He Remains Faithful
A trustworthy statement
08/24/08 AM
Text: 2 Timothy 2:11-13
Introduction
This morning we have the second lesson drawn from the letters of Paul that we often refer to as the “Pastoral Epistles”, those letters written to Timothy and Titus. In this lesson, as with the others, we focus on a particular thought which Paul identifies using a phrase that underscores a particular principle or specific truth apart from the rest of the text: “This is a trustworthy statement...” By using this phrase, Paul declares to the reader: "what I have just said, or am about to say is an important truth; it is a principle you can count on."
In these statements, Paul gave to Timothy, Titus, and now to us, principles which are true and dependable, truths upon which we can build our faith and our lives in Christ.
In this lesson we are going to look at the occurrence of this phrase in 2 Timothy 2 where the trustworthy statement is made that we are saved by the love, mercy and grace of God.
Read 2 Timothy 2:11-13
Some commentaries put forth that these verses may have been part of an early Christian hymn or a statement of faith that was well known in the early church. It is not unusual for these lines to appear in stanza form as if they were a poem. Whatever there source, Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to record them in this letter to Timothy as a statement worthy of trust.
I.For If We Died with Him We Will Also Live With Him
A.Our death to sin and the new life begun now with Christ in the world and in eternity.
1.The first couplet of this trustworthy statement contrasts death and life.
a.Paul writes in Romans 6:2-23 how believers are freed from the power of sin.
Romans 6:3-4 (NASB) Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:11 - 13 (NASB) Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
1)Our living with Christ begins here, now, in our lives as believers. Choosing to follow Him we choose to not follow the world and its views.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB) Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
2)As Paul wrote to the Ephesians we no longer walk in the darkness of our own minds, in callous ignorance and hardness of heart but instead we:
Ephesians 4:24 (NASB) and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
3)Our old self is put to death and we live for Him:
2 Corinthians 5:14 - 15 (NASB) For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
b.1 Peter 2:24a (NASB) and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness…
We live with Christ today, trusting in the God who feeds the sparrow and clothes the lilies of the field. Anxious for nothing we praise Him and give thanks for all things with His peace in our hearts knowing that as we live with Him today we will also live with Him in eternity:
Colossians 3:1 - 4 (NASB) Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
II.If We Endure We Will Also Reign With Him
A.Persevering in the faith even in the face of hardship or persecution will result in a reward when Christ returns.
1.endure: not merely “I passively suffer,” but “I actively persevere” and “am ready to endure patiently all things.”
a.This second couplet of the hymn contrasts endurance and rewards. Those who live for Christ may face severe difficulties that must be endured. Christ endured and now reigns; all believers who endure to the end shall also reign with him.
Revelation 3:21 (NASB) 21‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
b.The phrase “if we died” (2:11) in the Greek implies a single act; the phrase “if we endure” in this verse in the Greek implies ongoing action. We only need salvation once; but enduring through life is a continual action requiring constant prayer, guidance, and wisdom. But the reward is beyond imagination.
c.Philippians 3:12 - 14 (NASB) Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
2.Throughout the scriptures we are encouraged and exhorted to endurance, to remain alert, to watch and wait, to be patient, to stand firm in the faith of Jesus as we face the trails and troubles of our lives. (More than fifty scriptures with this thought in some form.)
a.James 1:2 - 4 (NASB) Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:12 (NASB) Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
b.Hebrews 10:35 - 36 (NASB) Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
III.If We Deny Him He Also Will Deny Us
A.This third couplet reveals that commitment to Christ must be total, no turning back; to deny results in being denied.
1.Matthew 10:33 (NASB)
“But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”
a.The Greek verb rendered deny is in the future tense, and the clause is therefore more clearly rendered, “If we ever deny Him” or “If in the future we deny Him.”
2.The writer of Hebrews assured the faithful believers that
Hebrews 10:39 (NASB) But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
a.A warning against refusing Him or renouncing our identity as His followers. Jesus will not save those who shrink from identifying with Him or from serving Him on this earth.
b.Luke 9:26 (NASB) “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
3.We can deny Jesus in our hearts, by our words, and by our actions.
a.Titus 1:16 (NASB) They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.
b.“What about Peter’s denial?” we may ask. “Can a true believer deny the Lord?”
c.Peter’s response to the denial, going out and weeping bitter tears of sorrow (Matt. 26:75), and the Lord’s restoration of him in Galilee (John 21:15–17) lead one to conclude that Peter was truly repentant and forgiven.
d.Peter’s denial of Jesus was not a final rejection, but a temporary withdrawal. There is a settled, final kind of denial that does not repent and thereby evidences an unregenerate heart.
e.It is best to take this passage as a warning: If we abandon fellowship with Jesus, His withdrawal of fellowship with us must follow.
IV.If We Are Faithless…
A.Faithless describes the life of an immature believer who lives for oneself and not for the Savior
1.We are faithless when we fail to live as God would have us live. When we fail to walk in the example of His Son.
a.1 Corinthians 1-3
b.2 Timothy 3:2-5a
c.Romans 3:3 (NASB)
What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?
V.He Remains Faithful
A.Christ’s faithfulness to Christians is not contingent on their faithfulness to him”
1.Numbers 23:19 (NASB)
God is not a man. that he should lie, Nor a son of man, that he should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”
a.I Thessalonians 5:24 (NASB)
Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
2.But He remains faithful, not only to those who believe in Him but to those who do not.
a.God’s divine assurance to save “whoever believes in Him [Christ]” (John 3:16) is followed almost immediately by another divine assurance that “he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).
b.Just as Christ will never renege on His promise to save those who trust in Him, He also will never renege on His promise to condemn those who do not.
c.To do otherwise would be to deny Himself, which His righteous and just nature cannot allow Him to do.
3.It was on the basis of Christ’s absolute faithfulness that Paul declared earlier in this letter, “I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Tim. 1:12). It was on that basis that the writer of Hebrews admonished, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,” and then exulted, “for He who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23).
4.But even when believers act faithlessly, God remains faithful. Believers are secure in Christ’s promises. This does not give a license for faithlessness; rather, it eases our conscience when we fail, allowing us to come back to the Father and start anew. God does not deny those for whom His Son died.
Conclusion:
Paul began this hymn with two couplets highlighting two goals of a believer’s life: (1) to identify with Christ who died for us so that we are given eternal life and (2) to endure in this present life knowing that the life to come will be far better.
He follows these thoughts with a warning to those who would deny Christ and receive denial in return. But Paul ends with a note of hope and grace: “If we are faithless, He remains faithful” (NASB.)
Our future hangs, not on the strength of our faith, but on the strength of God’s faithfulness!
Invitation
