But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth – men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. (2 Timothy 3:1-9)

The kind of people that Paul is talking about are non-Christians. He says that they are not lovers of God, that they oppose the truth, and that as far as the Christian faith is concerned, they are rejected. The vices he lists in verses 2-4 are non-Christian characteristics. Since I first started reading the Bible as a child, and long before I came across the term “total depravity,” it has always been clear that Christianity describes unbelievers in the most derogatory terms.

Non-Christians are unrighteous and dishonest people, so we expect them to protest the way that they are described in Scripture. But we are surprised that those who claim to believe the Bible and those who teach the doctrine of total depravity are the ones who would denounce and even persecute those Christians who would apply these same terms to non-Christians. The two are incompatible. Either they admit that they do not in fact believe the Bible, that they disapprove of and disagree with the prophets, the apostles, and the Lord Jesus, or they must throw their full support behind those who speak to and speak about non-Christians as Scripture does.

What is at stake includes the right standard of social discourse, but much more important than that, this pertains to whether or not we will affirm or deny the inspiration of Scripture, the righteousness of the prophets, the apostles, and the Lord Jesus, and therefore by implication, the basis of our salvation. In condemning the use of biblical invectives, these religious hypocrites condemn themselves by exposing what kind of people they really are, and where their allegiance truly lies. Are they much better than the non-Christians and the false teachers described here? I counsel them to examine themselves, to see if they are truly in the faith.

Compared to other things, it might appear a small error, but Jesus says that whoever is unfaithful with very little will also be unfaithful with much. If a person does not let the Bible teach him what is genuine love and kindness, and the right way to address the unbelievers, but rather kowtow to the philosophy of the world in how he must speak and act before the non-Christians, as if they are his masters, should we listen to anything else he has to say? Should we let him stand behind a pulpit to lecture us about truth and error, right and wrong? And would I not be stupid and insane, if I were to listen to his criticisms?

Paul is talking about people who exhibit a form of godliness, but deny its power. The apostle probably has specific people or kinds of people in mind, but the principle is universal. It is always wrong to have a form of piety but deny its power. These people affirm a form of religion, even the Christian religion, but they deny the power of it. They have a form of godliness, but they are still “ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal,” and so on. And, although they have a form of godliness, they “oppose the truth.” Therefore, in this context the denial of the “power” of religion includes both character and doctrine.

Many people are fond of their religious formulas and rituals, but they have no power to live a holy life. Roman Catholic priests may appear pious in a perverse and unbiblical sense. At least their parishioners, who have no understanding of Christianity, regard them as holy men. But many of these priests secretly molest children. They have a form of religion, dress like clowns and mutter nonsense in Latin, but there is no true spiritual power in them.

Then, many people consider themselves pious, and even claim to be Christians, affirming a form of religion, but they deny its power in a doctrinal sense. Some reject the divine inspiration of Scripture. Some reject God’s sovereignty, omniscience, and omnipotence, so that perhaps they affirm various versions of dualism, open theism, Arminianism, and so on. There are those who claim to affirm the authority of Scripture, but reject the virgin birth, or the resurrection of Christ, or the miracles of the apostles. Even though they confess God and Jesus Christ, since they deny the biblical doctrines regarding them, their confession consists of the mere physical motion of speech, making sounds in the air with no meaning or significance. There is no real belief, no real power, and no salvation.

Terrible times are made up of terrible people. Terrible people are those who reject biblical holiness and biblical teaching. Even worse are those who say that they are religious, who put on an appearance of spirituality, but deny the power of true religion in one’s character and doctrine. The list of vices gives us the impression that Paul refers to especially terrible people, but such people are numerous today. They are everywhere. Go out to your balcony and throw a rock, and you will probably hit one of them. As if this is not bad enough, the person you hit probably goes to your church, because churches are full of these terrible people, who have a form of godliness, but deny its power.

Paul says to have nothing to do with them. This does not mean to turn the other way and run from them. They are already among us. But it means that when we discover these people in our churches, we must try them before the church, and when they are found guilty, we must excommunicate them, and expel them from our communities and our gatherings. It means that we are to avoid hiring seminary professors that have a form of godliness, but deny its power in their character and doctrine. If we have already hired some, we must terminate their employment and remove them from seminary property. It means that we must never support churches, conferences, and projects that provide a platform for heretics to speak.

Sometimes people think that even heretics have something good to offer, and all is well if we disallow them from promoting their heresies when they are among us. This is foolish and naïve. It is also disobedience to biblical instruction. Paul writes that we must not “share in the sins of others.” To give heretics any token of respect, support, or endorsement is to share in their sins. It is spiritual adultery, a sign of unfaithfulness to the Lord Jesus. It is far better to follow the apostolic command: “Have nothing to do with them.”