It Starts Small

God’s Word provides detailed explanation of Heavenly wisdom, which leads to godliness, or earthy demonic wisdom which leads to corruption.

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Today we start looking at the opposite of heavenly wisdom. We look at the corruption of worldly wisdom on our behavior and character. Corrupted wisdom is like a cancer. Our scripture today uses the affliction of gangrene. dangerous and potentially fatal condition that happens when the blood flow to a large area of tissue is cut off. This causes the tissue to break down and die. Gangrene often turns the affected skin a greenish-black color. However, the word gangrene is not related to the color green, but to the condition itself. It comes from Greek and Latin words for a gnawing sore or decayed tissue.

Paul teaches us that giving undue attention to distracting arguments is like introducing a disease into the body of Christ. When this disease is left untreated, it continues to infect more and more parts of the body, spreading further and further. Like a physical illness, the talk of false teachers spreads throughout a congregation or body of believers, causing much pain. If Luke was involved in writing this letter (2 Timothy 4:11), his use of this precise term would have been intentional.

Paul specifically mentions “Hymenaeus and Philetus” as false teachers. Hymenaeus was certainly the same person mentioned by Paul earlier in his first letter to Timothy.

²⁰ Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.

1 Timothy 1:20

Philetus is mentioned only here in the New Testament and may have joined Hymenaeus later as a partner or disciple in his false teachings. Their false teachings are mention in the next verse. Hymenaeus and Philetus are mentioned as part of a group from Ephesus who had deviated from the “sound teachings” Paul mentioned earlier.

Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 1:13

By professing it, some people have departed from the faith.

Grace be with you all. 1 Timothy 6:21

There was a specific error coming from these men. Paul says they were claiming the resurrection has already happen. The same issue was rising up within the Thessalonian Christ followers.

For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

1 Thessalonians 4:15

Paul had to remind them that the second coming of Christ had not happen. When it does happen, the dead in Christ will rise first followed by all living Christ followers.

 ¹⁷ Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18

The false teaching about the resurrection was causing a crisis of faith for newer Christians in Ephesus. Not all were fooled, but many were. It had become a large enough problem, that Paul had to address it in both letters to Timothy.

The world’s wisdom leads is babblings that spread like cancer. When we pursue godliness, we need to keep our hearts and minds in the Word of God so that when false teachers come to give corrupted wisdom, we can stand against it knowing it is false according to the Word of God.

Corrupted wisdom spreads like cancer.

Do we have corrupted worldly wisdom that has taken up root within our heart? Are there things we know are blatantly against the Word of God we hang on to? Do we give false teachings and corrupted wisdom to others in the form of “sounds advice?”

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If you are following along in the Journal, the back pages have a table of Heavenly Wisdom vs. Corrupted Wisdom. Today’s scripture is in the blocks under the column Corrupted Wisdom. If you get stuck, you can visit this page and see my example.

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