A Trustworthy Saying on Endurance

There's a reason why most new year's resolutions are broken before the month is out: Perseverance is hard. We don't like doing hard things. Unfortunately, Jesus calls us to do hard things. He calls us to work hard, to suffer, and to endure through the hard times. Paul invoked this in the next of his "trustworthy sayings":

If we died 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 remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself. (2 Tim 2:11-13).

I used to do "verses I wish weren't in the Bible." This would be a good candidate for that series. I spent a lot of time thinking about this passage and looking through commentaries trying to make it not say what it appears to say, but I couldn't.

If we died with him, we will also live with him
This saying starts off pretty positively. If you have placed your trust in the death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and to make you right with God, according to Paul you have died with Christ (Rom 6). And so the believer will live with him, probably referring to the future, but there is also a sense in which he have eternal life now.

Paul said, "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his" (Rom 6:4-5). Or in Jesus' simple statement, "Because I live, you also will live" (John 14:19b). We have hope, not because of what we have done, but because of what he has done.

If we endure, we will also reign with him
And then things get hard. "If we endure." If we endure what? Whatever the world, the flesh, and the devil throw at us? Probably, but especially that first one. Up to this point Paul has been reminding Timothy to expect persecution for the gospel. We have to endure. Jesus "for the joy set before him he endured the cross" (Heb 12:2), and we're expected to do no less (cf, Matt 10:22). But he has promised that those who endure will reign by his side (eg, Rom 8:17, 1 Cor 4:8). But that is if they endure.

If we disown him, he will also disown us
And then things get ugly. Paul didn't make this up. Jesus himself said, "Whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven" (Matt 10:33). The commentaries point out that there are more than one way to deny Christ. You can do it verbally, but you can also do it by your actions (eg, Titus 1:16). Christians throughout the ages, even today, have been offered the trade of denying their Lord to save their life, but so many deny him by their actions to make money or to make their lives a little easier. We are offered the opportunity to deny him daily, and we have to reject that opportunity daily. "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).

But all is not lost. Jesus was betrayed twice. Judas, loving money, payed him false honor while delivering him into the hands of the Jews. Peter, fearing men, denied even knowing him. One of those men died in sin. The other died repentant after a long life of service. No single act of denial is fatal. Because ...

If we are faithless, he remains faithful
The Lord knows we are dust (Psalm 103:14). He wants us to endure. He wants us to deny ourselves and take up our crosses. But he knows "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak". We are not to presume upon his generosity, but we can trust in his grace (1 Cor 1:8-9).

Paul wrote this to Timothy to remind him that persecution will come and to encourage him to stand strong. Paul wanted him, and us, to persevere. We don't know what lies ahead for any of us or for the Church, but we know we were promised "in this world you will have trouble." Our response should be to "put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes ... so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Eph 6:11, 13).