My Newest Favorite Verse

(originally posted 1/9/07) 

2 Timothy 1:12
For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

I’ve been singing this verse for the past few nights and it’s absolutely undoing me. I love Paul’s boldness as he says it: “I know whom I have believed…” He had a deep-seated, relational knowledge of Jesus that was so secure, he was not ashamed. Even as he was suffering under persecution, before any sort of obvious deliverance had taken place, he was already unashamed. He knew that if he looked to the Lord, he would not be put to shame. There was no “if’s” attached, and he wasn’t waiting for the future day when he would not be ashamed. To him, Jesus’ ability was such a given that he was already walking completely without shame.

I love the word, “persuaded.” To me, this speaks of utter and complete confidence that did not start out as utter and complete confidence. I don’t need to be persuaded of something I already buy into. Paul had a history in Christ, seeing Him come through faithfully time and time again. From the initial Damascus Road encounter through years of growing nearer to God, Paul knew Jesus well enough to convince him beyond a shadow of a doubt that He would not fail by any means.

The emphasis on the sovereignty and power of Christ at the end of this verse is what excites me the most. “He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” There is no question but that Jesus is perfectly capable of keeping all we commit to Him. I would love to study out more what exactly Paul was referring to, but I connected it immediately with Psalm 37:5: “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.” If I commit my way–my life, all that I do and all that I am–to the Lord, He is able to keep me and present me faultless… (Jude 24)