and their word will spread as a gangrene; of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
[men] who as to the truth have gone astray, saying that the resurrection has taken place already; and overthrow the faith of some.
Paul names two men whose teaching had gone wrong: they did not deny the resurrection, but said it was already past. How far can an error like that reach into a believer's life, and where does it stop?
These were not outsiders attacking from a distance. The verb Paul uses for going wrong carries the idea of an archer's shot falling wide.
The apostle points out that this dreadful evil among the saints — once, if not any longer — was no imaginary danger to haunt souls, but a fact calling for healthy fear and horror: "Of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who as to the truth went astray," or literally, missed the mark, saying that "the resurrection had taken place already, and overthrow the faith of some."
Commentators agree the error was subtle rather than blunt, and that its attraction was its air of deeper insight. One writer suggests where they may have found their proof-text.
These men, it seems, held the place of teachers. They fell into a serious error: they did not deny the resurrection, but said it was already past. This subtle form of false teaching is worth special attention. Many believers today could be caught by a seeming super-spirituality that sounds plausible. The teaching of Hymenaeus and Philetus had exactly that pretentious character, for they made the resurrection a spiritual thing. It is quite possible they based their argument on Ephesians 2, where we read that God has made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up together. But "concerning the truth" they erred — literally, they missed the mark. The effect was to overthrow the faith of some.
The danger was not too little interest in truth but too much confidence about it. That makes the warning land closest to the people who care most.
It is deeply interesting to weigh the character of this error. It was not ignorance of the truth so much as exaggeration. It was the exalting of present privilege to the denial of our hope at Christ's coming. No doubt they prided themselves on higher truth than others taught, and on superior intelligence. This is an extreme danger for people who truly thirst for the truth of God and value it. If they are not watchful, they fall into the trap most easily.
Our Lord calls us to share His sufferings now and to be glorified later. This error cuts the waiting short.
But the error that the resurrection is already past is fatal to this endurance in the meantime. If it were true, it would entitle us to reign as kings now, to take our ease, to enjoy present honour and glory. The enemy framed and calculated it for one purpose: to thwart the will of our Lord, who calls us to share His sufferings until we are glorified together. So it is false as a doctrine and ruinous in practice. It also destroys all communion with Christ, which means sharing His affections in separation from the world.
The error changed whole churches, not only individuals. Take away the future, and the people of God stop travelling.
I think I see the form of the church settling down into the world in the doctrine of Hymenaeus and Philetus: if the resurrection is already past, then here we are, settled in our final state. No one had yet formed it into a system. It simply took away the expectation of the Lord and heavenly hopes. For if the resurrection was past, then Christ had freed His people spiritually and left them here, content in their worldly home. The church was no longer a stranger and a pilgrim, a bride waiting for the Bridegroom. She had settled into a permanent, accepted place on the earth.
Paul says the faith "of some" was upset. One writer explains what "the faith" means here.
"The faith" here means the thing believed. These false teachers really turned souls aside from the truth and led them away from what they had said they believed. It is not a question of salvation, but for the time, at least, these misguided people gave up the truth.
The loss was real. It also had a limit.
In teaching this they tampered with the very foundations of the faith of the gospel. They overthrew the personal faith of anyone who came under their power. They could not, of course, overthrow the faith of Christianity. That was a divine foundation, and whatever God founds always stands firm as a rock. Nor could they overthrow anything God had founded in the hearts of His people. That always remains, come what may, and "the Lord knows those who are His" — even if false teaching had misled them, so that others could no longer tell them apart.
- Missed — "swerved" means missing the mark. These two men taught inside the church, and they shot wide of the truth.
- Stretched — the error was exaggeration, not ignorance. They pushed present privilege so far that it denied the hope of Christ's coming.
- Flattered — it looked like deeper insight. That is why people who value truth most fall into this trap most easily.
- Settled — if the end has come, endurance and suffering with Christ end too. The bride stops waiting and makes a home in the world.
- Bounded — the damage is real but limited. False teaching can upset "the faith of some," but it cannot touch what God has founded, either in Christianity or in His people's hearts.
Yet the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, [The] Lord knows those that are his; and, Let every one who names the name of [the] Lord withdraw from iniquity.
Paul writes this line right after naming two men whose teaching had upset the faith of some. Everything looked unstable, so he points Timothy to a foundation that cannot be shaken and to the two truths stamped on it.
The verse opens with "But." It turns from the wreckage to what the enemy never touched.
Hymenaeus and Philetus had helped to overturn the foundations of the faith in some of the saints. But despite all that Satan had managed to do through them, the foundation of God stood, and was immovable. This is no small comfort in a day of confusion and ruin. The enemy may be allowed to wreck the public form of Christianity... but there still remains for faith this sure foundation of God on which souls may rest, whatever the fury of the storm, in perfect peace.
Commentators differ on what the foundation is.
Some have guessed that it is the doctrine of the resurrection, others the promises, some again election. Others have suggested the church, or, with better reason, Christ Himself. But there seems no sufficient ground for defining the foundation in this place. If the Holy Spirit has left it general, why should anyone seek to limit the thought? The object clearly is to mark what stays firm and of God in the middle of confusion and ruin.
The verse joins two pictures: something buried, and something on display.
A foundation is supposed to be out of sight, but a seal is visible. We have the two metaphors here. A foundation is something settled that cannot be changed, and a seal is the emblem of authority, and the sign of unchangeable purpose... His seal is open to the inspection of all.
The two halves of the inscription do different work in us. The older translation quoted here reads "the name of Christ" where the ESV has "the name of the Lord."
It has been well said that the seal on God's foundation has two sides. One bears the inscription, "The Lord knows those who are His." The other says, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." The first is as peace-giving as the second is practical.
The Lord's knowledge matters because human eyes had lost the ability to tell who was His.
All those in Asia had turned away from the Apostle. The profession of Christianity was so widespread, and so merged in the world and worldly things, that the outward eye could no longer tell who were the true saints of God.
The same words also settle a believer's fear about his own standing.
The foolish virgins have the profession, but not the Spirit — they are not Christ's... So when the Bridegroom comes, they are unprepared and shut out. "I do not know you," the Bridegroom says. Could this be said of any saint, however unsatisfactory his state? No; for it is written again, "The Lord knows those who are His."
"Iniquity" here is wider than crime or scandal.
The Greek word here for "iniquity" is adikia. W. E. Vine's Dictionary of New Testament Words says it means "a condition of not being right." We are to separate from all that is not right — from all that is not according to God's word.
Two things matter here: which verb the seal uses, and who has to obey it.
This is not at all the question we have to judge when it comes to departing from iniquity. We are not asked to decide whether others are the Lord's... if one names the name of the Lord, he is responsible to depart from unrighteousness, whatever others may do, or whoever they may be... he is not told simply to abstain from it, but to depart from it, which means a separation in some very real sense.
Both halves of the seal appear together in the account of Korah's rebellion against Moses.
In that account we have, "The Lord will show who are His, and who is holy," said by Moses in reply to Korah and his company. About Dathan and Abiram, he had to say, "Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs."... We are neither sovereign nor all-knowing. God is both, and in due time He will make clear who are His. We are, however, responsible to act in line with His word, and avoid all sharing in the error and evil.
- Foundation. Men can wreck the outward form. The foundation God laid stands beyond Satan's reach, and faith rests on it in the storm.
- Seal. The foundation lies out of sight. Its seal is public: an emblem of authority with two inscriptions, one comforting, one commanding.
- Known. The first inscription is God's side: in a scene too confused for the eye to sort out, no true saint escapes His notice, and to none of them will He ever say, "I do not know you."
- Depart. The second is ours. We do not just avoid what is not right; we separate from it. It binds each person who names the Lord's name, whatever others do.
- Balance. We are neither sovereign nor all-knowing; God is both. He will show who are His in His time; our part meanwhile is obedience, not sorting people out.