[Paul wrote to Timothy] I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

–2 Timothy 1.5-14 (NIV)

2 Timothy was probably the last letter Paul ever wrote, at least that we know about. Later in this epistle he writes that he is chained like a criminal and from this we can conclude he was awaiting his execution at the hands of Rome, all for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel. When we keep this information in the forefront of our mind and read this letter to Timothy, it makes an already poignant letter even more so. Here was a man who practiced what he preached and was about to pay the ultimate price for doing so. Why would Paul do this?

First, because Paul knew the One whom he served. He tells us that he is confident in Jesus’ power to deliver him. Paul is not talking about being spared from the sword. He is talking about Jesus’ power to deliver him from eternal death–permanent separation from God. This was Paul’s secret. It was what allowed him to put up with suffering for the Gospel because as he tells us above, faith in Jesus (and his Gospel) doesn’t make us wimps; it gives us power–power to overcome our fears, our weaknesses, and our brokenness. More importantly, with the help of the Spirit, the Gospel gives us the power to love, which provides us with the proper motivation to live as God’s children and to share his Gospel. God’s Holy Spirit living in us gives us power to proclaim the Gospel and to do it faithfully.

That is why Paul is so adamant here (and elsewhere) that Timothy (and others) faithfully proclaim the Gospel. It is God’s free gift to us and not ours to change or manipulate according to our own desires or agendas. Sadly, we only need to look at what has generally happened to those churches in this country that have indeed forsaken the Gospel, the faith once delivered to the saints, to see how right Paul was. For the most part, the mainline denominations in this country are dying because they no longer faithfully preach and teach the Gospel. When we don’t faithfully preach the Gospel, we really don’t have any good news to offer folks and most instinctively know this and shy away.

Second, Paul understood that the Gospel is God’s free gift to us. It is God’s eternal Rescue Plan for us and it fundamentally changes us. As Paul tells us above, God has acted decisively in our history through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to end our exile and alienation from God. We didn’t do anything to merit this gift; God gives it to us freely because, well, he is God.

When, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we come to a saving faith in Christ it changes us (that process is never neat and tidy, but usually rather quite messy and idiosyncratic). We fall in love with this God who first loved us and vow to make him Lord instead of ourselves. In biblical language this is called repentance. When we repent, we endeavor with the Spirit’s help to stop missing the mark (which is what the Greek word for repentance literally means). We stop trying to please ourselves and act instead like we really do believe Jesus is Lord. This will inevitably get us in trouble with the powers of this world, a world openly hostile to God and his reign, and cause us to suffer just as Paul did. (If you want to learn exactly how Paul suffered for Jesus’ sake, go back and start reading Acts beginning with chapter 9 or get a quick summary by reading Paul’s own account to the Corinthians regarding what he endured for Jesus’ sake. It is a remarkable story.)

If you don’t believe that following Jesus will cause you to suffer, then try challenging the evil you see in this world and watch what happens. Try advocating a wholesome and Christian concept of marriage and watch the reaction from some quarters of our society. Or challenge the unbridled greed that causes exploitation and suffering and see what happens. At a more personal level, try loving mercy over revenge and count its cost on you the next time someone you trust sticks it to you. Or try telling others that Jesus is Lord and Caesar isn’t and you will likely incur the wrath of those who believe our ultimate loyalty should be made manifest in an unquestioning patriotism. This is what happened to Jesus. This is what happened to Paul. And this is what will happen to you should you choose to have faith in Jesus and confess him as your Lord instead of Caesar or any of the world’s systems.

But a funny thing will happen to you should you choose to give your life to Jesus. You will find that reorienting your life to serve Jesus and not the things of this world will “fan into flame” the gift of faith God has given you. In other words, you will find that Jesus will use your suffering to make you become more like him and whatever that looks like, becoming more Christlike can never be a bad thing, even if it does meet with the world’s opposition and disapproval. Why? Because the world cannot give you life or raise you from the dead. Because the world is fundamentally flawed, it can never give you real meaning and purpose for living. Only God your Creator can do that in and through Jesus.

Accepting the gift of the Gospel is costly. It will cost you your ultimate allegiance to yourself and this world and its systems. It will cost you in terms of suffering and trials because you will have to take up your cross each day and follow Jesus. If you take seriously Jesus’ call to follow him, you will likely lose friends and sadly even some family over it. You won’t be a very popular person in some circles of society nor will you be considered to be cool or enlightened or chic or savvy. And yes, there will be those who hate you so much they will want to hurt or kill you.

But what a benefit package you have if you can persevere! Talk about a “golden parachute”! Having faith in the Gospel (i.e., following Jesus) will give you power–God’s power to love and serve. It will give you meaning and purpose in this life. And finally it will change you into the person God created you to be. The Bible calls this process “repenting” and “becoming like Christ” or “growing into the full stature of Christ.” It’s what it means to become a mature Christian. Jesus will use your obedience to him to help you grow to become ever more like him and this is tangible evidence that you have life in you, not just mortal life but real life, the kind that never dies. And because you will come to know Jesus the way Paul did, like Paul, you will know that Jesus really is true to his word and has the power to deliver on his fantastic promises.