As
Paul the apostle continued his final letter to Timothy, he rejoiced
that “the word of God is not bound” even though he suffered “as
an evil doer, even unto bonds”. Paul endured “all things for the
elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in
Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” In chapter two and verse eleven
of this epistle, Paul continued his words of encouragement as he
shared the value of being “dead” with Christ Jesus because it
promises that “we shall also live with him” where we read:
The
verse begins, “It
is a
faithful saying: For if we be dead with him,...”
Paul began with this declaration with, “It is a faithful” which
means “believable, reliable and trustworthy” “saying” or
“speech, discourse, doctrine and teaching” “For” which is a
particle of speech which denotes “affirmation and conclusion” “if
we be dead with” or “whether we die together or with one” “him”
which refers to Jesus Christ and declares the conditional state of
being Paul had in mind.
The verse continues, “...we shall also live with him:”
Paul continued this thought with, “we shall also live with” which
is the Greek phrase “syzaō
kai syzaō” and means “continue to live in common with” “him”
which again refers to Jesus.
While
we meditate upon these words of Paul, we notice the contingent nature
of this phrase. He employed the word, “if” which means it is
conditional. He also preceded this saying with a declaration of its
veracity – “It is a faithful saying”. This should draw our
attention to the importance of following his words. We must desire to
be “dead” to ourselves in order to “live with him”, and those
who begin to understand Jesus' words in the gospel of Matthew in
chapter sixteen and verse twenty-four:
If
any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me.
will
be as though they are “dead with him”. Let us allow the Lord
Jesus to show us any ways and paths of living with are not in
alignment with His death, and may He lead us to the understanding of
what it truly means to “live with him”.
Next
time Paul tells Timothy what happens when we “suffer with” Jesus
and when we “deny” Him, so read ahead, and we shall join together
then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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