God’s Word for You
2 Timothy 3:1-5 The ungodly
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, July 1, 2026
In the last days, every form of vice and sin will appear. Paul encourages Timothy to avoid all examples of such sins, which strive always to seduce believers and disturb the truth of the gospel. This is the moral climate of the last days, but every Christian since Luther understands that we constantly live in the last days, whether we will be among those few who will still remain standing on the earth when Christ returns. We must watch, and warn, and preach, and pray.
3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will be terrible times. 2 For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, blasphemous, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 lacking human affection, irreconcilable, devilish, without self-control, brutal, enemies of what is good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with pride, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
The “last days” in this passage are those times just before the return of Christ for “the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment” (Hebrews 6:2). Those days will be hard times, terrible times. Matthew uses this word to describe the violent men who lived in the tombs (Matthew 8:28).
People will be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money.” These things begin by standing opposed to the First Commandment, or taken as a pair, they oppose the first table of the law and then the second table, for those who are “lovers of money.” Luther: “Every human being is not only a liar but is also ϕίλαυτος (selfish). He always convinces himself, takes for granted that he knows better, and despises and hates doctrine.”
People will also be “proud, arrogant.” The first of these two words (ἀλαζών) especially means a proud man who also boasts, especially when he is drunk like the fool in Habakkuk 2:5. The second term (ὑπερήϕανος) is familiar from Mary’s Magnificat, “He has scattered the proud.”
People will be “blasphemous, disobedient to their parents.” Here again there is a violation of the first table of the law and then the second table. In the law of Moses, the punishment for either sin was punishable by stoning to death (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). Also, “The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley” (Proverbs 30:17).
People will be “ungrateful, unholy.” This pair also cuts to the heart of unbelief. “The hope of an ungrateful man will melt like wintry frost, and flow away like waste water.” Those people who are unholy always and only do unholy things, for nothing that they attempt, no matter how righteous it might seem, can ever be viewed favorably by God. Instead they “commit lewd (unholy) acts” (Ezekiel 22:9).
People will be “lacking human affection, irreconcilable.” The first term is not just “without love,” but without any normal human affection or emotion. And Paul also says, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be under a curse!” (1 Corinthians 16:22). The irreconcilable man refuses even a true apology. He is impossible to please, and he should be avoided. As a ruler, he will be a tyrant and he will turn his kingdom into a slaughterhouse.
They will also be “devilish.” This is the adjective of diabolos (διάβολος) “the devil.” It can mean someone who is slanderous, or always accusing (Psalm 109:6). Luther is fond of saying, “It is the devil’s rule to build a chapel next to a church of Christ, that is, to appropriate the works and examples of the fathers, disfigure them, and turn them into a work that is performed without any regard for faith.”
People will be “without self-control, brutal, enemies of what is good.” These, I think, explain themselves. Each one is inclined toward violence, for unbelief is hardly ever passive. It attacks Christ and his people. Proverbs 27:20 adds, in the Greek, “The (insatiable eyes of men) are an abomination to the Lord, and the uninstructed do not restrain their tongue.” That is, they have no self-control over what they say, what they do, and what they think. This is another way of saying “without self-control, brutal, and enemies of what is good.”
People will be “treacherous, reckless, swollen with pride, lovers of pleasure.” All of these are obvious and clear. But it could also be pointed out here that all of these descriptions are substantives (nouns or adjectives) rather than being based on verbs. This means that Paul is speaking about the very nature of unbelief. These aren’t just things that unbelievers do. This is what unbelievers are.
In addition to all these things, such unbelievers will also have an outward form of godliness. The world might even think that such people are more godly than any Christians who remain in those dark final days. But whatever their outward works might be, they will deny that anything comes from Christ, whether his power, or merits, or salvation. The gospel will have no place in their hearts or in the things that they say. They will appear to be “spiritual,” but they will be scoffers (Jude 1:18); they will have nothing to do with Christ. About such a man Luther said, “If I were to cut open his heart I would find there nothing but ridicule about the Trinity, about the sacrament, and so on. Everything is a laughing matter for him. He doesn’t think that God is anything superior to man or that God can speak beyond man’s ability to understand.”
Perhaps we’re tempted to think, “I can spot these things a mile away! I can keep clear of them the same way I can keep clear of the stink of a dead skunk.” But do not become too sure of yourself! The Christian who is assailed by all eighteen or nineteen of these marks of unbelief will throw both hands up to cover his ears to such teaching. But the devil is a clever rascal. He might mix only one of these things in amongst fine-sounding words or the actions of a charismatic leader, so that we end up drawn toward a cruel and violent man who has no faith at all, yet he might be subtle of speech more than any wild animal, seeming quite civilized, wise, crafty, and “folksy” with just the right sprinkling of coarse talk. But the serpent was more crafty and subtle than any of the wild things as well, and he seemed quite civilized to Eve, wise, crafty, and perhaps even “folksy” to her (Genesis 3:1). But with such bona fides he led her to sin, and her husband too, and with them all mankind. So be careful, be watchful, give your attention to Christ above all things, and make your goal those things that we recite at the end of the creed: “The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.