2Ti 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2Ti 3:2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
2Ti 3:4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
The Coming Apostasy (3:1-13)
3:1 The apostle now gives Timothy a description of conditions that will exist in the world prior to the Lord's coming. It has often been pointed out that the list of sins that follows is very similar to the description of the ungodly heathen in Romans 1. The remarkable thing is that the very conditions that exist among the heathen in their savagery and uncivilized state will characterize professing believers in the last days. How solemn this is!
The last days referred to here are the days between the apostolic period and the appearing of Christ to set up His kingdom.
3:2 One cannot study these verses without being struck by the repetition of the word lovers. In verse 2, for instance, we find lovers of self and lovers of money. In verse 3, the expression despisers of good means literally no-lovers-of good. In verse 4, we read of lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
In verses 2-5, nineteen characteristics of mankind during the last days are given. We shall simply list them and give synonyms that explain their meaning:
Lovers of themselvesself-centered, conceited, egotistical.
Lovers of moneygreedy for money, avaricious.
Boastersbraggarts, full of great swelling words.
Proudarrogant, haughty, overbearing.
Blasphemersevil speakers, profane, abusive, foulmouthed, contemptuous, insulting.
Disobedient to parentsrebellious, undutiful, uncontrolled.
Unthankfulungrateful, lacking in appreciation.
Unholyimpious, profane, irreverent, holding nothing sacred.
3:3 Unlovinghard-hearted, unnaturally callous, unfeeling.
Unforgivingimplacable, refusing to make peace, refusing efforts toward reconciliation.
Slanderersspreading false and malicious reports.
Without self-controlmen of uncontrolled passions, dissolute, debauched.
Brutalsavage, unprincipled.
Despisers of goodhaters of whatever or whoever is good; utterly opposed to goodness in any form.
3:4 Traitorstreacherous, betrayers.
Headstrongreckless, self-willed, rash.
Haughtymaking empty pretensions, conceited.
Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of Godthose who love sensual pleasures but not God.
3:5 Outwardly these people seem religious. They make a profession of Christianity, but their actions speak louder than their words. By their ungodly behavior, they show that they are living a lie. There is no evidence of the power of God in their lives. While there might have been reformation, there never was regeneration. Weymouth translates: They will keep up a make-believe of piety and yet exclude its power. Likewise Moffatt: Though they keep up a form of religion, they will have nothing to do with it as a force. Phillips puts it: They will maintain a façade of religion but their conduct will deny its validity. They want to be religious and to have their sins at the same time (cf. Rev_3:14-22). Hiebert warns: It is the fearful portrayal of an apostate Christendom, a new paganism masquerading under the name of Christianity.
From all such people Timothy is exhorted to turn away. These are the vessels described in the previous chapter from which he is to purge himself.
3:6 Among the corrupt men of the last days, Paul now singles out a particular group, namely, leaders and teachers of false cults. This detailed description of their character and methods finds its fulfillment in the cults of our present day.
First of all, we read that they creep or worm their way into households. It is not by accident that this description reminds us of the movement of a serpent. If they revealed their true identity, they would not succeed in getting into many of these homes, but they use various subtle devices, such as speaking about God, the Bible, and Jesus (even if they do not believe what Scripture teaches about these).
Next it says that they make captives of gullible women. This is characteristic. They plan their visit when the husband is apt to be at work or elsewhere. History repeats itself. Satan approached Eve in the Garden of Eden and deceived her. She usurped authority over her husband, making the decision that should have been left to him. Satan's methods have not changed. He still approaches the womenfolk with his false teachings and leads them captive. These women are gullible in the sense that they are weak and unstable. They do not lack brains as much as they lack strength of character.
They are described as loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts. This suggests, first of all, that they are burdened under a sense of sin and feel a need in their lives. It is at this crucial time that the false cultists arrive. How sad it is that those who know the truth of God's word are not more zealous in reaching these anxious souls. Secondly, we read that they are led away by various lusts. Weymouth understands this to mean led by ever-changing caprice. Moffatt calls them wayward creatures of impulse. The thought seems to be that, conscious of their load of sin and seeking relief from it, they are willing to expose themselves to every passing wind of doctrine and to every religious novelty.
3:7 The expression always learning does not mean that they are continually learning more about the Lord Jesus and the word of God. Rather, it means that they are constantly delving into one cult after another, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. The Lord Jesus is Himself the Truth. These women seem to come ever so close to Him at times, but they are taken captive by the enemy of their souls and never attain the rest that is found only in the Savior.
It should be noted at this point that members of the various cults invariably say, I am learning, mentioning the system by name. They can never speak with finality as to an accomplished redemption through faith in Jesus Christ.
This verse also makes us think of the vast present-day increase in knowledge in every realm of human endeavor, the tremendous emphasis on education so prevalent in modern life, and yet the abysmal failure of it all to bring men to the knowledge of the truth.
3:8 Three pairs of men are mentioned in this Epistle:
Phygellus and Hermogenes (2Ti_1:15)ashamed of the truth.
Hymenaeus and Philetus (2Ti_2:17-18)erred concerning the truth.
Jannes and Jambres (2Ti_3:8)resisted the truth.
In this eighth verse, Paul returns to the leaders and teachers of false cults. He compares them to Jannes and Jambres who resisted Moses. Who were these men? Actually, their names are not mentioned in the OT, but it is generally understood that they were two of the chief Egyptian magicians who were called in by Pharaoh to imitate the miracles performed by Moses.
The question arises as to how Paul knew their names. This should present no difficulty, for if they were not passed down by Jewish tradition, it is not at all unreasonable that the names could have been given to him by divine revelation.
The important thing is that they resisted Moses by imitating his works, by counterfeit miracles. That is precisely the case with the false cultists. They withstand the work of God by imitating it. They have their own Bible, their own way of salvationin short, they have a substitute for everything in Christianity. They withstand the truth of God by presenting a cheap perversion, and sometimes by resorting to magical arts.
These men are of corrupt mind. Arthur Way translates it: their minds are rotten to the core. Their minds are distorted, debased, and depraved.
When tested concerning the Christian faith, they are found to be disapproved and spurious. The greatest single test that can be applied to them is to ask the simple question, Is Jesus Christ God? Many of them seek to hide their false doctrine by admitting that Jesus is the Son of God, but they mean that He is a son of God in the same sense that others are children of God. But when faced with the question, Is Jesus Christ God? they show their true colors. They not only deny the deity of Jesus Christ but usually become angry when so challenged. This is true of Christian Scientists, Spiritualists, Christadelphians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and The Way.
