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It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
2 Timothy 2:11 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB This saying is trustworthy: “For if we died with him, we will also live with him.
  • BSB This is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
  • NKJV This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him.
  • NASB The statement is trustworthy: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
  • NLT This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Paul cites a trustworthy saying: if we died with Christ, we will also live with him. Union with Christ in death secures sharing in his life.

Overview

This appears to be an early Christian hymn or confession, introduced as a 'trustworthy saying.' Dying with Christ, both in conversion and in suffering for his sake, leads to living with him in resurrection life. The verse grounds endurance in the believer's secure union with the crucified and risen Lord.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Rom 6:8Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
  • Col 3:3–4For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
  • Rom 6:5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
  • 1 Tim 1:15This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
  • John 14:19Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
  • 2 Cor 4:10Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
  • Gal 2:19–20For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
  • 1 Th 5:10Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
  • 2 Cor 13:4For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
  • Titus 3:8This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
  • 1 Th 4:17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
  • 1 Tim 3:1This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 2 Timothy videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 2 Timothy 2:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 2 TimothyMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Christ Jesus 'abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel' — the risen Lord whose word and kingdom endure to the end.

How 2 Timothy 2:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.