Nov. 01, 2023

Tonight we continue our study on "1 Timothy: The Church, Her Servant-Leadership, and the Lives of Her People." I hope you can join us.

Tonight's passage is 1 Timothy 4:1-5: warnings against false teachings that would take away our freedom in Christ.

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LIVING THE CHRISTLIFE

WAYNE BARRETT

HILLTOP LAKES CHAPEL

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

1 TIMOTHY:

THE CHURCH, HER SERVANT-LEADERSHIP, AND THE LIVES OF HER PEOPLE

1 Timothy 4:1-5

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves

to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are

seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with

thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and

nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and

prayer.

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v 1 – “Now the Spirit expressly says…”

Paul apparently means that the Spirit has expressly said this to him, or perhaps has given this

prophetic word to others as well

We do not know the “specifics” (cf. Acts 13:1-2)

“in later times…”

Paul is clearly applying this prophetic word to contemporary events, one indication among many

others in the NT that we are in what the Bible considers the latter times

“some will depart from the faith…”

depart – aphistémi, to fall away

The NT is replete with exhortations to faithfulness and warnings against falling away from the

faith

The Scripture seems clear, both on the security of the believer and on the insecurity of the one

who rejects Christ.

The heated question down through the years is whether a person can go from being a believer to

being an unbeliever (although this question may become confused in its discussion).

For those in Christ, there is no condemnation—this is because our salvation is guaranteed by him

and his finished work! On this there can be little disagreement.

The warning about “falling away” are to those who, for varieties of reasons, even though they

know Christ, would make a decision to leave him and reject him.

Some (many) maintain that this is impossible, even though there have been and continue to be

people who say about themselves that they once were Christians but that they now reject and

renounce Christianity. The group maintaining “impossibility” would say about such people,

that they never were truly saved.

In any case, it would seem un-Biblical for a person

• not to take warnings that are repeatedly given in scripture as being meaningful or

necessary, or

• to have the position that something believers are being warned against is an impossibility

for a believer, or

2

• to have the position that exhortations for a believer to persevere are unnecessary since his

perseverance is guaranteed.

Important to note: there is a Biblically-recognized difference between a person who runs out of

faith and a person who denies Christ.

The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

if we endure, we will also reign with him;

if we deny him, he also will deny us;

if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.—2 Timothy 2:11-13

For those Paul here has in mind, those who will “fall away”…

“by devoting themselves to…”

more lit. “giving heed to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons”

Be assured, the devil is in the “teaching” and “influencing” business

The goal is always to separate us from Jesus and devotion to Him and to diminish that he is both

Lord and Christ. If any teaching is doing this, it is not of the Lord.

These teachings definitely happen in many ways other than “in church,” directly and indirectly

They do not always take the form we might expect…

v 2 – “through the insincerity of liars…”

“through” – the teachings, though demonic, are promulgated through people, who, in most cases,

probably are unaware of their own influencers

“insincerity of liars” – hypokrisei pseudologōn

pseudologōn – only use in the NT, an adjective, implies more of a false reasoning as

opposed to just an outright falsehood

“Hypocrisy” because they have no true conviction and do not bind themselves to their own

teachings

lit. “having been seared in the own conscience”

The false teachers, because of their sin, have lost any true conviction regarding right and wrong

v 3 – “who forbid marriage…”

Paul gives some examples, and they may not be of the order that we expect…

They are falsely restrictive as opposed to falsely permissive

“who forbid marriage”

The “teaching of demons,” no less

God’s first institution, and the foundation of human society

Marriage has been attacked down through the ages, in many ways, very much continuing to the

present

This prohibition, aside from a blatant misrepresentation of God’s design and intentions, would

have turned Christianity into a cult, only open to those who abstain from marriage (if the cult

survived at all).

We don’t know the false reasons offered in this case, but possibilities are easy to imagine…

“and require abstinence from foods…”

A reminder that it is not spiritual to refrain from things that God has created for us to enjoy

3

Helmut Thielicke: Don’t try to be more religious than God.

This, too, would have contributed to making Christianity a cult with strange dietary restrictions

and beliefs—going against God’s generosity and design, and having nothing to do with love

and service to Christ and to others

This kind of rule-making for Christians can be applied to many things

There is a goodness in receiving and enjoying what God has given us—and the devil wants to

destroy that goodness

In general, the devil is against godly happiness and simple, healthy pleasures. He is against godly

love and joy.

Watch out for people who seem to be of the same mindset.

“that God created to be received…”

God’s desire, from the very beginning, was and is to bless his creation

He also gave man—male and female—the earth to “fill and subdue”

“with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”

Because of sin and unbelief, many people do not thank God, although they receive blessing from

him every day.

This may seem “normal,” but it is an aberration. Thanksgiving to God is the “norm” among all

creature not separated from him by sin.

Those who believe and know the truth are equipped to live according to God’s gracious

intentions and not fall prey to false representations

vv 4-5 – “For everything created by God is good…”

Paul, in summary, states the principle involved

“everything created by God is good…”

lit. “for every ktisma (creature, created thing) of God is good”

perhaps Paul had in mind here, particularly, animals that were being forbidden to eat—but the

principle extends to all of God’s creation, including marriage

“nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving”

a great principle—can I (and do I) thank God for it

with this proviso— “by those who believe and know the truth” (v 2)

“thanksgivings” are certainly made “unto God” for things that are not of God

“for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer”

God determines what is good and what is given for us

Through the guidance of his word, what we do is made holy

Through prayer we receive guidance that is in accordance with his word

And prayer indicates a personal, restored relationship with God in Christ