True Self

Tonight I read a passage of Scripture that is not entirely foreign to me. I mean, I've read it before. Much as I wish I could claim to have read the entire Bible from cover to cover, I'm quite certain there are some Old Testament prophecies I've missed. But the letters of Paul are beautiful, concise renditions of the gospel, and I've read them often.

The three Pastoral Epistles are the books of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Paul wrote personal letters of encouragement to these young pastors, and we've been invited to eavesdrop on the conversation. After telling Timothy to be strong through struggle and to embrace it for the sake of the gospel, Paul tells him there are three trustworthy statements (2 Timothy 2: 11-13):

If we died with Christ, we will also live with Him. This construction is awkward for most of us, so flip it, but don't change the meaning: We will live with Christ in heaven if we have also died with Christ. Combined with the beginning of the next verse, we will reign with Him if we endure, this is a message of hope and encouragement, and a bit of a kick in the pants.

Don't give up! There is a reward.

The next bit is even more of a kick in the pants. There is something just as true, like the dark side of the moon.

If we deny Him, He will deny us. Or flipped: He will deny us if we deny Him. For believers, this is heavy. If we deny Christ -- in the break room at work or the family reunion or with our language and attitudes -- than He will deny us before the Father. Jesus promised as much in Matthew 10:33: "Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

Verse 13 says the same thing a different way: If we are faithless, He will be faithful.

Wait. Isn't that saying Jesus won't deny us even though we are faithless?

No. Jesus will remain faithful to Himself. The verse ends "for He cannot deny Himself." That line doesn't make sense if the first part means He won't deny us. If I deny Him, He won't deny me because He cannot deny Himself? No, that doesn't work.

The conclusion must be that to stick by His word is to be true to Himself -- if you deny Me before men, I will deny you before My Father in heaven.

Sobering thought. It makes Paul's command to Timothy, and us, all the more powerful. "If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes by the rules." 2 Timothy 2: 5

Jesus speaks truth and only truth. He will do what He says He will do. He will save all who believe in Him, and He will come again one day to judge the living and the dead. He is who He says He is. I am who He says I am, and we'll look at that more in the future.