(1) 2:9 for which I suffer hardship to the point of imprisonment as a criminal, but God’s message is not imprisoned!
(BKC) Preaching the good news about the crucified but resurrected Son of David was what had landed Paul in a Roman jail. Much of the Book of Acts catalogs Paul’s suffering for the cause of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 11:23–33 for a summary). With every move as he wrote or dictated this letter, the clinking iron reminded him that he was chained like a criminal (kakourgos, lit., “evildoer”). But though he was chained, God’s Word is not chained (Paul equated “my gospel” with “God’s Word”; cf. 1 Thes. 2:13; 2 Thes. 3:1). God would continue to use it through Timothy, and those to whom Timothy entrusted it. Paul’s apparent shame and impotence should be no cause for alarm, discouragement, or faintheartedness.
(2) 2:11 This saying is trustworthy:
If we died with him, we will also live with him.
2:12 If we endure, we will also reign with him.
If we deny him, he will also deny us.
2:13 If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself.
(BKC) The quotation sets forth four couplets, the first two of which are positive
If we died with him, we will also live with him.
(BKC) If we died with Him, we will also live with Him expresses the idea so powerfully portrayed in the rite of baptism and explained in Romans 6:2–23. The reference is not to martyrdom for Christ, but rather to a believer’s mystical identification with the death and life of Christ .
If we endure, we will also reign with him.
(BKC) Christ endured and will one day reign (1 Cor. 15:25), and those saints who endure will one day reign with Him
If we deny him, he will also deny us.
If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself.
If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself.
What is the difference between those who deny Him and who are unfaithful? The meaning is similar, but the results are vastly different.
deny-(BDAG) to disclaim association with a pers. or event, deny, repudiate, disown (verbally or nonverbally)...usually of backsliders.
(NAC) Paul’s awful warning did not apply to a temporary denial such as Peter demonstrated (Luke 22:54–62) but to a permanent denial such as Judas illustrated (Acts 1:15–19). The threat of “disown[ing]” would have been a warning to Timothy and other believers and a threat of judgment to the Asians of 1:15 who had deserted.
unfaithful-(NAC) To be “faithless” is a present tense, implying that the readers were developing a pattern of failure to live up to their profession or were proving unstable and disobedient in trials...Paul was asserting that despite human unfaithfulness God’s saving purpose has not retreated. Timothy and all those with him were to continue their endurance that they might experience God’s blessing. Paul did not state these words to open the door to apostasy and disobedience but to soothe a troubled conscience and to provide encouragement to return to God.
Audrey
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