Wednesday, September 16 –
It is mid-week as we continue to read through Paul’s
letters to Timothy. The next section is
2 Timothy 3:1 – 17. Please read the
scripture first, and if you have time, come back, and we’ll look at it again.
As Paul sat in his prison cell, he knew that this letter to Timothy would have
to serve as the last things he could communicate to him. Timothy was his beloved son-in-the-Lord, and
I’m sure Paul thought that things were going to get worse rather than better
for Timothy and all the Christians in the Roman Empire. This chapter is filled with cautionary
warnings about what has happened, and what will probably still occur. From my own point of view, in our current
cultural setting, there are some similarities that our Christian faith faces
difficult times ahead as our culture turns even more towards materialistic
secularism and a post-Christian worldview.
I’m usually a positive person, but the trends are readily visible in all
sections of our society. This chapter
reminds us that as Christians, we have to face the future head-on, with the stability
of faith in God’s word, and trust in His sovereign working.
The words are ominous – “But understand
this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty (3:1). The rising tide of Rome’s fury was being
pointed at the Christians. It had begun
in the reign of Claudius when he kicked out all of the Jews from Rome. The Romans preached a “Pax Romana” –
the “Peace of Rome” and loathed anyone who threatened their power – which was
how they maintained peace. It is about
65 a.d., and Paul hears and sees what is happening. Christians are being arrested, jailed,
executed. Their family of children taken
from them; their estates and businesses confiscated. It was trouble ahead, and Paul knew it. The things Paul lists from 3:2 – 5 is disheartening
to contemplate – “For people will love only themselves and their money. They
will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and
ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and
unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be
cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless,
be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act
religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away
from people like that” (3:2-5, NLT).[1]
The last sentence is remarkable because the ranks of those who fall into this
evil include those who are religious.
The hypocrisy of religion is that its outward show can mask the interior
evil that is always directing the motives and behavior – even though it is
justified in the form of sanctimonious rationales. Paul did not paint a rosy picture of what
Timothy could expect ahead. We are much
more likely to have discernment of what is happening around us if we can
honestly make assessments of our culture’s values.
The source of this predictions is in Paul’s memory
of what had happened in Ephesus when he was there years before, and from
sources who told him what was happening in the present. He makes a comment on “weak women” (gullible
in the NIV) who are taken advantage of by certain men who appeal to this false
knowledge of Gnosticism. Paul is not
anti-women, and his use of the words for vulnerable women is specific to a time
and place, and not a general description of women. This subset of women in Ephesus who fell for their
foolish and false teaching were these “weak women.” The men involved are linked to history – “Jannes
and Jambres” – who were described in Jewish writings as the priests, or sorcerers
of Pharaoh, when Moses was sent by God to bring His people out of Egypt (Exodus
7:11). These men, Paul writes to Timothy about, are people who “oppose the
truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith” (3:8).
With all of this bleak future ahead, Paul
swivels to make Timothy remember, they have not accounted for God – “But
they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that
of those two men
(3:9). Evil is always ugly – as we even see it today – but it does not have
a long life. There have always been
those who opposed Christianity, even killing its leaders, but they do not last,
and Christianity does. We despise the evil,
as we should, but should not be surprised when it appears, nor think that it
will have ultimate victory. Paul to
Timothy – “serve, expect this, be not swayed, understand some will leave, you
may be opposed, and even suffer, but do not stop what you know to be God and
truth” –
“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my
faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and
sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which
persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed,
all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while
evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being
deceived” (3:10-13).
The charge to Timothy lies in his faith and trust in God, and the truth of His revealed
word -
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed,
knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been
acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by
God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training
in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every
good work” (3:14-17).
Scripture is from God – “breathed out by God” – the Greek word is captivating
– “theopneustos.” Theo means God
(theology is the study of God), and “pneustos” is breath or air, from
which we get words like pneumatic and pneumonia. Theopneustos is divinely breathed
words – Scripture – the Word of God. Paul reminds Timothy, and timelessly ever
generation of Pastors who have ever followed, that the source of our work,
whether teaching, or reproving, correction, or training in God’s ways, has its
source rooted and grounded in God’s word.
It is the source for every Christian’s growth that they may mature (be
complete) and be able to do the work God has gifted them to do (equipped).
I pause to finish this by urging us to take this
to heart. It is so crucial to have a
bible to read and to study. We are
reading God’s word as he “breathed it out by God” – in and through people like
Paul, John, Peter, James, etc... The Word
of God is “inspired” – God-breathed (look at 2 Peter 1:21). God is the source, even as humans wrote it in
their own language and style. God’s word
is authoritative, which means because God has spoken, we do not get to
negotiate the truths revealed. God’s
word is truth, wisdom, life, and light, and therefore different from all other
writings – no matter how religious they be. “If you don’t believe it is
God-breathed, it will not only affect the way you read it; it will also affect
whether you even pick it up to read it at all” (Eugene Peterson’s Message Bible
notes, 2 Tim. 3).
In our modern times, increasingly, the word of
God has come under attack by both those outside of the church, and as well some
inside the church – even pastors and theologians. In 1978, 200 scholars, theologians, and pastors
met in Chicago, Illinois, to craft a document that defended the inspiration,
inerrancy, and infallibility of Scripture as the word of God. The list of those who were involved in this
is a who’s who of the Christian Church at that time. They produced a document called “the Chicago
Statement on Biblical Inerrancy”[2] to
counter the liberal trends that claimed Scripture was merely a human book about
God. The preface to the Statements said –
“The authority of Scripture is a key issue for the Christian Church in this
and every age. Those who profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are
called to show the reality of their discipleship by humbly and faithfully
obeying God's written Word. To stray from Scripture in faith or conduct is
disloyalty to our Master. Recognition of the total truth and trustworthiness of
Holy Scripture is essential to a full grasp and adequate confession of its
authority.
The following Statement affirms this inerrancy of Scripture afresh, making
clear our understanding of it and warning against its denial. We are persuaded
that to deny it is to set aside the witness of Jesus Christ and of the Holy
Spirit and to refuse that submission to the claims of God's own Word which
marks true Christian faith. We see it as our timely duty to make this
affirmation in the face of current lapses from the truth of inerrancy among our
fellow Christians and misunderstanding of this doctrine in the world at large.”[3]
It has now been 40 plus years and, if anything,
the attacks on the Bible’s authority has never been higher than it is
today. An honest reading of Paul’s
letter to Timothy reminds us that Paul thought it crucial that Timothy know,
teach, lead, and let it refute error – whether in teaching or conduct – when necessary. John R Stott, again, summarizes it so well – “Looking
back over this chapter as a whole, we can appreciate the relevance of its
message to our pluralist and permissive society. The ‘times of stress’ in which
we seem to be living are very distressing. Sometimes one wonders if the world
and the church have gone mad, so strange are their views, and so lax their
standards. Some Christians are swept from their moorings by the floodtide of
sin and error. Others go into hiding, as offering the best hope of survival,
the only alternative to surrender. But neither of these is the Christian way.
‘But as for you,’ Paul says to us as he did to Timothy, ‘stand firm. Never mind
if the pressure to conform is very strong. Never mind if you are young,
inexperienced, timid and weak. Never mind if you find yourself alone in your
witness. You have followed my teaching so far. Now continue in what you have
come to believe. You know the biblical credentials of your faith. Scripture is
God-breathed and profitable. Even in the midst of these grievous times in which
evil men and impostors go on from bad to worse, it can make you complete and it
can equip you for your work. Let the word of God make you a man of God! Remain
loyal to it and it will lead you on into Christian maturity.’”[4]
Let us resolve to open the Scriptures that it
might feed our souls every day.
[1]
The New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers
[2]
“The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy”, in its entirety, can be found at:
https://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI_1.pdf
[3]
Preface to the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.
[4]
John R Stott, The Message of Timothy, The Bible Speaks Today, page 103.
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