#416

Perilous Times: Unthankful, Unholy, Unloving, Unforgiving

From Bad To Worse
…unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving … (2 Tim 3:2-3, NKJV)

All of these next words are conditions of a heart and mind that doesn’t realize or simply ignores and even despise all these things in God. They can’t have these traits and continue to enjoy the fallen world around them. As we will see in their descriptions, they are on their way to what Paul says in Romans 1 is a reprobate mind. As with all people who turn their backs on God, they must anaesthetize the conscience their Creator placed in them over and over and over again until it is seared from the heat of their passions and lusts and He sees that it is time to let them fully fall into the pit of hellish behaviors that makes them smile. Sin is enjoyable for a season, but there is a piper to pay in the end.

Totally Against Grace

The word for “unthankful” here is axáristos (ach-ar'-is-tos) (an adjective, derived from 1 /A "not" and 5483 /xarízomai, "experiencing grace") – properly, without God's grace (favor) which results in unthankfulness (literally, "ungraceful"). Here we see the progression from Godly to ungodly and it isn’t hidden under a bushel at all. This is not some ignorance of all the grace God gives them rather they know all about it for they see it in action all around them. They see the natural disasters that seem to spare more than expected. They hear of stories where things work out when they couldn’t possibly have considering all the known factors. And they may even be in the medical profession and see patients recover against insurmountable odds or simply held a newborn infant. They travel or live in some of the most beautiful locations on the earth and marvel as it takes their breath away, a breath that testifies to the one who continually gives it to them. They must resist the urge to see this grace in action from even their fellow men and women as this quote from Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers testifies:

The children who begin life with disobedience to their parents, with rare exceptions, are ungrateful to all others who may show them kindness in their life journey.

Look At The Heart

The next term is “unholy” and would seem to be part and parcel with being unthankful, however it points to another reason to be those who the Apostle Paul tells Timothy to shun. Going back to the original text we see that word used here is anósios (an-os'-ee-os) (an adjective, derived from 1 /A, "without" and 3741 /hósios, "reverence for what should be hallowed") – properly, utter disregard of what is sacred, i.e. willful (arrogant) disrespect of the things of God; "impious; wicked" (J. Thayer). Some commentaries also use the word “profane” since it is in a similar listing in 1 Timothy 1:9. I like how the notes in Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers succinctly say it is unholy through their want of inward purity. In Matthew Henry’s commentary he says this:

Men are unholy and without the fear of God, because unthankful for the mercies of God. We abuse God's gifts, if we make them the food and fuel of our lusts.

Clarke’s Commentary describes people like this as having no heart reverence for God. As you can see from these many commentaries and the original Greek, they willfully and arrogantly disrespect God. In short, they know exactly what they are doing and sadly, many of these people not only attend our services, they are on our worship teams and fill out pulpits. Not all, but enough for Paul to warn us about them. I might also say that this list will also define those who will lead and those that will follow the one-world religious system seen in the Tribulation.

Unloving And Unforgiving

Various translations can help us see what these two words mean:

[They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman), relentless (admitting of no truce or appeasement) … (AMPC)

without natural affection, implacable … (ASV)

without natural affection, trucebreakers … (AKJV)

They will be hardheaded and never give in to others … (TLB)

crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending … (TMG)

They will not love each other. No one can get along with them … (NLV)

With the first word, the interpretations are varied and can mean parents who treat their children with disrespect and even offer them up to be sacrificed. As one could rightfully deduce, this is not how parents should treat their offspring. Current examples could also include selling their sons and daughters into all manner of trafficking trades. The second word is also seen in accounts of people who will never forgive a wrong done to them even to the point of tracking them down as some Aboriginal tribes did. In his commentary on a similar list in Romans 1, Barne’s Notes on the Bible says this:

It is well known that among them (Aboriginals), neither time nor distance will obliterate the memory of an offence; and that the avenger will pursue the offender over hills and streams, and through heat or snow, happy if he may at last, though at the expiration of years, bury the tomahawk in the head of his victim, though it may be at the expense of his own life.

Summing It Up

In an article from Ron Matsen on the web site khouse.org he says this about these four words:

Thanksgiving flows from the lesser to the greater. These people hate recognizing anyone but themselves. To be “unthankful” to either God or man for their provision is to declare that everyone else in their life as lesser in stature and unworthy of respect. They seem to be only “set apart” unto their own pleasures. The foundation of Biblical Love is giving, not taking. These people see no reason to live a life that has personal sacrifice for the benefit of anyone other than themselves.

And from his commentary on the same words, Ray Stedman denotes this:

With that is linked the word, "inhuman." This means lacking in normal affections, brutish, beastly, cruel. With that is the word, "implacable" -- meaning beyond reason, unappeasable, having a bitter, unrelenting attitude that nobody can talk to or soften in any way.

All of these attitudes occur within the framework of a Christian profession -- of people who say they are Christians, and act as such on Sunday, but during the week, at home and in business, have an entirely different outlook and attitude. They are cruel, vicious and implacable.

As Paul rightfully tells Timothy and us, we are to be careful when we see such behaviors and attitudes.