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Atomic Bible
2 Timothy

Chapter 3

Last-Day Evil and Scripture's Steadying Voice

Paul warns Timothy that terrible times will come in the last days, marked by people whose vices pile up under a thin form of godliness and whose deception spreads into households and opposes the truth. Against that dark picture he sets Timothy's own knowledge of Paul's life, the certainty that all who want to live godly lives will face persecution, and the need to continue in what he has learned from the Holy Scriptures. The chapter closes by saying that all Scripture is God-breathed and equips the servant of God for every good work.

After chapter 2's call to patient, disciplined ministry, this chapter explains the moral and doctrinal climate in which that ministry must continue. Its answer to the corruption of the age is not novelty, but endurance in the life of Paul and in the Scriptures Timothy already knows.

2 sections·302 words·~1 min read


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2 Timothy 3

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vv. 1-9

Evil in the Last Days

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B1ut understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, 4traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

6They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions, 7who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith. 9But they will not advance much further. For just like Jannes and Jambres, their folly will be plain to everyone.

vv. 10-17

All Scripture Is God-Breathed

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Y10ou, however, have observed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my perseverance, 11my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

14But as for you, continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you have learned them. 15From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.