Rex Trulove
It is often recommended that Christians study the bible daily. While I completely support this idea and adhere to it, many Christians equate “study” with “read”. They aren’t the same thing. Without studying the bible, what is read is often not completely understood in the way that it was written. This often leads to many Christians not understanding the bible verses. It can also lead to quoting scripture out of context.
A great example of this can be found in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 when Paul told Timothy:
3 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
Almost everyone here can recognize that all of the things in this prophecy as being prevalent today. To a much lesser degree, these were even happening in Paul’s and Timothy’s lifetimes. However, the reason that some study sheds new light on this well-known scripture has to do with what ‘people’ Paul was referring to.
In Paul’s day, all of this applied primarily to non-believers, and seldom to believers. However, Paul wasn’t talking about non-believers. It wouldn’t have been worthwhile to make these statements about people that Timothy was quite aware of who fit this description.
Paul was very specifically referring to Christians. That changes the impact of this scripture. Substitute the first word of the second verse with “Christians” instead of “People”. You should see that the meaning becomes far more explicit. It also sadly describes far too many people who call themselves Christians today.
The scripture can be broken down even more, but the point is that with a bit of study, it becomes clear that Paul was talking about believers and not non-believers. This changes the impact of the scripture substantially.
Reading the bible daily is a good thing. Studying the bible daily is far, far better.
-
Did you know that this verse was specifically about Christians?
-
Yes
-
No
-
I’ve never heard of or read this scripture
-
Yes what has been written here or mentioned in the scripture are really happening today especially to those who are Christians.
Sadly, too many Christians today are totally missing the Christian connection in this passage.
I follow what Jesus (PBUH) said in red letter in bible.
Paul’s teachings were based on what Jesus said and taught. Certainly, this prophecy has come true and I doubt that Paul would have had the same insights if he didn’t also follow what Jesus said and taught.
People should not be greedy but be glad for what they have as long as they can support themselves and make do in life. I thank the Lord for each day and for all that I have and for His guidance,
That is a shortcoming that many Americans have. Many people live with far less than even the poorest Americans, and they are happy anyway. Greed is far too common.
There are question marks over whether the letter was written by Paul or whether Timothy was the intended recipient. However that doesn’t matter if the message fits – which it certainly does.
Yes, it definitely does fit. The message is loud and clear. As for who wrote it to whom, that is likely to be a point of debate for a long time since there aren’t many people who were there when it was written. You’re right, though, that doesn’t change the validity of the prophecy.
The evidence does indeed suggest that this letter has nothing at all to do with any churches that Timothy was responsible for, as it makes reference to conditions that existed long after he and Paul had died. These suspicions have been around for hundreds of years and are widely supported – except by certain diehard Bible-bashers, of course!