Lovers of Self – 2 Timothy 3:2

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Well, I think it is about time for me to start blogging again. I have taken a little break. Normally I like to blog on what I am writing about in a self-published book. For the last couple months, I have been writing a book which I will entitle, Difficult Times in these Last Days: 19 Attributes that Depict these Days. It is taken from 2 Timothy 3:1-5. I have written about 50 pages in the book so far, and so I will try to keep ahead.No problem, since I will only blog once or twice a week and no more than about 600 words. I will also include an unrelated photo—just something nice to look at. So here it is. The first chapter is on “lovers of self,” and you will probably get about five posts on that topic.

Lovers of Self – 2 Timothy 3:2

The Apostle Paul writes to his good friend Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 saying,

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

Generally speaking, the last days is that period from the first coming of Christ until His return—in which it reaches a climax shortly before He comes.[1]  Hence there is no doubt that we are in the last days; and so, the list of nineteen evil attributes in this text are before us now in this present time; and they will get worse before the very end. In Paul’s day, he was looking at these evils as being in the future; but I think, for the most part, we may see them as being now correct to the text in intensity and maybe getting a little worse before He comes. Things were very different a thousand years ago, and a hundred years ago, and in some cases, even twenty years ago. I mean, the same evils were there many years ago, but not as bad as they are now. In these next upcoming blogs, I will attempt to show how they have gotten progressively worse. As Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse.” My purpose in these blogs (this book) is not only to show how evil these days are, but more importantly, to indicate by the progression of evil, how close Jesus’ coming is.

In these blogs, we will go through each point of evil and devote three or four blog posts to each one. I think this first point, that men (people) will be lovers of self, is particularly important as it sets a negative tone for all of them. As Matthew Henry states in his commentary, “Self-love brings in a long train of sins and mischiefs. When men are lovers of themselves, no good can be expected from them…”2 Therefore, in this first point on self-love, eighteen more evils will follow after it.

Is A Love of Self Ever Good?  The answer to that question is yes. If our love for self is not a selfish kind of love, and if we use it to help us love others, then it is good. Here are eight scriptures that indicate that in some cases it is good.

Philippians 2:4. Paul teaches here, “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” This verse definitely indicates that we naturally care for ourselves. But the teaching here, with verse three, is that we must also, at the same time, care for others. In fact, we must regard others as more important than ourselves. I think Paul is saying to the Philippians, love of self will always be there, but we must push it down so that we have room to love and care for others. We must not let our self-love be selfish or to end there. We must move on with our love to include others.

Stay tuned to more verses in the next blog post.

[1] John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible: (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2006), John MacArthur’s notes on 1 Timothy 4:1.

2 Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, PC Study Bible Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All Rights reserved.

Be on Guard

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2 Peter 3:17-18

17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Peter’s words, “knowing this,” means knowing that the false prophets are distorting Scripture. And he indicates that they are to be aware of it and be on guard (to be prayerful and to anticipate any trouble) beforehand, or before they are “carried away, or deceived. And if they are deceived, they would fall from their own steadfastness. In 1 Corinthians 15:58, Paul tells us that we are to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Hence, the purpose of steadfastness is to do the work of the Lord, not to do our own works, in order to look good in front of others.

In verse 18, the last verse of this letter, Peter stresses very importantly, that we are to “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” And, in my opinion, if we follow this advice, He will keep us close to His side and out of the way of false teachers and all evil influences.

Be at Peace with God

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2 Peter 3:14-16

14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Here Peter goes on to say that since we are eager for His coming, we ought also to be at peace with God and to live blamelessly (without grumbling about things, Phil. 2:14-15). And remember that our Lord is patiently waiting for people to repent and be saved; and that is why His coming may seem to take long.

Peter here mentions the Apostle Paul, who wrote on this same subject of His coming; that he was given wisdom from the Lord to understand these hard topics. But Peter wanted them to know that false prophets (particularly those who are “untaught” or have been instructed wrongly) have distorted Paul’s teaching on this subject, and also on all Scriptures. (Today there are many seminaries that are quite liberal and distort the truth of Scripture, so that those who attend graduate without knowing the truth.) 

Expecting His Coming

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2 Peter 3:12-13

12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Along with the effort of trying to live in holiness and godliness (v. 11), we ought to live in expectation of His coming with eager desire for it; because on the other side of the great destruction is all that is new—a new heaven and earth which is totally righteous.

Our Inspiration for Holy Conduct

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2 Peter 3:11

11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

These words are meant not as a question but as an exclamation. Peter is saying that in light of their disastrous future, they ought to be a godly people with holy conduct, for two reasons: 1) to show to God their trust and love for Him; and 2) so that others in the world will see their courageous faith and will desire to be like them.

God’s Judgment will be Sudden and Unexpected

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2 Peter 3:10

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

“The day of the Lord” refers to the judgments of the Lord during the time of the Tribulation, and then also, 1000 years later at the end of the millennial kingdom before the creation of the new heaven and new earth.

The coming of that day, “like a thief,” indicates that His judgment will be sudden, unexpected, and disastrous, especially to the unprepared. 

The next phrase, “the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up,” is descriptive of what will happen during both the Tribulation and the destruction of the earth and the universe after the millennial kingdom. However, as I mentioned earlier, the destruction and the burning during the Tribulation is just on the surface of the earth, but the entire destruction of the earth and universe will come at the very end. This verse seems to refer mainly to that final destruction (referred to again in verse 12).

God Promises Judgment

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2 Peter 3:8-9

8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

The key words in these verses are “His promise,” meaning the promise of His coming to bring judgment with fire (v. 7). In verse eight Peter implied that God sees time differently than we do. He sees all the days of one thousand years just as clearly as He sees one day. He is a transcendent eternal being. He is not restricted by the passage of time as we are. He exists in an eternal present state. God has given us the laws of time so that we may be accountable for all that we do in our life. But He exists outside of those restrictions.

Hence, if we think that the Lord is slow in His coming, He is not—even as we count slowness. He is waiting for us to come to Him in repentance so that we will not perish by His judgment.