as GNB &quot;the hour has come for me to be sacrificed&quot;. But there is the idea as reflected in the AV that &quot;I am now <i>ready</i> to be offered&quot;. It seems that Paul wrote 2 Tim. 4 when news of his imminent death had just been broken to him. As Paul faced his death, there was a deep self-knowledge within him that he was ready, that he was &quot;there&quot;. As we face the imminent return of the Lord, it should be possible for us to have a similar sense: &quot;I am now ready...&quot;. If we don't know that we are &quot;in the faith&quot; and that &quot;Christ is in you&quot;, then we are &quot;reprobates&quot; (2 Cor. 13:5). All those who will be accepted <i>must</i>, therefore, <i>will</i>, therefore, have a measure of self-knowledge and appreciation of how far they've grown in Christ. Growth is a natural process, it's impossible to feel it happening. But by looking back on our lives and attitudes and comparing them with the experience of successful believers, it <i>is</i> possible to get some idea of our readiness for the judgment.</p><p><i>And the time of my departure comes</i>- Paul had earlier spoken&nbsp; of his &quot;departure&quot; (Phil. 1:23), he had told Timothy and the Ephesian elders that he must finish his course with joy (Acts 20:24); and he knew his time had come; he could speak of having reached &quot;the time of my <i>departure</i>&quot; (2 Tim. 4:6). The level of self-knowledge he had as he faced the end is remarkable. Yet it really is possible for each of us; for his glorious race to the finish is our pattern. Despite his surface sadness and depression, Paul was finishing his course <i>with joy</i>.</p><p>As Paul's sense of his own sinfulness grew, so did his confidence of salvation. These two elements, meshed together within the very texture of human personality, are what surely give credibility and power to our witness to others. On one hand, a genuine humility, that we are sinners, that we are the last people who should be saved; and yet on the other, a definite confidence in God's saving grace and the achievement of Jesus to save sinners. Paul at the very end had a wonderful confidence in the outcome of the day of judgment. He had spoken earlier of running the race (1 Cor. 9:24-26; 1 Tim. 6:12). Now he says that he has finished it, in victory. His final words consciously allude back to what he wrote to the Philippians a few years earlier:</p><div align=center><table border=0 cellspacing=3 cellpadding=0 width=100%>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td>            <p>            Philippians</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>2 Timothy 4</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>What I should like   is to depart (1:23)</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>The hour for my   departure s.w. is come (4:6)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>If my life-blood is   to crown the sacrifice (2:17)</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Already my life   blood is being poured out on the altar of sacrifice s.w. (4:6)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>I have not yet   reached perfection finishing but I press on (3:12)</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>I have run the   great race, I have finished s.w. perfected the course (4:7)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>I press toward the   goal to win the prize (3:14)</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Now the prize   awaits me (4:8)</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table></div><p>Paul felt that he had attained the maturity which he had earlier aimed for. To have the self-knowledge to say that is of itself quite something. May it be our ultimate end too. These parallels and Paul's commentary becomes all the more poignant if we accept the view that actually, Paul did not die soon after 2 Tim. 4 was written- rather was he released, did much work for the Lord, and died under Nero at a later date. In this case his commentary in 2 Tim. 4 is a reflection not so much of a dying man's last words and hopes, but of a mature, reasoned conviction that in fact he had arrived at a point of believing in salvation.</p>