Bottom Line Up Front: Fidelity as a Fundamental

Context: Last evening when I returned to post after a week of leave, I read 1st and 2nd Timothy again. And again, I was struck by Paul’s emphasis to his student Timothy about what is a non-negotiable for God-honoring ministry: faithfulness.

Questions: To use a cliché from the resilience world, how does one “hunt the good stuff” when corruption is pervasive? How does one not grow discouraged when it appears evil is winning, that light is being eclipsed by forces of darkness? The short answer is this: God is undefeated. Therefore, all who are in Christ are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). Even in the dark times. Especially during those dark times, that’s when we must steep ourselves in that truth.

Here’s just one example of how Paul teaches Timothy about the link between God’s faithfulness and Timothy’s endurance. There’s a profound connection between the two things. Timothy’s endurance is to rest upon God’s faithfulness. Timothy’s identity is founded upon the fidelity of God himself:

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 8-13, ESV)

Encouragement: Paul did not sugarcoat his suffering; he did not gloss over it. He spoke plainly of it. Why? For the sake of the elect (v. 10). In other words, for all who are in God’s family. For men like Timothy, who would discover lots of heartache, just as Paul endured. Why? Because the crucible of suffering teaches us about the glories of Christ himself, who endured what we never could or would. Christ was the one who was betrayed, lied about, set up, spat upon, mocked, crowned with thorns, flayed, stripped publicly, nailed to the tree, speared in the side, whipped, and murdered. And yet the Bible says that it was all part of God’s plan. To quote Peter in Acts, “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23, ESV). That’s very clear. The definite plan and foreknowledge of God.

In other words, no coincidences, no hope-so salvation, no open theism junk, no halfway-ness with God. In other words, God is 100% faithful, not just faithful on our good days. That’s what Paul labored so hard to teach Timothy. Why? Because it is God’s faithfulness that brings good out of evil, light out of darkness, and life over death.