This section has three verses:
2 Timothy 2:11-13
11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with
him, we shall also live with him:
12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we
deny him, he also will deny us:
13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he
cannot deny himself.
We will begin with the Barclay Commentary.
THE SONG OF THE MARTYR
2 Timothy 2:11–13
This is a saying which can be relied upon:
If we die with him,
we shall also live with him.
If we endure,
we shall also reign with him.
If we deny him,
he too will deny us.
If we are faithless,
he remains faithful
For he cannot deny himself.
THIS is a particularly precious passage because in
it is enshrined one of the first hymns of the
Christian Church. In the days of persecution, the
Christian Church put its faith into song. It may be
that this is only a fragment of a longer hymn.
There are two possible interpretations of the first
two lines – ‘If we die with him, we shall also live
with him.’ There are those who want to take these
lines as a reference to baptism. In Romans 6,
baptism is likened to dying and rising with Christ.
‘Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism
into death, so that, as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk
in newness of life.’ ‘But if we have died with
Christ, we believe that we will also live with him’
(Romans 6:4, 6:8). No doubt the language is the
same; but the thought of baptism is quite irrelevant
here; it is the thought of martyrdom that is in
Paul’s mind.
Quoted verses:
Romans 6:4
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into
death: that like as Christ was raised up from the
dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:8
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we
shall also live with him:
The hymn goes on: ‘If we endure, we shall also reign
with him.’ It is the one who endures to the end who
will be saved. Without the cross [stake], there
cannot be the crown.
Then comes the other side of the matter: ‘If we deny
him, he too will deny us.’ That is what Jesus
himself said: ‘Everyone therefore who acknowledges
me before others, I also will acknowledge before my
Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before
others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven’
(Matthew 10:32–3). Jesus Christ cannot vouch in
eternity for someone who has refused to have
anything to do with him in time; but he is always
true to those who, however much they have failed,
have tried to be true to him.
Quoted verse:
Matthew 10:32-33
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men,
him will I confess also before my Father which is in
heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will
I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
These things are so because they are part of the
very nature of God. We may deny ourselves, but God
cannot. ‘God is not a human being that he should
lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind’
(Numbers 23:19). God will never fail those who have
tried to be true to him; but not even he can help
someone who has refused to have anything to do with
him.
Quoted verse:
Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the
son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and
shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he
not make it good?
Jesus died to be true to the will of God; and
Christians must follow that same will, whatever
light may shine or shadow fall.
~Barclay commentary
[with some edits]
Now to the other commentaries. We will begin with
the general and go to the specific. This is rather
rare, but what we are about to read is exactly what
we had for verse 11 and 12.
From the F. B. Meyer:
The elect, 2 Timothy 2:10-13 : The Apostle sketches
the experiences of the elect soul. It must endure,
suffer, and die with Christ, that out of its
surrender may come the truest, richest life, John
12:25. There is no path to lasting success save that
of the cross [stake]
and grave of Christ. It has been allotted to the
redeemed in the divine program; each must tread it
separately and with resolute purpose. But there is
no doubt as to the sequel of a true life. The world
of men may count it a failure, but God pledges
Himself that as the pendulum swings here in the
dark, it shall swing equally in yonder world of
light. Three things are impossible with God-to die,
to lie, and to fail the soul that trusts Him. Even
when we cannot muster faith enough, His word of
promise cannot be frustrated in the case of those
whose faith is weak and trembling as the smoking
flax. ~F. B. Meyer
Quoted verse:
John 12:25
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that
hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto
life eternal.
Now the Matthew Henry Main:
Another thing with which he encourages Timothy is
the prospect of a future state. Those who faithfully
adhere to Christ and to his truths and ways,
whatever it cost them, will certainly have the
advantage of it in another world: If we be dead with
him, we shall live with him, 2 Timothy 2:11. If we
be dead with him, we shall live with him, 2 Timothy
2:11. If, in conformity to Christ, we be dead to
this world, its pleasures, profits, and honours, we
shall go to live with him in a better world, to be
for ever with him. Nay, though we be called out to
suffer for him, we shall not lose by that.
~Matthew Henry Main
Now the Matthew Henry Concise which covers verses
8-13:
Let suffering saints remember, and look to Jesus,
the Author and Finisher of their faith, who for the
joy that was set before him, endured the cross [stake],
despised the shame, and is now set down at the right
hand of the throne of God. We must not think it
strange if the best men meet with the worst
treatment; but this is cheering, that the word of
God is not bound. Here we see the real and true
cause of the apostle's suffering trouble in, or for,
the sake of the gospel. If we are dead to this
world, its pleasures, profits, and honours, we shall
be for ever with Christ in a better world. He is
faithful to his threatenings, and faithful to his
promises. This truth makes sure the unbeliever's
condemnation, and the believer's salvation.
~Matthew Henry Concise
Now from the Cambridge Bible covering verses 8-13:
Just as in the first chapter Paul appeals first to
Timothy’s sympathies and experiences of an earthly
kind to brace him up—his own strong feelings moved
even to tears, his mother’s and grandmother’s faith
and piety, the touch of the vanished hand in the
solemn rite of ordination (2 Timothy 2:4-7), and
then paints for him ‘the power of God,’ ‘the
appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus who abolished
death,’ as the chief and strongest motive for
keeping up heart and hope, since His must be the
winning side, He must be able to keep that which is
committed to Him (2 Timothy 2:8-12): so now, after
the appeal to earthly analogies and common human
experiences as to the necessity and the reward of
pains and perseverance, he rises from the earthly to
the heavenly, from the human to the Divine.
‘Remember, God’s plan—even the old, old promise to
“the seed of the woman”—came out complete in the
fullness of time. Jesus Christ of the seed of David
bruised the, old serpent’s head when He rose “victor
over the tomb.” True, I, or any one of us His humble
servants, may for a time seem trodden under, but
’tis only for a time; the salvation, the eternal
glory, is assured in His power; if we endure we
shall also reign with Him. This is the motive of
motives to play the man; this is indeed being
strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
~Cambridge Bible
Before we get into the other commentaries I want to
relate some text from the Biblical Illustrator.
Faith in God ennobles reason; unbelief degrades
reason
1. Faith in God involves, in its very act, a
rational appreciation of evidence. Hence it is
distinct from credulity, which is belief without
evidence; from scepticism, which is unbelief, though
evidence is at hand; and from infidelity, which is
the rejection of evidence sufficient to convince. In
each of these there is either the neglect or the
abuse of the reason, and a consequent injury to the
intellectual as well as to the moral powers of the
soul. But faith in God, distinct from all these, is
belief on sufficient evidence.
2. Faith in God promotes the highest exercise of
reason, because also it rests upon the most
substantial and durable foundation. If, in the
investigation of natural truth, it is philosophical
to seek for first principles, it is equally or more
so to require them in the reception of revealed
truth. Now to have faith in God is to rest on first
principles, and to build up knowledge and hope on a
sure foundation.
3. Faith takes in the sublimest [supreme or
outstanding] truths, and the widest circle of
thought.
4. If this be our philosophy we shall not stumble at
miracles. While faith admits the miracles as facts,
reason co-operates with faith by showing that they
are wise and good. Moreover, the great first miracle
displayed in the world’s creation, which we receive
by faith, prepare the mind for all other miracles,
however stupendous they may be (Hebrews 11:1).
Quoted verse:
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.
5. Guided by the philosophy of faith, we shall not
stumble at mysteries. For what are mysteries? Grand
truths as yet but palatally [pal-uh-tl ly] [acceptably]
revealed; the first syllables of some vast volume to
be unrolled hereafter.
6. Nor at alleged contradictions between science and
revelation. We are free to admit that there are
difficulties, real difficulties, between science and
revelation; and there may be even greater still.
What then? We are but in the position in which
patriarchs and prophets were placed for ages.
7. Supported by the philosophy of faith, we shall
not faint under the delay of promised good. “One day
is with the Lord as a thousand years,” etc.
Faith and the gospel
I. Unbelief is a sin. Does not Christ dissuade
from it? His apostles forbid it? and God everywhere
commands the contrary? May not arguments be
produced, if any doubt of it, to confirm, ratify it?
II. A man may not have faith yet possess the Gospel.
To try the truth of thy faith, let these two rules
following be well weighed of thee: First, he who
hath faith receives Christ, as the wife does her
husband. He will have Him and no other from this
time forward, for better, for worse; for richer, for
poorer; in sickness and in health, according to
God’s Holy ordinance, till (and after that)
death shall them part. In the second place, how does
thy faith work? Faith, if true and sound, will
embrace Christ, purify the heart, lift up the wing
of thy soul and cause thee to soar on high. It will
do what God enjoins, though it strip him of
reputation, promotion, life and all.
III. In preaching the word ministers are not to
exclude themselves.
IV. The Lord is faithful.
V. The Lord is without change. ~Biblical
Illustrator
Now to the specific commentaries.
This verse is primarily in two parts
1] If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful
2] He cannot deny himself.
1] If we believe not, yet he
abideth faithful.
If we believe not - Better, are faithless or untrue
to him. ~Vincent's Word Studies
If we believe not - Should we deny the faith and
apostatize, he is the same, as true to his
threatenings as to his promises; he cannot deny -
act contrary to, himself. ~Adam Clarke
If we believe not - That is, though some believe
not, God will make good all his promises to them
that do believe. He cannot deny himself - His word
cannot fail. ~John Wesley Explanatory Notes
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful - This
cannot mean that, if we live in sin, he will
certainly save us, as if he had made any promise to
the elect, or formed any purpose that he would save
them; whatever might be their conduct; because:
(1) he had just said that if we deny him he will
deny us; and,
(2) there is no such promise in the Bible, and no
such purpose has been formed. The promise is, that
be that is a believer shall be saved, and there is
no purpose to save any but such as lead holy lives.
The meaning must be, that if we are unbelieving and
unfaithful, Christ will remain true to his word, and
we cannot hope to be saved. The object of the
apostle evidently is, to excite Timothy to fidelity
in the performance of duty, and to encourage him to
bear trials, by the assurance that we cannot hope to
escape if we are not faithful to the cause of the
Saviour. This interpretation accords with the design
which he had in view. ~Barnes Notes
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful. - The
Syriac and Ethiopic versions read, "if we believe
not him". This may be understood, either of such who
are altogether destitute of faith, who do not
believe in Christ at all; and particularly do not
believe what was just now said concerning His
denying such that deny Him, but mock and scoff at
His coming, and at a future judgment: this unbelief
of theirs will not make void His faith or
faithfulness; see Romans 3:3, He will abide faithful
to His word of threatening; and what He says in Mark
16:16 will be found to be an everlasting truth: or
it may be understood of true believers, whose faith
sometimes is very low, as to its exercise on Christ,
and with reference to their future glory and
happiness; but Christ is faithful to all His,
covenant engagements for them, to bring them to
glory, and to every word of promise concerning their
happiness, and to every branch of the faithful
saying above mentioned; and He is ever the same in
His love to them, and in the
efficacy [Power
of] of His blood, righteousness, and sacrifice;
and His salvation is an everlasting and unchangeable
one; nor do the saints' interest in it, and security
by it, depend upon their acts of believing, or their
frames, but upon the firmness and unchangeableness
of Christ, the object of faith. ~John Gill
Quoted verses:
Romans 3:3
For what if some did not believe? shall their
unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned.
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful. - He is
faithful to his threatenings, faithful to his
promises; neither one nor the other shall fall to
the ground, no, not the least, jot nor tittle of
them. If we be faithful to Christ, he will certainly
be faithful to us. If we be false to him, he will be
faithful to his threatenings: he cannot deny
himself, cannot recede from any word that he hath
spoken, for he is yea, and amen, the faithful
witness. Observe,
(1.) Our being dead with Christ precedes our living
with him, and is connected with it: the one is in
order to the other; so our suffering for him is the
way to reign with him. You that have followed me in
the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on
the throne of his glory, you also shall sit upon
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel
Matthew 19:28.
Quoted verse:
Matthew 19:28
And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you,
That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration
when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his
glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
(2.) This is a faithful saying, and may be depended
on and ought to be believed. But,
(3.) If we deny him, out of fear, or shame, or for
the sake of some temporal advantage, he will deny
and disown us, and will not deny himself, but will
continue faithful to his word when he threatens as
well as when he promises. ~Jamieson, Fausset,
Brown
If we believe not - The antithesis in the Greek is
better expressed by, ‘If we lose our faith. He still
remains faithful.’ The special reference is of
course to the words of Christ just cited. We may
turn a deaf ear to them, refuse to believe them, but
they will be found true at last. The faithfulness of
Christ is pledged to the words of judgment as well
as those of promise. The perfection of His nature
excludes the thought of inconsistency or
self-contradiction. ~Popular New Testament
commentary
2] He cannot deny himself.
He cannot deny himself - True to his own nature,
righteous character, and requirements, according to
which he cannot accept as faithful one who has
proved untrue to him. To do this would be to deny
himself. ~Vincent's Word Studies
He cannot deny himself - Implying that it would be a
denial of His very nature to save those who are
unfaithful. He is holy; and how can he save one who
is unholy? His very nature is purity; and how can he
save one who has no purity? Let no one, then,
suppose that, because he is elected, he is safe, if
he lives in sin. The electing purpose of God,
indeed, makes salvation sure; but it is only for
those who lead righteous lives. Nothing would be
mere dishonorable for God than to resolve to save a
man that lived habitually in sin; and if that were
the doctrine of election, it would deserve all the
opprobrium that has ever been heaped upon it.
~Barnes Notes
He cannot deny himself - He cannot go contrary to
His word; that would be to act contrary to His
nature and perfections, and would be a denying of
Himself, which is not possible; wherefore His
faithfulness will never fail, even though, the faith
of His people does, as to the exercise of it.
~John Gill
Notice this now from Expositions of Holy Scriptures
by Alexander MacLaren
What attitude in us corresponds to the
faithfulness of God?
I need only quote one of the expressions in the
Epistle to the Hebrews to give the answer, ‘Hold
fast the profession of your faith without wavering,
for He is faithful that promised.’ Our faith
corresponds with and is the answer to God’s
faithfulness. As with two instruments tuned to the
same pitch, when a note is struck on the one, the
chords of the other vibrate it back again, so God’s
faithfulness should awake the music of answering
faith in our responsive and vibrating hearts. If He
is worth trusting let us trust Him.
But, further, unwavering faith is the only thing
that truly corresponds to unchanging faithfulness.
Build rock upon rock, and since He is faithful, do
not answer his steadfast faithfulness with a
tremulous and vacillating confidence. What would you
think of a man that had given to him some
magnificent site on which to rear a fortress; some
impregnable crag which he might crown with a sure
defence; if, on the top of it, instead of rearing
granite walls that might match their foundation, he
should run up some hasty shelter of lath and
plaster, or of fluttering canvas, and so think that
he had adorned, when he had insulted the rock on
which he built. Make your faith to match God’s
faithfulness, and ‘commit the keeping of your souls
to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator,
leaving all things in His hands, and trusting them
absolutely unto Him. ~MacLaren |