Last week during our service we read from Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy:
If we die with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself. 2 Timothy 2:11-13
I encourage you always, as you read Scripture, to remember who you are in Christ. Specifically, remember those verses of God’s grace that speak of what His unconditional love has done for you. We know that faith, baptism, and salvation have already come to you by the power of God through the cross of Jesus Christ. These are all permanent because God has declared them to be so. God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. Romans 11:29. God does not change. He has made His choice and the cross of Jesus was perfect to fulfill His wishes to establish His kingdom and to bring you in. As Jesus once said, “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” John 6:37-39.
Given these truths, how are we to understand the passage above in Timothy? Well, first I would tell you that the word “if” at the beginning of those statements doesn’t apply to you because faith has already been received and baptism has already taken place. Therefore, “If we die with Him… has been fulfilled because your sinful nature was crucified at baptism. (See Colossians 3:3). “If we endure…” is fulfilled by the Holy Spirit living in you. He was given to you by God to ensure that you receive your inheritance—eternal life. Therefore, the Word tells us that the Holy Spirit is the One who makes you stand firm and endure during these end times. (2 Cor 1:21-22).
Reading the last two statements Paul makes tells us that disowning Him and faithlessness must be two different things. I think we can agree that they are not the same thing because Paul told Timothy that God responds very differently in each case. The truth is, once a person receives faith, they can never lose it. Faith is yours until the end of time. Through faith and water baptism you became a son of God. You were born again. You may go through trials in which you act faithless, or feel faithless, but you cannot lose your gift of faith. In those situations when you are faithless, He will remain faithful to you because you are His. You have taken on the identity of His Son and therefore He “cannot disown Himself.”
Hopefully, that truth about faith helps you to interpret the final statement, “If we disown Him, He will disown us.” I would use Judas Iscariot as an example of this. He never believed in the first place. He inserted himself into the ministry of Jesus and followed by his own human desires, but he never believed. Now contrast Judas with Peter. You know that Peter denied He knew Jesus three times, but God did NOT disown him. Why not? Because Peter had faith. Faith makes all the difference.
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