DON’T QUIT!
“It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” —II Tim. 2:11-13
The opening words of this chapter are, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” The apostle’s words suggest compassion and concern. His tender words, “my son,” indicate Paul’s affection for his young protege and convert, and the following phrase hints at his concern that Timothy persevere in the faith even though under the pressure of some form of opposition.
There is a lesson here for both fathers in the literal sense, and those who are spiritual “fathers” to others in the faith. It behooves us to treat our “children” with love and tenderness on the one hand, and with firmness suited to their perseverance on the other. Our nugget sums up what is at stake.
Foundational to the whole of Christian experience is the believer’s union with Christ. “If we be dead with Him…” Dying with Christ is the prerequisite to eternal life. This “dying” is not a state that can be “earned,” as by good works or religious activity, e.g., but is the result of simply trusting Him who died for us and rose again. Writing to the Romans the apostle associates it with believer’s baptism, which is the public expression of personal faith in Christ as Savior and Lord. “Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death [Rom. 6:3]?” Faith marks the true believer as united with Him, in fact, in both His death and His resurrection, thus affording from the beginning both the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection [Rom. 6:5].” Many other things follow from this doctrine, but in our text the focus is simply upon the believer’s eternal hope, “we shall also live with Him.”
For many, as perhaps for Timothy when this was written, that faith-union with Christ can bring on the experience of hostility and/or persecution. Suffering, especially when is the direct result of being a Christian can bring doubt, and doubt tempts to unbelief. Thus the apostle encourages his spiritual charge, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.” The inference seems to be that there is a special reward for faith that perseveres under fire.
The importance of persevering in faith is further underscored in the next clause, “If we deny Him, He also will deny us.” This was addressed by the Savior when sending forth His disciples as recorded in Matthew 10. Warning them of the possibility of opposition He declared, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword [Mt. 10:32-34].”
The tragic possibility is indicated in the trend suggested by the apostle here: professed faith threatened by difficulty, generating doubt; doubt turning to denial and resulting in unbelief. The end result is spiritual disaster, because God is faithful and consistent with Himself. A faith that collapses under pressure is not saving faith at all.
In our present situation, suffering for our faith is not commonplace, and the challenge to faith may come from another direction. But the principle is ever the same. Faith is ordered to persevere. And those who purpose to follow Christ will be given grace to do so. Salvation is free, but it is not cheap. It cost the Son of God everything, including indescribable humiliation and suffering. And He declared, “He that taketh not his cross and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me [Mt. 10:38].”
These are sobering thoughts, but there is a bright side. God abides faithful. “He cannot deny Himself.” That means, He always tells the truth, and His word can be trusted. Under pressure, let us simply trust Him more. “IF we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him.” That’s what matters, that’s what counts—for all eternity!
This Easter weekend take another look at the cross; that is what faith, and faithfulness is all about. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
For a faith that perseveres,
"Pastor" Frasier
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