If We Disown Him

             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 remains faithful,
    for he cannot disown himself. (II Timothy 2:8-13)

                To begin, II Timothy was written around 66-67 AD, when Nero was persecuting the Christians and before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. How long before that the “trustworthy saying” became a saying (or a song) is unknown, but it gives an idea of the beliefs of the time, less than forty years after the crucifixion. Among other things, it shows that Paul wasn’t exactly teaching something new and different from what other loyal to Christ’s teachings were teaching.

                But, after encouraging Timothy to follow his own example, Paul doubles down, and challenges Timothy to set as his standard the sufferings of Jesus, and the promises and warnings in the trustworthy saying.  Dying might not be pleasant, but dying with Him means we live with Him. Enduring with Him means we’ll reign with Him. Disowning Him will lead to His disowning us (I’ll come back to that) and even if we are faithless, He is faithful for He cannot disown Himself or be other than who and what He is.

                Now, about His disowning us if we disown Him. I’m not sure that a person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins and rose again can reach the point where he/she disowns Christ. Those who claim to have believed can easily turn against Him because they weren’t actually for Him. Even if those who believed – actually believed – can turn against Him and reject Him, that’s a level of hatred that is unusual. I can only say that Jesus disowning that person would be good manners on His part rather than vindictiveness. After all, if the person has rejected Christ that thoroughly, Jesus imposing Himself on that person would be rude.

                The good news is the next statement. If we are faithless – if our faith doesn’t measure up, that doesn’t end Jesus’ faithfulness to us. Jesus’ faithfulness is not dependent on ours. It is in His nature to be faithful and constant even as it is in ours to vacillate. That’s not the same as disowning. Disowning is “I won’t.” Our faithlessness is “I can’t.”