Bible Strands
2 Timothy 2:13
if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to Timothy from prison, instructing him on how to hold to sound teaching and how to understand the relationship between human faithfulness and God's.
The words — μένει (menei, "remains") denotes a continuous, abiding state rather than a one-time act; it stands in deliberate contrast to ἀπιστοῦμεν (apistoumen, "we are faithless"), which is a present, ongoing condition.
The thread — This runs through Numbers 23:19 (God does not lie or change His mind), Romans 3:3 (human unfaithfulness does not nullify God's faithfulness), and 1 Thessalonians 5:24 (the One who calls is faithful and will do it).
Why it lands — The verse removes the reader's own consistency as the ground of security, leaving only God's self-consistency, which is the basis for the endurance of v. 12 and the charge to avoid quarreling in v. 14.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
Cross-references
- Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Romans 3:3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
- 1 Thessalonians 5:24 The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
- Titus 1:2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- 1 Corinthians 1:9 God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
- Hebrews 6:18 Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
- Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Romans 9:6 It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
- Isaiah 25:1 O LORD, You are my God! I will exalt You; I will praise Your name. For You have worked wonders—plans formed long ago—in perfect faithfulness.