November 10, 2019
Evening Service

In the first part of chapter 2 this morning Paul again used things that we understand to explain spiritual truths to us.  To “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” means for us to have the resolve of a soldier, the discipline of an athlete, and the patience and work ethic of a farmer.  We finished with verse 7 in which Paul said this:

2Ti 2:7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.

        I believe God’s Word needs time and thought to be able to sink in.  To really understand the depth of what God was telling us through Paul in these first six verses may take some time of consideration and even mediation.  I believe that is where the Holy Spirit really does His best work in our lives as we not only read a scripture, but think and study on it looking at it in great depth.  For instance, as we dove deeper into the qualities of a soldier, and an athlete and a farmer, the message Paul was relaying to us gained much greater level of clarity for us and helped us to understand it at different or deeper level.  God is speaking to you through His Word, but we need to be open and receptive to what He is saying.  As you read, pray that God through the Holy Spirit in your life will show you His timeless truths that are there and how to apply them into your life.  Take time to consider and meditate on what you have read and you will be surprised at how your understanding of scripture will be greatly increased.   On one hand, as I mature in Christ and get farther along in my journey with Him, I feel I have a much greater and deeper understanding of His Word.  On the other hand, the deeper I am able to go reveals to me just how little I really do know.  I am comfortable with knowing that I am incapable of fully understanding the true depth of God, but know I have been given all that I need to follow faithfully.

 

2Ti 2:8-10 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, (9) for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained.  (10)  Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

        Paul here states the truth that he teaches that Jesus was both human and divine and was resurrected from the dead to make salvation available to whosoever will believe in Him.  This message made many upset with him and even landed him in prison as a criminal for it.  He angered the Jews in claiming Jesus was the Messiah.  He angered the Romans who claimed that the emperor was god.  He angered the Greeks who taught that a cross between man and God was impossible to occur.  They all played a part in the imprisonment of Paul, but his message was not chained.  He endured the suffering and even saw his voice heard louder than ever through these letters written to the church.

            Paul now seems to quote what may have been an early Christian hymn that tells the story of the relationship between Jesus and His followers.

 

 

 

   2Ti 2:11-13 This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.  (12)  If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.  (13)  If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

        This shows God is faithful in all things and never changes.  He also promises that though we may suffer great hardship in the end “we shall reign with Him.”  Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a famous German theologian who was targeted for his faith and hanged by the Nazi’s as they accused him of being part of a plot to kill Hitler.  One of the many saying he was famous for was this: “When we are called to come and follow Jesus, we are called to come and die to ourselves.”  I want to look a little deeper into this idea of what “dying with Christ” really means and looks like in some of Paul’s other letters.  In Romans chapter 6, after speaking of God’s marvelous saving grace being a work in a believer’s life, Paul said this:

 

Rom 6:1-11 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  (2)  Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?  (3)  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  (4)  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  (5)  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, (6) knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  (7)  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  (8)  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, (9) knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.  (10)  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  (11)  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

            It is through the obedience of baptism that our spiritual death occurs.  We die out to our “old man of sin” and “arise to walk in the newness of life.”  Baptism spiritually imitates our Lord’s death, burial and resurrection.  Sin no longer has a hold on us as we have died to it and its eternal consequences and now we are set free to live fully for God.  So as Paul told Timothy, it is only through death that we can truly live.  Paul wrote this in the 14^th chapter of this same letter:

 

Rom 14:7-9 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.  (8)  For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.  (9)  For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

 

 

 

            Here Paul is speaking of our physical death and that “whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”  Death no longer has a hold on us.  Jesus paid the price of our sins and now we are free to live or even die and remain in the Lord’s hands.  Jesus’ mission is complete.  He came to seek those who are lost and to become victorious over both sin and death forever.  This is summarized well in the letter to the Galatian church chapter 2.

 

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

        This is rightfully many believers’ life verse and helps explain where Bonhoeffer was coming from with his statement.  As we are resurrected from the water of baptism to “walk in the newness of life,” it is a daily decision to put to death “crucify” sin in our lives.  Our motivations are transformed to mirror those of our Lord and Savior.  We have died to self and live to Him.  This is now our purpose and desire putting Him and His kingdom first in all that we do.  Jesus said this in Matthew’s gospel chapter 10:

 

Mat 10:38-39 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  (39)  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the opportunity to follow and serve You.  Please help us to lose our lives for Jesus sake and die out to ourselves.