2Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
There are FOUR important things to note at the start of these two verses we just read. I will seek to cover just the first two in this post. The first two are as follows:
1) Those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Vs12
a. This is given as a guarantee, a promise if you will we know this based on the use of the word, indeed.
b. The reason for the persecution is based on having the desire to live a godly life in Christ.
c. This persecution is not random in its selection. It clearly says who and how many of them will experience this and it is “all who desire to live godly lives "In Christ."
2) The issue presented has to do with desiring to live a godly life “in Christ.” (We should not read this as saying those who wish to be godly now that they have received Christ. That is not what is conveyed here. To miss the point of it being about being “In Christ” would be a great mistake to make. We are already made godly by being “In Christ” and our goal is to better understand what that means to us as we seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. The attempts to move us away from this rock of truth that anchors the soul will be many and of great influence. Therefore it is of great importance that we understand just what is being instructed here. Great deception is predicted in the last days so we will do well to equip ourselves in the sound truth of Salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. But make no mistake here, the idea conveyed is about a desire to live a godly life. Understanding it correctly enables us to realize that we are to do so not with despair when we miss the mark, but with joy knowing we are “in Christ” and therefore we do not become discouraged and give up as those without hope. We get back up and brush the dirt off our clothes and start walking again. We desire to live godly lives but we are “IN Christ.”)
About The Author
- Tim Atchley
- Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
- I currently serve as Senior Pastor of Harvest Church in Knoxville, Tn. I was sent out from Trinity Chapel of Knoxville in 1993 accompanied by my wife Sheila our four children Sarah, Hannah, Josiah & Isaac and a handful of bold, brave and committed believers determined to plant our first church. Pioneering is hard work but well worth the journey. That is why we desire to make disciples of Christ who will, like us, also embrace the call to plant churches.
