2 Timothy 2:13
if we are faithless, He remains faithful— for He cannot deny Himself.
Our God changes not. As a result, we can trust that He will remain true to His Word and will keep all of His promises, even those that seem unlikely. This is best described in our text today. Paul introduces this portion of Scripture by declaring, “The saying is trustworthy…” He then proceeds to give a series of conditional clauses as introduced by the word, “If.” This indicates that the second half of the statement is dependent on the first half. The text reads as follows:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us; (2 Timothy 2:11-12)
Our passage today is the last statement in this series. One would assume that since there’s a pattern already established, then God’s faithfulness will also be dependent on our doing something. However, Paul deliberately sets up the contrast in order to show the greatness of God’s faithfulness. So great is His faithfulness, that even when we become faithless, He continues to be faithful. This is because it is who He is, and for Him to be unfaithful will be tantamount to Him denying Himself. In other words, if God fails to be faithful, then He fails to be God. What amazing news this is. For I know how often I am unfaithful to and faithless towards God. But praise be to God that He has never for a moment and will never deny Himself on account of my actions. Nevertheless, a God like that deserves worship and total surrender. His faithfulness motivates me to stay faithful to Him. What shall we say then regarding these things, other than together with the hymn writer and the author of Lamentations to worship and declare:
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Reflections
1. In view of today’s reminder of God’s faithfulness, how will you respond to Him?
