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. ~ 2 Timothy 1:12
This is the second letter that Paul wrote to Pastor Timothy, probably while he was in prison in Rome awaiting execution by Emperor Nero. In his letter, Paul acknowledges his suffering and hardships, such as the prison chains he was bound with at the time. But that was not his focus. Amid all the suffering and persecution, and the realization of certain martyrdom for him, he wanted to write words of encouragement and instruction to Timothy, a young pastor of the flock there in Ephesus. Still, even more importantly, Paul focused on the greatness of God the Father who, through grace, gave us Jesus.
Paul then reminded Timothy of all that Jesus has done for us by abolishing death and giving us eternal life through belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of which he said he was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. Then he wrote these amazing words: “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.”
Paul doesn’t say “whom I have believed in,” but rather, “I know whom I have believed…” That shows a personal relationship. It’s not someone he has heard about, or heard someone else describing, but those words suggest that he had a personal relationship with Jesus, his LORD and Savior. He knew Him intimately, and did not need someone else to help him believe. Paul was completely and totally convinced that Jesus was more than able to do what He had promised to do: raise him from the dead on the last day and give him a crown of righteousness along with eternal, immortal life. He placed all that he had suffered at the hands of the Jews and at the hands of the Gentiles—his imprisonment, the beatings, the stoning, his ministry, his very life that had been poured out for the sake of the Gospel—he placed all of that in the hands of Jesus knowing fully well that he would receive a just reward that was not even worth comparing to all that he had suffered and gone through.
…for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.
Are we that confident in who Jesus is and His trustworthiness to keep all that we have committed unto Him until that Great Day of Judgment? Can we truly say, “I will not try to get even or bring judgment on someone else for what they have done to me, but will leave all things, all judgment to God who will recompense on the great and eternal day.”
Father, thank You for who You are, and for sending Jesus Christ Your Son who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross that brought us salvation. Thank You, LORD Jesus, for coming and abolishing death and giving us life and immortality. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.