2 Timothy 3
2Ti 3:3
SLANDEROUS: "Slanderous", "false accusers" (KJV): it is
MEN who have these qualities, not the "devil" of popular belief. From Greek
"diabolos", root word for devil. Applied here to human beings, not supernatural
beings. Judas Iscariot is called a "devil" in Joh 6:70,71.
2Ti 3:7
ALWAYS LEARNING BUT NEVER ABLE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE
TRUTH: "Every man is a mixture of ignorance and knowledge: a tiny island of
knowledge in a vast ocean of ignorance. The proportion of ignorance to knowledge
varies slightly from individual to individual; and the form of the knowledge
varies greatly. Thank God continually that your knowledge includes God and His
love and His Word, for that is the only knowledge of any permanent value"
(GVG).
2Ti 3:8
JANNES AND JAMBRES: Two Egyptian magicians: Exo
7:11,22. The names, however, are Hebrew. These men were with Israel in the
wilderness (according to the Jewish Targum). It has been suggested that the
names mean "the rebel" and "the opponent" (EBC).
DEPRAVED: The word "adokimos" is translated "reprobate"
(Rom 1:28; 2Co 13:5-7, 2Ti 3:8; Tit 1:16), "castaway" (1Co 9:27), and "rejected"
(Heb 6:8). It is used to describe a counterfeit coin, deficient as to weight or
quality of metal. It is also used, figuratively, to describe a cowardly soldier
who fails the test of battle; a candidate rejected for office; and a stone
rejected by the builders. In each case, that which is "reprobate" has promised
something by its outward appearance which it cannot deliver! It has, perhaps, a
"name to live", but it is dead -- like clouds that promise rain, but give none;
like stars in the heavens that appear fixed, but prove to be "wandering stars",
or meteors.
2Ti 3:9
BUT THEY WILL NOT GET VERY FAR: Referring to the
imminent destruction of the Temple.
2Ti 3:10
Vv 10,11: Nine manifestations of the spirit of God: cp Gal
5:22,23.
2Ti 3:11
ANTIOCH... LYSTRA: The very beginnings of Timothy's
association with Paul.
YET THE LORD RESCUED ME FROM ALL OF THEM: Cit Psa
34:19: "A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from
them all."
2Ti 3:12
"We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of
God" (Acts 14:22).
This v, as v 11, is citing Psa 34:19 (in this case, the first
half of the verse): "A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD
delivers him from them all."
2Ti 3:13
IMPOSTORS: "Seducers" (KJV). "Charlatans"
(NEB).
2Ti 3:15
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES: "Sacred writings" = Old Testament
scriptures: Luk 24:25-27,44; 16:29-31; John 5:39,45,47.
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, WHICH ARE ABLE TO MAKE YOU WISE FOR
SALVATION: "What more do we want than wisdom in relation to this matter? If
the sacred Scriptures are able to make us wise, we need no other
instrumentality. The Holy Spirit by the word, without infusing a single idea
into it more than it actually and ordinarily contains, and without any
collateral influence, teaches us all wisdom and knowledge that is necessary...
Why, then, my friends, can we not be content with the means within the grasp of
everyone who owns the volume of inspiration? If the ecclesiastical world were
content to learn the truth from 'the Bible alone', and it honestly desired to
obey the Messiah, there would soon be an end to Presbyterian and every other
ism, by which 'Christendom' as it is called, or 'anti-Christendom', as it should
be termed, has been for ages desolated" (JT, Apostasy Unveiled).
2Ti 3:16
See Lesson, Sayings of faith in Pastorals.
All scripture is divinely inspired: 2Pe 1:20,21;
3:2.
IS (first): Not in orig. But should be understood. Other
passages identical in construction (Heb 4:13; 1Ti 1:15; 2:3; 4:4; etc) are not
so changed by RV and RSV mg (Tes 52:3).
AND IS USEFUL: "The Scriptures were not given for our
information, but for our transformation."
TEACHING: Therefore "preach" (2Ti 4:2).
REBUKING: Gr "elenchos": to convict, rebuke (Heb 11:1;
Joh 16:8). Therefore "rebuke" (2Ti 4:2).
CORRECTING: Gr "epanorthosis": a straightening up
again, ie (figuratively) rectification and reformation. Only once in NT.
Therefore "correct" (2Ti 4:2).
TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: Gr "paideia": the education,
or training, of a child. Therefore "encourage" (2Ti 4:2).
2Ti 3:17
The study of the Bible prepares one to contend for the faith:
Jude 1:3; Psa 119:105,129,130.