“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. ”
2 Tim 3:12 (NASB)
The Christian life is a counter-culture life. No matter how much some try, a world that hates Christ will never embrace the people that love Christ. Jesus even promised that the world would hate us (John 15:20). Paul’s promise to Timothy here is similar. First Paul tells Timothy that the promise applies to ALL of a certain group of people. There are no exceptions. The group of people includes those who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus. Christians, because we are filled with God’s Holy Spirit, will desire to live Godly lives and abide in Christ. The condition of the promise is that all of these Christians will be persecuted. Not all of us will be killed for our faith. Not all of us will even be physically harmed for our faith. All of us however are operating against the grain of a God hating world and we will all encounter resistance as we follow Christ.
Questions for application…
Why does the world hate Christians ?
What different types of persecution might we experience ?
How can we have joy in our persecution ?
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