1 Timothy 4:1-5 says,...
Today our verses are 1 Timothy 4:1-5, which read,
v.1-3 - But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from food which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
Paul goes into a section of warning to Timothy in this letter addressing his leadership over the church in Ephesus. What he is sharing is something that is very evident and obvious within the society that the church resides within. From the time of Christ's first coming to His second coming, there will be those who seem to be a part of the faith but have fallen away. "Did they those their salvation?" might be the question asked. Help from the Scripture on this is 1 John 2:19 which reads, "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they out went, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us." There will be some within the church, the faith body, who will change direction because they are not saved, truly converted, but having just a taste of the faith by the influence of God's family.
They will pay attention not to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ but to false teachers who are following not Jesus but Satan himself. They speak lies and then Paul gives Timothy just a couple of these common teachings of the day that are not of the Lord, abstaining from marriage and the eating of certain foods.
For some singleness may be a way of life that God has planned out for them and also the eating of certain foods may have some health benefits but the wrong of these teachings comes in when it is tied to salvation. It brings in the element that I can "work" to get my salvation by my efforts. It really is nothing new under the sun. Satan puts into our heads that something more is required than the faith given to us by God through the cross of Christ. The idea is that something we do can contribute to that event and make us holy. Only God can make us holy. Only God can give salvation. Only God and God only gives us grace through faith given by Him to receive the salvation provided by Him through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. We are following the lies of Satan when we substitute anything in as a requirement necessary for salvation.
Those who have fallen away from the faith have not understood and accepted the faith if they are following after things that contradict this evident and emphatic teaching of Jesus. Paul and John both help us along with Timothy to understand that during this time some will seem to be within the faith, the church, but are not of the faith, truly converted to Christ and Christ alone. This is God's judgment and His alone for He is the one who knows the heart but their actions display to the world the intents of their hearts and our response to continue to preach and live out the true gospel message.
v.4, 5 - For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
God created marriage and God created food. In the creation account, the creating of man and woman and the creating of the provisions of life were followed by the statements from God that they were good and very good. The false teachers were saying that these things had somehow become bad. They were offering new information contrary to what God had said. They were like the serpent in the garden speaking to Eve and asking the question about what God said and offering his own answer which was contrary to what was given by God.
What God has given through marriage and through the provisions of food is to be received with gratitude. With gratitude we realize that God has sanctified or set it apart for us to partake in according to His word and our communion with Him through prayer. God guides us on these matters through His word and He communicates with us through relationship with Him in prayer. What God has provided also has God's definition and God's direction on how it is to be conducted and received. We cannot separate what God has provided from God's instruction given on what He has provided. The false teachers and those who had and would fall away from the faith, being not of the faith, would do this very thing.
The Giver of all also gives direction on His gifts which are to be received with gratitude as we see them within the context of the Giver of them. When we abuse them, by making them something more than a gift from God, some type of human requirement for salvation beyond Christ alone then we are teaching another gospel than the one given to us by God through faith. We have made things or the abstaining of things our untrue way to salvation rather than just things that have been given by God for us to use under His direction. Let's pray.
"Lord, thank You for the provisions of life. Thank You for marriage and all that it provides not only to those married but to all those who benefit from godly marriages within the church and among the community in which we live. Thank You for the provisions of food given to us to enjoy and to nourish our bodies. It gives us the fuel our bodies need to go on with the Your gospel of grace through faith given to us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Help us to keep what You have created in their proper places and not make them something more so we can state 'because I' because there is no 'I', there is just 'You' in salvation. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.1-3 - But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from food which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
Paul goes into a section of warning to Timothy in this letter addressing his leadership over the church in Ephesus. What he is sharing is something that is very evident and obvious within the society that the church resides within. From the time of Christ's first coming to His second coming, there will be those who seem to be a part of the faith but have fallen away. "Did they those their salvation?" might be the question asked. Help from the Scripture on this is 1 John 2:19 which reads, "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they out went, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us." There will be some within the church, the faith body, who will change direction because they are not saved, truly converted, but having just a taste of the faith by the influence of God's family.
They will pay attention not to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ but to false teachers who are following not Jesus but Satan himself. They speak lies and then Paul gives Timothy just a couple of these common teachings of the day that are not of the Lord, abstaining from marriage and the eating of certain foods.
For some singleness may be a way of life that God has planned out for them and also the eating of certain foods may have some health benefits but the wrong of these teachings comes in when it is tied to salvation. It brings in the element that I can "work" to get my salvation by my efforts. It really is nothing new under the sun. Satan puts into our heads that something more is required than the faith given to us by God through the cross of Christ. The idea is that something we do can contribute to that event and make us holy. Only God can make us holy. Only God can give salvation. Only God and God only gives us grace through faith given by Him to receive the salvation provided by Him through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. We are following the lies of Satan when we substitute anything in as a requirement necessary for salvation.
Those who have fallen away from the faith have not understood and accepted the faith if they are following after things that contradict this evident and emphatic teaching of Jesus. Paul and John both help us along with Timothy to understand that during this time some will seem to be within the faith, the church, but are not of the faith, truly converted to Christ and Christ alone. This is God's judgment and His alone for He is the one who knows the heart but their actions display to the world the intents of their hearts and our response to continue to preach and live out the true gospel message.
v.4, 5 - For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
God created marriage and God created food. In the creation account, the creating of man and woman and the creating of the provisions of life were followed by the statements from God that they were good and very good. The false teachers were saying that these things had somehow become bad. They were offering new information contrary to what God had said. They were like the serpent in the garden speaking to Eve and asking the question about what God said and offering his own answer which was contrary to what was given by God.
What God has given through marriage and through the provisions of food is to be received with gratitude. With gratitude we realize that God has sanctified or set it apart for us to partake in according to His word and our communion with Him through prayer. God guides us on these matters through His word and He communicates with us through relationship with Him in prayer. What God has provided also has God's definition and God's direction on how it is to be conducted and received. We cannot separate what God has provided from God's instruction given on what He has provided. The false teachers and those who had and would fall away from the faith, being not of the faith, would do this very thing.
The Giver of all also gives direction on His gifts which are to be received with gratitude as we see them within the context of the Giver of them. When we abuse them, by making them something more than a gift from God, some type of human requirement for salvation beyond Christ alone then we are teaching another gospel than the one given to us by God through faith. We have made things or the abstaining of things our untrue way to salvation rather than just things that have been given by God for us to use under His direction. Let's pray.
"Lord, thank You for the provisions of life. Thank You for marriage and all that it provides not only to those married but to all those who benefit from godly marriages within the church and among the community in which we live. Thank You for the provisions of food given to us to enjoy and to nourish our bodies. It gives us the fuel our bodies need to go on with the Your gospel of grace through faith given to us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Help us to keep what You have created in their proper places and not make them something more so we can state 'because I' because there is no 'I', there is just 'You' in salvation. Amen."
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