The truth about 2 Timothy 3:8-9

Believers, let's examine 2 Timothy 3:8-9, which many false doctrine preachers try to twist to their own advantage! See verses 1-5:

1"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."

At first, you would think this is just about people who are sinning openly and leading outwardly vulgar lifestyles but consider verse 5: 

"having a form of godliness but denying its power...." 

The NLT version says 

"They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly."

Such people have a form of godliness (righteousness); on the outside, they preach, look and act all religious, moral, holy and righteous but on the inside, they are all the evil things that Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:1-4. Such deny the power of God in making the sinner godly (righteous.) Unless the Lord exposes their evil deeds to one, you will think that they are really godly and do not commit sin! Paul spoke of these people that have "a form of godliness but denying its power" in 2 Corinthians 11:15-

"And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."

These ministers of Satan that have "a form of godliness" are pastoring churches and preaching their brand of righteousness straight from the pulpit. They sound and act extremely moral and righteous and preach strongly against sin. They are well-respected because they preach a lot about righteousness and living a godly life, but herein lies what exposes them as agents of Satan: their own method of attaining righteousness (being godly) in the sight of God and overcoming sin is never through what Christ has done to make us righteous and enjoy God's blessings but on what we must do by ourselves aka law-keeping; we who can do nothing without Christ. These ones deny God's power in making us righteous, "having a form of godliness but denying its power."

They preach righteousness according to works (of the law) and not the righteousness (by faith) that is freely given as a gift to all who believe in Christ and through the obedience of Christ, as it is written in Romans 5:19- "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous." Also see 2 Corinthians 5:21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Their modus operandi is exposed in the very next verses after 2 Timothy 3:1-5, in verses 6-7, and we see this widely demonstrated in many churches today:

"For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Remember Christ's words in John 8:32- 

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Recall that the people that they captivate and deceive, especially women (just as Satan did with Eve in the Garden!) are "weighed down with sins, ...always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." The people that they deceive are looking for the Way out of sin! Like Eve, they want to be godly. For many, their imperfections are a burden to them. They want to live right;  they want to stop sinning but can't.

Well, because the Truth is not in these evil people that are religious and have a form of godliness, they cannot bring anyone to the knowledge of the Way, the Truth and the Life- Christ our Saviour Himself. Instead of pointing "weak women weighed down with sins" to Christ "who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed..." (Titus 2:14,) these evil pastors lead God's beloved that Christ died to redeem on a wild and endless cycle of guilt, condemnation, deliverance services, fasts, law-keeping, seed sowing, self-deprivation and then back to guilt and condemnation again, all in the name of being set free. A vicious cycle! But these things cannot set free. This is why every month, different "yoke-breaking deliverance services" are always packed full with the same sets of Christians, still looking for what Christ gives freely to all who believe, but looking in the wrong places, "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.". There is no "free indeed" there. 

Christ died to set us free from sin and death, and without our input! It's all Him. Right there in the privacy of where you are reading this, just you alone, Salvation is yours for the taking. Only believe, and even this we do by grace (John 6:44)

Believers, once a person has the Lord as his righteousness, right living will follow. "All these things will be added unto you." But these wicked pastors put the cart before the horse. Their weapon is accusations, like their father Satan the Accuser. They preach that one can redeem oneself from the lawless deeds that hold one captive by sheer self-will and determination. They shoot the only weapon of the Accuser: accusations aka "every tongue that rises against you in judgment." Such ministers tell "weak women" and men things like "You are still stealing/smoking" "You don't love your neighbour as yourself" and "Abraham was going to sacrifice his son but you can't even give so and so!" "Remember that abortion you did twenty years ago?"

They then ask: "how can God bless you after you have done/when you are still doing such and such?" Just like the devil the Accuser did with Eve, they tell you to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (a picture of the law) so that you can be godly, aka "be like God" through your own effort. See Romans 7:8-12 (MSG)-

"...The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me...."

Just as Eve was seduced by Satan, these evil people use the law to seduce, feeding the flock with the forbidden fruit by telling them to keep the law in order to be righteous, an impossible feat according to Romans 3:20. See the outcome in Galatians 3:10- "For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse,..."

They never point you to the only One, Jesus Christ, who can get you out of that prison of sin. They point you to yourself who can do nothing without Christ! They try to make you your own sacrificial lamb, but the lamb used for sacrifice for sins has to die.

Remember Paul's words in Philippians 3:9 "and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith."

They preach this verse in reverse. They deceive many into thinking that a person can be made right with God by their own effort at keeping the law, a teaching that is in stark contrast to Romans 3:20 which says: "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."

Instead of pointing sinners to Christ as the One who saves from sin, they point out and accuse people of particular sins, usually cosmetic things like dressing/hairstyle, club-hopping and "comedians in the church" and make you believe that your salvation or godliness (being like God) depends on how good you are and what you do. They never tell you that without Christ as the SOLE source of a person's righteousness, in the sight of God, the "good and holy" person who only lied about his location on the phone for a good reason is in the same boat of unrighteousness as the child-molesting serial killer. James 2:10 says:

"10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws."

In essence, they preach after the pattern of their master Satan who deceived Eve into believing that she would "be like God" (be godly!) by her own effort: if she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This tree is a picture of the Law which tells us what is good and what is bad; the tree was desirable to Eve as it is desirable to many in the church today; and it is still killing those that eat from it, those who live by the law; those who try to be godly (attain to righteousness) by their own effort: "for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

Galatians 5:4 says "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace."

But these false doctrine preachers actively preach righteousness before God through keeping the Ten Commandments! Believers, Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3: 5 "...Have nothing to do with such people." Their way leads to death!

Believers, believe right. Christ died to redeem us from EVERY lawless deed (acts of sin.) How could our Saviour use the very sins that He came to redeem us from as an excuse for not saving us? This is akin to an oncologist refusing to treat his own beloved child who has cancer because the child has cancer. It is His gift of no condemnation that makes us go and sin no more! Why would you need a Saviour if you can stop sinning all by yourself? It is Christ's "Neither do I condemn you" that makes us "go and sin no more." He does it all.

Such "righteousness" ministers reduce the finished work of Christ to a footnote in their preaching. Our Saviour's name is mentioned in the "in Jesus name" at the end of each prayer point but according to them, the "real work" is in the various fasts undertaken, various vigils, neglect of the body and seeds sown in order to receive from God. This is a gross misrepresentation of our loving Abba Father who gives us all things freely with Christ! Romans 8:32 says:

"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

But with such ministers, receiving from God, attaining right-standing with Him and enjoying His blessings depends on your ability to keep the law and "do good deeds" and not what Christ has done. Christ deniers! According to them, being free from generational and other curses depends on you, a Christian, attending their "deliverance services" while clutching childhood pictures that they often ask you to bring along, an action that is in stark contrast to Galatians 3:13-

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”, 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

Believers, don't be deceived. Believe right. In Christ, God is our Abba Father. Would you really withhold care and protection from your own child because he disobeyed you? Would you let your neighbour's dog bite him to death because you've warned him to stay indoors several times? No! You will train your child in the way he should go and keep him from harm! How much more our Father in heaven who so loved the world that He gave His own Son to die for us! In Christ, we are His own little children! He hates sin because it destroys man that He so loves, so gave His own Son to pay the wages of our sin. In Christ, we have the gift of no condemnation by which we go and sin no more. This is the only way to have victory over sin.

The final verses of our study of 2 Timothy 3-

8 "These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith.9 But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres."

Jannes and Jambres were among the magicians that withstood Moses and Aaron before Pharoah. A good fake product is one that most closely resembles the original, like the magicians that also turned their rods to snakes. These evil people also do signs and wonders but by their own power. They attribute their ability to perform signs and wonders to their law-keeping and good works; they go to mountains to fast and do all sorts before they can do their own signs and wonders and try to deceive people into doing same and that this is the Way by adding "in Jesus name" to the end of each prayer point. But we who are in Christ are established in His word by His grace alone:

"Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8. 

In Christ, every gift from God is given freely and without terms and conditions.

By God's grace, get away from these preachers of righteousness by works. They seem to be godly and religious but their way leads to death.

Many of us are aware that some pastors dish out the horrid mixture of part-Law and part-Grace, neither cold nor hot, but still attend their church because we feel that we can get nourishment from the Grace part. This is akin to eating a mixture of fresh bread and concentrated acid and expecting that your body will only make use of the bread! The letter kills. Why don't you ask the Lord our Shepherd to lead you on the path of righteousness and make you lie down in green pastures where you get to feed on life today? He loves us so.

The Holy Spirit will teach you all things.

Believe Right and you will Live Right.