“1 But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors,reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people!

6 For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions, 7 always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth, men who are corrupt in mind, worthless in regard to the faith. 9 But they will not make further progress, for their lack of understanding will be clear to all, as theirs was also.”
2 Timothy 3:1-9

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It is passages like this that always leave me doing a gut-check, looking at myself, my motivations, to make sure that I am not falling prey to these ideals or practices.  ‘Having the -form- of godliness, but denying its power.’ Looking good on the outside, maybe verbally agreeing to thoughts, ideas, practices and beliefs, but still more concerned with self than the truth, people living this way have chosen to live more with the flesh in mind than the things of God, and I never want to be guilty of such things. But reading through this, I am reminded that the heart that is concerned for guilt, that examines itself, is rarely consumed by the thing that concerns it, because that individual is staying on guard. That being said, I am not perfect, I still struggle with my flesh just as much as any other Christian would, but I am convicted that I, along with all followers in Christ, have been a better way, and the strength to live it out, in Him. This is grace.

It would be arrogance to say that I am without struggle, that I am somehow exempt from the difficulties that come from living in Christ in a corrupted world. It would be negligent of me to think that I am not from time to time guilty of those sins listed in verses 2-4. I have been unloving, ungrateful and lacked self-control. I am guilty of those things, but I also know that I do not let those attitudes and behaviors rule my life, guiding me day-by-day. This would be what we find in verse 8, those who resist the truth, corrupt in mind and worthless when it comes to faith. Instead, I come to Christ, seeking forgiveness, repenting, yet again, for my failures. I don’t brag on myself in this, I can only give credit to Jesus who allows me the strength to face these sins in myself, and to turn away with Him toward holiness. Again, this is grace at work in us.

But our concern here in 2 Timothy 3 is not for those who walk faithfully, slipping from time to time, but for those who live as a goat in sheep’s clothing. Not a wolf, mind you, not always, but often a goat. Having that appearance of holiness, but not actually being holy, looking like they may belong, but consuming everything in sight, concerned more for self than Shepherd.

It is this flock that concerns me, because it is so easy to be a part of it. To mix and match your faith, rationalizing sin and salvation together, fooling themselves, but not God. Trying to accommodate Christianity, to custom-fit the truth, into a secular worldview. These people have the form of godliness, but they deny its power. They want to look holy, sound holy, appearing smart, knowledgable, intelligent, but they lack the substance of faith. It is all words and show, but their hearts remain unchanged. Consumed by the world, and concerned what men will think of them, they bend and warp what is right into a ‘faith’ of their choosing.

Paul is warning Timothy to keep his distance form these people, and rightly so, because twisted logic can sometimes be enticing. The most dangerous lies are those that have been camouflaged with the truth. These goats in sheep’s clothing have convincing arguments because they had to first persuade themselves, an they have ownership of the lies that now bind their hearts. Those who would sin openly, they are easy to pick out. They have no appearance of a sheep. But those who have the form of godliness, they seem safe, they seem like they might be reliable, but they are just as corrupt as the unbeliever. In verse 8, Paul compares them to the two Egyptian magicians that opposed Moses. There is a substance of something spiritual within them, but it’s roots are not in holiness, or the Father.

“Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”” 1 Corinthians 15:33

“Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap,” Galatians 6:7

Be aware of your own motivations as you do the good work of the Gospel. Our example is to be from Christ, not from self, as we GoLove in His Name. Daily repentance and an open honesty with God in prayer and a weighing of ideas against Scripture will keep us honest if we will humbly, again, honestly come and seek His will rather than our own. We want to reach out to those who are lost, but we cannot sacrifice or compromise when it comes to the truth as it is written in His Word and seen in the life of Christ Himself.