Please explain what ‘without natural affection’ means in 2 Timothy 3:3.
Let me start by stating there are two issues that sound very similar. There are those who are ‘without natural affection’ and there are those who have ‘unnatural affections.’ Let’s look briefly at each one.
We read in Romans 1:26-28, “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” (NKJV). This is what we would refer to as UNNATURAL AFFECTIONS!
Because of constant rejection of the Lord, He ‘gave them up’, and ‘gave them over’ to do that which their hard, wicked hearts longed for. Here, we see that in their sinful and lustful lives, men and women turned to homosexuality. The Lord calls this ‘debased’ or ‘reprobate’. It is so important to see that the Lord did not turn them into homosexuals. He simply turned them lose to indulge their own lusts and allowed them to follow their perverted desires.
Now, to answer your question, let us read 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, WITHOUT NATURAL AFFECTION, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” Here, again, we see the condition of those who absolutely refuse to bow their knee to the Lord Jesus and own Him as their Lord and savior. Their wickedness and depravity know no bounds. In this portion, each wicked trait is worse than the one that precedes it.
I am particularly struck by those who are ‘disobedient to parents.’ This indicates the great sinfulness of children…those who are still under the control of their parents. There are some who, very early in life, reject the Lord and enter into a life that is so wicked and ungodly. We will not look at each one of these wicked characteristics of those whose behavior reflects the truth that we are truly in the ‘last days’. I encourage you to reflect upon each one and consider how prevalent this is today in our society.
What does it mean to be ‘without natural affection’? This is somewhat different than having unnatural affection. Let us consider what ‘natural affection’ looks like. It is the love of a mother towards her children. It is the love of a man towards his godly wife. It is the love of honesty, faithfulness, truth, modesty, etc. So many today do not possess this natural affection. We read or hear often of abandoned babies immediately after they are born. Left to die by an uncaring mother. It is because they are “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.”
In these last days, people love themselves and they love pleasure…even though some put on a front of being godly. May we be wise and turn away from such people. May we be sure not to follow the example of the world today. The Lord says in Matthew 16:24, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” To follow the Lord requires that we love the Lord more than we love ourselves, it requires self-denial rather than indulging in self pleasures, it requires fixing our eyes upon our savior and not upon the wicked influences of the world. (CC) (502.4)