Free Bible Commentary
“2 Timothy 3:1-9”
Categories: 2 Timothy“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be 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, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households 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. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also 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.”
---End of Scripture verses---
Friends we are in “the last days” (verse 1), and we have been since the Holy Spirit gave us the New Testament inspiration of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2). But the sins of these “difficult times” seem to have increased in our generation to such a degree that you can see why many people think that Paul had us in mind when he wrote these words. Self-love and “arrogance” seem to be at an all-time high, and it appears to be the norm for people to be driven by ego satisfaction instead of love for fellowman. We live in a society of “ungrateful” people who are “lovers of pleasure” and no amount of pleasure can satisfy their lusts and feelings of entitlement. And that’s just in the secular society!
There is also a huge sector of the “religiously minded” people and “leaders” who hold “to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power” (verse 5). They flash sweet smiles and speak smooth words in order to deceive their listeners and enrich themselves, all the while professing a godliness that they do not possess. It is remarkable how loving and longsuffering our God is, not wanting any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). I would have lost my patience a long time ago and wiped out the whole lot of us! We must take care to not become discouraged and embittered, however. It is at difficult and dark times such as these that we need to cling all the tighter to God for comfort and encouragement, and let our lights shine their brightest for the cause of Christ!
Let’s not be numbered among the folks who are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (verse 7). A lot of people know something about the Bible, and some people know a lot about the Bible. But there is a huge difference between acquiring some knowledge and learning, loving and obeying the truth! Just as Pharaoh’s magicians, Jannes and Jambres, opposed the efforts of Moses to free the children of Israel (Exodus 7:11-13; 9:11-12), the “false teachers” of our day “oppose the truth” (verse 8). “Their folly will be obvious to all” of Jesus’ genuine disciples who “search the scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11), and “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1).
Please read 2 Timothy 3:10-17 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
- Louie Taylor
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