2 Timothy 2:11-13

Vers. 11-13. Faithful is the saying, For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. Does the saying point to what precedes, or to what follows? Commentators are divided on the question; and as nothing very decisive can be urged for the determination either way, they are still likely to be so. Certainly, as Ellicott contends, and Huther also admits (though he adopts the forward reference), the for (γὰρ) which follows the proverbial saying seems to point backwards, and to introduce a confirmatory statement of what had been uttered immediately before; and this is the view taken by all the ancient Greek commentators. But there is no need for pressing the matter closely either way, as it is substantially the same line of thought that is indicated in both the preceding and the following context only in the former more individually, in the latter more generally. Whether viewed with respect to Paul himself and his fellow-labourers in the gospel, or with respect to those who in any place or time would lead the Christian life, one must be prepared to look for the same kind of mixed experience temporal evil followed by a glorious compensation; hardship and suffering as the condition of ultimate victory; death even as the pathway to life, never-ending and full of glory. The truth of the gospel in this respect is a faithful saying: it holds good every way; the apostle himself was in the course of realizing it in his own experience, with the full consent and approval of his own mind. So he had said just before; and now he makes a quite general and comprehensive application of it: For if we died with Him (namely, when by a living faith we embraced Christ as our Saviour, entering into the fellowship of His sufferings and death), we shall also live with Him, sharing at last in His resurrection power and blessedness of life, as spiritually we do in a measure now. If we endure (ὑπομένομεν, patiently undergo trial and hardship, namely, with Him, or in His cause and service), we shall also reign with Him: as our Lord Himself repeatedly testified (Matthew 16:24-27; Matthew 19:28-29; Luke 22:28-30), and as is stated also in other passages (Romans 5:17; Romans 6:8; Romans 8:10-11; Romans 8:17; Colossians 3:3-4; Revelation 3:21). If we shall deny ( Him), put contingently, as a thing that might possibly happen in the future, He also will deny us; a virtual repetition of our Lord's solemn words: “Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). Finally, if we are unbelieving, ἀπιστοῦμεν, not merely prove unfaithful in times of trial, shrink from confessing what we inwardly feel to be the truth concerning Him, but, rejecting or quitting our hold of the truth, pass over entirely into the region of unbelief, if we should thus estrange ourselves from the common ground of faith, still He abides faithful remaining perpetually true to His declarations and promises, whether we accredit them or not. And the reason follows: For (The received text omits γα ̀ ρ, but it is found in the best copies, א, A, C, D, F, L, and is admitted by all the best critics.) He cannot deny Himself. This implies that the word given as the ground of our faith in Scripture is the expression of His own essential nature; it reveals what, as possessed of that nature, He is in His relation to us, what He purposes toward us, or has done in the execution of His purposes. To disown this, therefore, were to deny Himself; and that it is impossible He should ever do, seeing He is the unchangeable Jehovah (Malachi 3:6); and so, His word, like Himself, “liveth and abideth for ever.” (As regards the question whether the passage vers. 11-13, from its somewhat measured and rhythmical structure, was not part of some Christian hymn, I would be inclined to give the same judgment as in regard to 1 Timothy 3:16 which see.)