Verses 7-13

Verse 7 Paul exhorts Timothy to meditate on his words.  The preceding verses are loaded with encouragement for the faithful minister, yet these are powerful words which need to be considered.  The call to ministry is a call to suffering hardship, yet the rewards are greater than the risk.  Finally, to reiterate the glorious source of his joy and strength, Paul promises Timothy that the Lord will give him understanding in these matters. Though Timothy must be resolved to receive suffering, he need not fret nor dread his calling.  The Lord Himself who dwells in Timothy will give him the strength that comes from understanding the all-surpassing worth of the prize laid before us in Christ.⁹

Verse 8 A minister such as Timothy must always remember Jesus Christ first and foremost inorder to have an effective ministry.  “There are two things to note about the verb ‘remember’ (mnemoneue).  It is in the imperative mood which indicates the urgency and importance of this command...secondly, it is in the present tense which means that this is to be a frequent, habitual process.”¹⁰  Thus, Paul instructs Timothy to earnestly, actively remember the person of Christ; both his humanity as the “seed of David,” and His deity as remembered in His victory over death and the resurrection. Remembering both the suffering that Jesus went through while on earth and the heavenly reward that Christ will share with us encourages the minister to persevere through his own sufferings.  Christ was at the center of Paul’s gospel message (1 Cor. 2:2), and he urges Timothy to make Christ the center of his ministry. He is what we teach, He is why we endure, He is what we long for.

Verse 9 Paul suffered greatly for the gospel, and at this point in time he was imprisoned and awaiting his martyrdom.  How Paul must have found endurance in his captivity by knowing that men may be physically jailed, but Truth, the Word of God, can never be locked away.  Though God’s premier representative on earth at that time was in chains, it did nothing to stop the spread of the gospel.  The truth of salvation in Christ had become more certain and enduring than the gravity which held Paul’s feet to his prison floor.  Timothy was not to be discouraged by Paul’s arrest, but was to be encouraged by the power of God to spread the good news (cf. Phil. 1:12).

Verse 10 For Paul to endure this suffering and imprisonment, it must be for a reason of eternal significance.  One view of this verse proposes that the purpose for Paul’s suffering is the eternal destiny of the souls of men.¹¹  Paul realized that although the gospel of God does not depend on just one man, God does powerfully use men who are faithful through suffering to spread the good news.  This view asserts that Paul here refers to elect men and women in the world who have yet to hear the gospel, for whom he is willing to suffer for them that they might “obtain the salvation which is Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”

An alternate view considers the elect in this verse as Timothy and his faithful men (2 Tim. 2:2).  A word study on “elect” (eklektos) reveals that every other usage in the New Testament (when applied to men) refers to an already justified saint.¹²  It never refers to one who is elect and has not yet come to faith.  In the context of this chapter, Paul is exhorting Timothy to suffer for his task of teaching those faithful men, just as Paul had suffered for Timothy and others (Col 1:24; 2 Cor. 1:5-6; 4:12).  Since the security of eternal salvation from sins cannot be in question for justified saints (verse), the salvation spoken of here must refer to the sanctification (present salvation from our sinful nature) that comes from perseverance through suffering (Jas. 1:2-4), in order to receive eternal rewards from Christ.¹³  Paul longed for Timothy and other faithful men to be counted worthy to reign with Christ in His kingdom.

“This is a faithful saying:

          For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.

¹²If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.

          If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

¹³If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” – 2:11-13

Verses 11-13 Paul quotes what is most likely an early Christian hymn in vv. 11-13, a “faithful saying.”  This ancient hymn apparently employs a chiastic construction¹⁴; that is, it begins and ends with the same subject matter, while these thoughts bracket another subject matter.  In this case the verses form this pattern:

A. For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.

B. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.

B¹. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

A¹. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

Point ‘A’ deals with the topic of eternal life.  Points ‘B’ and ‘B¹’ discuss the topic of rewards, both positively and negatively.  Paul then returns to the issue of eternal life in ‘A¹’, and emphasizes the eternal security of the believer regardless of whether the he endures or denies.  Further, the hymn utilizes the pronoun “we,” indicating that Paul is here dealing with truths for all believers, including himself.  Paul’s purpose of citing this hymn is to drive home his message of endurance through suffering.

Verse 11 This “faithful saying” begins with a statement concerning the believer’s salvation and eternal destiny.  Paul often uses the picture of dying with Christ to signify our conversion (Rom 6:1-11).  The result of dying with Christ is that we will live with Him.  Because Christ was resurrected and now sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven, we know that we too will live forever in heaven.  The inspired Word of God does not here, nor ever, attach any prerequisites to receiving salvation.¹⁵  Our future existence in heaven is guaranteed, and we receive the Holy Spirit as a down payment of this destiny (Eph. 1:13-14).  Dwight Edwards eloquently comments on this verse in regards to righteous living:

It is of no small significance that the first motivation given Timothy here is that of complete assurance in his eternal destiny.  This assurance is the foundation for all spiritual service since it determines the real motive for our service.  We serve the Lord not to gain heaven; but we serve Him because we are already guaranteed heaven.¹⁶

Verse 12a The hymn now changes the subject from the fact of our existence in heaven to the quality of our existence in heaven.  The first part of v. 12 deals with the positive side of our rewards.  The faithful Christian will be rewarded for his service on earth.  If we have been faithful to our calling and responsibilities on earth, persevering to the end, then Christ will give us a proportionate place to serve in His eternal kingdom.¹⁷  Paul’s use of the word “also” indicates, though they seem so different to us, that reigning is the end result of enduring.¹⁸

Verse 12b Conversely, a negative consequence for our life choices also exists.  If the Christian is unfaithful to his calling and is ashamed of the Lord who died for him, then Christ will deny him the opportunity to reign in His kingdom.  If denying Him is the opposite of enduring, then Christ denying us is the opposite of reigning with Him.  Thus, the unresponsive Christian will forfeit his chance to have a significant role in the future kingdom.¹⁹  Nothing in these verses indicates that the believer who fails to persevere will be denied entrance into heaven.  However, this passage offers a stern warning that consequences exist for those true believers who deny Christ with their words and actions.

Verse 13 Finally, the subject turns back to the believer’s eternal security.  No matter how unfaithful, no matter how many times we deny Him as Peter once did, He will remain faithful to His promise of eternal life to those who believed.  Christ cannot deny Himself, nor the members of His body, the precious gift of eternal life once it is granted.  George Knight remarks:

Paul does not mention God’s faithfulness as a basis for the certainty that the faithless will be punished, but as the basis for the assurance of the gospel promises (2 Cor 2:18-20), for safety in temptation (1 Cor 10:13), for protection from the evil one (2 Thes. 3:3), and for the sanctification and preservation of God’s people (1 Thes. 5:24).  This understanding is also suggested here by meno, “he remains,” which with pistos, “faithful,” implies that Christ continues as the faithful one in his relationship to Christians.²⁰