I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. (2 Tim. 1:12)
Expanded Passage: 2 Timothy 1:11-14
News flash! There’s a lot of bad theology out there. The ever-present prosperity gospel is still promising health and wealth to all who “send a love-gift to this ministry,” and well-meaning folks are still knocking on doors, eager to set us straight on our end-times theology. Some in the church defend unbiblical sexual values and practices, while others come dangerously close to equating faith and politics.
A good grasp of sound theology is essential. Knowing what we believe is vitally important, and knowing why we believe it takes that faith a crucial step further. But there is a prior and greater need. Above all, we must know whom we believe. Christianity is not merely an abstract philosophy or an enlightened moral code. It isn’t just a set of beliefs to accept or rules of conduct to follow. At the heart of the faith is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote, “I want to know Christ” (Phil. 3:10) in a deeper way. He went on to add that he wanted not only to enjoy the benefits of that relationship (“the power of his resurrection”) but also to share in its cost (“participation in his sufferings”).
Knowing about Christ is not enough. We must know him.
Know Christ, and make him known.
Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
