“This is a faithful saying” (2 Timothy 2:11)

The apostle Paul writes four “faithful sayings” in his epistles.

1 Timothy 1:15: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”. Everyone has heard this. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Unfortunately, many church-goers stop here. The three remaining “faithful sayings” describe the life of a true saint.

2 Timothy 2:11–12: “If we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him”. Saints identify with the death and resurrection of Christ: “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:3). “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10–11).

1 Timothy 4:8–9: “Godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come”. The normal experience for saints should be  “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17), while we look forward to “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith” (1 peter 1:4-5).

Titus 3:8: “Those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works”. The number one evidence of salvation is good works. “Let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil … In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God” (1 John 3:7–10).

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