2 Timothy 2:3 - Enduring as a Soldier of Christ

2 Timothy 2:3 - You therefore must endure hardship, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. -- World English

Every Christian as a soldier of Jesus is in a war. His warfare is, however, spiritual, not with physical weapons often associated with being a soldier. A good soldier obeys his commanding officer. Unlike the hatred that often prevails with soldiers fighting carnal battles, Jesus tells his soldiers to love their human enemies in this world, and to do good to those who hate them.

The Christian has several things he must battle: 1) sin and evil in his own flesh, 2) allurements of the world to sin and evil, and (3) the deceptive attacks of Satan and his demons that would lead us away from what is right to what is sinful and evil in God's sight. The common element in all three is sin and evil. What the world considers to be good, may, in fact, be evil from God's standpoint, so the good soldier of Christ should endeavor to come to know what is evil according to God's standards, not by the world's standards.

As a soldier in an army of the world must believe and have faith in the cause for which he is fighting, so the soldier of Jesus must be convinced in his own heart of the righteousness of his cause. This involves the heart loyalty of the Christian soldier in submission to Jesus and his God. 

One of the commands of our commanding officer is to let our light shine in the world and to preach the Gospel, the Good News, to others. To let our light shine does not mean to flaunt what we might deem to our own righteous acts before others, or to condemn others, but rather to simply and humble be obedient to Jesus' commands as we are able, so that others may see our faith and love for what is right in Christ. The goal is let Christ be seen in us, not that others may see our own righteousness. To preach the Good News is to present the truth from the Bible about Christ to the best of our ability and knowledge.

We are assured, however, that obedience to Christ will bring persecution. Thus, the need for endurance while facing the opposition of a world that does not love or care for God's righteousness. -- Ronald R. Day

Some Related scriptures: Isaiah 5:20; Mathew 5:44; Matthew 26:4; Luke 6:27; Luke 6:35; John 12:25; John 15:19;  Romans 7:14-25; Romans 8:12,13; Romans 12:17; Romans 13:14; Ephesians 6:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; 1 Peter 3:9; James 4:7, and many more. List other scriptures or present comments below.

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Being a soldier of Christ means have heart loyalty to Jesus, but if our heart is actually in submission to someone else other than Jesus and his God, we fall short of true obedience to the one whom we profess as our "commanding officer." There have been and still are many who would seek to bind us to themselves, or to some man, or group of man, other than Jesus and his apostles, so as to claim all must be obedient to and/or in agreement with what such men may say. Some even make such an agreement as a basis for salvation. I do not believe that our Lord Jesus approves of such a bondage to leaders.

Related:

Soldiers of Jesus Christ

Psalm 37:4 - Delight in Jehovah

Psalms 37:4 - And delight yourself in Jehovah, that He may give you your heart's desire.

-- Green's Literal.

Psalms 40:8 - I delight to do Your will, O My God; and Your Law is within My inmost soul.

John 5:30 - I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don't seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.

John 6:40 - This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

To delight in Jehovah means to have a will of heart that conforms to His will in our life. Thus our heart's desire, our ambitions, is to do His will. His eternal law written in our hearts is not an outward obedience to the letter of the written Law given to Israel; it is having a geniuine love for the righteousness that is expressed in the Law Covenant, but even more importantly, as given to us in the example of Jesus, the one whom Jehovah anointed and sent. (Isaiah 61:1; John 17:1,3) Due to Adam's sin (Romans 5:12-19), we need to realize that by nature (Ephesians 2:2,3), in our sinful flesh (Romans 8:3), we can never be fully in harmony with God's righteous standard; and thus we need to realize that Jesus is the only means by which we may be reconciled with God. -- John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:24; 5:1; 1 Corinthians 5:18-20; Galatians 2:16,17; 5:4.

John 6:58 - Bread From Heaven

John 6:58 - This is the bread which came down out of heaven -- not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever."

Jesus said his flesh figuratively came down from heaven, as did the manna that fed Israel actually came down from heaven. (John 6:31) It was the Heavenly Father who prepared the body of flesh and blood for Jesus. (Hebrews 10:5) Thus, Jesus' flesh was without the condemnation that is upon mankind through Adam. (Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22) His flesh was therefore sinless, as was Adam's before Adam sinned. If Jesus remained faithful while in the days of his flesh (Hebrews 5:7), he could offer his body of flesh with its blood for all who are dying in Adam, and that is what he did. The condemnation upon Adam would have been eternal had not Jesus paid the price to bring mankind out of that condemnation. (Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; 1 Timothy 2:5,6) Jesus thus eternally sacrificed his body of flesh with its blood for our sins. (Luke 22:19; Hebrews 10:10; 1 Peter 2:24) Consequently, anyone who figuratively eats of the figurative bread through faith in Christ, will live forever in the age to come. -- John 17:3; Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; Romans 3:25,26; 5:1,21; 1 Timothy 1:16; 1 John 5:13.