Paul turns to the character of the last days. Grievous times will come, marked by people who hold a form of godliness but deny its power. Timothy is to turn away from such people and remain in the things he has learned, knowing the holy Scriptures that are able to make him wise for salvation and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
1 But know this: that in the last days, grievous times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, not lovers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding a form of godliness but having denied its power. Turn away from these, also. 6 For some of these are people who creep into houses and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind, who concerning the faith are rejected. 9 But they will proceed no further. For their folly will be evident to all men, as theirs also came to be.
10 But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, steadfastness, 11 persecutions, and sufferings—those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. The Lord delivered me out of them all. 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you remain in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. 15 From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, 17 that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Source: ebible.org
The last days are characterised by a long list of self-centred and God-rejecting traits, climaxing in those who hold a form of godliness while denying its power. Timothy is to turn away from such people. Some creep into houses and take captive the vulnerable. They are always learning yet never arriving at the knowledge of the truth. Like Jannes and Jambres they oppose the truth, but their folly will become evident.
Timothy has followed Paul’s teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, steadfastness, persecutions, and sufferings. The Lord delivered Paul from them all. All who desire to live godly will suffer persecution. Evil men and impostors will grow worse. Timothy’s response is not innovation but remaining in what he has learned and been assured of, knowing the holy Scriptures from infancy.
Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, so that the person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. The equipment is already available in the writings Timothy has known.
The last days of the old order were marked by a form of godliness that denied power. We live on the far side of that crisis. The Scriptures remain able to make wise for salvation and to equip thoroughly. We remain in what has been learned.
Where does a “form of godliness” still appear without power, and how do the God-breathed Scriptures equip you to turn away and remain?