Kolistus, in that last section I quoted ^ , are you then saying that the "eternal life" we have NOW [/possess at some point, upon faith in Christ] is at risk of, at some later point, being revoked and no longer "eternal" (like, if we should fail to do such and such)?
Consider the following... a commentary excerpt by Wm Kelly on that verse in Titus 1:2 (in your post ^ ):
[quoting]
"The apostle pursues what has been already begun in describing his mission. It was "upon hope of life eternal which God that cannot lie promised before the times of the ages (or everlasting),* but manifested in its own seasons His word in a preaching, with which I was entrusted, according to command of our Saviour God" (vers. 2, 3).
"*This is a phrase peculiar in itself and difficult to transfuse well and truly into English. "Eternal" is clear, as said of God, life, punishment of sin. etc. But in combination with "times" it appears harsh, as in Romans 16:25, and still more where πρὸ precedes, as in 2 Timothy 1:9 and here. Mr. T. S. Green gives "in all time" and "before all time" respectively, which seems weak or worse for the first case. Mr. Darby for Rom. 16 prefers "in [the] times of the ages," and for 2 Tim. and Titus "before the ages of time." But why invert thus? Would it not be better to adhere to the same order in all three, "times of ages?" Perhaps indeed "times everlasting" might be admissible for although the A.V. uses "eternal" and "everlasting" interchangeably, the latter is not necessarily so absolute as the former. We might say "before times everlasting" but hardly "before times eternal," and for more reasons than one. It is unfounded to conceive a difference of sense between its use in 2 Tim. 1 and Titus 1; and the wish springs from misunderstanding of the truth.
"Life eternal is really given to the believer now; and this is a revelation by no means uncommon in the writings of our apostle. Its present possession is emphatically prominent in the writings of John, whether the Gospel or his First Epistle. But Paul frequently treats it according to its future display, as in the Synoptic Gospels. In the well-known passage of his, Romans 6:22-23, we have it clearly: "Ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end life eternal. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is life eternal in Christ Jesus our Lord." He looks on to life in glory.
"Here he describes his apostolic work in preaching as conditioned by the hope of life eternal. It is thus wholly different from the expectations of the pious Jew in Old Testament times, grounded as they were in the main on the promises of God to the fathers. If a prophet spoke of eternal life at all, it was bound up with the future kingdom of the Messiah. Under His sceptre the Israelite looked for every outward blessing, for all honour and power as well as goodness from God, for the display of beneficence and of blessing in every form; and all this will surely be accomplished on earth, without fail or stint, according to the word of the living God.
"The apostle's work had a wholly different character; for it was based upon the total rejection and the heavenly exaltation of the Lord Jesus, whereby that hope of life eternal is realised now, and in a way altogether superior to the testimony of the prophets (Ps. 133, Dan. 12). So the Lord as the great Prophet on Olivet declared that the living righteous of the nations, who are severed from the wicked, enter into life eternal when He shall have come as the Son of man in His glory. Even the sheep realise their place but little: grace will abound exceedingly. But the apostle proceeds to show that the promise which the Christian actually enjoys goes not merely beyond the prophets, or the human race on earth, but back into eternity. This was necessarily a promise within the Godhead. The God that knew no falsehood promised it before the times of the ages. So we saw in 2 Timothy 1:9, that God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace that was given us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages. It was a promise within the Godhead when neither the world nor man yet existed, and therefore had a far higher character than promises made in time to the fathers."
--William Kelly, Commentary on Titus
[from Bible Hub; end quoting; bold, underline and color emphasis mine]
____________
We presently possess "eternal life" (and this LIFE is IN HIS SON)… and because of our vital connection WITH HIM, we have eternal life (HIS eternal LIFE)... furthermore, we are called "the purchased-possession" (Eph1:14)
Consider the following... a commentary excerpt by Wm Kelly on that verse in Titus 1:2 (in your post ^ ):
[quoting]
"The apostle pursues what has been already begun in describing his mission. It was "upon hope of life eternal which God that cannot lie promised before the times of the ages (or everlasting),* but manifested in its own seasons His word in a preaching, with which I was entrusted, according to command of our Saviour God" (vers. 2, 3).
"*This is a phrase peculiar in itself and difficult to transfuse well and truly into English. "Eternal" is clear, as said of God, life, punishment of sin. etc. But in combination with "times" it appears harsh, as in Romans 16:25, and still more where πρὸ precedes, as in 2 Timothy 1:9 and here. Mr. T. S. Green gives "in all time" and "before all time" respectively, which seems weak or worse for the first case. Mr. Darby for Rom. 16 prefers "in [the] times of the ages," and for 2 Tim. and Titus "before the ages of time." But why invert thus? Would it not be better to adhere to the same order in all three, "times of ages?" Perhaps indeed "times everlasting" might be admissible for although the A.V. uses "eternal" and "everlasting" interchangeably, the latter is not necessarily so absolute as the former. We might say "before times everlasting" but hardly "before times eternal," and for more reasons than one. It is unfounded to conceive a difference of sense between its use in 2 Tim. 1 and Titus 1; and the wish springs from misunderstanding of the truth.
"Life eternal is really given to the believer now; and this is a revelation by no means uncommon in the writings of our apostle. Its present possession is emphatically prominent in the writings of John, whether the Gospel or his First Epistle. But Paul frequently treats it according to its future display, as in the Synoptic Gospels. In the well-known passage of his, Romans 6:22-23, we have it clearly: "Ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end life eternal. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is life eternal in Christ Jesus our Lord." He looks on to life in glory.
"Here he describes his apostolic work in preaching as conditioned by the hope of life eternal. It is thus wholly different from the expectations of the pious Jew in Old Testament times, grounded as they were in the main on the promises of God to the fathers. If a prophet spoke of eternal life at all, it was bound up with the future kingdom of the Messiah. Under His sceptre the Israelite looked for every outward blessing, for all honour and power as well as goodness from God, for the display of beneficence and of blessing in every form; and all this will surely be accomplished on earth, without fail or stint, according to the word of the living God.
"The apostle's work had a wholly different character; for it was based upon the total rejection and the heavenly exaltation of the Lord Jesus, whereby that hope of life eternal is realised now, and in a way altogether superior to the testimony of the prophets (Ps. 133, Dan. 12). So the Lord as the great Prophet on Olivet declared that the living righteous of the nations, who are severed from the wicked, enter into life eternal when He shall have come as the Son of man in His glory. Even the sheep realise their place but little: grace will abound exceedingly. But the apostle proceeds to show that the promise which the Christian actually enjoys goes not merely beyond the prophets, or the human race on earth, but back into eternity. This was necessarily a promise within the Godhead. The God that knew no falsehood promised it before the times of the ages. So we saw in 2 Timothy 1:9, that God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace that was given us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages. It was a promise within the Godhead when neither the world nor man yet existed, and therefore had a far higher character than promises made in time to the fathers."
--William Kelly, Commentary on Titus
[from Bible Hub; end quoting; bold, underline and color emphasis mine]
____________
We presently possess "eternal life" (and this LIFE is IN HIS SON)… and because of our vital connection WITH HIM, we have eternal life (HIS eternal LIFE)... furthermore, we are called "the purchased-possession" (Eph1:14)
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