2 Timothy: Guard The GospelSample

If we are faithful followers of Jesus, our lives will look a bit like Paul’s. We will share the gospel whenever we can and our behaviour will be godly. Our faith in God will be genuine. We will enjoy a close relationship with him through Christ, and we will trust him to keep his promises and sustain us through suffering. Our faith will result in patience and love. And God will help us to cultivate endurance for the persecution we will experience because we follow Jesus.

Paul suffered great persecution when he was in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra (Acts 13–14). If our faith in Jesus is genuine – if we imitate Paul’s faith, love, patience and endurance – we should expect persecution too. The Holy Spirit transforms our lives dramatically and visibly, and God’s enemies will respond to our new values and priorities with hatred.

We often forget that we should expect to suffer for our faith. Christians around the world experience discrimination and physical persecution every day, but it is not very costly for Western believers to follow Christ. Perhaps this is because we are not that different from the people around us. Maybe our behaviour or the way we spend our time or money isn’t that dissimilar. Possibly we don’t share the gospel boldly in our places of work and study or in our communities. But genuine godliness is distinctive, and it will often provoke a hostile response from unbelievers. This is because our godliness criticises those who are ungodly – it convicts them and makes them ashamed of their behaviour.

As he anticipates his execution, Paul knows he won’t necessarily be rescued from physical death. But he knows God has enabled him to endure his suffering until now and will ultimately rescue him from earthly suffering to his eternal kingdom. We have this same assurance. We won’t be free from difficulty in this life, but we can be confident that God will sustain us and that one day we will live peacefully with him.

Reflection

Do you expect to suffer as a follower of Jesus? Does your godliness draw attention to your faith or are you compromising your obedience to God’s Word to fit in with those around you?