“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.”

2 Timothy 1:12

Paul was in chains when he wrote these words. He was near the end of his life, many of his companions had left him, and his ministry looked to the world like a failure. Still, what he wrote to Timothy doesn’t sound defeated or afraid. It sounds sure: I know whom I have believed.

Where does that kind of confidence come from? And could we have it too?

Grace we didn’t earn

Paul begins by reminding Timothy where all of this comes from: God “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”.

We did nothing to earn our salvation. We didn’t earn God’s favor, and we can’t pay back the debt. God saved us because he chose to and because his grace rests on us. Paul says this grace was “given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” Before we had done anything good or bad, God had already planned to rescue us.

This grace is found only in Jesus. It isn’t a general kindness spread vaguely across the universe. It has a name and a face. And 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”.

That is the good news, the Gospel. Jesus died as the sacrifice for our sins, and he rose to life and defeated death. Because of that, he offers us eternal life in him. Death, the one enemy none of us can escape, has been beaten.

Worth suffering

This is the message Paul was appointed to announce as “a herald and an apostle and a teacher”. This is also why he suffered. He doesn’t pretend otherwise: “That is why I am suffering as I am.”

Paul had counted the cost and decided the gospel was worth it. Prison, beatings, and rejection were real losses, but they were small next to the eternal life he had been given and was offering to others.

What held him steady wasn’t grit or stubbornness. It was his real relationship with Christ: “I know whom I have believed.” Paul didn’t only know about Jesus. He knew Jesus, he trusted him, and so he was convinced that Christ was holding his life and would keep holding it “until that day.”

What would you risk?

This is where the passage stops being only about Paul.

If we know Christ, we can trust him with everything. That includes our salvation, and it also includes our finances, our health, our children, our future, and our reputation. The same Jesus who defeated death can take care of whatever we hand over to him.

That frees us to take risks for the gospel. A lot of our caution comes down to self-protection. We don’t bring up Jesus with a neighbor because it might be awkward. We don’t give generously because we might need that money later. We don’t go where God is calling because it feels unsafe, uncertain, or too costly for our families. But if Christ really holds our lives in his hands, then the worst that could happen to us has already been dealt with. Our lives are “guarded” by someone who cannot fail.

So it’s worth stopping to ask honestly:

• Where am I holding back from obeying because I’m trying to protect something God has already promised to protect?
• Who in my life hasn’t heard the good news because I’ve been afraid of what it might cost me?
• What decision am I facing right now, for myself or my family, that I’ve been making by looking at the risks instead of looking at Christ?

When we line up our lives with God’s will and give ourselves to the gospel, we also become heralds for the Gospel. Paul’s calling was unique, but his message wasn’t. Every follower of Jesus can point others to the eternal life he offers. We may never write letters from a prison cell, but we can be faithful in our own streets, workplaces, and homes, confident that the One we have believed will guard what we entrust to him.

A prayer

Lord, help me to fix my eyes upon you. Help me to think of you and only of you as I make decisions for myself and for my family. Help me to live and move and work based on the promises that you have given for us. My desire is that you would be glorified and lifted up. You have given me eternal life. Now may you be known everywhere for what you have done for me and for each of us! Amen.