Le Scriptures - 2 Timothy 3

I’m starting a new job next week and so I probably won’t be able to write for a couple of months while I train and get settled in, but I really want to finish 2nd Timothy before I go, so I’m going to try to do a whole chapter today and the last chapter tomorrow because Fridays are always crazy. So this might be a little bit faster than usual. 3:1-4 - I have often wondered just how much of his words Paul expected to stick around long term. I know that the early Christians in Paul’s communities were often concerned with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, but I don’t remember any mention of that topic so far in 2nd Timothy so I’m not exactly sure why Paul brings it up here. He notes that the “last days” will be “perilous times.” He also laments the faults of people, that they “shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthanks, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” I can’t help but are these traits really unique to us in the last days? Because honestly, I feel like this is just human nature and it’s been just as present throughout human history. I think that maybe the biggest difference between the wicked people in the last days and those who were just as bad throughout time are 3-fold. First, we as people don’t struggle for mere subsistence like we always have. I’m reading a book right now called “The Boy Crisis” and it’s excellent and the author talks about how even in just the last couple of generations, we have easier access to the means of survival. When survival of ourselves and our children are our main focus, it requires reliance on others, working together and working for the good of the community. Because we don’t really need that to survive anymore, we have the opportunity to become more selfish and self-centered. Second, people are living longer. This goes with easier access to the means of survival, because not only is our burden of hand to mouth living lifted, but our ability to think and feel and rely less on others last a lot longer than it used to. So not only are we allowed to stew in ourselves, we are allowed to do it longer. Third, technological advancements. Anciently, to be a grifter, you’re sphere of influence was usually limited to your immediate region. You could only work your con there and with those people, and there were a lot of other people doing just the same thing, so a small fish in a big pond. But with information being spread far and wide now, those who desire to manipulate to get gain have a much broader audience. And we as a people hear more about what’s going on, so it might seem like our situation is more dire than before, but honestly the intentions are the same, we just know about it now. Also with weapons, we have the ability to do greater damage easier now, so before we had to kill everyone by hand, now we can kill millions with the push of a button. So again, the intention is there, it’s just that now we are able to actually do it on a large scale. 3:5-9 - Verse 5 reminds me of the words Jesus spoke to Joseph Smith during the First Vision. In fact, the verse cross-references JSH 1:19 and quotes Jesus as saying, “They draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.” I love that Jesus quotes Paul here, and I wonder if this is the fulfilling of that prophecy. Paul said that people would do that, then Jesus comes and says “the people are doing it,” prophecy fulfilled. Interesting. Why would someone embrace religion and “teach” the principles of it, but “deny the power thereof”? To deny means to reject something that is offered of available, so it might seem that if someone were to teach religion but do so in a way that is truthful, meaning that they really believe it and care for others and want to improve their lives, then the power of God is in that. But if the power is there and the person “denies” it but keeps the “form of godliness,” then why would they do that? I think we already know the answer and that is to manipulate others for power and wealth. I mean religion can be a very profitable business model, and there are people who go into the field of religion to make it a career, not because they want to love and serve others. These people who espouse religion but don’t really believe it, “creep into houses, and lead captive sill women laden with sins… Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The NLT of this verse says, “They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires.” This kind of irks me because this implies that only “sinful” women are vulnerable, when in fact we all are. And on the other hand does this mean that men are not vulnerable? Does it mean that these women are MORE sinful than anyone else? An article about this verse from bibleref.com says, “Such women are noted as having three concerns. First, they were ‘burdened with sins.’ In other words, they had other sinful actions in their lives in addition to the problems brough upon them by false teachers.” Are these women the most sinful ever? Of course not, but from what I can tell, the only difference between these “sinful” women and everyone else who is just as sinful is that these women are the ones feeling guilty about it. This guilt is probably a spiritual longing that demonstrates they are ready to hear the truth, but instead they are preyed upon by these con artists. The article continues, “Second, these women were ‘led astray by various passions.’ These were likely not only referring to sexual passions, but to ‘various’ areas of like in which weaknesses occurred.” I can honestly empathize with these women, they might be feeling desperate, alone, overwhelmed. They probably have trauma that created a hole in their lives that they are trying to fill and they are just being taken advantage of instead of helped. These “passions” probably include a desire to be loved and cared for, they probably just look in all the wrong places which makes them vulnerable to the scheisters. They are looking everywhere “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Paul gives an example of just such conmen, saying, “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth.” According to tradition, these were the two priests of Pharoah who contended with him when he first asked for his people to go free. But Paul assures Timothy, just as with those two priests, “their folly shall be manifest unto all men.” 3:10-17 - Paul acknowledges that Timothy has not only been aware of Paul’s persecutions and characteristics throughout his ministry, but assures him that of all the hard times, “the Lord delivered me.” It’s interesting because we know that Paul had to endure the imprisonments, beatings, whippings, stonings, etc. so we can look at the fact that none of those events were cut short by Christ, we have to ask ourselves, in what way did Jesus deliver Paul during those afflictions? The only answer that makes any sense is that Christ delivered Paul’s mind from the torture but not his body. He would have done this by giving Paul peace to know that the afflictions would be worth it, by giving Paul joy in his journey, by teaching Paul eternal truths, and by giving Paul an eternal perspective. These are the ways in which Paul was probably “delivered” by the Lord during his persecutions, because as far as I’m aware, at no time did Jesus do something to cut the torment short physically. All those who try to live the gospel of Jesus Christ “shall suffer persecution,” because “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” It’s like a vicious cycle because when we engage in ungodly thoughts of behaviors, the “high” that we seek becomes more and more elusive the more that we try to find it. We spiral into where we need something absolutely horrific to feel the same way that we did previously, then after that it’s something even worse. We tell ourselves that this is the way, and we might even persuade others to believe the same lie. But if Timothy continues, “in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” What does this mean? It means that we can avoid getting sucked in to the dissatisfaction downward spiral by sticking with the gospel that we know and reading the scriptures. It’s interesting because in my patriarchal blessing there’s a part that says, “I bless you to know that there shall be that need in your life to study, in great depth, the scriptures. I bless you that you may so study. Then, from those scriptures shall emerge, in your life, great wisdom, understanding and knowledge.” When I heard that as a 16-year-old girl, I thought “oh great, the scriptures, they are so boring,” but I have to say when I look back throughout my lifetime, the biggest turning point for me came when I started studying the scriptures in depth over the last 8 years. I honestly think that this is the most significant part of my spiritual journey so far, I love it, it has changed my life and I am forever grateful. But I also know that whenever I’ve taken a break for whatever reason, I really miss it. And even when I don’t want to write and I do everything I can to get out of it, when I do, the power that comes to me from the effort is extraordinary. And the best part is that I know that that experience is not unique to me, anyone can have that. Not only can studying the scriptures give us wisdom, but “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” I’m not sure what article of faith it is that says “we believe the Bible to be the word of God as long as it is translated correctly.” But what about all the verses in all the standard works that seem to contradict each other? Which one is the correct meaning? This is a valid question and can cause a lot of people a crisis of faith. What I’ve found in my study is that there are many verses that make no sense to me, not just the controversial ones. When I get to a verse that I don’t understand or that I think contradicts some other aspect of the gospel, then I will cross-reference it, look for other explanations, and think about what it means. This method has allowed me to turn to the Lord for the understanding that I lack, and it doesn’t always come immediately all at once, a lot of times it does come right away, but other times it takes a while, some of them haven’t come yet. But I have had enough experience with answers, knowledge, and understanding to believe that what I don’t have yet will come and be satisfactory when it gets here. And until then I can just carry on with the knowledge and beliefs that I do have.