Bible Strands
2 Timothy 3:5
having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul, writing to Timothy from imprisonment, is in the middle of a catalogue of vices (3:1–9) that will characterize the last days; this verse is the hinge between the list and its practical consequence.
The words — μόρφωσιν (morphōsin) means a shape, a mold, an outward form — the appearance without the substance. ἠρνημὲνοι (ērnēmenoi) is a perfect participle: the denial is not a moment but an established, ongoing state.
The thread — Isaiah 29:13 (lips honor, hearts far), Titus 1:16 (profess to know God, deny by works), and Matthew 23:27 (whitewashed tombs) all press the same distinction between surface and reality.
Why it lands — The imperative "Turn away" is not a suggestion; it demands that a reader learn to distinguish between the shape of religion and its actual power, and to refuse the former when it is all that is offered.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 29:13 Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.
- Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Matthew 23:27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
- 1 Timothy 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
- Romans 2:20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
- Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
- Titus 3:10 Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition,
- Ezekiel 33:30 As for you, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One speaks to another, each saying to his brother, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD!’
- Romans 16:17 Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.
- 2 Timothy 2:16 But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness,