“Unfeigned Faith” — Persuaded

“When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”
II Timothy 1:5

I must confess … I love the words “unfeigned faith.” They sort of reach out and grab me.

In particular, I like that unfeigned faith Is quantifiable. It can be detected. It is observable. It is outside the norm of any other kind of faith. It’s the real deal. It makes it to the end.

The elder Paul is writing to encourage the younger Timothy to hang tough through all the struggles of life and ministry. Perhaps Timothy is getting the jitters knowing Paul might not be around much longer. Quite possibly, Paul would be dead very soon. And poor Timothy is starting to feel it.

Therefore, Paul writes to encourage Timothy to reflect upon the fact that he has experienced, and is an example of, genuine salvation by grace through faith. I’m pretty sure Timothy didn’t doubt that. But, he might have wondered why it all kind of unfolds in so many unexpected and unexplainable ways — like in a dungeon facing imminent death all alone.

Don’t we all at times wonder why?

Let’s step back a bit …

Paul, at this moment, is in a dungeon cell known as the Mamertine Prison in Rome. Things are not looking good for him right now. Actually, things are quite dark … literally. For one, he knows he will never be set free. His only contact with the environment is by means of a hole in the ceiling of his cell about 18 inches square. Everything Paul receives and sends out comes and goes through that hole.

Here, imprisoned, is the man that had been overcome by the blazing light of Yeshua Himself while on the road to Damascus. He’s sitting alone, in the dark, feeling like … who knows what? But, he doesn’t seem to be thinking too much about himself and his needs.

Instead, Paul’s focus is on Timothy. He wants Timothy to know that he had remained faithful to his Saviour until the end because he was persuaded of his own unfeigned faith.

Paul explains in his own testimony what it means to have the assurance of unfeigned faith:

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” II Timothy 1:12

I’ve written all of this because I’m wondering …

Are we too easily accepting of a person’s declaration of faith? I’m not meaning for that to sound judgmental. I mean for it to sound cautionary.

Maybe we have grown too accustomed to accepting at face value somebody’s dispensing of proper verbiage. The “lingo” has become so familiar to us that we just assume a person is saved because they “sound” like it. Shouldn’t we probe a little deeper in search of the tell-tale evidences of unfeigned faith? It IS okay to ask the person you’re talking to if they’re saved.

Paul was persuaded not only about his own eternal destiny but Timothy’s as well. How so?

The word “persuaded” indicates a period of time in which something has happened in the past and continues to remain intact and progressively moving forward into the future.

That means Paul could look over his own life and the life of Timothy and state with assurance they both possessed and demonstrated unfeigned faith. Paul didn’t think so, hope so. He was convinced, persuaded of their eternal destinies based upon the demonstrable evidence of their lives.

So what is unfeigned faith?

It’s a genuine life altering change which starts at a moment in time (salvation) and continues to live and grow (sanctification) through the person’s life unto the end.

It’s faith that has been tested and found to be unfeigned — genuine, honest, real, true, sincere, unaffected.

Do you have it? Are you sure your loved ones have it? How about your friends and those you work with? Do you posses the same unfeigned faith of Paul and Timothy? You can’t settle for being pretty sure, pretty persuaded. You must be 100% persuaded.

Paul felt this matter to be so important that his last written words zero in on it. For Paul, the assurance of one’s unfeigned faith is the rock-bottom, all important issue.

A final thought:

Paul didn’t end his years of ministry with many accolades swarming around him. He actually had several folks distance themselves from him. He has no big multi-million dollar auditorium complex he can point to as his legacy. His clothes … no beautiful suit and shoes. A house? The latest chariot model parked in his driveway? By all measurable accounts, he’s … well … a failure.

Maybe so. Maybe not. But …

He died knowing in Whom he believed and that he was being kept until he awoke in Glory to see his beloved Saviour.

I’m sure Paul sat in his dungeon cell of darkness marveling at where his path had taken him since the bright Light captured him on the Damascus Road. Maybe he just shook his head and offered up a little smile to God in thanks and wonder.

He truly had fought a good fight and had kept the faith … unfeigned faith.