What Will the Last Days Look Like?

Moving on from the previous several articles in 2 Timothy 2, let’s look at the start of chapter 3.

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 such people.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/2ti.3.1-5.NIV

First, off, note that there is no “maybe” starting off this passage.  This is what Paul was telling Timothy would happen (or was happening), and I believe that this was a truth revealed by God to Paul.

This is a pretty extensive list, but let’s look at a couple of things from this chapter.  Note in verse 5 that these people that Timothy is being warned about might seem godly or religious, but they have missed the true power of the gospel.  Any religion that says there’s a way to God other than Jesus Christ might seem nice: its adherents might be polite people, and they might do good things.  However, without the truth, there is no power for salvation.  (Paul wrote something else about that in Romans 1:14-17.)  Without Jesus, any other religious group is just a bunch of people trying to find God on their own, and – regrettably – failing.  No wonder we need to get the truth out to this world!

Another thing I noticed is in verse 7 (not in the excerpt above), where certain people are described as learning but not getting the truth.  You can be really smart and not know Jesus, but if you don’t know Jesus, you’ve missed the truth.  There are people with super-high IQ’s who haven’t experienced the truth of Jesus.

On the one hand, for those who haven’t heard the gospel yet, this is on us (i.e., you and me, if you are also part of the body of Christ as a follower of Jesus).  From later information in this chapter, though, I suspect that Paul isn’t necessarily talking here about those who haven’t yet heard the good news.  We still need to get it out there, of course, but perhaps that wasn’t what Paul was writing about here.

On the other hand, for those around us who have heard the gospel and chose to reject it, we can still continue to follow God’s Word and God’s direction, engage them when He tells us to (avoiding them when necessary, though, as Paul wrote here), and keep praying for their souls.  Don’t forget the instructions from Paul to Timothy at the end of the previous chapter (see 2 Timothy 2:22-26).  We should “flee” evil things, pursue good things, avoid conversations that are useless (or worse!), but also gently lead opponents back to the truth, seeking their repentance and not their ruin.

I suspect that the false teachers that Timothy was dealing with had acquired a lot of knowledge.  Not all of it was necessarily factually correct, though, but even if it was, it wasn’t getting them to the truth that they needed.

Now, when it comes to what Paul meant by “the last days”, the easy question for me to ask is whether or not we see people doing all of these things around us today.  (Of course we do.)  Are we “in the last days” now, when times are difficult?  (I think so, although I tend to favor the idea that the entire church age is covered by the “last days”, as does Mark Scott in the study guide cited below.  If that’s correct, then Timothy and Paul lived in the last days, just as we do.)

However, rather than dwelling too long on how “other” people live in the last days, let’s each pause and ask how well we ourselves are doing (since we’re probably in similar “last days” to what Paul and Timothy lived in).  Are we living the life of “righteousness, faith, love and peace” mentioned in the previous chapter (see 2 Timothy 2:22)?  Are we committed to those ideals, or have we gotten caught up in any of the behaviors listed here?

If you’ve strayed away from God’s ideal, I’m not here to condemn you, since I’m in the same boat.  Instead, I am here to challenge you with Paul’s instructions from the previous chapter (see 2 Timothy 2:15, 20-21, for instance).  Towards that goal, let’s work – both individually and together – to be honorable implements in God’s household, ready to serve whenever we are called upon to do so.

From Sunday School lesson prepared for March 30, 2025

References:

• 1717 Bible Studies, 2 Timothy, © 2025 Christian Standard Media.
• Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
• The College Press NIV Commentary – 1, 2 Timothy & Titus, by C. Michael Moss.  © 1994 College Press Publishing Co.