2 Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. Hollow professors are as hollow trees in an old wood — tall, but pithless, sapless, unsound. Their formality is fitly compared to a bulrush, whereof the colour is fresh, the skin smooth: he is very exact that can find a knot in a bulrush (Isaiah 58:5). But peel it, and what shall you find within but a kind of spongeous, unsubstantial substance? These, as if religion were a comedy, do in voice and gesture act Divine duties, in heart renounce them. Hypocrites only act religion, play devotion; like they are to the ostrich, saith Hugo, which hath wings, but flies not. The swan in the Law was rejected for sacrifice because of her black skin under white feathers. Art may take a man more than nature; but with God, the more art the less acceptance: He loveth truth in the inwards (Psalm 51:6). (J. Trapp.) Parallel Verses KJV: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.WEB: holding a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Turn away from these, also. |
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