To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay -- the Series of Explanation and Analysis of Scripture (12) - 3
The Explanation and Analysis of Some of the Verses in Chapter 3 of 2 TIMOTHY
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. ” (2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5)
The believers should know that in the last days, there will be perilous times. It is the perilous times that the minds of people are generally corrupted, full of sins and evils, far away from God, and more and more treacherous. Here, it mentioned about 20 dangerous phenomena. Nowadays, we can see every corruption mentioned here, and they are all very common now! The modern people are depraved and corrupted in the morality; it is exactly the same as the Bible described, however, people are used to these common failings. It is a pity that although many Christians were reborn, they are still in dangers. Many believers never pay attention to deal with these sins, and live in sins without being aware of them. The believers must understand how perilous these sins are, and should be separated from these sins by relying on LORD and do not wallow in the mire with this corrupted world.
The hearts of people in the last days are cold, and they look down on morality and truth. There are some church members; they follow the thoughts of those outsiders of the church, and consider the moral standard in the Bible too high to reach. They regard pursuing the spiritual growth and buildup as the bindings of the self. Therefore, they ignore the requirements of the Bible, and live a life according to the viewpoints of the worldly people. There are also some others who have a form of godliness but denying its power and do not truly revere God. We must remember well the teachings of LORD Jesus Christ: “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. ” (Mat 5:20)
These perilous phenomena are: people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- having a form of godliness but denying its power.
On one side, “having a form of godliness but denying its power” is worthless; on the other hand, those who are truly godly and holy, must not deny the form of godliness. It is because godliness originate from the life of God, and the nature of the life of God is godliness and holiness. If this life shows from us, it must be godliness. The principle of the work of God is always from the inward to the outward. If the people only pay attention to the appearance of godliness, but without the life of the godliness, this appearance is just a feint without the practice of the godliness. However, if we have a reverent mind, we are afraid to act in our own way and make efforts to fight against, reject and convict all the ungodly thoughts, talks, acts, and attitude, such that we have to keep within bounds ( if without the bounds, our inward will not get through, and will rebuke and will not at peace.), such a godly appearance is true.
“ In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ” (2 TIMOTHY 3:12 )
To suffer for the sake of Christ, one also needs to be determined and make the choice for themselves. It is not to be a Christian in the way of allowing nature taking its course; but need to have a determination to suffer and carry the cross, in order to live a godly and holy life in Christ.
“Live a godly life in Christ Jesus”; “in Christ Jesus” A. indicates that the Christians were reborn to be “in Christ Jesus”; B. “in Christ Jesus” implies that by relying on Christ lives inside, fixes one’s eyes on Christ, obeys the teachings of Christ, follows the step of Christ, and lives the life of Christ.
“Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”. Those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus are the people of LORD, are the saints who are truly saved to the end, are able to enter the kingdom of heaven, and are fighting together with the Lamb against the devils. Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus must be persecuted and carry the cross, just as our LORD Jesus Christ has experienced:
A. It is because the fights against the devil and evil spirits are unavoidable (Mat 4);
B. Those who do not wallow in the mire with the secular sins and darkness will be hated (Joh 3:19-21) : “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." ”
C. God refine us like silver and gold. The impurity will be purged out during the refining so that we will become pure gold.
"I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." (Isa 48:10)
"we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance." (Psa 66:12)
"The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart." (Pro 17:3)
"For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver." (Psa 66:10)
"The bellows blow fiercely to burn away the lead with fire, but the refining goes on in vain; the wicked are not purged out. They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them." (Jer 6:29-30)
"Remove the dross from the silver, and out comes materials for the silversmith;" (Pro 25:4)
"I (God) will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities." (Isa 1:25)
"'I (God) will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir.'" (Isa 13:12)
During each breakdown, we should get rid of some of the dross in ourselves. After each rebuilt, we become better and closer to the image that we should be in God's mind.
D. Blessed are those who live a godly life in Christ Jesus and are persecuted and suffered because of righteousness:
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Mat 5:10-12)
“Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ” (1Pe 5:9-10)
“Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ” (2Ti 2:3)
“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. ” (1Pe 4:1)
“Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”. Here, it shows that everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted by others. It is not that only some special individuals will get such a treatment. God do not show favoritism. To be persecuted in this way is not the evidence of being rejected by God; on the contrary, it proves that our steps are on the trace of many pious people and many faithful saints in ancient time. It is obvious that all who follow the step of Christ, should be prepared in their minds and be ready to be persecuted for Christ.
“and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 TIMOTHY 3:15-17)
The first function of the Bible is to let us have the wisdom of salvation; it reveals the salvation in Christ from God, and the way for the mankind to be saved though faith in Christ Jesus and being one in Christ, so that we know the way to receive the grace and also understand the way of the salvation.
The Bible makes people wise for salvation though faith in Christ Jesus. It indicates that the Bible lets people get the wisdom and makes people saved though the faith in Christ Jesus, for the true wisdom is to know and fear God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”. We should believe in the Bible and apply the Bible, for it gives people the wisdom to be saved. This wisdom is different from the wisdom of the worldly people. The wisdom of this world might make people sin against God. However, the wisdom given by the Bible is to let people rely on God to receive the salvation.
To receive the wisdom and believe in and rely on Christ, and to read more the Bible and understand the Bible, will let us have the wisdom and have our spiritual eyes open, and let us know that Christ is the way to the salvation. The holy teachings of God, also let us tell which is the road to the destruction and the wrong teachings of the heterodoxy.
“All Scripture is God-breathed ”. It indicates that the Bible does not come from the thoughts of men, but from God who use His words according to His will through His Spirit, and breathe them into those who wrote the Bible; then those men breathed them out. Therefore, the Bible is the words of God. The Bible is inspired by Holy Spirit. Therefore, the words of God is the spirit, and is the life. The Bible is the words breathed out from God. In the Bible, the words from the first one to the last one are the words from God. Each time, when you open the Bible to read, the first idea that you have, and the first step you should do, is to get yourself prepared to listen to the words of God. The biggest joy for us to be the Christians, or the biggest blessing of us, is that we can commune with God Himself and taste God Himself through the words breathed out by God everyday.
There is no any good Christian -- a Christian who wants to please LORD, who does not know the words of God. Nowadays, God speak to men all based on the words that He already said in the Bible. The will of God, the mind and purpose of God, what please God, and what do not please God, the Bible has told us about them all very clearly. The revelations of God have been completed in the Bible, and do not need to add anything to it or take words away from it (Rev 22:18-19).
Since the Bible is God-breathed, it is also the best standard and regulations in the life of the believers; it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, and is also the most powerful weapon in the work of preaching Gospel. The Bible should be the standard for the life, the work of preaching Gospel and the conducts of our believers.
A. The Bible is able to make one wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. As long as people opens the Bible, the hearts of men will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit and seek for way to get closer to God.
B. It is useful for teaching and rebuking. This is the book written in the hearts of men by Holy Spirit to let them become ware of their wrongdoings and to point out the correct way to them.
C. It is useful for correcting and training in righteousness. Any teaching, doctrine, and theory should be judged finally with the Bible. Whatever is against the teachings of the Bible should be rejected.
We who are saved are the men of God. We have the life of Christ in us; therefore, we belong to God and we are under the authority of God. How can those men of God “be thoroughly equipped”? They should accept the teachings and rebukes from the Bible and take it as the standard to turn back to the correct way and learn the righteousness. To obey the teachings in the Bible by relying on Christ is to make one thoroughly equipped. As to us who are the men of God, how can we start to do all the good work? We should take the Bible as the standard of our life and accept that the Bible is God-breathed. Thus, we are equipped well to do every good work. Since we have accepted the words of the Bible, have accepted its rebukes, have known the conviction of sins and turned to God, and have taken it as the standard for us to learn the righteousness so that to make our minds and thoughts be in accordance with the Bible, we are able to be ready to do every good work. Since the men of God have got the life of God already, they should know that “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:10) . We should be prepared to do good works according to the teachings in the Bible.
It is edited and compiled under the guidance of Holy Spirit. All thanks, praises and glories be to God!
(2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5, 10-17)
2 TIMOTHY 3:1 “ But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ”
(NOTES)
“But mark this”:
It is to remind the believers to realize all kinds of dangers of being away from God in the last days.
“There will be terrible times in the last days.”:
in the original text, is “the perilous times”. That is, in the last days, there will be perilous times. It is the perilous times that the minds of people are generally corrupted, full of sins and evils, far away from God, and more and more treacherous.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) From verse 2 to verse 5, it mentioned about 20 dangerous phenomena. Nowadays, we can see every corruption mentioned here, and they are all very common now! The modern people are depraved and corrupted in the morality; it is exactly the same as the Bible described, however, people are used to these common failings. It is a pity that although many Christians were reborn, they are still in dangers. Many believers never pay attention to deal with these sins, and live in sins without being aware of them. The believers must understand how perilous these sins are, and should be separated from these sins by relying on LORD and do not wallow in the mire with this corrupted world.
(2) The hearts of people in the last days are cold, and they look down on morality and truth. There are some church members; they follow the thoughts of those outsiders of the church, and consider the moral standard in the Bible too high to reach. They regard pursuing the spiritual growth and buildup as the bindings of the self. Therefore, they ignore the requirements of the Bible, and live a life according to the viewpoints of the worldly people. There are also some others who have a form of godliness but denying its power and do not truly revere God. We must remember well the teachings of LORD Jesus Christ: “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. ” (Mat 5:20)
2 TIMOTHY 3:2 “ People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ”
(NOTES)
1. “lovers of themselves”:
Lovers of themselves refer to those who are self-centered, do not love God and do not love others. Even when they do some good work, they do it to praise themselves; their earnest in the church is also for their own glory. The people in the past knew that it’s shameful to be selfish and it will be sneered by others; however, the people in nowadays think it reasonable to be selfish, and one should certainly think of himself first. The world nowadays is to let the old self develop freely; the result of this development is that the self becomes the most important center. Precisely speaking, the so-called “the freedom of development” should be “the freedom of self”.
2. “lovers of money”:
The people in the last days must love the money even more; because this world pays more and more attention to the enjoyment of the materials and the civilization, seeks the pleasure of the body, and boasts about the riches in the materials. Therefore, the people are eager for money of course, for only money can make them achieve these goals. There are many examples in the Bible about those who miserably went to destruction because of loving money. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. ” “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grieves. ” (1Ti 6:10) Therefore, LORD Jesus said that: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Mat 6:24) Nowadays, when we raise our eyes to look at the society, the minds of the people are eager for money indeed. The attitudes toward others are according to their money and wealth; this is the situation of the worldly people. What attitude should the Christians have toward the money? Should they love money the same as the worldly people in the last days? Even sin for the sake of money? And regardless of the glory of God, have deficit to the testimony of Gospel? Such people can not serve God.
3. “boastful”:
The people in the last days also like to boast about themselves. Since they live with themselves as the center, of course they like to boast about themselves. The boastful people will only look at the strong points of themselves, and do not see their weak points. Even though they know their own weakness, they will think it trifling and forgivable. However, they think highly and importantly of a little good of themselves. Before that day, “the man of lawlessness” will be revealed(2Ti 2:3), the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, proclaiming himself to be God. The people become more and more boastful, and show more and more the characters of that coming antichrist. Even in the church nowadays, when some stand up to give a testimony, they still boast about themselves there. The Bible tells us that: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (2Co 10:17). The Christians should boast about the grace of LORD Jesus Christ.
4. “proud”:
“proud” is the most special character of the devil. Since the people in the last days become more and more like the devil, they are certainly more and more proud. They do not know what kind of pains that the self-pride brings to them; they also are not aware that a lot of unsettled emotions with resentfulness, hatred, and anger, are all because of the self-pride. They are not only proud to men, but also proud to God. They do not believe there is God, and they do not fear God; they even deny the existence of God and take themselves as God. The end of these people is to be with the devil.
5. “abusive”:
that is, blasphemous and scoffing. This sin includes the conducts of slandering, starting a rumor, deliberately saying absurd words and falsely talking about the deeds of God. Being “abusive” means that they are fully aware of the truth, however, they still use the words of falsehood to disgrace God; or they know well that something is right, yet they deliberately tell lies that it is false to disgrace men and disgrace God. Since the people in the last days do not revere God, they think that they can slander and blaspheme God at their own wills. It is because they didn’t see the judgment of God come to them right away. Therefore, they take pleasures in mocking and blaspheming the name and glory of God. When LORD Jesus came to the earth, people used to mock and slander Him with the similar attitude; afterwards, the apostles were treated in the similar way. However, in the last days, the people even more boldly and generally blaspheme those who revere God; this is what the antichrist is going to do in the time of great distress.
6. “disobedient to their parent”:
This is also one of the signs of the end of the age. The people will be less and less filial to their parents, disobey the discipline of the parents, misunderstand the meanings of freedom and love, think that the resistance to the teachings of the parents is freedom, and destroy the order that God set in the family. Nowadays, some ideological trend take the disobedience to parents as the slogan, fighting against one’s own parents as the glory, and as the signs of the progress of the new ideology and belief.
7. “ungrateful”:
Since the people in the last days only pay attention to the present and seek the material profit, they will naturally make light of the friendship between friends. Thus, they are easy to be ungrateful. Those who do good to others might not necessarily be rewarded with the good; those who receive the good are full of gratefulness at the moment, but they will forget it afterwards. These are the common scenarios in the society nowadays. Why the people are ungrateful? It is because they forget God who grant them the grace. They do not consider all the good given to men from God such as life, breath, ability, wealth and so on as the grace from God; instead as their own ability. As to the pains and sufferings in this world caused by the sins and evils of men, they willfully put the blame on God, and say that if God is love, He won’t allow the disasters to occur. Actually, all the sins and evils of men are provoked by their ungratefulness to God.
8. “unholy”:
not only indicates that the minds of people are filled with all kinds of thoughts of sins and evils, but also indicates that one does not actively live a holy life, does not separate oneself from the sins and evils, and does not devote one’s mind to set apart to be holy to God. The holy life needs to set apart to be holy; if one is the same as the worldly people, he can’t live a holy life. Not only the indulgence in the sinful nature is sin, but also being unholy is sin in the eyes of God.
2 TIMOTHY 3:3 “ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,”
(NOTES)
9. “without love”:
The modern Atheism regards the family affection as sins, and caring about one’s family members and relatives is considered too softhearted and should be the objects to fight with. The Bible tells us that: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. ” (1Ti 5:8) God establish the family system on the earth; it is to let people know the love in the family of heaven through the family life on earth. However, nowadays, the worldly people are blind by the devils, try their best to destroy the order of the family set by God, and the affection of love in the family. Therefore, as to the sweet life of loving each other in the church -- the house of God established by God, they have even less ideas, and are further away from the goal that God establish the family. Almost on everyday from the newspaper, we can see such cases as that the parents abandon children or the sons and daughters abandon their parents; it is not for the sake of faith, but for the sake of sexual passions. Without love and family affection is one of the phenomena in the last days.
10. “unforgiving”:
indicates that do not forgive others. Peter once asked LORD Jesus how many times he should forgive others; LORD Jesus tells him seventy-seven times; that is, forgive others completely and do not count how many times. However, in the last days, the people not only are not willing to forgive others, but also encourage the hatred and revenge. The Bible predicted long time ago that in the last days, the people will be unforgiving, hate others and also be hated by others; the sins and evils increase, and so the pains increase.
11. “slanderous”:
the original word is translated into English as “devil” for 35 times, “false accuser” for twice, and “slanderer” for once. In the last days, the people like telling slanders, for the devil is the accuser and like to accuse others. In the times of the last days, people will show this character of the devil more completely. The ruler of the kingdom of the air and the evil spirits are at work in the minds of people, will control the minds of people more strongly and make people to tell slanders according to its will; not only slander the Christians, but also slander each other and falsely accuse others, in order to find the wrongdoings of others and to forget one’s own transgressions and deficits completely.
12. “without self-control”:
that is, can not control oneself. Since we are sold to sins, the deeper being in sins, the less power one has to control himself. Therefore, as to the people in the last days, the power of sins is bigger and they further lack the strength to control themselves. The people not only do not accept the words of God, but also refuse the moral concepts of the average people in the society.
13. “brutal”:
In the last days, the people receive higher educations and the civilization is more advanced; however, their dispositions are more closer to the fierce and brutal behaviors in the Primitive time, and they are more like the beasts without reason, for they lose the capability to be self-controlled. Since they are cut off from the communion with God, they are like the beasts without the spirit. They themselves also believe that they evolved from the monkeys, and they are beasts originally.
14. “not lovers of the good”:
In the original text, it is “despisers of those that are good”. Not only they do not love of the good, but also they despise those that are good, and take the good as the enemy. LORD Jesus said that: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ” (Joh 3:19-20) This explains why the people in the last days hate the goodness; it is because the goodness reveals their evil deeds, just as the light reveals the darkness. It is a pity that although a lot of Christians were reborn, they are not away from the dangers; they still do not love goodness, and do not love God. If one only cares about loving himself, loving money, and loving pleasure, he has no way to love God. If he does not love God, he won’t love goodness; for the goodness follows God. Those true and good things are all from God; we can even say that, goodness is God Himself. The self, the wealth and the pleasure are things in one world; God and goodness are things in the other world. You either love the things in this world, or love the things in that world, yet you can not get both.
2 TIMOTHY 3:4 “ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- ”
(NOTES)
15. “treacherous”:
in the original text, it is “traitors”. The people in the last days do not have human dignity and moral quality, and do not have the sense of responsibility. As long as they themselves can obtain the benefit, they will betray others. They even do the same in the faith, just as the Judas betrayed LORD Jesus. In order to obtain the material benefit, many Christians do not hesitate to betray LORD Jesus Christ who died for them and dishonor His name.
16. “rash”:
in the original text, it is “headstrong”. The people in the last days are more and more self-willed and headstrong. The educationalist advocates the natural and free development, and make people even more self-willed, and more immoral and lawless. Some even think that they do not necessarily obey the laws of the state and they will only obey what they agree with. When the hearts of people are not bounded by the morality, they will act willfully and unseemly, no mention about obey the will of God. The results of the willful and unseemly action of the people, are doing harms to themselves; they will swallow the fruit of their sins.
17. “conceited”:
it is also translated as “high minded” , “inflated with self-conceit” or “puffed up”. It shows that one is self-conceited such that make themselves blind and could not see the truth of the facts and the dangers on the road. That manner of arrogance is unbearable to others.
18. “lovers of pleasure ”:
that is, lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements, including the feast and party, and the pleasure of luxury. The pleasure is the entertainment that we call today, that is, all kinds of entertainments and amusements. The people in the last days love eating, drinking, playing, having fun and indulging in the sinful nature even more. The lovers of pleasure are the lovers of entertainment and enjoyment. Nowadays, of what are sold on the market, 70 to 80 percent are for the entertainments of people, but not the necessities in daily life. Although the Christians could have some proper entertainments, we must not take it as the goal of our life. The devil use the material enjoyment, and the sensual satisfaction of the sinful nature to block people from loving God, and make the hearts of loving God cold. The results of loving the pleasures must be no love for God. This is what the Christians must be alert all the time.
19. “rather than lovers of God”:
God create men who are able to love; is to let people love Him, accept Him into them, and further enjoy Him and experience Him. Nowadays, if people use this function of love to love anything outside God, it is wrong. The love inside men, is originally for God. This love should take God as the only object. If anyone, anything or any matter outside God becomes the object of the love of men, it is wrong. In another word, if people put their love on God, it is right; if people put their love outside God, it is wrong.
2 TIMOTHY 3:5 “ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. ”
(NOTES)
“having a form of godliness but denying its power”:
indicates to be godly only in the talks and appearance, but in fact do not truly revere God in mind.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) On one side, “having a form of godliness but denying its power” is worthless; on the other hand, those who are truly godly and holy, must not deny the form of godliness. It is because godliness originate from the life of God, and the nature of the life of God is godliness and holiness. If this life shows from us, it must be godliness.
(2) The principle of the work of God is always from the inward to the outward. If the people only pay attention to the appearance of godliness, but without the life of the godliness, this appearance is just a feint without the practice of the godliness. However, if we have a reverent mind, we are afraid to act in our own way and make efforts to fight against, reject and convict all the ungodly thoughts, talks, acts, and attitude, such that we have to keep within bounds ( if without the bounds, our inward will not get through, and will rebuke and will not at peace.), such a godly appearance is true.
(3) What is “having a form of godliness but denying its power”? It is to be godly only on the talks and appearance, but actually without a mind that revere God. To be godly and reverent to God is not up to the form such as godly appearance, and a lot of sighs with emotions in prayers; but is up to in our daily life, that we are truly reverent to God; we do everything and say anything as if God is right besides us and we know that what we do can not go beyond the permission of God.
(4) Those who in front of God, see that they themselves are unworthy, trust and obey God sincerely, and respectfully seek the grace, are truly repentant, truly live by relying on God, and dare not to be boastful about themselves. The so-called “a form of godliness ” refers to a religious conduct without sincere mind. It is not that prayer, fasting and contribution of money are not good; but if they are not from a sincere heart, they can only make people even more self-deceived. They would think that they have done something good such that they become more boldly to sin. We must remember the teachings of LORD Jesus Christ: “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. ” (Mat 5:20)
(5) Here, it reminds the believers to turn away from those who have a form of godliness but deny its power; for they only know the religious ceremonies and principles, but without a truly reverent heart to God, and they will stumble other believers.
2 TIMOTHY 3:10 “ You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ”
(NOTES)
“know”:
it is also translated as “did follow” (A.S.V.); or “have closely observed and diligently followed ” (A.M.P.). It not only indicates that the students follow the teacher at his side, but also indicates that their body, mind and spirit all follow the teacher, and they are really learning the truth.
The distinct qualities of the workers who please God:
(1) “teaching”: refers to the truth of Christ. The workers of God must know the truth of Christ, obey the commands, will and teachings of God. The soldiers of truth should teach others with the truth, and they themselves should also obey the truth.
(2) “way of life”: That is, turn the truth of Christ into actions and live a life of Christ.
(3) “purpose”: Those who have Christ in them should know what their purpose of life is; that is, do everything to glorify God and to be one in Christ.
(4) “faith”: All the spiritual virtues are rooted and established on the faith. Faith is to let us believe in LORD and obtain the salvation of LORD. Christ Jesus is the source of the faith. Only those who live in Christ can have the true faith. At the same time, the more we know Christ, the more faith we will have.
(5) “patience”: patience is the requirement of God to us and shows that one loves others as self. If we want to be forgiven by God, we must forgive others first.
“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. ” (Mat 6:14-15)
“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. ” (Mat 18:21-22)
(6) “love”: love binds all the virtues together in perfect unity. All the laws hang on the commandments of loving God and loving others. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ” (1Jo 4:7)
(7) “endurance”:
It is not to resign oneself to adversity, but is the spirit to overcome the hindrances. We should learn to endure as Christ. “May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.” (2Th 3:5)
2 TIMOTHY 3:11 “ persecutions, sufferings--what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.”
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The way to follow Christ is the way of cross; the persecutions and the sufferings are unavoidable (2Ti 3:12). Only in this way, one will be refined to be the pure gold.
“For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. ” (Psa 66:10-12)
(2) Note that, Paul mentioned that in all the sufferings in the past, LORD have rescued him from all of them. However, when he wrote this letter, he knew in advance that he will sacrifice his life for LORD. In another word, it is not that God can not save him, but it is that the time of Paul has come. That is, if it is not the time set by God, God will rescue us from all the persecutions and sufferings.
2 TIMOTHY 3:12 “ In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ”
(NOTES)
“wants to ”:
To suffer for the sake of Christ, one also needs to be determined and make the choice for themselves. It is not to be a Christian in the way of allowing nature taking its course; but need to have a determination to suffer and carry the cross, in order to live a godly and holy life in Christ.
“live a godly life ”:
that is, live a life with reverence to God. Do not gratify the sinful nature, do not be self-partial, do not follow the secular life, do not yield to sins and evils, do not be afraid to offend others, but only please God.
“live a godly life in Christ Jesus”:
“in Christ Jesus” A. indicates that the Christians were reborn to be “in Christ Jesus”; B. “in Christ Jesus” implies that by relying on Christ lives inside, fixes one’s eyes on Christ, obeys the teachings of Christ, follows the step of Christ, and lives the life of Christ.
“everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ”:
Those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus are the people of LORD, are the saints who are truly saved to the end, are able to enter the kingdom of heaven, and are fighting together with the Lamb against the devils. Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus must be persecuted and carry the cross, just as our LORD Jesus Christ has experienced:
A. It is because the fights against the devil and evil spirits are unavoidable (Mat 4);
B. Those who do not wallow in the mire with the secular sins and darkness will be hated (Joh 3:19-21) : “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." ”
C. God refine us like silver and gold. The impurity will be purged out during the refining so that we will become pure gold.
"I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." (Isa 48:10)
"we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance." (Psa 66:12)
"The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart." (Pro 17:3)
"For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver." (Psa 66:10)
"The bellows blow fiercely to burn away the lead with fire, but the refining goes on in vain; the wicked are not purged out. They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them." (Jer 6:29-30)
"Remove the dross from the silver, and out comes materials for the silversmith;" (Pro 25:4)
"I (God) will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities." (Isa 1:25)
"'I (God) will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir.'" (Isa 13:12)
During each breakdown, we should get rid of some of the dross in ourselves. After each rebuilt, we become better and closer to the image that we should be in God's mind.
D. Blessed are those who live a godly life in Christ Jesus and are persecuted and suffered because of righteousness:
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Mat 5:10-12)
“Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ” (1Pe 5:9-10)
“Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ” (2Ti 2:3)
“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. ” (1Pe 4:1)
“everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”. Here, it shows that everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted by others. It is not that only some special individuals will get such a treatment. God do not show favoritism. To be persecuted in this way is not the evidence of being rejected by God; on the contrary, it proves that our steps are on the trace of many pious people and many faithful saints in ancient time. It is obvious that all who follow the step of Christ, should be prepared in their minds and be ready to be persecuted for Christ.
2 TIMOTHY 3:13 “ while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ”
(NOTES)
“go from bad to worse”:
that is, their wickedness increases along with the time.
“while”:
shows the change of the tone in the following sentence. Although everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus endures the persecution faithfully. However, in this age, the people might not be moved by the persecutions endured by these pious Christians. The evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, and look on those pious Christians as the people who are falling behind, foolish, and easily to be bullied.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) Some advocate that men should freely develop, and freely do the sins; after tasting the bitterness of the sins, they will learn the lesson naturally and do not sin any more. This proposition is on the contrary to the truth indicated in the Bible. Of course, to forbidden people to do the sins might not be the best way, just as the laws proclaimed in the Old Testament; however, to let people do sins freely is the worse way. The people won’t repent after indulging in sins freely, but they will from bad to worse; it is because the demands of the sins, evils and the lust are endless. Since the worldly people have no way to overcome the sins and evils, they can only forbid the people to sin by laws; when they cannot forbid it, they revise the laws; since this does not work either, they advocate “free development”.
(2) In the age of the last days, since the sins and evils of men become more and more deeper, the hearts of men become more and more hardened, and they can not be moved, they will be trapped in the sins and evils even more.
(3) “deceiving and being deceived”. This shows that in the age of the last days, the sins and evils increase mutually. Those who sin will be revenged by sins and evils; the result is that the pains of the mankind increase, and the lawless and violent things also increase. One who has no Christ can not overcome the desires to sin by himself, and can not forbid himself to sin because of the bounds of the laws, either. When someone goes beyond the laws on the earth to violate others, or others go beyond the laws on the earth to violate him, what the laws can protect are limited; when the laws on the earth are not enough to redress the injustice done to men, men will use their own brutal means, or treacherous methods to revenge the loss that others caused him. These revenges become more and more, then the pains of people and the violate things will become more and more, and the situation of the society will be more and more unstable. It is because the worldly people do not have the truth of Gospel, do not have the life of Christ, and do not have the way to overcome the sins and evils. These words of the apostle are not only the warnings, but also are the predictions and judgments. It shows that for those who do not follow the teachings of the apostle and the truth of Gospel proclaimed by the apostles, their ending is to fall into the pains caused by themselves, and are repaid by the sins and evils at the same time.
(4) Those who belong to Christ should not anticipate that the mighty and autocratic system of the government will break down some day , and people will live a good life at that time, for the evil ones won’t be in power always. This is only one’s own wishful thinking. In fact, generations after generations, the devil manipulates behind every power might; the evil men and the imposters will not disappear, and they only show up in different form. Furthermore, they are from bad to worse; we must not lower our guard. “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”. This is not regarding the age of the apostles in the New Testament only; this is a warning applied to every generation.
2 TIMOTHY 3:14 “ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ”
(NOTES)
“what you have learned and have become convinced of”:
Here, it is to encourage and to take hold of firmly what one has learned and convinced of the truth and teachings. See also (2Ti 1:13-14) “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. ”
“continue in ”:
That is, do not let the truth that one has learned and has known surely and clearly be lost. There are some Christians who are like buckets without the bottom; they can’t keep what they have learned. We should let the word of Christ dwell in us richly as we teach and admonish one another with all wisdom (Col 3:16). A soldier of the truth should always keep the truth of the Bible in mind and be reminded by the Holy Spirit all the time to use it as the spiritual weapon.
“because you know those from whom you learned it”:
Here, from the context of verse 15, “whom” does not only refer to Paul; for Timothy knew the Bible from his infancy. “whom” shows that those from whom Timothy learned the truth, are all the pious servants and maids used by God. What they taught Timothy, are all sound truth of the Bible. Therefore, he is convinced that what he learned are sound and errorless words of God. Those who have God in mind take roots in the words of God, that is , the Bible; what they preached are also the words in the Bible. Since he knew from whom he learned, he should keep all these sound truth in mind.
When Paul talked about how he received the words of God, he said that: “I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. ” (Gal 1:11-12) Our real teacher is LORD Jesus Christ; He instruct us to understand the truth in the Bible through many servants who know Him. If we always think that only the revelations and enlightenments directly come from God can be regarded as what from God, we are easy to fall into the trap of pride. In fact, all the messages and lights that God give through His servants should be made known by all the churches, the servants and maids of God.
2 TIMOTHY 3:15 “ and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
(NOTES)
“from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures”:
Since Timothy “from infancy have known the holy Scriptures”, he has been rooted and established in the truth of Bible already. Therefore, when his spiritual mind was opened, he can be used well by LORD quickly. This situation is similar to that of those apostles who followed LORD; before the Holy Spirit came to them, they have been rooted and established in the Bible already; however, their spiritual minds were not opened and could not understand. Once the Holy Spirit opened their minds, they knew right away how to use the Bible they were familiar with to give good testimonies; just as Peter on Pentecost cited the words from the books of Joel and Psalms to give the testimony for the Gospel.
“the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”:
(1) The first function of the Bible is to let us have the wisdom of salvation; it reveals the salvation in Christ from God, and the way for the mankind to be saved though faith in Christ Jesus and being one in Christ, so that we know the way to receive the grace and also understand the way of the salvation.
(2) The Bible makes people wise for salvation though faith in Christ Jesus. It indicates that the Bible lets people get the wisdom and makes people saved though the faith in Christ Jesus, for the true wisdom is to know and fear God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Pro 1:7). We should believe in the Bible and apply the Bible, for it gives people the wisdom to be saved. This wisdom is different from the wisdom of the worldly people. The wisdom of this world might make people sin against God. However, the wisdom given by the Bible is to let people rely on God to receive the salvation.
(3) To receive the wisdom and believe in and rely on Christ, and to read more the Bible and understand the Bible, will let us have the wisdom and have our spiritual eyes open, and let us know that Christ is the way to the salvation. The holy teachings of God, also let us tell which is the road to the destruction and the wrong teachings of the heterodoxy.
2 TIMOTHY 3:16 “ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”
(NOTES)
(1) It indicates that the Bible does not come from the thoughts of men, but from God who use His words according to His will through His Spirit, and breathe them into those who wrote the Bible; then those men breathed them out. Therefore, the Bible is the words of God. The Bible is inspired by Holy Spirit. Therefore, the words of God is the spirit, and is the life. The Bible is the words breathed out from God. In the Bible, the words from the first one to the last one are the words from God. Each time, when you open the Bible to read, the first idea that you have, and the first step you should do, is to get yourself prepared to listen to the words of God.
(2) There is no any good Christian -- a Christian who wants to please LORD, who does not know the words of God. Nowadays, God speak to men all based on the words that He already said in the Bible. The will of God, the mind and purpose of God, what please God, and what do not please God, the Bible has told us about them all very clearly. The revelations of God have been completed in the Bible, and do not need to add anything to it or take words away from it (Rev 22:18-19).
(3) The biggest joy for us to be the Christians, or the biggest blessing of us, is that we can commune with God Himself and taste God Himself through the words breathed out by God everyday.
(4) As to the heterodoxies and heretical ideas, or the books and theories of men, no matter how brilliant and great they are, they can not satisfy the needs of the spirit of men. Only the Bible, it is God-breathed, and is the living water that whoever drinks it will never thirst.
Since the Bible is God-breathed, it is also the best standard and regulations in the life of the believers; it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, and is also the most powerful weapon in the work of preaching Gospel.
1. “teaching”:
The words and teachings in the Bible are the standard and principles for the life of the believers in everything. The teachings according to the words of Bible, have authority and power, can make others be obedient, and are the powerful tools and weapons in preaching Gospel.
2. “rebuking”:
from one side, it points out the mistakes in the past; in the meanwhile, it points out the correct way in the future so that we can walk on it. The Bible is a standard for our life. The Bible is as if a proof to prove the wrongdoings of men; it is indeed a basis to convict people. Therefore, it is also translated as “reproof and conviction of sin” (A.M.P.). The Bible is the best criterion to let the conscience of man rebuke oneself, and let judge themselves in regard to sins. It does not base on the good of oneself to convict others; it is not by the teachings of any great man in history; but it is taking the truth of the Bible as the criterion of conviction. Thus, it can make the hearts of men affected and they can judge themselves because of the work of Holy Spirit.
3. “correcting”:
The people are rebuked and convicted by the words of God, then they will turn to God; this is a natural sequence. We should use the words of God to illuminate the path of men and make one know that he himself is a lost sheep and can get back to the sheep pen (Psa 119:105; Isa 53:6). “correcting” tells the believers that the Bible is the direction for us to walk on the correct way. The ministry should use the Bible to let people turn back to the correct way; the believers should take the Bible as the surveying rod to correct themselves.
4. “training”:
Note that “training” is after “correcting”. We use the words of God to teach people, rebuke people so that their hearts are rebuked by the words of God, and they will repent and turn to God. Then, use the words of God to teach others to learn the righteousness. Jesus never asks those who do not believe in Him to love each other and do good; but asks those who have believed in Him already to love each other and do good deeds so that others will give glory to God. Therefore, we can not reverse this sequence, teach others to learn righteousness before correcting them, and use the word of God to rebuke people. We can not ask a dead person to do anything good. We must let him be alive first, then we can ask him to do this or that. The believers should take the Bible as the criterion of learning and education. The Bible will determine whether our instruction is right or wrong. Therefore, as to these four things -- teaching, rebuking, correcting, training, from one aspect, they instruct the believers how to live a life according to the words of the Bible; from another aspect, they instruct the ministry how to use the words of the Bible to preach the Gospel.
“is useful for ”:
It indicates that whatever said on the Bible are all useful. If in our life and work, we are clear about our standard -- the Bible, it will be useful. Thus, if being away from the Bible, anything else is useless. The Bible should be the standard for the life, the work of preaching Gospel and the conducts of our believers.
A. The Bible is able to make one wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. As long as people opens the Bible, the hearts of men will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit and seek for way to get closer to God.
B. It is useful for teaching and rebuking. This is the book written in the hearts of men by Holy Spirit to let them become ware of their wrongdoings and to point out the correct way to them.
C. It is useful for correcting and training in righteousness. Any teaching, doctrine, and theory should be judged finally with the Bible. Whatever is against the teachings of the Bible should be rejected.
2 TIMOTHY 3:17 “ so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ”
(NOTES)
“the man of God ”:
We who are saved are the men of God. We have the life of Christ in us; therefore, we belong to God. We are not those who do not have LORD. Since we are men of God, we are under the authority of God.
“so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ”:
How can those men of God “be thoroughly equipped”? They should accept the teachings and rebukes from the Bible and take it as the standard to turn back to the correct way and learn the righteousness. To obey the teachings in the Bible by relying on Christ is to make one thoroughly equipped. It is like the engineers prepare all the materials thoroughly so that to start the construction. In the like manner, as to us who are the men of God, how can we start to do all the good work? We should take the Bible as the standard of our life and accept that the Bible is God-breathed. Thus, we are equipped well to do every good work. Since we have accepted the words of the Bible, have accepted its rebukes, have known the conviction of sins and turned to God, and have taken it as the standard for us to learn the righteousness so that to make our minds and thoughts be in accordance with the Bible, we are able to be ready to do every good work.
“so that the man of God ”:
It is to explain that only those who are men of God can be prepared to do every good work. Those who are not men of God, can not use the Bible as the basis to do good works, for they have not get the life of God yet; in other words, since the men of God have got the life of God already, they should know that “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:10) . We should be prepared to do good works according to the teachings in the Bible. We should do all kinds of good works based on the Bible; we certainly should not do the evil things, even all the good things we should do according to the Bible. It is because the Bible is the standard on everything in the life of the believers. In such an age of being away from the Bible on everything, it is the time that the people want to free themselves away from the bounds of the words of God, overthrow the standard of the Bible, and live a life according to their own standard. Each of our Christians, and every ministry should grasp these advice to be complete, proficient and thoroughly equipped, and to do everything without being away from the standard of the Bible.
Reference:
1. Zhongdao Chen: “The Lectures on the Bible Studying of the Letters in New Testament”.
2. P. C. Chong: “The Bible Courses”.
3. Quoted notes from Watchman Nee, Shuguang Niu.
