Lesson for April 6, 2022
The Book of II Timothy
Chapter 3:8-17
Verses 8-9
“Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved minds, rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.”
Jannes and Jambres were not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible but are thought to be the magicians who opposed Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh in Egypt, when they were there to free the Jews. (Exodus 7:10-12) These two names appeared frequently in ancient Jewish writings, and Paul most likely knew of them from his Jewish upbringing and Jewish education. Paul used the reference to Moses and Aaron being opposed by these magicians, who were probably demon-possessed, to demonstrate to Timothy that all believers will be opposed by Satan.
These men is a reference to those believers in Ephesus who opposed Timothy and his teaching of grace. Depraved minds means that their thinking was corrupted, and their minds were destroyed by opposition to the truth. Rejected in regard to the faith is a reference to the status of these believers when they willingly rejected the truth and began teaching false doctrine. The truth of the Word of God which Timothy had been teaching “rejected” these men as false teachers.
But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also. Accurate Bible doctrine stops false doctrine in its tracks!! The Judaizers of the first century were spreading the false doctrine of keeping the Mosaic Law for salvation and/or the spiritual life everywhere. The false teachers’ apostate message becomes obvious when the truth of God’s Word is taught consistently. Their folly means that once God performed a miracle, in opposition to these two magicians, it became obvious that their so-called magic was inferior to anything that God could do. The same holds true for God’s message of grace.
Verses 10-11
“Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me!”
Paul’s teaching of the Church Age mystery doctrine was unique. (Colossians 1:27) This doctrine had been revealed to him in the Arabian desert by God the Holy Spirit, and he was selected by God to take the message to the Gentiles and to the entire world. (Galatians 1:15-17)
As Timothy travelled with Paul, he was taught the mystery doctrine of the church Age and began teaching it when he became the pastor in Ephesus. Timothy had also observed and followed the way Paul lived his Christian life. Timothy followed Paul’s plan (purpose) to study and teach accurately the Word of God regardless of the opposition. Faith is this verse means faithfulness. The idea is that Paul was faithful in teaching the Word of God accurately, and so was Timothy.
Patience means to be steadfast and unwavering which includes a combination of stability and endurance under pressure. For Timothy to be effective in Ephesus, he had to have stability and endurance while God dealt with these reversionistic believers in his congregation. He could not be distracted by believers who opposed his teaching or from his responsibility to teach accurate Bible doctrine. To accomplish this, Timothy had to exhibit unconditional (impersonal) love for everyone in his congregation, even the reversionists.
Perseverance means Timothy had to endure many things in order to bring people out of reversionism. The things he had to endure were opposition, bullying, false doctrine, criticism, and many other negative things. Perseverance means a pastor cannot give up and Paul was encouraging Timothy to ignore the persecutions and sufferings brought on by these believers in reversionism and just teach the Word of God consistently and accurately.
Such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me!” Paul reminded Timothy of the persecution that he (Paul) had endured as a result of preaching the Gospel and teaching the Word of God. More than anyone in the New Testament, Paul suffered greatly because of his faithfulness. Paul was persecuted directly by Satan, by Jewish religious leaders, by reversionistic believers and unbelievers, as well. Yet in all these trials and hardships, God always rescued Paul!!!
Acts 13 and 14 is the reference for the time Paul was in these cities and the opposition he and his companions faced in each of them, mainly from the Jewish religious leaders. The opposition by Satan and his apostate teachers did not deter the ministry of Paul because God continually rescued Paul from their hands. The religious leaders of Judaism wanted Paul dead and they did everything they could to accomplish that goal. But God interceded on Paul’s behalf, even when Paul disobeyed God’s will for him by going to Jerusalem. He will do the same for any believer who is positive toward doctrine and advancing in their Christian life.
Verses 12-15
“Indeed, all who want to live in a godly way in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil people and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Persecution comes in many forms for believers who are advancing spiritually. But any suffering that comes to a believer while consistently living their Christian life (live godly) is undeserved suffering, which is suffering for blessing. So, passing these suffering tests not only brings glory to God, it also accelerates spiritual growth. The point Paul was making to Timothy was that all believers who are fulfilling the plan of God for their lives will suffer some type of persecution. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. Satan has never stopped attempting to seduce people into believing the lies of false teachers, called here evil men and impostors. Satan’s ministers are called evil because of the false message they teach, and impostors because they pose as “ministers of God.”
You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Deliverance from evil and seduction comes only through the consistent study and application of Bible doctrine. Timothy was instructed to recall the Bible doctrine that he had learned and had become convinced of.
Remember that Timothy had been raised in a home of believers and had been taught the Scriptures from an early age by his mother and grandmother. From his knowledge of Scriptures and the mentorship of Paul, Timothy had reached spiritual maturity and was using his spiritual gift of pastor-teacher. Not only did Timothy have the “good sense” to believe in Christ as his Savior he also advanced to spiritual maturity through the application of the doctrine he had been taught.
Verses 16-17
“All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.”
Inspired by God means “God-breathed” when God the Holy Spirit communicated to the human authors of Scripture His complete message of grace. (II Samuel 23:2, 3; Isaiah 59:21; Jeremiah l:9; Matthew 22:42-44; Mark 12:36; Acts 4:24, 25; 28:25). The human writers of Scripture wrote the message that they were inspired by God to write, using their own human intelligence, their own vocabulary, their own personal feelings, their own literary style, their own personality and their own individuality. As a result, God’s complete message to the human race was permanently recorded with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture. The Scriptures are not human viewpoint, but rather the Holy Spirit’s use of human writers, using human language to communicate divine viewpoint. (II Peter 1:20, 21)
The Word of God is beneficial for teaching (accurate Bible doctrine), for rebuke (the Word of God is a mirror into our souls so that we can evaluate ourselves before God), for correction (once we evaluate ourselves and find there needs to be corrective action, the Word of God gives the correct course of action), and for training in righteousness (once we discover the right course of action, the Word of God gives us a blueprint of how to accomplish our goal). (II Timothy 3:16)
So that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work. The process of learning, believing, and applying the Word of God results in equipping advancing believers for divine production. Divine production is good of lasting value done by a believer when filled with the Holy Spirit. Divine production is a result of spiritual growth and is a grace function of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. Therefore, all the honor and glory belongs to God. Human good works contribute nothing to our spiritual lives and can actually be a distraction if they are allowed to be a substitute for our spiritual lives and divine good works. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, our “good works” are divine production, and all divine production is a matter of God’s grace, not our human good works. (I Corinthians 9:24-27)