Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Timothy 1:12

"For which cause I suffer also these things: yet I am not ashamed; for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day." — 2 Timothy 1:12 (ASV)

For which reason I also suffer these things. That is, I suffer on account of my purpose to carry the gospel to the Gentiles .

Nevertheless I am not ashamed .

For I know whom I have believed (the marginal reading is trusted). The idea is that he understood the character of that Redeemer to whom he had committed his eternal interests, and knew that he had no reason to be ashamed of confiding in Him. He was able to keep all that he had entrusted to His care, and would not allow him to be lost .

And am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him. That is, the soul with all its immortal interests. A man has nothing of higher value to entrust to another than the interests of his soul, and there is no other act of confidence like that in which he entrusts the keeping of that soul to the Son of God. From this, learn:

1. That religion consists in committing the soul to the care of the Lord Jesus, because:

   • We feel that we cannot secure its salvation ourselves.
   • It is by nature in danger.
   • If not saved by Him, it will not be saved at all.

2. That a great and invaluable treasure is that which is committed to Him:

   • No higher treasure can be committed to another.
   • In connection with that, the whole question of our happiness on earth and in heaven is entrusted to Him, and all depends on His fidelity.

3. It is done by the true Christian with the most entire confidence, so that the mind is at rest. The grounds of this confidence are:

   • What is said of the mighty power of the Savior.
   • His promises that He will keep all who confide in Him .
   • Experience—the fact that those who have trusted in Him have found that He is able to keep them.

4. This act of committing the soul, with all its interests, to the Savior, is the true source of peace in the trials of life. This is so because:

   • Having done this, we feel that our great interests are secure. If the soul is safe, why should we be disturbed by the loss of health, property, or other temporal comforts? Those are secondary things. A man who is shipwrecked, and who sees his son or daughter safe with him on the shore, will be little concerned that a casket of jewels fell overboard—however valuable it might be.
   • All those trials will soon pass away, and he will be safe in heaven.
   • These very things may further the great object—the salvation of the soul. A man's great interests may be safer when in a prison than in a palace, on a pallet of straw than on a bed of down, when constrained to say, Give us this day our daily bread, than when encompassed with the wealth of Croesus.

Against that day. This refers to the Day of Judgment—called "that day" without anything further to designate it, because it is the great day, "the day for which all other days were made." It seems to have been so much an object of thought and conversation among the early Christians that the apostle supposed he would be understood by merely referring to it as "that day"—that is, the day they were always preaching about, talking about, and thinking about.