2 Timothy 2:16-18

“Avoid Irreverent Babble”

July 17, 2011

16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

16 But avoid irreverent babble,

Paul has a word for Timothy and Timothy has a word for the church where he serves because Jesus is a Word for the world. If we are determined to preach Christ, the Final Word, and to make right use of the Lord's scalpel, the Scriptures, we must embrace what Paul says in another place, that he “decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” There can be too much religious talk around a church, talk that does not draw us near to Christ or unite us in love for Him and one another. We have to begin to see spiritual distraction for what it is, and avoid irreverent babble. This is not just about what we are willing to speak. It extends to what we are willing to hear.

for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,

How can we distinguish irreverent babble from an honest consideration of a variety of spiritual topics? Irreverent babble leads people into more and more ungodliness. The Lord and His more experienced servants have an eye for the connection between doctrine and life. Listening to a Christ-focused Spirit-filled word from God should yield the good fruit of love. Other preoccupations lead to sin. By their fruits you will know them.

and their talk will spread like gangrene.

Listening to irreverent babble encourages people to speak it more and more. It spreads like a disease that brings death to those that embrace it.

Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth,

This is not just a theory. Specific people that Paul and Timothy both knew had swerved from the truth of Christ in significant ways. Through their religious rabbit trails they had walked away from close fellowship with Christ and His good news.

saying that the resurrection has already happened.

Hemenaeus and Philetus did this by teaching that the resurrection had already happened. It is true that the resurrection era has begun in Jesus, the firstfruits from the dead; that the dead in Christ have life in heaven now; that we who were dead in our trespasses and sins have been made alive, born again from above. But it is not true that the resurrection from the dead has already happened in all its fullness. To insist on this false doctrine is to deny the promise of Ezekiel 37, Daniel 12:1-3, and the promise of Jesus and the New Testament that there will be a physical resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

They are upsetting the faith of some.

Resurrection fullness comes when Jesus returns. Christians may say too much about taxes, politics, home values, or any other thing. But don't think of these as the worst kind of gangrene. Much more dangerous is spiritual and theological talk that draws us away from the hope that Christ secured for us through His death and resurrection. This upsets the faith of some. Best not to teach or even listen to that kind of babble.