This week we are going to look at verses 11-19 of chapter 2.
11This saying is trustworthy: For if we have died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; 13if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 14Remind them of these things, charging them before God not to fight about words; this is in no way profitable and leads to the ruin of the hearers. 15Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. 16But avoid irreverent, empty speech, for this will produce an even greater measure of godlessness. 17And their word will spread like gangrene; Hymenaeus and Philetus are among them. 18They have deviated from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and are overturning the faith of some. 19Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, having this inscription: The Lord knows those who are His, and Everyone who names the name of the Lord must turn away from unrighteousness. - 2 Timothy 2:11-19.
In these verses two characteristics stick out to me:
I. A Soldier of God is Secure (v11-13)
The Word here says if we endure with Him we will live and reign with Him forever.
If we reject Him before man, He will do the same to us. As believers we have already accepted Him once and for all. Verse 13 says it best, if we are faithless He remains faithful. He CANNOT deny Himself. If we accept Christ into our hearts then Christ now lives within us, forever. Even when we mess up, are back slidden, or totally fall off the grid, Christ is still in us. Because of that God can't deny us, because He can't deny Himself, His Son.
If we were without Christ (like verse 12 infers) He could deny us, because we are without Christ. But for the believers, the Soldiers of God, we HAVE Christ. No one or nothing can take that away from us. Because of that we can peace in knowing that our faith, our salvation is secure.
II. A Soldier of God is Sound in Faith (v14-19)
To be sound in faith means to know the Word. Most arguments in the Church come from Biblical ignorance. Verse 14: Paul asks us "Why are we fighting about what the Bible says? Is it doing us any good?" We as Christians receive enough questioning from the world, do we really need to tare each other down from the instead. So what if you're Baptist, or Church of Christ, Methodist, or anything else. GOD DIDN'T MAKE DENOMINATIONS. This is what Inflamed is all about. Our aim is to get back to the first Church, God's Church. No denominations, just the Word of God.
The best way to stop these Biblical arguments is for each of us to spend alone time in the Word. In doing so you'll find that it's not important to fight about Church carpeting, music styles, or even the order of service. Verse 19 makes it clear that God knows who His children are. You don't have to be a member of _____ denomination to get into Heaven, that's not how God works.
I encourage you to compare your life with this model life of a Christian outlined by Paul. See where you match up, and find areas you need to improve on. More importantly go back to the day you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you know without a shadow of a doubt that you are His that's great, you are secure and nothing can steal you away. Now your task is to get rooted in the Word, be sound in faith.
For those of you who can't remember a time that you asked Jesus Christ to come into your heart, to save you and become the Lord of your life and the Savior of your life understand this, YOU ARE NOT SECURE. Don't allow another moment to go by without talking to one of our ministers or some other Christian in your life.
The choice is yours? What are you going to do with it?
Grounded in Christ,
Bro. Austin
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