In the third chapter of his last letter, Paul looks down the centuries to “the last days” and describes a world, and a church, that keep the outward form of religion while denying its power. It is one of the most accurate portraits of our own times in all of Scripture. Against that darkness he sets two lights: the example of a faithful life, and the Holy Scriptures, which “are able to make thee wise unto salvation,” because “all scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
A study in 2 Timothy 3 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 16 min read
Perilous Times Shall Come
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;”
2 Timothy 3:1-4
“Perilous” is the word used in Matthew 8:28 for the two demon-possessed men who were “exceeding fierce” — dangerous, savage. The last days, Paul says, will be hard and dangerous times. And the reason is not natural disaster but human character.
Read the list slowly. It begins with “lovers of their own selves” and ends with “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” Everything in between flows from that misplaced love: greed, boasting, pride, contempt for parents, ingratitude, a lack of ordinary natural affection, broken promises, slander, lack of self-control, brutality, betrayal, recklessness, conceit. When self takes God’s place at the center, every relationship suffers. It is hard to read this list without recognizing the world around us.
“Paul warns us that we may look for wickedness to increase as the end draws near: … The apostle says that ‘in the last days perilous times shall come.’ 2 Timothy 3:1. And he gives a startling list of sins that will be found among those who have a form of godliness. As the time of their probation was closing, the antediluvians gave themselves up to exciting amusements and festivities.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 102
A Form Of Godliness
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
2 Timothy 3:5-7
Here is the most startling part of the prophecy. The people Paul has just described are religious. They have “a form of godliness.” They go through the motions, use the language, keep up the appearance. But they deny “the power thereof” — the power of God to change a life. Their religion is a shell.
“The apostle Paul points out that this will be the special characteristic of those who live just before Christ’s second coming. He says, ‘In the last days perilous times shall come: for men shall be lovers of their own selves; … lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.’ 2 Timothy 3:1-5. This is the class that in time of peril are found crying, Peace and safety. They lull their hearts into security, and dream not of danger.”
Ellen G. White · Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 411, 412
The false teachers of Paul’s day worked their way into homes and targeted those burdened with guilt and easily swayed, who were “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” They were always interested in the next new idea, but never settled on the truth. Endless spiritual curiosity without obedience leads nowhere.
“Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.”
2 Timothy 3:8-9
Jannes and Jambres are the names Jewish tradition gave to Pharaoh’s magicians, who imitated Moses’s miracles with their enchantments (Exodus 7:11-12). They could copy the signs for a while, but Aaron’s rod swallowed theirs, and eventually they had to admit, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). Counterfeit religion can imitate the real thing for a time, but it cannot last. Its folly will become plain.
All That Will Live Godly Shall Suffer Persecution
“But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”
2 Timothy 3:10-13
“But thou.” In contrast to the false teachers, Timothy had watched Paul’s whole life up close: his teaching, his conduct, his purpose, and his suffering. Paul mentions Antioch, Iconium and Lystra — the cities of Timothy’s own region, where Paul was driven out and stoned and left for dead (Acts 14:19). Timothy may well have seen it. “But out of them all the Lord delivered me.”
And then comes a promise nobody likes: “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Not might — shall. A life that truly follows Christ will eventually clash with a world that does not.
“The apostle Paul declares that ‘all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.’ 2 Timothy 3:12. Why is it, then, that persecution seems in a great degree to slumber? The only reason is that the church has conformed to the world’s standard and therefore awakens no opposition.”
Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 48
From A Child Thou Hast Known The Holy Scriptures
“But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
2 Timothy 3:14-15
What will keep Timothy steady as the world gets worse? Not new ideas, but old ones: “continue thou in the things which thou hast learned.” He could trust them because he knew who had taught him — his mother and grandmother (1:5), and Paul himself. And he had known “the holy scriptures” “from a child.” The word Paul uses means a very young child, even an infant. Timothy had heard God’s word before he could read it.
Notice what those Scriptures do: they “are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” The Scriptures Timothy learned as a child were the Old Testament, and Paul says they point to Christ and lead to salvation through faith in Him. The Old Testament is not a book of law opposed to a New Testament of grace. From Genesis on, it is one message of salvation through Christ.
Given By Inspiration Of God
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17
“Given by inspiration of God” is one Greek word, theopneustos: “God-breathed.” Scripture did not originate in human imagination and then receive God’s approval. It came from God, breathed out by Him as surely as the breath of life was breathed into Adam. Peter describes the process from the other side: “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).
How does God’s word come through human writers? Ellen White explained it in words that have helped many readers:
“The Bible points to God as its author; yet it was written by human hands; and in the varied style of its different books it presents the characteristics of the several writers. The truths revealed are all ‘given by inspiration of God’ (2 Timothy 3:16); yet they are expressed in the words of men. The Infinite One by His Holy Spirit has shed light into the minds and hearts of His servants. … But the Bible, with its God-given truths expressed in the language of men, presents a union of the divine and the human. Such a union existed in the nature of Christ, who was the Son of God and the Son of man.”
Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, Introduction
And Scripture is “profitable” — useful — in four ways. It gives doctrine, teaching us what is true. It gives reproof, showing us where we have gone wrong. It gives correction, setting us straight again. And it gives instruction in righteousness, training us in right living. The result is a person “throughly furnished” — fully equipped — “unto all good works.”
“In His word, God has committed to men the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative, infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience.”
Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, Introduction
This is why the Bible alone must be the measure of every teaching, every tradition and every claim to spiritual light, including the “form of godliness” Paul has just warned against. When everything else shifts, the God-breathed word does not.
“Of those very portions of Scripture often passed by as impossible to be understood, God desires us to understand as much as our minds are capable of receiving. ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,’ that we may be ‘thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’ 2 Timothy 3:16, 17. It is impossible for any human mind to exhaust even one truth or promise of the Bible.”
Ellen G. White · Education, p. 170
So the chapter sets the danger and the defence side by side. The last days will be marked by self-love, pleasure-seeking and a hollow religion that has lost its power. The safeguard is not cleverness or new ideas, but a faithful example to follow and a lifelong grounding in the God-breathed Scriptures, which make us wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
