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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
3:1-9 Description of the False Teachers. This paragraph opens by signaling a contrast from the previous paragraph ("but"). Although Paul hopes that some false teachers will repent, he does not want to give an unrealistic picture of the situation. While God may grant repentance to some, it is also clear that opposition will continue.
3:1 Paul's reference to the last days (Gk. eschatais hēmerais) puts the present evil situation in solemn eschatological (or "end times") perspective. As Acts 2:17 indicates, "the last days" began with the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost (see also note on 1 Tim. 4:1). Thus Paul's prediction of times of difficulty that will occur in "the last days" is already beginning to be fulfilled, even in the present situation.
3:2-5 This "list of vices" vividly describes the negative impact of those who were opposing Paul and Timothy. The list begins and ends with references to misplaced love--i.e., people who are lovers of self, lovers of money (v. 2), and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (v. 4).
3:5 Paul uses a common technique, emphasizing an item in a list (vv. 2-5) by placing it either first or last and expanding upon it more than the other items in the list: while Paul and Timothy's opponents have the external appearance of godliness, they do not have its real essence. Power means the present, effective working of God in and through believers' lives (see note on Acts 1:8). "Godliness" (Gk. eusebeia) means genuine piety, including holiness, reverence, faith, and love and devotion to God. In 2 Tim. 1:7, Paul linked "power" to the presence of the Holy Spirit, and this power enabled perseverance through suffering (1:8; see 2:1) and faithful defense of the gospel (1:14). The people referenced in 3:1-9 claim to know God, but their lives are devoid of the work of the Spirit, which would have resulted in holiness, perseverance, and effectiveness in advancing God's kingdom. Avoid such people. This is the only command in vv. 1-9. This avoidance most likely involves excommunication. Although there may appear to be a contradiction between this and the exhortation in 2:24-26, the point in 2:24-26 is to seek the repentance of such people. In 3:5, however, Paul envisions those who remain obstinate and states clearly that there comes a time when such people must be excluded from Christian fellowship.
3:6 women, burdened with sins. Due to their guilt from their past, these women are particularly susceptible to both the asceticism (promoting artificial self-denial; see 1 Tim. 4:3) and the antinomianism (teaching that all sorts of sins are really acceptable; see 2 Tim. 3:2-4) set forth by the false teachers.
3:8 Jannes and Jambres are the names given in early extrabiblical Jewish writings to the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses in Ex. 7:8-13. In these writings, these men became key symbols of opposition to God's truth. Though their names do not appear in the OT itself, they would be familiar to Timothy and other Jews; identifying the opponents with these archetypal enemies of God's truth would have significant rhetorical power. corrupted in mind. Again false teaching is cast in terms of deficient thinking (see note on 2 Tim. 2:26). This is why divine aid is necessary for coming to the "knowledge of the truth" (2:7, 25-26). disqualified regarding the faith. In spite of their claims, these people do not have saving faith, since they oppose the gospel both in their teaching and in their living (see Titus 1:16).
