The apostle Paul was adamant in his stand against false teaching and wrong living. His own strong nature seen in his behaviour before he came to Christ was taken by the Holy Spirit and transformed into a powerful warrior for truth. No one ever doubted where Paul stood as far as the whole Gospel was concerned. The two men mentioned in verses 19 and 20 obviously were prominent in the church at Ephesus. They must have been keen Christians at one time regularly attending the services of the church and joining in worship with other believers. But when we put 2 Timothy 2:18 alongside the reference here, we see that they "wandered away from the truth." It seems that instead of witnessing for Christ, they had gradually drifted further and further away and had begun spreading false teaching, particularly about the resurrection being past already. The problem with false teaching is that it often attracts others. Something new, something novel will always appeal to people. J. B. Phillips paraphrases 2 Timothy 2:17 in this way; false teachers are "dangerous as blood poisoning to the blood and spread like sepsis from a wound." False teaching is never easy to deal with without causing division. Many churches have been split over it. But Paul was very firm. The words "I have handed (them) over to Satan that they might learn not to blaspheme" could not be stronger although they are difficult to interpret today. It could mean that Paul was excommunicating them or at least putting them out of the membership of the church for a stated period until they repented. It is clear that false teaching must be dealt with and the persons concerned disciplined. The lesson for us from the example of these two men and Paul's words to Timothy is found in verse 19 - we need to "hold on to the faith" and to preserve a clean conscience in daily living. The Holy Spirit will enable us to do this if we will allow Him and will keep us true to Christ. |
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