2 Timothy 2:11
in 2 Timothy 2This is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Faithful is the saying: For if we died with him, we shall also live with him:
KJV
It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
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This verse in 2 Timothy 2
Commentary
18 notes on this verseThe apostle says that even we shall reign together with Christ in the kingdom of Christ. "If we are dead with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him." But we by adoption, he by power; we live by grace, he by nature.
This site's exposition
This is a trustworthy saying
on 2 Timothy 2:11-13
The trustworthy saying runs four lines, and the first two join dying and enduring with Christ to living and reigning with Him. The third, if we deny Him, He will also deny us, sets the Lord's warning at Matthew 10:33 in creed form.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
We ought to be humble of heart out of the sincerest devotion during the whole time of this wandering exile, in which we are living in the midst of trials and temptations. If so, how much more should we be so during these days, when as well as spending this time of humility by living it, we are also signifying it by our liturgical celebration of it. The lowliness of Christ has taught us to be lowly, because by dying he yielded to the godless. Christ's highness makes us exalted, because by rising again he has led the way for the godly.… We celebrate one of these things now, when his passion is, so to say, drawing near. We celebrate the other after Easter with appropriate devotion, when his resurrection, so to say, has been accomplished.
The Savior, too, first granted you this very thing—that you should fall. You were a Gentile. Let the Gentile in you fall. You loved prostitutes. Let the lover of prostitutes in you perish first. You were a sinner. Let the sinner in you fall. Then you can rise again and say, "If we have died with him, we shall also live with him," and, "If we have been made like him in death, we shall also be like him in resurrection."
Having been planted with him in the likeness of his death, we will assuredly be raised up together with Christ (for the planting implies this eventuality). But in the present life, we are formed in the inner man according to the measure of the incarnation in newness of life and obedience unto death, fully persuaded of the truth of his words, so that we may become worthy to say with truth, "And I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me." That this obtains also for the future life. The same apostle has strongly affirmed this in these words: "For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him."
A commentator
CyprianTreatise XI Exhortation to Martyrdom Addressed to Fortunatus · Written before 258.
proposed
The Apostle Paul also says: "For if we die with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us."
And what is, "anointed," and "sealed?" Gave the Spirit by Whom He did both these things, making at once prophets and priests and kings, for in old time these three sorts were anointed. But we have now not one of these dignities, but all three preeminently. For we are both to enjoy a kingdom and are made priests by offering our bodies for a sacrifice, (for, saith he, "present your members a living sacrifice unto God;) and withal we are constituted prophets too: for what things "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard," (1 Cor. ii. 9) these have been revealed unto us.
11 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers4 voices
Many of the weaker sort of men give up the effort of faith, and do not endure the deferring of their hope. They seek things present, and form from these their judgment of the future. When therefore their lot here was death, torments, and chains, and yet he says, they shall come to eternal life, they would not have believed, but would have said, "What sayest thou? When I live, I die; and when I die, I live? Thou promisest nothing on earth, and dost thou give it in heaven? Little things thou dost not bestow; and dost thou offer great things?" That none therefore may argue thus, he places beyond doubt the proof of these things, laying it down beforehand already, and giving certain signs. For, "remember," he says, "that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead"; that is, rose again after death. And now showing the same thing he says, "It is a faithful saying," that he who has attained a heavenly life, will attain eternal life also. Whence is it "faithful"? Because, he says, "If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him." For say, shall we partake with Him in things laborious and painful; and shall we not in things beneficial? But not even a man would act thus, nor, if one had chosen to suffer affliction and death with him, would he refuse to him a share in his rest, if he had attained it. But how are we "dead with Him"? This death he means both of that in the Layer, and that in sufferings. For he says, "Bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus" (2 Cor. iv. 10); and, "We are buried with Him by baptism into death" (Rom. vi. 4); and, "Our old man is crucified with Him"; and, "We have been planted together in the likeness of His death." (Rom. vi. 5, Rom. 6.) But he also speaks here of death by trials: and that more especially, for he was also suffering trials when he wrote it. […]
Let us honor the spirit of Christ, that we may receive grace from him. Let us be strangers to the world, even as Christ was not of it. Let us be humble and mild, that we may inherit the land of life. Let us be unflagging in his service, that he may cause us to serve in the abode of the saints. Let us pray his prayer in purity, that it may have access to the Lord of majesty. Let us be partakers in his suffering, so that we may also rise up in his resurrection. Let us bear his sign upon our bodies, that we may be delivered from the wrath to come.
We must believe both his passion according to the flesh and his impassibility inasmuch as he was God.… Let us confess our oneness with Christ, lest we be separated from him. In the words of the apostle, "If we have died with him, we shall …
The saying is trustworthy. For if we have died with him, we will also live with him. The saying is trustworthy. Those who are chosen obtain glorious and eternal salvation. For some have doubted concerning the resurrection, and this assurance was needed. That the saying …
The Medieval Church2 voices
A faithful saying, i.e., the word I say is true: these words are most faithful and true (Rev 22:6). If we be dead with him, i.e., with Christ; and this when we receive the sacrament of baptism: for we are buried with him by baptism …
Since many doubt concerning the future life and glory, saying: when I am alive, I die, and when I die, I shall live? and the like: therefore the apostle, confirming his word, says: "faithful is the word." What word? That the elect shall attain glorious …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is a faithful saying,....
If, in conformity to Christ, we be dead to this world, its pleasures, profits, and honours, we shall go to live with him in a better world, to be for ever with him. Nay, though we be called out to suffer for him, we shall not lose by that. Those who suffer for Christ on earth shall reign with Christ in heaven,
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
It is a faithful saying - Or, rather, that which he was about to say was worthy of entire credence and profound attention; see the notes at 1Ti 1:15. The object is to encourage Timothy to bear trials by the hope of salvation. For if we be dead with him - see the notes at Rom 6:8. We shall also live with him - This was a sort of maxim, or a settled point, which is often referred to in the Bible; see the Rom 6:3-5 notes; Joh 11:25 note; 1Th 4:14 note.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Greek, "Faithful is the saying." For--"For" the fact is so that, "if we be dead with Him (the Greek aorist tense implies a state once for all entered into in past times at the moment of regeneration, Ro 6:3, 4, 8;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
If we be dead with him - That is: As surely as Christ rose again from the dead, so surely shall we rise again; and if we die for him, we shall surely live again with him. This, says the apostle, is πιστος ὁ λογος, a true doctrine. This is properly the import of the word; and we need not seek, as Bp. Tillotson and many others have done, for some saying of Christ which the apostle is supposed to be here quoting, and which he learned from tradition.
The words behind it
8 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Πιστὸς | pistos | Trustworthy [is] | G4103 → | 67 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λόγος· | logos | saying: | G3056 → | 329 times |
| εἰ | ei | If | G1487 → | 508 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| συναπεθάνομεν, | sunapethanomen | we have died with [Him], | G4880 → | |
| καὶ | kai | also | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| συζήσομεν· | suzesomen | we will live with [Him]; | G4800 → |
ΠιστὸςTrustworthy [is]
pistosG4103 →67 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
λόγος·saying:
logosG3056 →329 times
εἰIf
eiG1487 →508 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
συναπεθάνομεν,we have died with [Him],
sunapethanomenG4880 →
καὶalso
kaiG2532 →9120 times
συζήσομεν·we will live with [Him];
suzesomenG4800 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Timothy 1:15This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.
it leads to
- Mark 2:17
On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
- John 3:16–17
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- John 12:47
As for anyone who hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
- Mark 2:17
Through
Romans 6:5For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.
it leads to
- Philippians 3:10–11
I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Philippians 3:10–11
Through
2 Corinthians 4:10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
it leads to
- Romans 6:5
For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.
- 2 Corinthians 13:4
For He was indeed crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. And though we are weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him to serve you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 4:13
But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.
- Romans 6:5
Where this verse is studied
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On this verse
About 2 Timothy

This page draws on 18 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 3.20.157; Aphrahat the Persian Sage, SELECT DEMONSTRATIONS 6.1; Augustine of Hippo, SERMONS 206.1; Basil of Caesarea, CONCERNING BAPTISM.1.15; Cyprian, Treatise XI Exhortation to Martyrdom Addressed to Fortunatus; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Corinthians 3; John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Timothy 5; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Nicetas of Remesiana, INSTRUCTION ON FAITH 7; Oecumenius, COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON LUKE 17.3; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Timothy and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 2 Timothy.
