2 Timothy 2:8-13

2 Timothy 2:8-13  Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.  This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal.  But God’s word is not chained.  Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.  Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.  If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Even if we have little faith, even if we struggle, but believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Son of God, whose deity was proved by being raised from the dead, we will be saved.  God cannot disown his own children.  God's children have been begotten by the blood of Jesus Christ and his subsequent resurrection from the grave.  The Bible says, we who have placed our faith in Christ, died with him vicariously on the cross, and when He was raised from the grave, we were raised.  At that time, we became new creatures hidden with CHRIST IN GOD, ready for God's eternal kingdom.  Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  (John 3:3)  Jesus is not talking about being born again in the flesh but in the spirit.  Nicodemus could have been reborn a hundred times in the flesh, but he would still not be reborn.  Flesh begets flesh.  Spirit begets spirit.  Therefore, he would never have entered into the spiritual domain where God is, for God is SPIRIT.  No, Nicodemus would have to be born of the spirit.  His old self had to be "born again."  He had to experience the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, the new life salvation experience.  Only faith in Jesus Christ brings A NEW LIFE, A NEW ATTITUDE, A NEW SENSITIVITY TO GOD.  Then ALL THINGS ARE CHANGED, ALL THINGS BECOME NEW.  

This "good news" cannot be in chains.  Paul says that even though I am in chains like a criminal, God's word is not chained.  THIS MESSAGE IS NOT ONLY NOT IN CHAINS, IT CHANGES LIVES TO THE UTTERMOST.  Otherwise, this gospel brings life out of death, hope out of despair, and sight to the sightless.  Paul says, If we died with him (by faith in his work at the cross), we will also live with him.  Paul reiterates this theme in Romans 6:8, Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  In other words, eternal life with God is ours through faith in Jesus Christ.  But Paul also says if we reject Christ and put him on the cross again and say He is but a man and can doing nothing for us, then we have rejected the gate to heaven.  We have rejected him just as the world rejected him the first time by putting him on the cross.  With this choice, we reject his efficacy; we disown him and his saving grace completely.  Paul says, If we disown him, he will also disown us.  Our faith can be meager, even full of doubt, but if we don't completely reject him, God cannot disown us.  My dad used to say, "Hang onto Jesus regardless of your circumstances or feelings."  Jesus is the way to God.  Faith in Jesus Christ is the key to God's domain.  By being IN HIM, by abiding IN HIM, we have eternal life.  We are then known by the angels as The Redeemed.  Yes, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!  Praise his name forever.