The Second "If"

225 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Ti 2:11-13) This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. 12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. (2 Tim 2:11-13) The use of the phrase “faithful saying” here tells us that this is important stuff. This is a saying that is jam-packed with truth. Truth that will be assuring for those who receive it! There are four “ifs” that “if” acted on will produce the accompanying results. The first “if” as we discussed last time is linked to the Christian act of baptism. The second “if” is linked to enduring. Enduring what? Enduring faith! Faith that clings to Jesus and the Gospel to the end! Jesus said in Mt 24:13 "But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” And in Re 21:7 we read, "He who overcomes (prevails) shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. And in Heb 10:39, “ But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.” These two “ifs”, “For if we died with Him (in baptism) we shall also live with Him, and if we endure, (keep the faith until the end) we shall also reign with Him, confirm the truth of Mr 16:16a "He who believes (endures in the faith) and is baptized (the act of being buried with Christ and raised to new life) will be saved; What blessed promises! New life and enduring faith that allows us to co-reign with Christ! Eph 2:4-6 says, “ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” Cling to these two promises given to those who believe and are baptized, for they are as Paul writes, “faithful sayings!” 1Jo 5:13 says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”