2 Timothy 2.11-13-Paul Employs a Hymn to Remind Timothy of the Eternal Consequences of Faithfulness and Unfaithfulness
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday April 21, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 2:11-13-Paul Employs a Hymn to Remind Timothy of the Eternal Consequences of Faithfulness and Unfaithfulness
Lesson # 35
2 Timothy 2:11 It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (NASB95)
All the modern translations have typeset as poetry Second Timothy 2:11-13 because most scholars consider these verses to be poetic or hymnic.
The terms poetic and hymnic refer to the genre of writing contained in verses 11-13 and not the content of these verses.
There are two criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic.
First of all, the passage must have a certain rhythmical flow when the passage is read out loud.
There must also be the presence of an arrangement of couplets which is called in Latin, parallelismus membrorum.
There must also be a semblance of metre and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus or antithesis.
Secondly, the passage must possess an unusual vocabulary, which is different from the vocabulary in the surrounding context.
In this instance, one will find the presence of theological words.
It is important for the interpreter to understand this particular genre because it will provide keys for interpreting the passage.
There are scholars who do not believe Second Timothy 2:11-13 is hymnic or poetic but these verses do contain the criteria for being classified as hymnic or poetic.
First of all these verses contain conditional clauses which are rhetorical devices employed to persuade the audience to the writer’s viewpoint and specifically, there are four first class conditional statements in these verses.
There is antithesis which is found in verse 11, which speaks of the Christian dying with Christ and living with Christ and in verse 12, enduring and denying Christ is an antithesis and so reigning with Christ and Christ denying the Christian rewards.
In verse 13, being unfaithful to Christ is set in antithesis to the idea of Christ remaining faithful to the Christian.
Furthermore, the vocabulary in verses 11-13 is different from the vocabulary used by Paul in Second Timothy 1:1-2:10 and 2:14-4:22.
There are also many theological terms and expressions found in these verses such as dying and living with Christ and enduring and reigning with Christ or denying Him and Christ denying the Christian or being unfaithful and God remaining faithful.
Further indicating that verses 11-13 are a hymn or a poem is that the entire section is introduced by the formulaic expression πιστὸς ὁ λόγος, “it is a trustworthy statement.”
This expression emphasizes the trustworthiness or truthfulness of the statements in verses 11-13.
Lastly, when verses 11-13 are read out loud, they possess a rhythmic form.
With regards to authorship, it appears that Paul is the author since it contains much of the theological language he employed in those writings which are considered as undisputed Pauline letters.
For instance, dying with Christ appears in Romans 5:15, 6:2, 7, 8, 10, 7:6, Galatians 2:9, Colossians 2:20, and 3:3.
The concept of living with Christ appears in Romans 6:8, 2 Corinthians 5:15, 13:4, Galatians 2:19, 20, and 1 Thessalonians 5:10.
The concept of enduring appears in 1 Corinthians 4:12, 9:12, 10:13, 2 Thessalonians 1:4, 2 Timothy 2:10 and 4:5.
The concept of reigning with Christ appears in Romans 5:17, 21, and 1 Corinthians 4:8 and the concept of denying Christ appears in Titus 1:16.
The concept of Christ denying the Christian rewards because of unfaithfulness appears in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 and the theological concept of God’s faithfulness appears in 1 Corinthians 1:9, 10:13, 2 Corinthians 1:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, and 2 Thessalonians 3:3.
The concept of unfaithfulness among believers is implied by Paul in Ephesians 1:1 and Colossians 1:2 because in these verses the Christians he addresses are those who are faithful implying that there are some who are unfaithful.
Paul’s statements in Second Timothy 2:11-13 are tied to his statements in Second Timothy 2:8-11.
If you recall, in verse 8 Paul commanded Timothy to continue his habit of remembering Jesus Christ risen from the dead, David’s biological descendant in accordance with his gospel.
Then, in verse 9, he tells Timothy that he was presently suffering hardship to the point of imprisonment as a criminal because of the gospel.
He then says that the Word of God is never imprisoned.
Lastly, in verse 10, he tells Timothy that because the gospel can never be imprisoned, he always endures every type of adversity on behalf of the chosen ones.
The purpose of which is that these chosen ones will also enter into experiencing salvation which is by means of faith in Jesus Christ.
Here is speaking of those who would become Christians as a result of his evangelizing them.
Paul suffered for the gospel so that these same future Christians might experience eternal glory along with this salvation.
Now, here in Second Timothy 2:11, Paul states that it is a trustworthy statement that if the Christian has died with Christ and they have, then they will as a certainty live with Him or in other words, they will be raised from the dead.
Then, in verse 12, he teaches that if the Christian endures, they will also reign with Christ meaning that if they faithfully endure undeserved suffering, they will be rewarded by Jesus Christ and will reign with Him in His kingdom.
He follows this up by teaching that if the Christian denies Christ, then Christ will deny them which means that if they are unfaithful to Him, then they will not receive the reward of reigning with Him.
Lastly, in verse 13, he teaches that if the Christian is unfaithful, God still remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself.
This means that if the Christian is unfaithful to the Lord in time, they can never lose their salvation because God can never deny Himself which He would be doing if the Christian could lose their salvation.
The first couplet would serve as a great comfort for Timothy and those who remained faithful in Ephesus since it states that the Christian has died with Christ in a positional sense which guarantees that they will receive a resurrection body at the rapture or resurrection of the church.
The second couplet is another great comfort since it guarantees the Christian they will be rewarded at the Bema Seat for faithful service if they persevere through undeserved suffering and adversity.
The third is a warning since it teaches that Jesus Christ will deny the Christian rewards if they are unfaithful to Him in time.
The fourth and final couplet is a comfort because it speaks of the eternal security of the believer.
It teaches that even if the Christian is unfaithful, they could never lose their salvation since God remains faithful despite their unfaithfulness.
If the Christian could lose their salvation for unfaithfulness, God would have to deny Himself since the Christian was declared justified at the moment of their conversion based upon the merits of Jesus Chris and His death on the cross.
So because they were not saved based upon their own merits, they could never lose their salvation because of unfaithfulness.
Therefore, Paul’s statements in verses 11 and 13 are eternal security passages while his statements in verse 12 serve as an encouragement and motivation for faithful service and also a warning for unfaithfulness.
So we can see that in Second Timothy 2:8-10, Paul is exhorting Timothy to remain faithful to the gospel in the face of suffering undeserved suffering just like he was doing when he penned this epistle.
In Second Timothy 2:11-13, Paul is teaching Timothy that he will be rewarded for faithful service but will not be rewarded for unfaithful service but even if he is unfaithful, he will never lose his salvation.
Therefore, the purpose of Second Timothy 2:11-13 is to encourage and motivate Timothy to continue to follow Paul’s example of remaining faithful in the face of persecution and underserved suffering in order that he might be rewarded by the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat.
Not only would Timothy be motivated and encouraged by this hymn or poem but also the entire Christian community who read this letter in the years to follow.
It would also serve as a warning to those who were unfaithful in the Christian community such as those who in Asia who abandoned Paul as well as Phygelus and Hermogenes and Hymenaeus and Philetus.
It would serve as a warning to Christians today that there will be grave consequences for unfaithfulness, namely censure and loss of rewards at the Bema Seat.
For those who are faithful today in the Christian church it would serve as motivation and encouragement to remain faithful because it will result in praise from the Lord as well as rewards at the Bema Seat.