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"But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse..."

Text: 2 Timothy 3:13

THE GODLY AND THE WICKED CONTRASTED

The apostle Paul drew a number of contrasts between the godly and the wicked in his letter to Timothy. The following text is another one.

“But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived.”

2 Timothy 3:13

1. “But”

a) This is a simple particle that introduces contrast.

b) The previous verse focused on how the godly will suffer persecution.

c) This verse focuses on the wicked.

2. “Evil men”

a) Paul did not specify who they were.

b) However he did point out that these were “evil”.

i) The contrast would be with reference to people who are “good”.

ii) Their actions would display the evil that is within them.

3. “Impostors”

a) These are essentially people who pretend that they are believers.

b) Another word is the word “cheats”.

4. What would become of these people who are unrepentant?

a) They will become worse and worse.

i) Evil never stays stagnated in one place.

ii) Evil will descend lower and lower with the passing of time.

b) Deceiving

i) They will attempt to deceive others.

ii) They will even succeed in deceiving people to follow their ways.

c) And being deceived

i) The deceivers themselves will remain in deception.

ii) Worse, they will be further deceived (by others who are more “powerful”).

iii) Their final state could be being “totally deceived”.