to contradict · verb — aorist middle deponent infinitive
himself
ἑαυτὸνhe'auton
G1438
him- (her- · reflexive pronoun
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken…
Romans 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Hebrews 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay…
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Timothy 2:8-13
I. To encourage Timothy in suffering, the apostle puts him in mind of the resurrection of Christ (Ti2 2:8): Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead, according to my gospel. This is the great proof of his divine mission, and therefore a great confirmation of the truth of the Christian religion; and the consideration of it should make us faithful to our Christian profession, and should particularly encourage us in suffering for it. Let suffering saints remember this. Observe, 1. We are to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despised the shame, and has now sat down at the right hand…
believe not--"If we are unbelievers (literally, 'unfaithful'), He remains faithful" (Deu 7:9-10). The oldest manuscripts read, "For He cannot (it is an impossibility that He should) deny Himself." He cannot be unfaithful to His word that He will deny those who deny Him, though we be not faithful to our profession of faith in Him (Rom 3:3). Three things are impossible to God, to die, to lie, and to be deceived [AUGUSTINE, The Creed, 1.1], (Heb 6:18). This impossibility is not one of infirmity, but of infinite power and majesty. Also, indirectly, comfort is suggested to believers, that He is faithful to His promises to them; at the same time that apostates are shaken out of their self-deceivin…
If we believe not - Should we deny the faith and apostatize, he is the same, as true to his threatenings as to his promises; he cannot deny - act contrary to, himself.
John Gill on 2 Timothy 2:13
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful,.... The Syriac and Ethiopic versions read, "if we believe not him". This may be understood, either of such who are altogether destitute of faith, who do not believe in Christ at all; and particularly do not believe what was just now said concerning his denying such that deny him, but mock and scoff at his coming, and at a future judgment: this unbelief of theirs will not make void his faith or faithfulness; see Romans 3:3, he will abide faithful to his word of threatening; and what he says in Mark 16:16 will be found to be an everlasting truth: or it may be understood of true believers, whose faith sometimes is very low, as to its exercise on Chris…
The Church Fathers
The only thing the Almighty cannot do is what he does not will, in case anybody should consider it was very rash of me to say that the Almighty "cannot" do something. The blessed apostle said it too, "If we do not believe, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself." But it is because he does not wish to that he cannot do it, because he cannot even have the will to. Justice, after all, cannot have the will to do what is unjust, or wisdom will what is foolish, or truth will what is false.
Faith is that which is not a name only, nor is it even voice or speech; but it is that which sheweth itself by the true examination of the soul, and by the sure and certain stability of the thoughts, and it denieth not itself, but in this respect also it is to be compared with God, concerning Whom Paul saith, "He cannot deny Himself." Thus also is it with the faith which denieth not itself, which bringeth not doubt upon itself, upon which no suspicion falleth, and whose power fear reacheth not. Everything that it wisheth, it doeth, and whatsoever it seeketh is given unto it.
God is all-powerful, and, since he is all-powerful, he cannot die, he cannot be deceived, he cannot lie, and, as the apostle says, "he cannot disown himself." Very much he cannot do, yet he is all-powerful. It is because he cannot do these things for the very reason that he is all-powerful. If he could die, he would not be all-powerful. If he could lie, if he could be deceived, if he could deceive, if it were possible for him to do an injustice, he would not be omnipotent. If it were in him to do any of this, such acts would not be worthy of the Almighty. Absolutely omnipotent, our Father cannot sin.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Justice of God — That perfection of his nature whereby he is infinitely righteous in himself and in all he does, the righteousness of the divine nature exercised in his moral government. At first God imposes…
Providence — Literally means foresight, but is generally used to denote God’s preserving and governing all things by means of second causes (Ps. 18:35; 63:8; Acts 17:28; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). God’s providence…
Faithfulness Of God, The · Declared to be: Unfailing — Declared to be: Unfailing
Unbelief · 5:12-14; — 5:12-14;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
8. Remember that Jesus Christ the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
8. Memonto Iesum Christum excitatum a mortuis, ex semine David, secundum evangelium meum,
9. Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.
9. In quo laboro usque ad vincula, tanquam maleficus; sed sermo Dei non est vinctus.
10. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
10. Quamobrem omnia tolero propter electos, ut ipsi quoque salutem consequantur, quae est in Christo Iesu, cum gloria aeterna.
11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him,…
he remains faithful: This could mean that (1) he allows those who have stumbled an opportunity for repentance; (2) he faithfully judges unbelievers in accord with his unchanging will; (3) he himself is an example of faithfulness for his people to follow; and/or (4) he will faithfully accomplish his purposes in history, to save those who trust in him through the Good News (1:12; 2:19). See also Rom 3:3-4; 1 Cor 10:13; 1 Jn 1:9.
