 | Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. |
 | Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
|
 | Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus
|
Commentary
Just as our soldiers suffer hardships and give the ultimate sacrifice for our country, we as Christians should joyfully serve our Commander and His Kingdom dutifully at any cost.
"a good soldier" - The metaphor of the Christian life as warfare (against the evil world system, the believer's sinful human nature, and Satan) is a familiar one in the NT (cf. 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Eph. 6:10-20; 1 Thess. 4:8; 1 Tim. 1:18; 4:7; 6:12). Here Paul is dealing with the conflict against the hostile world and the persecution (cf. v. 9; 1:8; 3:11,12; 4:7).
MacArthur, J. J. (1997, c1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.) (2 Ti 2:3). Nashville: Word Pub.