Impostors

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Paul began this part of his letter by delineating the traits that would characterize the people living in the last days. While it is true that every generation since Christ has exhibited some of these ungodly traits in their allotted time in history, this section of Scripture is reads like a laundry list of the prevailing attitudes and behaviors or our own time.

Verse 13 goes on to say, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

Take a closer look at the word “impostors” in this verse. First, consider the definition of impostor—one who “assumes [a] false identity or title for the purpose of deception” (MerriamWebster.com). To assume an identity or title that is not your own is lying.

Next, impostors are grouped in verse 13 with evil men. Since lying violates the Word of God, it’s not hard to understand why the Scripture places impostors alongside evil men as those to beware of in the last days.

The verse continues to reveal that impostors will proceed from bad to worse. A lying individual who supposes that he won’t get caught in his falsehood will likely continue to lie. In fact, the lies will become more and more far-fetched because this individual counts on never getting caught or facing consequences. And since lying violates the Word of God, obviously telling a lie is bad. However, as this person continues in his deception and his lies snowball, he gets worse. Impostors—unless they repent—will proceed from bad to worse, just like the Bible says.

Last of all, verse 13 tells us how impostors spend time. They are busy deceiving and being deceived on an ongoing basis. When a person invests in deception, he will eventually believe his own lies. Because of this, deceivers become very deceived. In other words, impostors don’t live in reality. And if those in leadership posts throughout the nation are involved in any part of the deception cycle, their grasp of reality is, at best, faulty, and those under their authority will likely suffer because of it. Hence, the need to pray.

This scenario spelled out in 2 Timothy 3 has caused many in the Body of Christ great concern. If the evil men and impostors among us are going to proceed from bad to worse, then what hope is there for us to even dream that our prayers will be answered?

In the next couple of days, I want to share with you some “inside facts” I discovered in 2 Timothy 3 that have given me great encouragement and resolve. It is my desire that you, also, will find comfort and be fueled to continue in effective prayer for our nation despite what you may see with your eyes.

Stay tuned!

Dorothy