What does it mean that God cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13)?

So, "if we endure, we shall also reign together." Here need be no question; it is suffering now, not yet reigning with Him. The reading in some ancient authorities of Rev. 5 or Rev. 20 (that the saints reign now) is unequivocal error. It is wrong morally as well as dogmatically. We shall reign with Christ; but even He sits on the Father's throne as yet. He waits to receive His own throne; and so do we much more. Were our hearts right, we should not wish to reign without Him; as we should have a sounder faith, if we held, that He is not reigning yet, but gone to receive a kingdom, and to return. He will come in His kingdom, which He has not yet received. Till then we are called to endure, not to reign; when He shall appear, we shall appear with Him; when He reigns, so shall we with Him.

But there is solemn caution, as well as sure expectation of glory. "If we shall deny Him, He also will deny us; if we are faithless, He abideth faithful; for He cannot deny Himself." There was danger in a day of declension particularly of departure not only from this or that divine principle but from Himself, and this permanently. Nor does the apostle bolster up the saints in what is the most dangerous of delusions, that there is no danger. For dangers abound on all sides; and we ought to know that grievous times were to come in the last times. Denying the Lord, so far from being impossible for a servant of His, is exactly what scripture shows us to have been the fact in one most honoured, who had thought that for him, of all men, it was impossible; yet was Peter on the eve of it. No doubt this was but a passing act, however shameful and deplorable, however repeated then, and with aggravation; yet the all-overcoming all-forgiving, grace of Christ rose above and effaced it, turning it even to never-to-be-forgotten profit, and fruitful blessing. But where it is a course of life, as here ("if we shall," not merely if we should as an act), the consequence is, as it ought to be, the necessary vindication on God's part of His injured majesty: "He also will deny us." God would cease to be God, if He acquiesced in the dishonour of His Son. The believer bows and believes, adores and serves. The unbeliever, and the denier if possible yet more, may insult now, but both must ere long honour Him in judgment, "that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father" (John 5:23).

There is a closing sentence of great weight, "if we are unfaithful, He abideth faithful"; and this for the most convincing and glorious of reasons, "for He cannot deny Himself." It may at first hearing seem to take from the ease and flow of the sentence to read "for", as we ought on good and ancient authority. But on reflection this really adds not a little to its force; because it is not a mere independent addition to confirm the foregoing: the ground or proof of His abiding fidelity lies in the blessed fact of His unchanging truth.

(Vv. 11, 12). To encourage us to remember Jesus Christ and follow the example of the Apostle in accepting the path of suffering and toil, we are reminded of the faithful saying, “If we have died together with Him, we shall also live together.” If we are called to “endure all things”, even death, let us not forget that we can afford to let go the present life in the light of the great truth that having died with Christ we shall surely live with Him. And not only shall we live with Him, but, “if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.”

(Vv. 12, 13). There is, however, the solemn warning, “If we deny, He also will deny us; if we are unfaithful, He abides faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” The denial here is no isolated fall, however shameful, as in the case of the Apostle Peter, but the continued course of those who, whatever profession they make, deny the glory and work of the Son. Such will be denied, as it has been truly said, “God would cease to be God, if He acquiesced in the dishonour of His Son.” Amidst all the unfaithfulness of Christendom to Christ, “He abides faithful: He cannot deny Himself.”

It is scarcely a question here of suffering with, or for, Christ. In fact, it is not the usual word for suffering, as, for example, in Romans 8:17. It means rather to endure, or, as it has been well put, "to go through suffering patiently." Consequently it must include suffering with Christ, as every Christian does this, although the measure of it will depend upon his fidelity to Christ, upon his walking in the Spirit, and it may also include suffering for Christ. Still the meaning of the word is that which has been given. To deny Christ, we understand to mean, not a sudden fall into temptation, like Peter, but a total and absolute denial, evincing, whatever the profession previously made, that there had never been any reality in the soul. The use of the word "we" will be understood when it is remembered that the Spirit of God always takes us up on the ground of our profession. The question therefore is not raised whether a believer can finally deny Christ, but the teaching is rather that an absolute denial of Him is the unmistakable evidence that the soul had never been converted. It is as the Lord Himself said, "Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." So here those who deny Christ will also be denied; that is, they will be finally and entirely rejected. Then it is solemnly added, "If we believe not" (that is, not, as some have contended, if we are unfaithful as Christians, but if we are positively without faith; for we see no reason for departing from the usual significance of the word), "He abideth faithful (not to us, but to Himself and to His word): He cannot deny Himself." Whatever our vacillation and changeableness He must ever act in accordance with His own nature, His holiness, and His truth. Therein indeed - in His immutability - lies the eternal security for all who, through grace, have been led to put their trust in Him. That He cannot deny Himself is therefore a precious word of consolation for His feeble, tried, and afflicted people.

Still we must never forget that His trustworthiness does not in the least depend upon the worthiness. Or otherwise, of our trust. "If we believe not are unfaithful! yet He abides faithful: He cannot deny Himself" ([2 Tim. 2:13). It is therefore most happily true that they who are weak in faith, and consequently do not trust Him wholly, yet find Him wholly true. This is a fact calculated, above all things, to reinforce and increase our trust in the Lord.

These are encouragements, but there are also warnings. Should we, alas! deny Him (and denying Him here has its full force of absolute apostasy), He will deny us. (See Luke 12:9.) If, moreover, we believe not, the Lord will not fail to accomplish all the purposes of His heart, all the thoughts of His love; for He cannot deny Himself. He is in no way dependent upon our fidelity or service, though He may be pleased to bestow upon us the privilege of being His servants, of labouring in His vineyard.

If one were to object that the elect would obtain this salvation anyway, apart from Paul or anyone else, this is neither honest faith, nor true love for souls. For faith is gladly obedient to the call of God, and love will spend itself in self-sacrifice for the sake of its objects. God chooses to use His willing servants in accomplishing the ends He has purposed, and it is our wisdom to be willing and obedient. If we are not, He can of course still use others. To apply the principle of death to ourselves, as identified with the death of Christ, is of real importance here. Having died with Him, we shall live with Him. Let us therefore apply this truth, and be willing to suffer with Him in view of eventually reigning with Him. For our denial of Him would mean His denial of us. Israel denied the Holy One and the Just (Acts 3:14), and the nation has been denied by Him ever since; and will be until they eventually turn back to Him in confession. There is a practical analogy to this even in the case of one truly born of God. If in practice we deny Him, in that measure we shall be denied the blessing of communion with Himself, until there is honest restoration.

But this does not change His faithfulness. However unfaithful we may be, He abides faithful: He cannot deny Himself.

In this chapter we are brought to a very crucial stage in the history of the children of Israel. The chapters which we have considered show in a very touching manner what God is for man, revealing the manifold ways in which His never-failing grace was manifested towards them. Even their murmurings, so unworthy of a people that had been so richly blessed of God, became occasions for fresh demonstrations of His grace which were so lightly esteemed by them. How all those manifestations of His measureless grace bore witness to the worthiness of their faithful covenant-keeping God; One, who "if we are unfaithful, he abides faithful, for he cannot deny himself" (2 Tim. 2:13). Mark this latter clause, especially the word "cannot" as indicating that God must and will act consistently with the full and harmonious display of all His attributes.

This thought sustains the soul in affliction of this kind: one has the same object as the Lord Himself. The energy of love in preaching the gospel addresses itself to the whole world. Perseverance, in the midst of affliction and difficulties and desertion, is sustained by the feeling that one is labouring for the accomplishment of God's counsels. One endures all things for the elect, for God's elect, in order that they may have salvation and eternal glory. This feeling was in Paul's heart. He knew the love of God, and he sought — at the cost of whatever suffering it might be in the tumultuous sea of this world — that they who were the objects of the same love should enjoy the salvation and the glory which God bestowed. This was a faithful saying, that is, that which he had just declared; for if we should die with Christ, we should also live with Him; if we should suffer, we should also reign with Him. If any denied Him, He would also deny them; the consequences of such an act remained in all their force, they were linked with the immutability of His nature and His being, and were displayed in the authority of His judgment; He could not deny Himself because others were unfaithful.

Ques. But in John they had made a profession; and after they had owned Christ as Lord, they denied Him?

But, in the face of all this, God abides faithful. He cannot deny Himself. Here is the resource and the resting-place of faith. It recognises and owns the ruin; but it counts on God. Faith is not blind to human failure; but it fixes its gaze on divine faithfulness. It confesses the ruin of man; but it counts on the resources of God.