(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.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV

The above verses list a lot of negative attributes, do they sound familiar? They certainly should as they describe well a lot of the behavior we can see in the world today.

Who do you think 2 Timothy 3:1-5 is talking about?

The books, 1st & 2nd Timothy, were written by the apostle Paul to Timothy, a minister of the early church. Surprisingly, these verses were warning Timothy about a type of person that he would encounter WITHIN the church!

For the moment I want to concentrate on verse 5, “having a form of godliness but denying its power”. This is referring to people within the church that appear to be godly on the outside and say that they are Christians, but on the inside, they look and act just like the world displaying the attributes in verses 1 through 4. Note that Paul says to “have nothing to do with such people”.

The last part of verse 5 says “but denying its power”. What is this power that they deny? It is the power and ability of God to change them through the Holy Spirit.

How are we, as Christians, supposed to change?

(15) But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
(16) for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:15-16 NIV

We are called to be holy, set apart & different from the world, but we cannot do this on our own!

The process of being changed is called sanctification. This is a process that begins when we first put our faith in Christ and ends when we pass on from this world. In a nutshell, the Holy Spirit works in us to change us to be the image of Jesus. One warning that we do need to heed about sanctification is that it is a process that we can resist.

So, if the people mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:5 are denying the power of God to change them and aren’t being sanctified, what are they lacking? True faith in Christ.

We should all be able to look at ourselves and compare who we are today with who we were before we accepted Christ and see a difference. Will we ever be absolutely perfect? No, we are not capable of perfection and will not see that until we finally see the Lord face to face, but we should see a difference. If you have put your faith in Jesus but cannot see any difference in yourself then you should ask yourself if you are resisting the process.

Let us take a look at another scripture:

(5) For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
(6) and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
(7) and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
(8) For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(9) But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
(10) Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,
(11) and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:5-11 NIV

The difference between this scripture and the opening scripture from 2 Timothy 3:1-5 is that this scripture is referring to actual Christians as opposed to those pretending to be.

We are supposed to be different, and our differences are what get people’s attention and move them to ask why. We can be a walking testimony to Jesus and, through what others see in us, the Lord can draw people to Himself. With the knowledge of this fact and considering the people mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and those that resist the changes mentioned in 2 Peter 1:5-11, think about the damage these types of people do to the “image” of what a Christian is.

If you examine yourself and feel that nothing or very little has changed since you became a Christian, ask yourself what could be stopping or slowing down this work of the Holy Spirit in you:

1. Not being in the word.
2. Not seeking a relationship with God.
3. Not listening to the Holy Spirit.
4. Being too distracted by things of the world.

As Christians, we should be in the word of God daily. Scripture should be our guide and our comfort and, most importantly, our reference for understanding the heart and attributes of God. As you read the word, pray for wisdom to understand it. Keep in mind that scripture is not understood by our human brains but by the guidance of the Holy Spirit in us. The whole bible is a love story that God wants to share with us!

Relationship with God is something that we should all seek. How do we develop a relationship with the Lord? The same way we would with a human friend or a spouse, talk with them, learn about them and hunger to be with them. Talk to the Lord throughout your day, not just during your prayer time.

The Holy Spirit is important to our lives as Christians, not only does He sanctify us but He also guides us. The closer you get to the Lord, the more you will discern His voice to us through the Holy Spirit.

This world has so many things that distract us. Some things are clearly bad and we can see from God’s word that we should not associate with them. However, there are other things that in themselves are not evil, but we enjoy them so much that they devour large amounts of our time. These are things that the Lord desires us to give up, preferring closeness with Him instead. This can be hard, but with the Lord’s help and a willing heart we can free ourselves from them.

(21) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
(22) Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’
(23) Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:21-23 NIV

The above verses from Matthew, the words of Jesus, share a frightening reality with us. Can you imagine reaching the day when you stand before Jesus and being told “I never knew you. Away from me…”? There will be those on the day of judgement that thought they had lived their lives for Jesus, but they will find out that they neglected the most important thing, a relationship with Him.

If you are serious about cleaning up your life, getting rid of the distractions and being closer to the Lord, take some advice from King David and pray the prayer he shared at the end of Psalm 139:

(23) Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
(24) See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalms 139:23-24 NIV

If you are willing to pray this prayer of David and to mean it with your whole heart, then you will be inviting the Lord to reach deep inside of you and to pull out anything that is coming between you and Him. This will be a tough process; He will convict you to get rid of things from your life and you won’t want to. However, over the course of time, the Lord will slowly work on you until you get to the point where you give these things up willingly.

Are you truly prepared to make your relationship with the Lord not only the first thing in your life but your whole life? I want to encourage you today to pray the dangerous prayer above and to mean it with your whole heart, then watch what God will do in your life.

Adapted from a sermon shared on 5/17/2024.