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17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” ~ 2 Timothy 2:17-19
As we have been considering, it is God's grace that empowers us to fight the most important battles of guarding the truth and loving people enough to tell them the truth. Given our failed attempts to love God, His grace abounds so that we are perfect in His eyes through the cross of Christ.
In v.17-18, we read, "17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some."
When we totally depart from the truth, corruption will take over. The Apostle uses gangrene which is an infection of the bloodstream that spreads rapidly throughout the body, creating the foulest of smells, to describe what happens when truth is totally rejected. Similar to false teaching, gangrene spreads, infects, and kills other tissue. It spreads and infects the body of believers, the church. This infection must be exposed and removed. Only sound biblical teaching can keep a group of believers healthy and growing.
Hymenaeus was first introduced to us in Paul's first letter to Timothy. Paul wrote of him, "whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme," (1 Timothy 1:20). Evidently, being turned over had not done Hymenaeus any good, because he is still spreading his false doctrine throughout the church, teaching that the resurrection had already happened.
Hymenaeus taught that we experienced spiritual resurrection when we were born again and that is all the resurrection there is going to be. There was a Greek philosophy which was prevalent in Ephesus at that time, which said that the body was evil, so it was unthinkable that God would ever be concerned with resurrecting bodies.
In his teaching, Hymenaeus took only partial truth from the revelation of the Scriptures. This, by the way, is how heresy starts. Hymenaeus ignored the Lord's own words when he predicted that the day was coming when "all who are in the grave shall hear the voice of the Son of God and shall come forth, some to a resurrection of condemnation and some to a resurrection of redemption," (John 5:28b-29).
In v.19 we read, "Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."
This verse begins with one of the most important words in all of Scripture, "Nevertheless". Even though false teachers fool some, the truth of God will triumph in the end. Comforting is the thought that the Lord knows those who are really His and nothing can remove us out of His family. This is so, due to the fact that His life is in us, and His presence will not let us be taken from Him. His presence also causes us to persevere in the faith, so we will not compromise with evil so much that we are banished from His presence forever.
According to Philippians 1:6, we are those who having had a good work begun in us, that work will be performed until the day of Jesus Christ. We are those who can never be separated from the love of God in Christ. We are those of whom the Lord Jesus said, “All that the Father gives to me will come to me, and I have lost none of them, but shall raise them up at the last day.”
Paul reminds us that we are sealed. This seal denotes God's ownership of us. The Greek word for "sealed" means marked out as the possession of its owner. And, having believed on His Son for our salvation, He has sealed us with His Holy Spirit. The reason we continue in the faith is because He inhabits us and we are His for eternity.
