“Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.”
At this point in the letter, Paul moves from giving Timothy instructions for the conduct of the church to instructing him. He first warns him that apostasy will come and he needs to be on guard.
Paul writes, “Now the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith…” There are several things I want to look at here. First, let’s look at the beginning of the phrase. Paul writes about the Spirit. He is talking about the Holy Spirit. In John 14, Jesus tells us who the Holy Spirit is. He says, “He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will bein you” (v. 17). Jesus goes on to explain that once He is gone, He will send the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, to be with them. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I told you that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you” (John 16:13-15).
We know that because of these passages (and others), that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one. Although the word Trinity is not in the Bible, the concept is found throughout Scripture. So when Paul writes that “…the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith…,” We can look to Jesus’s warning in Matthew 24 about many coming to deceive in the final days. It is also written in Mark 13:22. “For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect.”
Where else does the Spirit explicitly state that there will be false teachers? In Revelation, John has a vision. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet saying, ‘Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea’” (Revelation 1:10-11) This is what he wrote to the church at Ephesus. “I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars” (Revelation 2:2). In Paul’s final address to the elders at the church in Ephesus, Paul warns them that there will be false teachers that come, even from among the believers. “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears” (Acts 20:28-31).
The last part of this section that I want to look at before we move on is the phrase ‘in later times.’ John Barry writes in The Faithlife Study Bible, “This particular Greek phrase only occurs here in the NT, but is synonymous with the last days (see note on 2 Tim 3:1). Though the apostle describes these events as occurring in the future, they also describe Timothy’s circumstances in the present age. The early church considered themselves to be living in ‘the last days.’” There are many verses in the New Testament that refer to the last days. We have been living in the last days since Jesus’s first coming. Jesus did say in Matthew 24:10-12, that there would be an increase in wickedness. “Then many will fall away, betray one another, and hate one another. Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.” I believe that as we grow closer to Christ’s second return that we will see an increase in this departing from the faith.
Paul describes how these people will depart from the faith-the faith being the essential teachings of Christianity. They will pay attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons. I want to stop here for a minute. This is the only place demons are mentioned in the Pastoral Epistles. But Paul has certainly warned about them in his other letters. In Ephesians he writes, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens” (6:11-12). In 2 Corinthians he warns that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (11:14). We must remember who is at work behind the scenes.
Paul goes on to say “through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.” This word seared comes from the Greek word kaustēriazō, which means to brand or cauterize, like with a hot iron. Warren Wiersbe puts it this way in the Bible Exposition Commentary. “Just as a person’s flesh can be branded so that it becomes hard and without feeling, so a person’s conscience can be deadened.” We are warned in several other places in scripture about these false teachers. Jesus warns “Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Peter writes in his second letter, “Above all, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires…” (3:3). And John tells us to test the spirits to see if they are from God. “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1)
We are going to see in verse 3 what these false teachers were teaching, but before we move on, I want to bring this verse to the present day. We are still in the last days, and false teachers have been in the church for the last 2000 years. Indeed, it began long before that. David Guzik writes in his Enduring Word commentary, “We find the first demonic doctrine in Genesis 3. There Satan, speaking through a serpent, taught Eve: You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God (Genesis 3:4-5). Since then, every demonic doctrine has found its way back to this root: the idea that we can be gods, and operate independently from God.”
Due to the Internet and smartphones, it seems like false teaching can spread faster than it ever has before. There is a famous quote that says a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is getting its boots on. Unfortunately, this is true. But we believe that God is sovereign. None of what is happening today comes as a surprise to God. And it should not come as a surprise to us! We just looked at all of the verses that have warned us about the false teachers that would come.
I am going to end with a challenge. According to the 2025 American Worldview Inventory from Arizona Christian University, only 4% of American adults hold a biblical worldview. Do you know the basics of the Christian faith? Do you know what the Bible teaches is necessary for salvation? As we move further into Paul’s letter, I will be covering some of those basics.
Grace be with you!
Abundant Joy 