End Times Man
In another post, I covered how the spirit of lawlessness/antichrist has been at work in the world since the early church and how the church has always considered themselves in the “end times” between the ministry of Christ to redeem his people and his return to reign over all of creation.
Paul, when writing to Timothy, gave him a warning regarding how this spirit of lawlessness would look as it matured among man and how it would produce more and more hardship.
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
2 Timothy 3:1-4
If you are living in fellowship with those who are serious about scripture you have probably heard people mentioning this section often lately. Certainly, fallen men have always exhibited many of these sinful attitudes throughout history but lately it seems as if these things are not only present but actively celebrated.
Appearance of Godliness
The next verse is the one that keeps coming back to my mind personally, however.
having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2 Timothy 3:5
Again, you can see that this was present even very early in church history. Paul tells Timothy to “avoid such people” which is a command only necessary if Timothy would encounter such people to begin with.
However, I always used to find this verse hard to understand in context. How is it that, after listing all sorts of obviously sinful attitudes these people would display, that they can in any way be described as having “the appearance of godliness”?!
I no longer have any difficulty understanding this verse. The gospel of nice (despite how TGC tries to redefine it) is not a matter of self-righteousness (which also distorts our relationship to Christ) but is instead teaching that the evidence of a godly life is how well received you are among men.
It is easy to be a proud person and get along with the world. Many people would disagree due to how “self-righteousness” is often used in our society only to criticize those who are proud of acts which would traditionally be considered righteous. Nobody likes the type of person depicted in SNLs “Church Lady” skit!
However, there is another kind of pride. Beyond the obvious celebrations which take the name of the sin of pride as a badge of honor, there are many teachings in the world about how the purpose of human existence is to “be ourselves” and how we should see ourselves as “perfect just as we are”.
A person who spends all day telling people that their nature is inherently good and their desires are best fulfilled is preaching pride as a virtue! Yet how “nice” such a person would seem in the heart of sinful man.
Entitlement and envy are considered necessary for our culture to “move forward” in many circles. A person who is content with the fruit of his labor (while an example of virtue in scripture) is no aid at all toward the efforts of negotiating higher pay or implementation of more wealth redistribution programs.
It should be unsurprising that the world tends to love those who baptize sin, finding ways to promote them as if they were godly or virtuous rather than expose sin as wickedness. Yet I have witnessed many who I believe truly are brothers and sisters fall for at least some of this counterfeit godliness.
Denying Power
Having the appearance of godliness is only part of the description, however. Not only do these people appear virtuous in a certain light but they also deny the power of godliness. They undermine the significance of a life lived according to the commands of Christ.
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
1 Timothy 4:7-8
How many carelessly sweep aside the significance of godly living by twisting the true doctrine that salvation does not come from works into something which treats godliness as if it could only be a sign of hypocrisy or self-righteousness?
Paul, as inspired by God, instead ensures that Timothy is aware of the many benefits of godliness in this life and in eternity. Rather than being a “nice if it happens”, Paul encourages Timothy to pursue godliness as a serious athlete would pursue fitness. When an athlete takes his craft seriously, he eats a certain way, sleeps on a certain schedule, and commits the rest of his waking hours to improving his ability to do a very specific task as much as possible.
Even within orthodox congregations, this attitude of denying the power of godliness abounds! The life of a believer is a blessing to everyone. Not just for the purposes of edifying others in ways that have eternal value but also in this time as well. One must be born again to have a life of godliness, but a myopic view of salvation has led to a church culture which undermines the effect of working out that salvation in the life of a believer.
I pray for discernment in our current time. The immaturity in the church is such that many who are in substantial agreement with all the right doctrines and confessions yet seem to fit the description of those with an appearance of godliness yet deny its power! May God revive the love of his people for his ways!
