“If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us” (2 Timothy 2:12).
When considering a text such as 2 Timothy 2:12, it is important to note what this passage means as well as what it says. For instance, a closer look at the word “endure” in the original language of this verse yields the following definition: “to preserve: under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ, to endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill treatments.” (1)
This passage thus offers insight into Jesus’ message from the Biblical book of Revelation: “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:21). Therefore, these verses offer the encouragement of a future leadership role for those who persevere in Christ today.
But what of those who deny Jesus in our present day? Well, there are at least two types of individuals who might fit this category. The first comprises those who never made a profession of faith in Christ. That group ranges from those who hold an aggressively anti-Christian worldview all the way to others who are simply disinterested in Jesus and His teachings. It’s easy to see how Jesus would deny those who deny Him in this manner.
The second group includes those who once made a profession of faith in Christ but later rejected that profession through their words and/or actions. We can find a description of that group in Jesus’ parable of the soils…
“Here’s the meaning of the seed that fell on rocky ground: When people hear the word, they immediately receive it joyfully. Because they have no roots, they last for only a little while. When they experience distress or abuse because of the word, they immediately fall away. Others are like the seed scattered among the thorny plants. These are the ones who have heard the word; but the worries of this life, the false appeal of wealth, and the desire for more things break in and choke the word, and it bears no fruit” (Mark 4:16-19 CEB).
Unlike the Apostle Peter who later expressed contrition following his denial of Jesus, the words of 1 John 2:19 fittingly describe those who fall into this latter category…
“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”
(1) G5278 hupomeno Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5278/kjv/tr/0-1/</small.