First Timothy, part 5
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will
abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been
seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to
abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving
by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is
good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:1-5, NIV)
The
Apostle Paul continues in his letter to Timothy. After instructing him on the proper form of
worship and giving him the qualifications of church leadership, Paul warns
Timothy about false doctrine creeping into the church. In the pastoral epistles (1 & 2 Timothy,
Titus), Paul spends a considerable amount of time telling his young apprentices
the importance of sound doctrine ("You must teach what is in accord
with sound doctrine." Titus 2:1).
The word "doctrine" just means teaching, while the word
"sound" means healthy. Paul
wanted his protégé to profess healthy teachings.
Well, Paul
warns Timothy that eventually false doctrine will come into the church: The Spirit clearly says that in later
times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things
taught by demons. Paul tells
Timothy that some people will abandon the true faith (apostates) and be
deceived into teaching things taught by demons.
Now don't think that demons actually manifested themselves to the
apostates and said, "here's what you're to teach." What Paul is saying is that these false teachings
are demon-inspired. The Bible clearly
teaches that there are two kinds of people in the world: children of light and children of
darkness. Paul makes this distinction
when he says, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and
sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of
the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who
are disobedient" (Ephesians 2:1-2). If you're not a child of light (a Christian),
then you're a child of darkness; and if you're a child of darkness, then you're
under the influence of Satan and his minions.
The false teachers Paul warns Timothy about are people who are under the
influence of demonic teachings.
Now, how
do these false teachers succumb to the influence of demons? Paul continues: Such teachings come through hypocritical
liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. The false teachers open themselves up to
false doctrines by living overtly sinful lives.
They are "hypocritical liars," and thus their consciences are
"seared." What does this mean? The conscience is our moral warning
system. It works much like pain works
physically. When we experience pain,
it's our bodies way of telling us to stop what we're doing. Similarly, when we experience guilt, our
conscience is telling us we're working against our internal moral code. Our conscience is only as good as the moral
code that guides it. Similarly, we can
ignore our conscience (just like we can ignore pain). The more we ignore our conscience, the less
guilt we'll feel in the future. We will
eventually get to the point where our conscience no longer functions; it has
become seared.
What is
the particular form of the false teaching Paul warns Timothy about? In this particular case it is false
asceticism: They forbid people to
marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be
received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. This early form of Gnosticism taught that
true piety can only be achieved through complete denial of physical pleasure. They were trying to trip up the Ephesian
Christians by telling them the way to holiness was through celibacy and dietary
restrictions. Paul tells Timothy that
this is patently false. God created
marriage to be a blessing to mankind; and God gave us animal meat to serve as
food. There is nothing inherently holy
about being celibate, nor is there anything inherently holy about being a
vegetarian. Now if you choose to be celibate,
or you choose to be a vegetarian, good for you; that's your choice. But God isn't going to look at you any
differently because of your ascetic lifestyle.
God is going to look into your heart and judge the contents of your
heart. What Paul is saying is that you
can be just as holy if you're a married meat-eater, than if you were to abstain
from these things.
Paul now
goes on to give the reason why asceticism isn't inherently holy. For everything God created is good, and
nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is
consecrated by the word of God and prayer. God provided everything in the world for our
benefit, and it all can be used to our good as long as we receive in
thanks. Marriage is a God-ordained
institution for the benefit of mankind.
Obviously, mankind can abuse the institution of marriage, but then
mankind has a history of abusing the gifts of God. The point is that what God creates is good,
and is intended to be used for our benefit.
How do we
apply this to our current situation?
There are many forms of false teaching--asceticism being just one. The common denominator is that they all seek
to bring people away from the clear teaching of Scripture which delineates
God's way for our lives. That is why the
authority of the Bible is constantly attacked.
If the Bible is unreliable, then I have leeway to make up the rules as I
go along, right? That is what Paul is
warning us against. He will later say in
his second letter to Timothy, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so
that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." How much of Scripture is God-breathed? All of it.
How beneficial is the Bible for us?
Using the Bible will thoroughly equip is for every good
work.