2 Timothy 3:1 - Meaning and Application

Timothy must not think it strange if bad people are found in the church. The gospel net catches both good fish and bad fish (Matthew 13:47-48). Jesus Christ had already warned that deceivers would come (Matthew 24), so believers should not be shocked by this, or think worse of the church because of it. Even in gold ore there is dross, and even on a threshing floor there is much chaff among the wheat.

Paul first wants Timothy to know that in the last days, meaning in gospel times, dangerous times would come (2 Timothy 3:1). Even though the gospel brought reform in many ways, there would still be perilous times. These would be hard times, not mainly because of outside persecution, but because of corruption inside the church. It would be difficult for a person to keep a clear conscience. Paul does not say, “Dangerous times will come because Jews and Gentiles will join together to destroy Christianity.” He says they will come because people who have the form of godliness (2 Timothy 3:5) will be corrupt and wicked, and they will do great harm to the church. Two traitors inside a fortress can do more damage than two thousand enemies outside it.

Sin makes the times dangerous. When people’s morals and attitudes are widely corrupted, life becomes unsafe, because it is hard to stay upright in the middle of widespread evil. Paul’s warning also proves that Scripture’s predictions are true. If events did not match what Scripture said, we might be tempted to doubt the Bible. We also need to know and believe this warning so that we are not surprised when hard times come: “This know also.”

Paul then explains what will make these times dangerous, and by what signs they will be known (2 Timothy 3:2 and following). Self-love will be one cause. Everyone loves himself in some sense, but here Paul means a sinful self-love. People will love their fleshly desires more than their spiritual good. They will care more about pleasing themselves and feeding their lusts than about pleasing God and doing their duty. Instead of Christian love, which seeks the good of others, they will think only of themselves and put their own comfort above the church’s growth.

Covetousness will also make the times dangerous. Self-love often leads to many other sins and troubles. When people love themselves more than God, nothing good can be expected from them. When greed spreads, and each person is set on gaining and keeping what he has, people become dangerous to one another. Then everyone feels he must stay on guard against his neighbor.

Pride and boasting will also mark such times. The times are dangerous when people are proud of themselves, boast before others, and speak against God and his name. When people do not fear God, they will not truly respect others either. The same is true in the opposite direction.

When children disobey their parents, they break the duty and gratitude they owe them, often in matters of daily support and care. That also makes the times dangerous. If people will treat their own parents badly and rebel against them, what evil will they not do? Such behavior shows how far sin can carry them.

Unthankfulness and unholiness also make the times dangerous, and these two usually go together. Why are people unholy and without the fear of God? Often it is because they are not thankful for God’s mercy. Ingratitude and ungodliness belong together. An ungrateful person is hardly worse named. Such people are unclean, full of fleshly lusts, which is a great insult to the God who has so well provided for the body. We misuse God’s gifts when we turn them into food and fuel for our lusts.

The times are also dangerous when people are not held back by either natural affection or common honesty, when they are without natural affection and are truce-breakers (2 Timothy 3:3). There is a natural love due to all people. Wherever human nature is found, there should be human kindness, especially within families. The times are dangerous when children disobey their parents (2 Timothy 3:2) and when parents have no natural affection for their children (2 Timothy 3:3). See how sin corrupts human nature itself. It can even strip people of what nature itself has planted in them for the good of their own race. The natural love of parents for their children helps preserve human life on earth. And if people will not be bound by natural affection, it is no wonder they will not keep solemn promises and agreements. They are truce-breakers, people who do not care about the commitments they have made.

The times are dangerous when people falsely accuse one another. They become false accusers, acting like devils toward one another, with no respect for the good name of others or for the holiness of an oath, and they think they are free to say and do whatever they please (Psalm 12:4). The times are also dangerous when people cannot control themselves or their desires. They are without restraint in appetite, fierce in temper, and without rule over their spirits. Then they are like a broken city with no walls, easily set on fire by the least provocation.

It is also a bad sign when what is good and worthy of honor is generally despised. Proud persecutors often look down on godly people, even though they are more excellent than their neighbors. The times are dangerous when people are commonly treacherous, reckless, and arrogant (2 Timothy 3:4). Our Savior foretold that brother would betray brother to death, and father would betray child (Matthew 10:21). Those are the worst kinds of traitors. People who handed over their Bibles to persecutors were called traditores, because they betrayed the trust given to them. When people are rude, puffed up, and insulting to everyone around them, and when that spirit spreads, the times are dangerous.

The times are especially bad when people are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. When there are more pleasure-seekers than true Christians, the age is in a sad state. God must be loved above all. A fleshly mind, which is set against God, prefers anything before him, especially something as low as bodily pleasure.

Even with all this, people may still have the form of godliness (2 Timothy 3:5). They may wear the Christian name, be baptized into the Christian faith, and make a show of religion. But however convincing their outward form may look, they deny its power.

When people take on the outward form that should, by nature, come with real power, they end up separating what God has joined together. They put on the shape of godliness to protect their reputation, but they refuse its power, which would deal with their sin.

Notice three things here. First, people can be very evil under a religious profession. They may be lovers of themselves and still have only the appearance of godliness. Second, a form of godliness is very different from its power. Someone may have the outward look and be completely without the inward reality, and by their lives they practically deny it. Third, true Christians must withdraw from such people.

Paul also warns Timothy to watch out for these deceivers, not only to avoid being drawn in himself, but also to protect those under his care. He first shows how eager they were to win followers. They targeted certain people, visiting them in their homes because they did not dare appear openly. Those who do evil hate the light (John 3:20). Good Christians were often forced into houses by persecution, but these people chose to creep into houses so they could win affection and trust, then pull people over to their side.

Look at the kind of people they won. They took in weak, foolish women, and also women who were guilty and burdened with sins, and led by many desires. A foolish mind and an unclean heart make people, especially women, easy targets for deceivers.

Paul also shows how far these people were from really knowing the truth, even though they claimed to be always learning. In one sense, all of us should always be learning, growing in knowledge, following on to know the Lord, and pressing forward. But these people were skeptics, unstable and restless, quick to accept every new idea under the claim of greater knowledge, yet never reaching a true understanding of the truth as it is in Jesus.

Then Paul foretells the certain end of their progress, comparing them to the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses, named Jannes and Jambres. Their names are not found in the Old Testament story, but they do appear in some old Jewish writers. When Moses came with God’s command to bring Israel out of Egypt, these magicians stood against him. In the same way, these false teachers resist the truth. Like those men, they are people with corrupt minds, with their understanding twisted, biased, and prejudiced against the truth, and they are rejected so far as the faith is concerned, meaning they are very far from being true Christians. But they will not get much farther.

There are several lessons here. Deceivers look for hidden places, and they love secrecy, because they are afraid to appear openly. So they creep into houses. They also go after those least able to defend themselves, foolish and wicked women. Deceivers in every age are much the same. Their character is the same, men with corrupt minds. Their behavior is the same, they resist the truth, just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses. And their end will be the same, disappointment.

Those who resist the truth are acting foolishly, indeed with great folly, for great is the truth, and it will prevail. Even if the spirit of error is allowed to work for a time, God still holds it in check. Satan can deceive nations and churches only as far and as long as God permits. Their folly will be exposed. It will become clear that they are imposters, and people will leave them.