God’s Word for You

2 Timothy 2:11-12a We will live with him

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, June 20, 2026

11 This is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him.

Does “If we died with him” refer to baptism, or to some other death? Now, it’s true that baptism and death are associated. Paul says, “All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (Romans 6:3). And again, that “we are buried with him in baptism and raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12). But baptism does not fit the context of persecution and martyrdom that has been Paul’s theme and warning in this chapter. While eternal glory, being “heirs according to the promise” is one of the results of baptism (Galatians 3:27-29), Paul is really talking about physical death on account of persecution here, suffering, discomfort, torture, and even death for the cross of Christ. Those who die on account of their faith—with whom do they die? They die with all those others who have died on account of their faith and the unbelief and jealousy of those who persecuted them. These are believers like Abel, most of the Old Testament prophets (as Jesus testifies, Luke 11:47-48), Stephen, James, and all the rest.

Gregory of Nyssa says, “Only unbelievers are in the habit of limiting the hope of the living with the present life and thus consider death a disaster because they are not hoping for that which has persuaded us. But we who have believed the great Guarantor of the resurrection from the dead, the Lord Himself, have an undying hope for good things.”

Also, Gregory (Moralia 7,7) said, “Surely when the mind considers the sweetness of that blissful homeland, he fervently loves, for its sake, the bitterness of the present life.” Surely that bothers the unbeliever, but the believer gets it. Mark Twain illustrated this when he said, “It’s not the stuff in the Bible that I don’t understand that bothers me. It’s the stuff that I do understand….”

Now, a caution to Christians, and an encouragement. First: a fellow Christian who has only just lost a loved one, especially a child or a spouse (surely the bitterest of losses), it may not be the best time to walk up and congratulate them that their loved one is in paradise while you grin like a maniac on account of being unable to sympathize with terrible grief. It could be a pretty path to getting a punch in the face, the kind that a human court would sympathize with. Too often we expect that everyone will react exactly as we imagine they should, forgetting the simple fact that would otherwise have been obvious: people are human beings, and sometimes human beings need time to process and grieve.

Now, there is also encouragement here. For those who are dying, there is life, life that transcends this one, life that is painless, joyous, glorious, and permanent, and it is just moments away. There will be unexpected delights in heaven, such as Paul telling us that “we will also reign with him.” This is not something to be planned for, but rather just something to know that we will delight in when the moment comes.

This is one of the reasons that we study doctrine as God’s servants. First, we want to be able to apply God’s word and train our people (“The overseer must be able to teach” 1 Timothy 3:2), to counter the teachings of false prophets who “secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them” (2 Peter 2:1), and defend God’s people against error and “hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9). And as Paul is doing here, we want to prepare our people for enduring hardship for the sake of the gospel. For Jesus also says, “you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me” (Matthew 24:9).

This is a good time to remember the most common form of our worship, which is prayer. How often do our prayers simply worship and honor God? The entire goal of our worship and religion is summarized by John: “That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). We worship God to praise him, to honor him, and to give him glory. And this will be even more joyful for us when we stand before his throne in eternity.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

Browse Devotion Archive