1:10a

And now He has revealed this grace: Scholars have different opinions about the way the clause now He has revealed relates to “before time began” in 1:9e. The Greek is ambiguous. There are two points of view about how these two periods of time relate to each other.

(1) Some scholars say that the two clauses should be connected with an and. They believe that 1:10a expresses the next step in God’s plan of grace. For example, the New Living Translation (2004 Revision) says:

And now he has made all of this plain to us….

See also Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, LSA.

(2) Other scholars say that the two clauses should be connected with a but. They believe that 1:10a expresses a contrast in time with 1:9e. For example, the New Century Version says:

but it is now shown to us…

See also New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, NET Bible, New American Standard Bible, King James Version, New Jerusalem Bible.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). However, interpretation (2) also has much support. If the major language version in your area follows interpretation (2), you may want to follow interpretation (2) instead.

this grace: Grace continues to be the subject in 1:10a. God has revealed/shown to us his grace through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

1:10b

through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus: The phrase the appearing of our Savior refers to all that Jesus did while he lived on the earth. It includes Jesus’ death and rising again.

our Savior, Christ Jesus: This is the only time in the New Testament Greek text that these three names occur in this order. In other places in the New Testament text, the order of this phrase is always “(our) Savior Jesus Christ.” It is recommended that you retain the same order for Christ Jesus here as you used in 1:1a.

Savior: Savior here means “one who saves/rescues someone from spiritual and eternal danger.”

1:10c

who has abolished death: Paul spoke of death as something that Christ abolished/destroyed/defeated. Not all languages speak about death this way. You need to translate this to show that the effects of death are ended. Physically, the bodies of Christians will be raised to life when Christ returns. Spiritually, Christians do not die. They go to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23).

Another way to say this is:

He has ended the power of death (Good News Translation).

1:10d

and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel: “Our Savior, Christ Jesus” (1:10b) continues to be the subject here. (Because of the presence of the Greek word men in v.10c, consultants should check that v.10d has received at least as much prominence as 10c, preferably more.)

illuminated the way: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as illuminated the way is a metaphor that means “to show” or “to reveal.” Christ has allowed us to “see/know/experience” life and immortality.

life and immortality: In this phrase the word immortality describes life. Together these two terms mean “a (spiritual) life that lasts forever.” Two possible ways to translate this are:

immortal life (Good News Translation)
-or-
everlasting life (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

through the gospel: The gospel message (or good news) was the means that Christ (and his followers) used to tell human beings that he had given them everlasting life.

© 2003 by SIL International®

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.