Friday, September 2, 2011

2 Timothy 2:12


Copyright Ó 2011 J. Neely
2 Timothy 2:12

12 If [ei] we suffer, [hupomeno] we shall [sumbasileuo] also [kai] reign with [sumbasileuo] him: if [ei] we deny [arneomai] him, he also [kakeinos] will deny [arneomai] us: [hemas] KJV-Interlinear

12 If we endure, we shall also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; NASB

Paul is speaking of believers, ‘we,’ identifying others as the same type as himself, a believer in Christ.

There are two types of believers.  Those who will be positive toward Christ and thus will suffer (be careful how you define this word, for it does not mean what you think), and those who will not suffer as it were.

The not so positive believers are the indifferent, the apathetic, or even the outright antagonistic toward Christ.  People who at one time believed in Christ, and then for whatever reason, drifted away from their spiritual life.

We defined ‘suffer’ earlier in the chapter, so you know that just by being in this devils world, there is a suffering which all people have to endure.  The day to day burdens and responsibilities of life are a form of suffering.

But for Christians, this suffering is attributed to the identification with Christ through their belief in Him.  This is not something that you can boast about, for boasting is nothing more than arrogance.  No one has the right to even suggest that they are somehow special because they are suffering.

But here the suffering is identified with the spiritual life.  We leave this worlds patterns of life (the sin nature) in exchange of the spiritual pattern of life.  And this is of course the functioning spiritual life.  So suffering is synonymous with obedience to Christ’s mandates.  That is, the positive believer advancing in their spiritual life.

As a result, positive believers are blessed, ‘reign with Him.’  And here reign, certainly means to rule, and this is a joint rulership, but its connotation here is joint blessings of assigned authority.

Those who deny Him, meaning those who refuse or ignore or simply do not advance in their spiritual life, and thus are the disobedient, will not enjoy the benefits of reigning, that is, they will not have the blessings that the obedient will have.

Therefore from the beginning of this chapter, do not be embarrassed because of your relationship with Christ.  Do not be embarrassed because of your status in this life.  God did not place you here to be outstanding among mankind, just to show you off to others.

Most believers in Christ will possess the lowly jobs, the lowly positions in life, and no one on this planet will even know their names.  But God does.  And it is Gods knowledge of you, that is important.

Therefore, Paul emphasizes your blessings.  There are many, including the many blessings and privileges (by implication) or rulership.  The king, the royal family, all possess many more privileges than do the peasants.  And so it will be in eternity. 

Symbolically stated here, the positive believer, the one who pursues their advancement toward spiritual maturity, through thick or thin in this world, will indeed be blessed with enormous blessings that the negative believer will never possess.

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