The Pastoral Epistles: 2 Timothy 3 (2)

Pray Psalm 2.11, 12.
Serve the LORD with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

Read and meditate on 2 Timothy 3.6-9.

Reflect.
1. Are learning and knowing the truth the same thing? Explain.

2. Who resists the truth of God? How can we recognize such people?

Meditate.
These verses continue the description of people who have “a form of godliness” but are “denying its power”, whom Paul mentioned in v. 5. In the last days, Paul says to Timothy, expect to find wolves in sheep’s clothing.

These are people whose intentions in becoming part of the believing community are wholly self-interested. They are lovers of self and pleasure rather than lovers of God (vv. 2, 4), and so they will look for a church where they can parade their much learning, impress a few gullible people, and spread their corruption around. 

Paul says they “creep” into “households”, probably intending “households” as a reference to house churches, which were common in these early days of the faith. “Creep” translates the Greek, ἐνδύνω – enduno – which means to enter secretly and with ulterior motives. Their motives are purely self-serving. They may know a lot of Scripture and doctrine, but it’s all just head knowledge. They seek to entice women who are “gullible” and “loaded down with sins”. The suggestion here is that they might exploit them for personal satisfaction, whether as admiring followers and conduits of corrupt teaching, or for sexual sin.

But such people do not have the truth, and never will have it, so long as their motives are as Paul describes them here (v. 7). Instead, they are like the court magicians who resisted Moses. Soon enough “the magic” will show itself to be a façade, and they will be exposed as self-seeking, worldly frauds. But how many people will be misled and hurt before that happens? Paul warns Timothy to keep a close watch out for such men, and to have nothing to do with them (v. 5). Good advice for all of us.

Reflect.
1. How can you tell when someone is just parading their knowledge to impress others? How should you respond?

2. Why are people “of corrupt minds” “disapproved concerning the faith”? Is there any hope for such people?

3. What should church leaders – like Timothy – do to help ensure that people of corrupt minds and merely selfish interests don’t find a home in the local church?

The sins of the wicked come about in three ways. Either they are bound up with sacrileges or vices or crimes. For they commit sacrilege when they do not believe rightly concerning God and depart from the true faith either because of fear of temporal misfortunes or desire for temporal advantages or by blindness or perversity of heart alone. They sin by vice when unrestrained or obscene in themselves; they live in a shameful fashion. Then they sin by crimes when they cruelly harm others, either by damages or some kind of oppression. Fulgentius of Ruspe (467-532) Letter to Scarila 10.37

O Lord, let there be no corruption, and no mere self-interest in me! Guard me from these today as I go forth to…

Pray Psalm 2.10-12.
What opportunities for serving the Lord are ahead of you today? Commit them to Jesus, and go forth trusting in Him to use you for His glory.

Sing Psalm 2.9-12
Psalm 2.9-12 (Agincourt: O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High!).
To Christ the Lord be given all who humbly embrace Him and on Him call.
Be wise, be warned: His judgment comes to break the prideful, sinful ones.

Rejoice with fear in Jesus’ grace, and worship before His exalted face!
Beware His anger and judgment grim: How blessed are all who rest in Him!

T. M. Moore

Whatever our calling in life, we are sent to bring the joy of Christ to the people around us. Our book, Joy to Your World!, can show you how to fill your Personal Mission Field with more of the Presence, promise, and power of Christ and His Kingdom. Order your copy, as a supplement to our study of 1 Timothy, by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006).All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).