Jesus' Nature and Faithfulness | 2 Timothy 2:11-13
A Faithful Congregation is a Prayerful Congregation
Jesus' Nature and Faithfulness
2 Timothy 2:11-13
Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we will deny Him, He also will deny us;
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
Am I Too Far Gone To Be Saved?
Some worry that they have so wronged God that they cannot be saved. Scripture has many warnings against falling away and many passages that sound terribly scary. One such passage is found in 2 Timothy 2. There is a series of four conditional statements, three of which are tremendously encouraging, but one of which seems terribly scary.
The first statement is “If we died with Him, we will also live with Him.” This refers to our choosing to take up our crosses and our joining with Jesus in baptism. All of us who were baptized in Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Jesus was raised from the dead, so too we might walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:3-4). Marvelous.
The second statement is “If we endure, we will also reign with Him.” This refers to the reward that comes with abiding in Christ. When we endure the hatred of the word and yet remain committed to Jesus, we join Jesus as an heir of God—we become co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) and enjoy a resurrection like His and participate in the blessing of the inheritance that is His. Splendid.
The third statement is the scary sounding one. It says, “If we deny Him, He will also deny us.” Jesus said something very similar in Matthew 10:33, “Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” None of us wants to be denied by Jesus, but each of us has denied Jesus at one point or another by our words or by our deeds. This refers, not to a Peter-like denial, but to a Judas-like denial. Yes, Peter denied Jesus three times the night Jesus was arrested in fulfillment of Jesus’ own prophetic word. Yet, Jesus restored Peter three times and called Peter to church leadership. What is going on with this statement then?
Peter, but not Judas, was a part of Jesus. Jesus said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (John 13:8). Peter exclaimed to Him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” But Jesus replied, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you” (John 13:9-10). John records in 13:11, “For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” Peter was a part of Jesus by believing in Jesus. This belief included a heartfelt recognition of Jesus’ deity, a willing submission to Jesus’ Lordship, and a worshipful devotion of Jesus. Judas was not a part of Jesus. He didn’t believe in this way and did not abide in Jesus, the true vine, thus Judas’ branch was cut off. Scary indeed.
The fourth statement is, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” This refers to Jesus’ nature and faithfulness. Sure, we are faithless sometimes. We deny Jesus by our words and deeds, but we are still a part of Him by believing in Him. When we fall, we repent. Sometimes we recognize our folly immediately and feel godly sorrow. Other times, we need someone to point out our hidden sin and we repent. Jesus is divine. As the God-man, He is always faithful and He cannot deny Himself. Our faithless denials of Him do not and cannot overpower His faithfulness. We are a part of Him. He cannot deny Himself. While it is true that no Christian is sinless, yet because we are a part of Him, we are forgiven. The denial referred to in the third statement is not a stumble, denial, or sin on the part of a Christian abiding in Jesus, it is the denial of Jesus—the refusal to take up our cross and refusal to abide in Him. Judas wouldn’t trust Jesus’ plan and mission. Peter trusted and continued to abide in Jesus. If we are part of Him, He cannot deny Himself even if we act in foolish and sinful ways. What comfort!
Prayer Prompt
Dear Jesus, we praise You and acknowledge Your divine nature and Your perfect faithfulness. Thank You so much for remaining faithful even when we act in faithless ways. Thank You for making us a part of You. Through belief, we are a part of You. You have cleansed us by Your word. You have grafted our branch into Yourself. Because we a part of You, the true vine, You produce spiritual fruit in us. Thank You. Thank You for allowing us to take up our crosses daily in denial of self and in submission to You. We are sorry for our sins, Jesus. We are experience godly sorrow at our foolish words and deeds. We know that You cannot deny Yourself, but we sometimes feels so ashamed of our momentary denials of You and we fear You may deny us, but in moments of clarity we recognize that the denial spoken of in that third conditional statement in 2 Timothy 2 and of which You spoke in Matthew 10, is the refusal to take up our cross and the refusal to abide in You, not a sin over which we experience godly sorrow. We sin, we stumble, we fall. You remain faithful. You cannot deny Yourself. Thank You for making us a part of You. May we boldly proclaim You in our words and our deeds. We love You, Jesus, but please don’t just take our word for it, but see it in our actions. Amen.
Let our faithfulness in prayer mirror Yahweh’s faithfulness!
-FW, CC, SL,
Andrew
Jesus' Nature and Faithfulness
2 Timothy 2:11-13
Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we will deny Him, He also will deny us;
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
Am I Too Far Gone To Be Saved?
Some worry that they have so wronged God that they cannot be saved. Scripture has many warnings against falling away and many passages that sound terribly scary. One such passage is found in 2 Timothy 2. There is a series of four conditional statements, three of which are tremendously encouraging, but one of which seems terribly scary.
The first statement is “If we died with Him, we will also live with Him.” This refers to our choosing to take up our crosses and our joining with Jesus in baptism. All of us who were baptized in Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Jesus was raised from the dead, so too we might walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:3-4). Marvelous.
The second statement is “If we endure, we will also reign with Him.” This refers to the reward that comes with abiding in Christ. When we endure the hatred of the word and yet remain committed to Jesus, we join Jesus as an heir of God—we become co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) and enjoy a resurrection like His and participate in the blessing of the inheritance that is His. Splendid.
The third statement is the scary sounding one. It says, “If we deny Him, He will also deny us.” Jesus said something very similar in Matthew 10:33, “Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” None of us wants to be denied by Jesus, but each of us has denied Jesus at one point or another by our words or by our deeds. This refers, not to a Peter-like denial, but to a Judas-like denial. Yes, Peter denied Jesus three times the night Jesus was arrested in fulfillment of Jesus’ own prophetic word. Yet, Jesus restored Peter three times and called Peter to church leadership. What is going on with this statement then?
Peter, but not Judas, was a part of Jesus. Jesus said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (John 13:8). Peter exclaimed to Him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” But Jesus replied, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you” (John 13:9-10). John records in 13:11, “For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” Peter was a part of Jesus by believing in Jesus. This belief included a heartfelt recognition of Jesus’ deity, a willing submission to Jesus’ Lordship, and a worshipful devotion of Jesus. Judas was not a part of Jesus. He didn’t believe in this way and did not abide in Jesus, the true vine, thus Judas’ branch was cut off. Scary indeed.
The fourth statement is, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” This refers to Jesus’ nature and faithfulness. Sure, we are faithless sometimes. We deny Jesus by our words and deeds, but we are still a part of Him by believing in Him. When we fall, we repent. Sometimes we recognize our folly immediately and feel godly sorrow. Other times, we need someone to point out our hidden sin and we repent. Jesus is divine. As the God-man, He is always faithful and He cannot deny Himself. Our faithless denials of Him do not and cannot overpower His faithfulness. We are a part of Him. He cannot deny Himself. While it is true that no Christian is sinless, yet because we are a part of Him, we are forgiven. The denial referred to in the third statement is not a stumble, denial, or sin on the part of a Christian abiding in Jesus, it is the denial of Jesus—the refusal to take up our cross and refusal to abide in Him. Judas wouldn’t trust Jesus’ plan and mission. Peter trusted and continued to abide in Jesus. If we are part of Him, He cannot deny Himself even if we act in foolish and sinful ways. What comfort!
Prayer Prompt
Dear Jesus, we praise You and acknowledge Your divine nature and Your perfect faithfulness. Thank You so much for remaining faithful even when we act in faithless ways. Thank You for making us a part of You. Through belief, we are a part of You. You have cleansed us by Your word. You have grafted our branch into Yourself. Because we a part of You, the true vine, You produce spiritual fruit in us. Thank You. Thank You for allowing us to take up our crosses daily in denial of self and in submission to You. We are sorry for our sins, Jesus. We are experience godly sorrow at our foolish words and deeds. We know that You cannot deny Yourself, but we sometimes feels so ashamed of our momentary denials of You and we fear You may deny us, but in moments of clarity we recognize that the denial spoken of in that third conditional statement in 2 Timothy 2 and of which You spoke in Matthew 10, is the refusal to take up our cross and the refusal to abide in You, not a sin over which we experience godly sorrow. We sin, we stumble, we fall. You remain faithful. You cannot deny Yourself. Thank You for making us a part of You. May we boldly proclaim You in our words and our deeds. We love You, Jesus, but please don’t just take our word for it, but see it in our actions. Amen.
Let our faithfulness in prayer mirror Yahweh’s faithfulness!
-FW, CC, SL,
Andrew
Posted in Prayer Prompt
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Posted in john, Prayer, Faithful, saved, sin, trustworthy, deny, endure, reign, faithless, Him, God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Jesus\' Nature
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