Today’s Thoughts – 8 January 2021
By T. S. Candee on January 8, 2021 in Second Timothy Thoughts
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.
We see in these verses, that promises are given to use based on conditions. If we do one thing, another thing will happen. This is to help guide us along our journey to validate that we are fulfilling God’s plan in our lives.
If we be dead with him, we shall also live with him
This stays consistent with what Paul said in Romans 6:8. He is not referring to physical death in this case (since it is said in the past tense). But rather, when we got saved, we identified with Christ in dying to sin and our self-willed way of living.
Instead, now we live in the Spirit (thus, we should walk in the Spirit, Galatians 5:25). We now live with Christ and for Christ. And one day, we will be with Him in Heaven. Thus, today, we should live every moment understanding that we have victory through Christ. We can then live the victorious Christian life each day!
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him
We see another conditional promise with positive results that if we suffer for Christ, we will reign with Him in glory. Not all Christians will reign with Christ in Heaven. Many others have suffered far worse than we have – even recently.
Upwards of 5 million Christians suffered and were killed because they would not deny Christ in the Roman Empire. We may speak out and stand up for our ability to preach the Word here in America. But there are many others around the world who suffer far worse than us.
Yet, the promise stands true that if we suffer for Christ, we will reign with Him one day in glory! This directly parallels Paul’s words in Romans 8:17.
If you would like to learn more about how Christians around the world are suffering in these very days, you should watch this documentary entitled: The Insanity of God
If we deny him, he also will deny us
Now, we see a conditional promise with a negative result. Matching what Jesus said in Matthew 10:33, we will most certainly be denied before God if we deny Christ.
If we walk away from what we know to be true in the Word of God (this is called apostasy), God will deny us. We will no longer be able to gain His blessings or have a victorious Christian life. If we aren’t saved, our hearts will become hardened toward God, and the possibilities of getting saved dwindle.
Let us stay true to God since He always stays true to us, as we see in the final promise!
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful
God’s faithfulness is not conditioned on our faith in Him. This final conditional is more of an absolute. Even though there are many in this world who do not believe in Christ, Christ continues to be faithful to them. And one day, if they believe in Him, He will be faithful to save them from their sins.
Christ’s faithfulness to Christians is not contingent on their faithfulness to Him.
We should exemplify the same faithfulness in our relationships with others. Christ is and always will be our example for Christian living. If He is faithful to you, you can be faithful to another.
