II Tim 3
In the last post in this series, we see Paul giving Timothy some delivery instructions for being a useful vessel for God – someone who’s able to teach others. A summary of these instructions are to be kind, to be gentle, to be patient. Why is it important for us to present doctrinal truths in this way? Because, if someone comes to the point of spiritual knowledge and revelation from God, then they are being called to make a correction in some way. They are being called to return ( or come ) into fellowship of the fold of God (whether its for initial salvation, or to be corrected from some doctrinal error). If that revelation comes, then it presents a critical pivotal moment, and the response will dictate that person coming into fellowship with God. Our presentation of the Gospel should assist / help / aid in a positive response to our teachings.
Next, Paul reveals something very interesting. If that point comes, then it was because God granting repentance. It did not come due to some wonderful speaking ability we possess. Look at the final verse of the previous chapter, Paul neatly recaps this with a summary statement, – a spiritual rule, which is: People need God to grant them repentance (a completely changed mindset from our natural understanding) in order to have a chance of coming to their senses and escaping from doing things of the Devil’s will. Without God’s mercy of granting repentance, we are hopelessly held captive by the Devil to do his will!. If you’re not convinced that this is true, hover your mouse over the last thought, in the previous chapter and decide what else it could possibly mean.
2 Tim 2:25-26
With that in mind, we then proceed to the next section of scripture.
But realize this,
that in the last days
difficult times will come.
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' |
' | lovers of self,
' | lovers of money,
' | boastful,
' | arrogant,
' | revilers,
' | disobedient to parents,
' | ungrateful,
' | unholy,
' | unloving,
' | irreconcilable,
' | malicious gossips,
' | without self-control,
' | brutal,
' | haters of good,
' | treacherous,
For | reckless,
men will be | conceited,
|
|
| lovers of pleasure
| '
| rather
| than
| '
| lovers of God,
|
|
|
| holding to a form of godliness,
| '
| although
| '
| they have denied its power;
|
Paul follows that the thoughts from the last chapter, (that people are ensnared by Satan to do his will), with But, realize this … Realize this, that as we approach the last days, people are going to get worse! They’re going to get more selfish, more self-center, more boastful, more arrogant. They are going to have less respect towards others, parents, and God. They are going to loose self control and become brutal; they will become haters of good. Paul is saying, “If you think the Devil is holding people captive to do his will now, just wait, it’s going to get much worse!” And this will produce difficult {spiritual} times. Towards the end of the list, Paul focuses on a particular evil that will be born out of all these people who love themselves more than God! Do you think these people will get rid of religion? Well … some will, they will become atheist. But – surprise! Some will not! So … religion is going to get perverted! These people will produce religions that have a form of godliness, but the heart of their religion will utterly deny the truth of God! Open your eyes, Christians, it’s all around! Today we have such religions, designed to pamper people and they have nothing to do with God … and this is going to make for some very confusing and difficult times!
Just in case the preceding seems far-fetched, let’s make some more observations. Note that the list above is not made up of equal items. We can observe that the list grows and climaxes. It develops towards the last two items:
- Men will be lovers of themselves more than lovers of God
- Men will have a form of godliness, but will deny the power of God
And … if we look at the very next scripture below, Avoid such men as these! We should be clued-in to understanding that the last two items have specific serious implications, apart from those listed earlier. The last two items are the topic of discussion as Paul continues onward, not the whole list. For example, do we believe Paul wants us to avoid people that commit any of these sins on this list? I think the Great Commission implies that this is not the case. We are to talk with sinners, and seek converts from among them – not avoid them! No, the ones we are to avoid are those that have a form of godliness but deny the truth of God. These men, as Paul explains further, are in a different category of wickedness – due to deceptive false doctrines – doctrines they will not let go of – and in doing so they oppose God’s truth – and therefore have placed themselves into a spiritual rejected-for-understanding-the-faith category. Read on and see if this is not what the scriptures say.
Avoid
such men
as these.
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'
'
For
among them
are those |enter
' | into households
who |and
|
|captivate weak women
weighed down with sins,
led on by various impulses,
always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
| Jannes |
Just as | and | opposed Moses,
| Jambres |
| |
so also | these {men} | oppose the truth,
| |
men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.
But
they will not make further progress;
for
their folly will be obvious to all,
just as Jannes's and Jambres's folly was also.
Questions:
What was Paul talking about when he said, they enter into households and take captive weak women burdened down with sins, led on by various impulses?
At first glance, these verses seem to suggest there will be religious men, who will gain followers. It appears that these followers revere them greatly. But soon, they reveal their true colors by falling to immoral sexual desires. From these scriptures, it would seem that their female followers are too weak to resist lustful urges acted out with these captivating leaders.
I have read this verse in every version I could find … all version have this sexual immoral overtone. But, is this the real meaning of this verse? There seems to be some common sense problems with this interpretation. First of all, what about the men in the flock of followers? Are they just ignored by these false spiritual leaders – did these false spiritual leaders just seek to teach for the sake of some female followers only?
I think Paul is using an analogy that we all understand in order to teach a spiritual truth – and to help us understand it in a spiritual light – in the way that God see it. In the next paragraph, I hope you’ll see this more plainly.
If we place these verses back into context, Paul is continuing a discussion about certain people that we are instructed to avoid. They are men who oppose the truth in the same way that Jannes and Jabbres opposed Moses. You can not come to God without going through the Truth of the Gospel; therefore, since these men oppose the truth, they have locked themselves into having a depraved mind – therefore, they are rejected from being given spiritual understanding in regards to the faith. Men such as these, are men that we should avoid! We may make a spiritually correct If / Then statement:
If:
– we want our ears to be tickled by those that ignore correct doctrines, and teach false doctrines,
– if we want to listen to the feel good messages that oppose the core statements of truth, like: Jesus Christ is the only way to receive forgiveness of sin, Repentance, ,
Then
– those that succumb to following these teachers of false doctrines are comparable to silly women having sexual impulses, laden with sins,
– they will continue to be held captivate under the seduction of these false teachers
– they have been rejected from understanding the truth of the Gospel because the oppose the Truth!
I think the immoral sexual overtones are intentional – they help us make a comparison to understand that doctrinal errors are every bit as wicked as sexual immorality. We should have in mind that we are Christians in a mysterious union with our Beloved Savior, Christ Jesus, the Bridegroom! Else, we are silly women, taken by religious players that want to use us satisfy their own perverted desires. This is my understanding of this passage, in the context of the discussions.
There is a lot here that should cause us to think soberly!
Who does “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” refer to? Those in the flock of false leaders? The false leaders themselves? Or both? There’s a lot of warning here: Seems like those in these false doctrine groups may believe some things correctly, – they may believe in Heaven and Hell, sin and forgiveness, etc … But, ultimately, they oppose the Truth of God with lies at the core of what they teach and believe. This would be the doctrines of Repentance, doctrines of Who Jesus Is, doctrines of How We are Made Righteous Before God, etc …
What does rejected in regard to the faith mean?
Seems this confirms that they are not able to come to the knowledge of the truth. We can not come to a knowledge of the truth without God’s help! And God has rejected them! Scary stuff that we need to understand. We don’t believe just because we decide to believe; – We believed because we saw a need for God’s mercy and asked Him for that, and He allowed us to have that. This is the only way to escape from snares of the Devil!
Recap:
Study to show yourself approved unto God ( 2 Tim 2:15 ) by knowing what the SCRIPTURES teach about God’s truth. Be able to recognize those that oppose it – no matter how religious they seem! Avoid these men. Don’t buy their books! Don’t listen to them on the radio or TV. Don’t try to understand them – avoid them. They are rejected by God and will be used by Satan to hold you captive from understanding the message of the gospel, they overturn the faith of some! Study the scriptures in order to have peace and understanding during difficult times!
|
| teaching,
| conduct,
| purpose,
Now | faith,
you | patience,
followed my | love,
| perseverance, |
| persecutions,{and} sufferings, | at Antioch,
| ' such as happened to me | at Iconium
| ' | {and}
| ' | at Lystra;
'
'
what persecutions
' I endured,
' and
' out of them all
' the Lord rescued me!
'
'
Indeed,
all
who desire
to live godly in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted.
One of the more important things to note here is that Paul’s teachings were not words and understandings. It was doctrine, and commitment to a relationship with Jesus that demonstrated itself in major lifestyle changes! It endured much persecution. Paul’s teachings were those of actions. Persecutions demonstrated how deeply Paul held onto Jesus, how Paul clung onto God with everything. These were his teachings.
|
But |{from bad}
evil men | | to worse,
and | will proceed | deceiving
impostors | | and
| being deceived.
|
You,
however,
continue | you have learned |
in the things | and |
| become convinced of, |
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'
'
' | from whom you have learned {them,}
knowing | and
| {knowing} that from childhood
you have known the sacred writings
' which are able to give you the wisdom
' '
' that leads to salvation
' through faith
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` which is in Christ Jesus.
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'
'
All Scripture |
' | inspired by God
' |
is | and
| | for teaching,
| profitable | for reproof,
| | for correction,
| for training in righteousness;
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'
'
'
so that
the man of God
may be adequate,
equipped for every good work.
Paul stresses that the scriptures are sacred writings and are able to give wisdom to cause us to have a relationship with God. And after the relationship is established, the scriptures are profitable to grow in that relationship.