2 Timothy · chapter 3 of 4
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2 Timothy 3 warns that in the last days there will come times of difficulty, with people who love themselves and money and have an appearance of godliness but deny its power. Paul recalls his own example and persecutions to Timothy, and urges him to continue in what he learned, for all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be complete.
Paul, near the end, looks forward and back: he warns about what is coming and points Timothy to the resource that will sustain his ministry, the Holy Scriptures. This chapter contains one of the most quoted texts about the Bible, verse 16, which describes its origin and its purpose.
Paul warns that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. People will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness but denying its power. Timothy must avoid such people.
Among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres, names Jewish tradition gives to those who opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men of corrupt minds and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all.
Timothy, by contrast, has followed Paul's teaching, conduct, aim in life, faith, patience, love and steadfastness, his persecutions and sufferings, such as happened to him at Antioch, Iconium and Lystra; out of them all the Lord rescued him. 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.
But Timothy must continue in what he has learned and has firmly believed, knowing from whom he learned it and that from childhood he has been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make him 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.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
There will be those who have an appearance of godliness but deny its power. Religion can be an outward form without transforming power; Paul asks Timothy to discern between the facade and a life changed by God.
All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Paul does not promise a path without opposition; he presents suffering as a normal part of following Christ, not as a sign of abandonment.
Timothy has known the sacred writings from childhood, which can give him wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Old Testament Scriptures point to Christ, and early teaching at home bore lasting fruit.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and useful for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be complete and equipped for every good work. Its origin is divine and its purpose is practical.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: An appearance of godliness, but they will deny its power. — 2 Timothy 3:5
Answer: Jannes and Jambres, who opposed Moses. — 2 Timothy 3:8
Answer: Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. — 2 Timothy 3:11
Answer: They will be persecuted. — 2 Timothy 3:12
Answer: Wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. — 2 Timothy 3:15
Answer: For teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness. — 2 Timothy 3:16
The chapter invites us to value the Bible as nourishment and guide. In the group you can talk about how much time and attention is given to Scripture, and how it helps to teach, correct and form character. Also about how to pass it on to children and young people, following the example of the faith Timothy received from childhood.
The list of vices is a mirror to examine whether there is appearance without power: do we live a facade religion or a godliness that transforms? And the warning about persecution prepares those who will serve God: it is not unusual to suffer for following Christ. A practical suggestion is to memorize verse 16 and pray for believers who are persecuted today.
Paul has shown the value of Scripture for the servant of God. Chapter 4 contains his final charge: preach the word and remain faithful to the end, and the apostle's last personal words.
The Greek word literally means breathed out by God. Paul affirms that Scripture has its origin in God, not only in its human authors. Christians understand in different ways how God worked through the authors, but agree that the Bible is divine authority for teaching and correction.
These names do not appear in the Old Testament; Jewish tradition associates them with the magicians of Egypt who opposed Moses. Paul uses them as a well-known example of resisting the truth. Their folly, like that of the magicians, became plain to all.
In the New Testament the phrase can describe the time between Christ's first and second coming. Paul speaks in the present tense: he tells Timothy to avoid such people, so the danger already existed in his time, and the description remains valid in every age.