*2 Timothy 3:1-17
Paul warns Timothy of perilous times characterized by wickedness, encourages him to remain faithful to the Scriptures, and emphasizes the importance of Scripture for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.
- Description of the Last Days:
- Paul warns Timothy about the difficult times that will come in the last days, characterized by people being 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, and having a form of godliness but denying its power.
- He advises Timothy to avoid such people.
- Continued Exhortation:
- Paul highlights that among these people are those who worm their way into households and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and swayed by various passions.
- These individuals are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth, just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and are rejected in regard to the faith.
- Perseverance and Scripture:
- Paul reminds Timothy of his own example, his teaching, his way of life, his purpose, his faith, his patience, his love, his endurance, and the persecutions and sufferings he endured.
- He encourages Timothy to continue in what he has learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom he learned it, and how from infancy he has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make him 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 servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.