Supracultural Principle 93 - A Prophetic Trend

The Second Letter to Timothy

At some point Paul was suddenly taken into custody and impris­oned again in Rome. Before he was sentenced to death, probably by Nero, he wrote his final letter to Timothy. This epistle contains the apostle's final words to the Christian world. Still believing that the Lord's return was imminent, he issued a strong warning.

BIBLICAL BASIS

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money ... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. - 2 Timothy 3:1-2, 4-5

Paul made clear that Christians are to disassociate themselves from people who are self-centered, materialistic, and hedonistic. Understand, of course, that Paul was not teaching isolation from unsaved people. We can only carry out the Great Commission by being light and salt in this world. Rather, Paul was warning against participating with these people in their worldly behavior.

It's always difficult to keep our hearts and motives pure when we have close fellowship with people who are living sinful lives. So we must be on guard against fellowshiping with those who will pull us down to their level. In some instances, we should not even associate with those who have given themselves over to material­ism and sensuality. If we do, we're in danger of becoming like them. This is a particular risk when developing close relationships with people who are materialistic. Many Christians have suc­cumbed to temptation and have developed the same mind-set, in some cases without even realizing it.

When evaluating and applying Paul's exhortations in his final let­ter against the backdrop of our present culture, we can quickly establish two facts: First, we are closer than ever to the Second Coming of Christ. If the time was near when Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy, what can be said about two thousand years later? Second, the world in general reflects the trends outlined by Paul. This is certainly true in our American culture. Many people are "lovers of themselves, lovers of money," and "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:2, 4). We're manifesting these characteristics more every day.

Supracultural Principle 93

A PROPHETIC TREND

Don't let the world's system cause you to love self, money, or pleasure more than God.

The challenge we all face as Christians is that we not allow ourselves to "love the world or anything in the world" (1 John 2:15). This is why Paul exhorted the Roman Christians to avoid allowing their lives to "conform any longer to the pattern of this world" (Romans 12:2).

There's only one solution to this problem. We must be continu­ally "transformed by the renewing" of our minds. It is only then that we will "be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2). This is foundational to everything we do-including the way we view and use our material possessions.

As the Day of Christ draws near, believers should intensify their efforts to practice biblical principles. We should give increased attention to being "strong in the Lord and in his mighty power" (Ephesians 6:10). We should take seriously Paul's exhorta­tion to the Ephesians to "put on the full armor of God" so we can take our stand "against the devil's schemes" (Ephesians 6:11).

Extracted from Dr Gene Getz’s Rich in Every Way