Knowing Whom We Have Believed

Calling evangelicals to repentance

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and self-discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of either the witness about our Lord or me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God…” (2 Timothy 1:7–8, LSB)

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The theme of Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in this passage is courage. As the apostle looks to the future and sees that “the time of my departure has come” (4:6), he recognizes the responsibility of faithful gospel ministry is passing from his shoulders to the next generation. He will soon be gone, but Timothy will remain. Consequently, Paul, now an older man, seeks to stir Timothy up in the faith and strengthen his resolve to stand firm in the face of sure and certain opposition — “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (3:12). 

Paul encourages Timothy, primarily, in two ways. First, he reminds Timothy that God has not given His ministers a spirit of timidity or cowardice (v. 7), but rather has furnished them with the potent and effective tools of power, love, and self-discipline. Timothy, therefore, should be unashamed of the “witness about our Lord,” or of being associated with those suffering for that witness, and join Paul in suffering for the gospel by the power of God (v. 8). Shunning cowardice and embracing hardship are key elements of faithful gospel ministry. 

Second, Paul points Timothy to the majesty and authority of King Jesus. He reminds Timothy of the “promise of life in Christ Jesus” (1:1). He speaks of Christ, who “abolished death” (1:10), who “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (1:10), who is “risen from the dead” and “of the seed of David” (2:8), who is faithful unto death (2:11), and who will return in power to judge the living and the dead (4:1). In other words, Christ — the true and living Christ — permeates Paul’s thoughts and is ever in the foreground of his mind and heart. He is the bedrock of his hope and the reason he can face death with such courage and resolve. As he says in verse 12, “I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed” (1:12). 

Looking around at the wider evangelical world, it’s quite apparent that shame has most evangelicals in a stranglehold. The world need only lob a half-hearted “Racist!” and we run for cover like we’ve been thrown a Molotov cocktail. Shame, in other words, is the currency of the world; it’s the rule of the game. And we’ve surrendered to its supremacy wholesale.

But it should be noted that this tactic only works because we’ve forgotten the source of our strength: unlike Paul, we don’t know whom we have believed, and consequently find ourselves open to every empty accusation the secularists hurl our way. Their hook finds purchase because we have so little knowledge and experience of our crucified and risen Lord. If it were otherwise — if we truly knew the Christ we profess to believe — we wouldn’t be so susceptible to the scorn of the world. Indeed, we could face their vitriol with heads held high, knowing that the Lord of heaven and earth stands with us and that if we have His commendation we have all we could ever need.

What needs to happen, then, is radical repentance. Evangelicals need to shun all the foolish, wishy-washy hobgobble that takes place in their churches each Lord’s Day and instead seek the glory of the only begotten, eternal Son. They need pray for men in the pulpit — yes, men — who will herald the riches of the King who abolished death and crushed the serpent’s head; who brought life and immortality to light through the gospel; who redeemed a people for Himself from Adam’s fallen race; and who will one day return to destroy the wicked and reign on the earth forevermore.

Until we know this Christ again, we will remain craven, fearful cowards. The good news, however, is that Christ has mercy for such as these, and He loves to make courageous preachers out of the most unlikely vessels.

So may God have mercy and raise up just such a generation, for His glory and our good.

He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
(1 Tim. 3:16)