Paul’S Realism
PAUL’S REALISM
2 TIMOTHY 3:1-9
Paul is realistic: sadly, there are some professing Christians who observe the outward forms of faith but whose lives show they have never known God’s power to change them.
It is clear throughout these letters that Paul is greatly concerned for both purity of life and purity of doctrine. He does not regard the way a Christian lives as unimportant, nor does he dismiss his own opinions as unimportant. It matters that he holds the true faith and that he shows this by his way of life. At this point Paul informs Timothy that “in the last days” there will be false teaching. To the very end we must expect there will be some who will pervert the faith. Paul is not speaking simply of people who live badly. He is talking about professing believers, people “holding the form of religion but denying the power of it” (3:5). These people are characterized in the first place as “lovers of self” (3:1), and much of what follows stems from that. The unhappy list in 3:2-4 is made up of qualities which are natural enough for those dominated by selfishness.
At the beginning Paul speaks of “the last days.” But the evils he mentions are not confined to the end times, and we may suspect that he was troubled by people of this kind in his own day. Certainly this is the case in 3:6 (notice the present tense). He appears to be speaking of religious leaders, perhaps ministers, who used their influence wrongly. They captivated credulous women of the type who never reach a firm knowledge of the truth (3:6f.). But Paul is confident that this will not get out of hand. He likens the work of the false teachers to that of Jannes and Jambres. These names do not appear in the Old Testament, but in a number of early writings they are the names of the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses. It is possible that the teachers Paul opposed practiced magic (someone has remarked that superstition and heresy are often connected). But (3:8) his “as [the magicians] so [the heretics]” requires no more than that they opposed the truth. Paul concludes with an assurance that “their folly will be plain to all” (3:9). Their success will not last.
Notes 3:6: “weak women” is contemptuous: “ silly women” might be a better translation. “Burdened” is “heaped up.” 3:8: “counterfeit” = “that has not passed the test.”