From their number come those creatures who worm their way into people’s houses and find easy prey in silly women with an exaggerated sense of sin and morbid cravings—who are always learning and yet never able to grasp the truth.

2 Timothy 3:6-7 (Phillips)

 

If what you have learned about God's grace has not caused you to become more like Jesus, you have not truly believed it. This was the problem that the Apostle Paul addressed in his second letter to Timothy. Some believers are taught that believing in Christ alone was insufficient. This was because they undervalued the gospel and ignored what Christ accomplished through His finished work on the Cross. Instead, they enjoyed chasing after the latest spiritual fads and spurious claims.

According to Paul, these believers were "always learning," but they never fully arrived at "the knowledge of the truth." The Greek word for "learning" has the same meaning as "disciple". In other words, these believers were not genuinely following Jesus. Despite appearing to seek knowledge, they were unteachable.

Why?

This is because they had selective hearing, which means they only want to know what they want to know. As a result, they would never mature as disciples because they did not learn the knowledge of the truth. In the gospel, knowledge involves more than simply being aware of the truth; it also entails being transformed by the truth.

In the context of 2 Timothy 3:7, the Greek word "knowledge" is epignōsis, which refers to precise or perfect truth. Jesus is the perfect truth. This is why Paul asks God to give every believer the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we can fully understand Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:17-18). When we fully value and walk in the knowledge of the truth that is in Christ, we will grow and mature into true disciples of Christ who bear fruit for His Kingdom.