2 Timothy 2:16-18 (ESV)
But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and
more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are
Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the
resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.
“Avoid irreverent babble.” What is meant by irreverent babble? Well, verse
18 gives us a clue as to what that might look like. Hymenaeus and Philetus have
been focusing on what Paul calls irreverent babble. They have been teaching
that the resurrection had already occurred. How they got to that conclusion I
don’t know. Matthew 27:52 says that at the time of Jesus’s death, “The tombs
also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were
raised.” Perhaps they were thinking of that event or had heard about it. Maybe
they got impatient when Jesus did not return right away after his ascension
into Heaven so they began to spiritualize the resurrection. We’re not sure what
motivated them, but their teaching is what Paul called irreverent babble. It is
irreverent in that it fails to take into account Jesus’s teaching and calls
into question the Apostles’ teaching. It is babble because people seem to be
drawn to it despite the fact that it makes no sense. I would classify the Prosperity Gospel as
irreverent babble. It fails to take into account the teachings of Jesus and the
Apostles regarding suffering, and it fails to consider the life and experience
of believers through the ages. Despite the fact that the only ones getting rich
are the prosperity preachers, people are drawn to its irreverent babble. There
are many more teachers out there with a twisted gospel. We don’t necessarily need
to hunt down every false teacher and expose them. What we need to do is to stay
focused on the truth, avoiding irreverent babble. May God give us the
discernment to distinguish between the truth of God’s Word and the irreverent
babble of the world.
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