Read with Me
2 Timothy 2:8-13 (HCSB)
Keep your attention on Jesus Christ as risen from the dead and descended from David. This is according to my gospel. I suffer for it to the point of being bound like a criminal, but God’s message is not bound. This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. This saying is trustworthy:
For if we have died with Him,
we will also live with Him;
if we endure, we will also reign with Him;
if we deny Him, He will also deny us;
if we are faithless, He remains faithful,
for He cannot deny Himself.
Listen with Me
Even in the midst of all his trials and sufferings, Paul never lost sight of his life mission: to spread the gospel, the good news of Jesus. And, in his mind, that gospel message had two vital parts. The first was that Jesus had truly risen from the dead. This truth necessarily included Jesus’ sacrificial death that paid for the sins of the world, as well as His victory over sin and death that was proved by physically rising from the dead on the third day.
The second part may seem inconsequential by comparison: the fact that Jesus was descended from David. But this truth proved that Jesus was in fact the long-awaited Messiah, the great Deliverer whose coming had been foretold since the days of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15).
Paul took the persecution he had undergone as well as his present incarceration as part and parcel of his God-given mission to bring the good news to everyone, so that those who were ready to receive it at any given moment, called “the elect” by Paul, could receive it and respond and be saved. And even in this, his final imprisonment, he was faithful in sharing that good news as widely as possible.
The source for the saying Paul quotes here has been lost, but it was a saying used in the early Church that contains within it four great theological truths. The first is the fact that those who die with Jesus will live with Him. This is not merely talking about those who die in a state of salvation. Paul had counted himself as having been crucified with Jesus from the moment he rose to his feet on the Damascus Road (Galatians 2:20). And from that moment, Paul began to live in the eternal life of Jesus Himself, a life that began here on earth, but which he knew would transition to life in heaven with his final breath.
The second truth is that if we endure, we will reign with Jesus. In order to finish the race successfully, the runner can’t quit, no matter how arduous the course. Only those who complete the race will receive the victor’s crown. And Paul is intent on finishing the race and finishing it well.
The third truth is that if we deny Jesus in order to save our own life here and now, we will lose the eternal life that we have professed, because at the last judgment, Jesus will deny us (Matthew 7:21-23). Eternal life is only eternal if we remain in it. Paul was now on death row precisely because he had steadfastly refused to deny his Lord and Savior to save his own skin.
The final truth is often misunderstood today. If we are faithless, God will nonetheless remain faithful, because He cannot disown Himself. This does not mean that those who are faithless, who choose to live in their sins, or who deny Jesus will still be saved, as is clearly shown by the preceding phrase. Instead, it simply says that those who deny Jesus in the end do not diminish God or his faithfulness to those who remain true to the end, because God is eternal and unchanging, and so is his faithfulness to all who remain steadfast.
Pray with Me
Father, these are amazing inspiring and encouraging truths. It is sometimes a challenge to stay on the battlefield today. It seems much easier to go along with the popular voices to avoid being looked down upon or even canceled. It seems wiser to stay silent rather than to be seen as shoving religion down people’s throats or to be considered bigoted, narrow minded, or on the wrong side of history. But to turn away from Your eternal truth and Your mission to keep ourselves in a positive light with the people of the world is to deny You, to be unfaithful to You, and ultimately to be disowned by You. Lord, help me to be faithful, to be bold, and to be true to Your calling no matter what, so that I can be welcomed into Your presence when this life is over. Amen.