2 Timothy 3:7 (LSB)

Passage

always learning and never able to come to the full knowledge of the truth.

Nearby Context

2 Timothy 3:5 holding to a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Keep away from such men as these.

2 Timothy 3:6 For among them are those who enter into households and take captive weak women weighed down with sins, being led on by various desires,

2 Timothy 3:7 always learning and never able to come to the full knowledge of the truth.

2 Timothy 3:8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, disqualified in regard to the faith.

2 Timothy 3:9 But they will not make further progress, for their folly will be obvious to all, just as theirs was also.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "always", "learning", "never", "able", "come", "full", "knowledge", and "truth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "always" and "learning", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "For among them are those who enter..." into verse 8's "Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses...", so "always" and "learning" belong inside that flow. In 2 Timothy context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "always" and "learning" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.