11 This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. 12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:11-13
Overcoming with Jesus is a given in Christ. The only really difficult part is holding our agreement with Him even in the hard places. We have died with Christ, having been crucified with Him. Now we live with Him; our life is hidden in Christ, in God. We are learning a new identity, address and kingdom protocol, as we practice our salvation by grace through faith.
We have died with Him to live with Him. To live with Christ is to co-live or continue to live in common with Him. We joined into His life, no longer separate, we are one.
We endure with Him to reign with Him. Our faith in Christ is tested. Enduring the testings is our training for reigning. Everything we are going through is to learn Christ’s victory, to discover Him in the middle of everything and anything. To reign is to be co-regent. We become joint heirs.
If we deny Him, He also will deny us. Denial here is to contradict Him. In other words, in the midst of our trials we is interpret Jesus. The Accuser comes and points to our sin, or God’s seemingly unfaithfulness. Or…if we then come into agreement, denying what the word says and who the Lord is, He denies us. Not tit-for-tat, or vindictively. He just can’t and won’t come out of agreement with what He has done and who He is.
If we are faithless He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. Jesus does us the greatest favor here. We become disoriented, overwhelmed, and accusing God or whatever, through our misinterpreting God’s goodness. Jesus remains faithful. He may seem to become silent, but He isn’t. He simply must wait as we have our unbelieving moment. We will return and He will remain faithful to what He has said, even if we leave for a season.
Life, reigning, agreement, and union. Our place is secured because it is in Christ and what He has accomplished. Our momentary separation is in our perception. This is why we are in training for reigning. It is so that we can know that truth in experience and live our justified, glorified, union in love. No matter how it looks or feels. Now that is a faithful saying.
