If we have died with him, we shall live with him; if we hold firm, we shall reign with him.
2 Timothy 2:11
This is the passage upon which I was asked to write a mediation. After reading numerous commentaries, I realized they all stated that this is just one line of an ancient Christian hymn. In the Early Church they often placed their faith into song. Verses 12 & 13 clearly need to be added to verse 11 resulting in the following: "if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself."
Timothy is basically summarizing what is written in Romans, Chapter 6:3-8. Verses 3 & 4: "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."
Truly this is a "triumphant hymn." However, with our Free Will we have the ability of "denying him" and in turn "he will also deny us." The great news clearly is that if by God's Grace we are enabled to say "Yes" to Christ in our relationship, he will, as always, be faithful to us.
It is by God's Grace alone that we can today share in the Victory of our Lord! Alleluia, Alleluia!
William H. C. Ticknor+
