For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I know in whom I have believed and I am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
—2 Timothy 1:12
Paul had just written of the Gospel in 2 Timothy 1:8-10. In this verse, Paul was writing that it was because of the Gospel he was suffering persecution and imprisonment.
“These things” Paul referred to were the things concerning his persecution. At the time Paul wrote this letter, he was in prison and death seemed likely. Paul’s preaching of the Gospel was what put him in prison, yet he was not ashamed. Paul was persuaded of its truth. He was convinced to the point that even suffering for preaching the Gospel could not discourage him. Paul was fully convinced that his life in Christ would be safe in Him until either the day He went home to be with Him or until the Day of His return.
That’s why Paul wasn’t ashamed. But Paul’s belief in the truths of the Gospel does nothing for us. We must believe the Gospel for ourselves. To be fully persuaded, we must be fully convinced and possess the Gospel as our own.
Paul had just written Timothy (in 2 Timothy 1:8) not to be ashamed of the Gospel or his imprisonment. This was no doubt to challenge the younger Timothy, who was a leader in the church in Ephesus during the persecution of Christians. If Paul—who was in prison—wasn’t ashamed of the Gospel message and was fully convinced of God’s faithfulness, why should Timothy believe any less?
Why was it that Paul was not ashamed? He answers that in verse 12. He didn’t just believe in the Gospel. He believed in a Person. Jesus was the One in whom He had put all his faith. Paul did not just believe in doctrines or creeds, but in the Son of God with whom he had a relationship. Our belief in religion or tradition does nothing for us. Only a relationship with Jesus Christ does. I know the One in whom I have fully believed, Paul said, and only He can keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
No religion can keep us. Only the Person of Jesus keeps us. Paul’s faith in Jesus led Paul to believe that the Lord would right every wrong on “that day”. Because of this, he was able to wait for God’s righteous judgment.
Anyone who suffers unjustly for the Gospel need not be ashamed. There is a righteous Judge in heaven who will vindicate everyone who has been falsely accused. Whatever injustices they suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ will eventually come to light. For this very reason, Paul was not ashamed. He knew Christ, and he knew that Jesus Christ takes the persecution of His saints personally. The Day would come when Paul would be exonerated.
Paul said the Lord would keep that which he had committed to Him. The word “commit” means “to entrust.” Paul had entrusted his life to the Lord. He had committed himself to preaching the Gospel regardless of the cost. Therefore, Paul knew the Lord would keep what he had committed to Him.
Commitment is essential to God. Without commitment on our part, there is no keeping on the Lord’s part. God only keeps that which we entrust and commit to Him. We can only entrust our lives to Jesus when we fully believe in Him.
God does not waver in His commitment to us. Jesus, having finished the work necessary for us to be one with God, now sits in heaven on the right hand of the Father. His work is completed on our behalf.
Jesus has made you a coheir in His inheritance. God, who sees the Person of His Son in you, now gives you free access to His presence. You can come boldly—being fully convinced and without any hindrance or doubt—into His presence to receive help in your suffering from the world and from those who have rejected you for your faith.
God has already proved Himself to you in Jesus. He is fully convinced in the finished work of His Son in you. Be fully persuaded and convinced in the finished work of His Son that God sees in you. Be steadfast, unswerving, and faithful.
When you share the revelation of the Gospel of grace the Holy Spirit has given you, others may reject your message with their words and actions. But it doesn’t matter. You have nothing to prove. Trust the Person who has proved Himself to you. Trust the Person in whom you have believed. Commit the new life you have received to the Person who gave it to you. Be fully persuaded. God is faithful to keep the new life you have committed to Him until the day you are with Him in glory.
Are you fully persuaded?
“I am persuaded,” Paul wrote, “that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
© 2024 Lynn Lacher
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