The passage
      v8. Paul begins by encouraging Timothy to focus on the gospel, a message which concerns the Lord Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. The term, "raised from the dead" is the central truth of the gospel. Christ has broken the bonds of death and is alive, and because he lives we may live also. Paul also adds "descended from David". Only on one other occasion, Rom.1:3, does Paul include such a phrase in the gospel. It is a messianic term defining Jesus as the anointed descendent of David who receives an everlasting kingdom and rules it in power. To a Gentile audience, Paul would normally use the title of "Lord". So, the gospel is presented in the following terms: Jesus is risen from the dead and he is Lord.
      v9. Gospel ministry ("the care of all the churches") made Paul vulnerable to arrest and imprisonment. There is a sense where he now suffers as Christ suffered. Yet, his chains cannot chain God's Word. Apostles, pastors and teachers, Timothy himself, even Paul's letters, are all channels for "God's Word."
      v10. Paul now states why he can endure suffering - to "be strong", to "endure hardship." He does it for the sake of the elect that they too might inherit eternal glory. For Paul, one of the strongest motivations for his service to Christ, is his desire to see the elect saved. That's what keeps him at it, and it can keep Timothy at it as well.
      v11-13. Here we find another of the "trustworthy sayings" that Paul quotes in the Pastorals. There are five altogether and they were probably sayings in common use throughout the Christian church. Paul quotes the saying to support his exhortation that Timothy "endure" in Christian ministry. This saying is made up of four elements:
        i] The first statement, v11, concerns our identification with Christ's death and resurrection. Through faith in him there is a consequential death to sin and judgement and a gift of eternal life, cf. Gal.2:19f, 1Cor.15:45. This is a central Pauline doctrine.
        ii] The second and third statements, v12, further encourage endurance in the Christian life. They remind us that our "reign" with Christ in eternity is preceded by the learning experience of discipleship, along with the suffering which goes hand-in-hand with service to Christ. The way to glory is through pain. The danger we face in this struggle is denial. If we let Jesus go we are lost, cf. Matt.10:33, 12:32.
        iii] The final statement, v13, affirms the wonderful doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. In the end, our Christian life may be very paltry, but our final salvation does not rest on our ability, but on the grace of God. If we hold onto Jesus our salvation is assured.

Endurance
      This passage gives us some good reasons for endurance in the Christian life.
        1. The person of Jesus, v8. The center of the gospel, which we claim for ourselves and proclaim to the world, concerns the person of Jesus. He is a living Lord and in him we can live also. As the trustworthy saying puts it in v11, "If we have died with him, we will also live with him." There is nothing surer. Yet, there is pain when we follow Jesus. At times we just want to get away from it all, but we follow a living Lord. Paul says it all in his second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 4 verse 17, "our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."
        2. The power of God's Word, v9. Our Christian walk goes hand in hand with the Word of God. Take a simple example like teaching Sunday School. After a year of hard work we may wonder if it is worth it. What does Paul say? "God's Word is not chained." We may not see anything happening, we may even be totally frustrated, but God's Word is not chained.
        3. The perseverance of God's people, v10. One of the most worrying things we face as a Christian is the possibility that in the last day Jesus will say to us "I do not know you, depart from me." There are two significant dangers we face in our Christian walk: there is the danger of being socialized into the Christian faith, and the danger of having our faith undermined by false teaching. Both dangers are in plague proportions today. Humanism dominates church life such that the human ego becomes the focus. Technology, marketing and management are now the tools used to "grow" our church, but all we grow is a fraudulent Christianity. Then there is law-righteousness. The Christian way is too often taught in terms of doing rather than believing. Salvation is by faith, not works.
        4. Sharing in the reign of Christ, v12. We can put up with hard times when we are sure of a good result. Our future is to rule with Christ in eternity. The rough and tumble of life prepares us for our rule with Christ. Once we have this perspective, it is easy to endure.

v8
      euannelion mou "my gospel" - This is an interesting phrase which most likely implies something unique about Paul's gospel message. The unique element is one of emphasis, an emphasis on the resurrection of Christ and the theological implications which flow from this. The center of Paul's theology is the notion that through our identification with Christ's resurrection ("in Christ" and "Christ in us") we are made alive - we share in his resurrection life. Although there is a sense where Paul has a particular angle on the gospel, Christ remains the originator of the gospel. Paul has shaped "his gospel" from the teachings of Christ, such that in the end we can describe Paul as the exegete of Jesus. Paul expounds the teachings of Christ, but with his particular bent toward his Gentile audience.