Four Trustworthy Truths

2 Timothy 2:11-13 (NASB) ¹¹ It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; ¹² If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; ¹³ If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

 

This “sure and trustworthy” statement is one of five used by the apostle Paul in his pastoral epistles (1 Tim. 1:15; 1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Tim. 4:9, 2 Tim. 2:11-13; Titus 3:8). It may well have been his last prison letter written to Timothy to instruct and encourage him with Paul sensing that the time of his death was near. Some scholars suggest that these verses may well have been a saying used in part during a previous baptismal ceremony, but it illustrates four truths that instruct and encourage every believer about their life in Christ here on earth, and also their bright, eternal destiny to come.

 

Two Positive Truths

 

These truths are promised in the Word of God, and are also dependable, unalterable, and eternal certainties. Even though we live in times when absolute truths are not only rejected, and are being steadily redefined to make lies into new “truths,” God never changes His Word. It’s always true, relevant, powerful, and life-transforming.   

 

“For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him” (v. 11)

 

This is not speaking of martyrdom, but referring rather to personally identifying with the life and death of Christ, being positionally secure in Christ, being baptized into and raised to new life in Him, being dead to the “old man,” and alive unto Him (Ro. 6:3-8):

 

• Identifying with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection to eternal life means that by faith His death became spiritual death to my “old man” and now I’m alive in and through Him

• Being positionally secure in Christ means that, by faith in Jesus as your personal Savior, you become a child of God, that you have passed from eternal condemnation from sin to eternal life and acceptance by God, that you have eternally become a new creation, and that you can know for certain that you are and will always be saved (Jn. 1:12; Jn. 5:24; 2 Cor. 5:17; 2 Tim. 1:12; 1 Jn. 5:13).

• Being baptized into Christ and being raised to new life in Him means that you have left the “old man” in the grave and taken on Christ’s new life for your own, and will continue to live through Him with His help and power through the Holy Spirit. Water baptism is a demonstration of this reality and a testimony to those who witness your public commitment.

 

It is our sin that made the cross necessary, and only Jesus’ sacrifice can redeem us. John Stott spoke of the reason for the cross and the necessity for it this way:

 

“Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.”

 

Our sins were the reason Jesus willingly bore the cross, but at the same time, the cross is inescapable for anyone wishing to become a believer and disciple of Jesus Christ. One may shrink to contemplate what personal sacrifice will be required, but it is the only way unless one wishes to pay their own sin debt in an eternal Hell which awaits all unredeemed sinners. Many question God’s justice by saying, “How can a loving God send sinners to an eternal Hell?” The answer of course is that sinners are already condemned and will remain so (Jn. 3:18-20) unless they call upon Christ to be saved. Frankly, they are already sending themselves there by failing to respond to the gospel. To counter such astonishing and certain eternal judgment, Jesus humbled Himself, sinlessly taking on flesh, to ransom us from eternal punishment.   

 

The cross, then, is the place where every true believer must meet Jesus. Our union with Him comes down to this: His death given for me, and the requirement of my faith and life for receiving His atonement. There are no true believers in Christ without His cross and ours as well. The Christian life, then, is an exchanged life: His life atoning for me, and my life given to receive His.

 

Galatians 2:20 (NASB) "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.

 

In his book The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said of the cross connection:

 

“The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death - we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

  

Our faith-borne cross allows us to enter into eternal life, but crucifying the flesh is not just a one-time offering, but a daily requirement (Lk. 9:23). In this life, Christians are saved souls living in “earth suits,” warring against fleshly desires, weaknesses, and sins. Because of faith in Christ’s sacrifice to obtain salvation, believers are viewed by God as justified. The continual process of sanctification, setting apart and refining through daily Christ-likeness, is the experience of Christians in this life. What Jesus has begun in your life here as the Author of your faith, He will finish to completion in eternity (Phil. 1:6; Heb. 5:9; Heb. 12:2). Only after death (resurrection) or rapture will believers receive glorification with eternally saved souls in eternally redeemed bodies (1 Cor. 15).     

 

“If we endure, we will also reign with Him” (v. 12)

 

One of the marks of authentic faith in Christ and faithful discipleship is perseverance. A true believer may struggle, stumble, fall, but with guidance from the Holy Spirit will get up and continue in their faith walk. There are numerous scriptures which address the believer’s need to endure in their faith and actions (Matt. 10:22; Matt. 24:13; Mk. 13:13; 2 Tim. 2:10, 12; Jas. 5:11). The word “endure” (Gr. 5278 hypomeno) means to stay under, to remain, undergo, bear, or not flee, suggesting that believers decide and determine to remain loyal to Christ despite difficulties and challenges. It is descriptive of the believer’s predominant life experience.

 

The antitheses of perseverance and endurance are apostasy and abandonment. These describe so called “believers” who fall away or abandons their faith, and never return even with encouragement. The apostle John spoke of apostates saying:

 

1 John 2:19 (NASB) ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us.

 

It isn’t clear from the verse if those who fall away ever professed to be believers, but it does suggest that their eventual absence showed that they weren’t.

 

A false convert, meaning one who professes themself to be a born-again Christian, but the fruit or evidence of their faith is chronically lacking or contradictory (Matt. 7:16-23; Mk. 4:16-19), is another matter. The absence of perseverance and endurance unquestionably bear this out, and if the person continually practices sin without Holy Spirit conviction or chastisement (Heb. 12:6-8), the person is highly likely to not be a Christian. Compare and contrast this with the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).

 

Two Negative Truths

 

“If we deny Him, He also will deny us” (v. 12)

 

This is perhaps the strongest challenge to blood-bought disciples of Christ. Even Peter strongly denied being an apostle of Jesus out of fear, but it is also important to remember how Jesus lovingly restored Peter to the fold of world-changing disciples. With the sting of conviction there is also opportunity for repentance and restoration.   

Denial here is not simply saying “No.” The word denial (Gr. 720 arneomai) is a strong, emphatic refusal, even to the point of disavowal of never being true (Matt. 10:33; Matt. 26:70; Mk. 14:70; Lk. 12:9; Jn. 1:20; Jn. 18:25, 27)

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Praise God for His grace, mercy, and patience with us, and that repentance, forgiveness and restoration are possible when it isn’t deserved. It is encouraging to realize that if the Lord deny us, it would come as an end result despite attempts to restore us, and not defined in a single moment.

 

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (v. 13)

 

Though negative in the sense of believers possibly being faithless at times to an ever-faithful Lord, it is also a positive benedictory truth proclaiming that the Lord Jesus is always faithful and true despite our imperfect responses to Him. He is faithful anyway and should give us expectation of forgiveness and reconciliation with Him while in this life. It is His true and perfect character that should cause us to love Him more and serve Him more diligently (1 Jn. 4:19).

 

If you haven’t already, will you meet Jesus at the cross and be saved? One of my favorite hymns proclaims that there is still room if one wants to come:

 

The hand of my Savior is strong

And the love of my Savior is long

Through sunshine or rain, through loss or in gain

The blood flows from Calvary to cleanse every stain

 

There’s room at the cross for you

There’s room at the cross for you

Though millions have come, there’s still room for one

Yes, there’s room at the cross for you

 

God’s Simple Plan of Salvation