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Last Day Ungodliness - 2 Timothy 3
Last Day Ungodliness - 2 Timothy 3
As we begin chapter 3 of 2 Timothy, Paul writes: "but understand this" (ESV, NET), "know this" (HCSB), "realize this" (NASB), "mark this" (NIV). There are some aspects of our life among the worldly people that we must take account of. The world IS the world, we can NOT expect that it will be in tune with God and His teaching.
Paul then describes 'people'. All such lists are composite pictures; that is, the list is not a description of EACH one individually. We see a similar list in Romans 1 describing the Gentile world before the coming of Jesus, another list of sins described as the 'works of the flesh' in Galatians 5, and yet another list describing the pre-conversion lives of the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 6. While the lists are not identical, they give you the same picture of society. While it constantly 'changes', it stays the same.
Paul states that 'there will be difficult times in the last days' (vs. 1), yet the description is as applicable to people before the time of Christ as it is those in the first century that Timothy would have to deal with, and as it is today. It is not describing something that will be 'new' and 'different'. We are now and have been since the coming of Jesus, in 'the last days' (cp. Heb. 1:2, 1 Pet. 1:20, etc.). Should we think that because Jesus has come that the world will be different? As a whole, no.
God's people, on the other hand, have come OUT of the world and ARE to be different (2 Cor. 6:17f). We are not conformed to the world (Rom. 12:1-2). We live in and among the world, but we are not to be OF the world.
In describing the situation that Timothy would face as he confronts the world with the gospel, Paul had already given instructions - reread 2:22-26! Timothy was to flee evil passions and pursue righteousness, faith, and peace. Timothy was to engage the world without being quarrelsome. Even in controversy with the world, he was to be kind and gentle while instructing them concerning God, Jesus, truth, righteousness, and the judgment to come. The aim of such confrontation with the world was repentance and salvation.
This is the picture Paul draws of the evangelist confronting the world. It is not of the ranting street preacher yelling insults to those passing by, nor is it a picture of one who accepts and tolerates ungodly behavior. It is the picture of Paul reasoning in the synagogue and in the marketplace. It is the picture of Jesus teaching. It is the picture of confronting religious hypocrites with a message of 'woe' (cp. Matt. 23), but also of calling sinners to repentance and forgiveness.
Is this a picture of how you confront the world?
Hugh DeLong
