Paul's Faithful Saying...2nd Timothy 2:11-13

¹¹ This is a faithful saying:

      For if we died with Him,
We shall also live with Him.
       ¹² If we endure,
We shall also reign with Him.
      If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
       ¹³ If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
      He cannot deny Himself.

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

I love this faithful saying from Paul...it is so rich.  Let's look at verse 11.  "For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him." This refers to a believer's participation in the death and resurrection of Christ.

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,  knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,  knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.--Romans 6:4-11

That is the Christian life girls..we die to live.  When we die to ourselves and what we want here on earth, we will experience exceedingly abundantly what God has for us here and in heaven.   So the best of life here living for Christ and the best in the life beyond.  It is a paradox...and paradoxes really don't make much sense unless we see them worked out....and even then they do not make sense because...you know...they are paradoxes.

I take up my cross and live for Christ and His desires...I choose to love and live sacrificially for the redemption or spiritual growth of someone else.  I tried to think of examples of how I chose to love and live sacrificially for the redemption of someone else.  I see all the choices I made for Christ in my life...what I do not see is the sacrifice they involved anymore...I did when they were made, but all I see now are the blessings and the joy.  Living for Christ and His desires have changed my desires.  That is the result of walking by faith...He pours out His grace and makes the path one of joy.

The next verse in this faithful saying of Paul's is in verse 12:  If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. Persevering is evidence of our true saving faith.  We are not saved because we persevere but genuine faith endures to the end.  1 Peter 1:5 says that true believers are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation.   If we fall away then it is conclusive proof that we were never a believer in the first place. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.--1 John 2:19

Verse 12 also tells us we shall also reign with Him in His future kingdom.  Revelation 20:6 says, Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

The next part of verse 12 says that if we deny Him, He also will deny us.  This does not mean once or even twice, but a deliberate willful denial. The kind of denial indicated in this verse is a permanent one...not a temporary one like Peters. Those that deny Christ face the frightening reality of one day being denied by Him before the Father in heaven.

Let's look at Peter's denial of Christ here as an example. Peter denied Jesus three times but we see Jesus minister to Peter in John 21:15-17.  Are you seeing the Lord's love and compassion? Jesus asks Peter if he loved Him supremely with unswerving devotion.  Peter answered  with a word signifying his love for Jesus but did not use same word Jesus used meaning total devotion. Hmmm...perhaps Peter was reluctant to use the word signifying unswerving devotion because he felt that his word and deed had not reflected that kind of love toward His Lord in the past.  Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him supremely several times to underscore the need for a disciple of His to be committed and devoted.  Girls, our love for Jesus must be above everything else in our lives.  Sometimes we get skittish about that word commitment...we don't want to seem fanatical, but a follower of Christ by definition must be totally committed...half-hearted just will not do.

The next verse is my favorite in this faithful saying of Paul's. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.  Now we read all the time that God is faithful...and He is.  Jesus is faithful to save those who believe in Him and He is also faithful to judge those who do not. John 3:16-18 says it all.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Hebrews tells us that He who promised is faithful.  For Jesus to do anything else would be inconsistent with His holy and unchanging nature.  THAT is good news!  God's blessings girls are continually flowing.  If you draw near, you will be the recipient of those blessings because you are in close proximity to them.  If you move away, the blessings still flow but you are out of range.  Draw near to Him with your whole heart..stay under the protection of His will...be blessed!

Love
Mom