7. The Pastoral Epistles - 1 Timothy 4:1-5

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, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

I know that it has been a while since you have seen one of these posts, and I am sorry that it has taken so long. But as I had said before, the GO Trip got in the way of me continuing with this series of posts, and that is not a bad thing. But now, my focus is back on the Pastoral Epistles, so I will be getting back on track, trying to keep this part of the blog updated.

The first thing that catches my eye in this verse is the term "latter times." What does Paul mean when he refers to this time period? We hear so much talk about this topic today, in fact my home pastor has just started a sermon series looking into Revelation. Some take it in the right direction, while others tend to drift off into an obsession with what will happen in the end, losing focus of what we are called to do now. But back to Paul, did he believe that he was living in these times. I believe so; the disciples had thought that they would see Jesus' return. In fact, people have thought that they were living in the latter times since Jesus ascended into Heaven. And truthfully, we are living in these times, because that is when it actually began.

Now none of us know when the end will come, and that is not the purpose of this post. But Paul gives us another characteristic about the end. People will be departing from the faith. Again, we can find evidence of this from the time of Paul to today. Judas was the first to betray Jesus, and then Demas and several others are mentioned in 2 Timothy as ones who had departed from the faith. And history has many, many more recorded from the time of Paul to the present day. You probably know some people who have drifted as well.

But not only will people drift from the faith, they will also preach false doctrines. We will look more at this as we enter into 2 Timothy, but Paul states here that these teachers will contradict Jesus' commands. Paul lists a few examples in these verses that may not mean much to us, and truthfully it would be alright not to marry or refrain from these foods. But the point in this passage is not focused on those two examples. Instead, Paul focuses in on the fact that these teachers contradict the truth, the truth that had already been taught.

This is only a start of what is to come. As I said, I will try to continue with these posts as I continue to study through the book of 1 Timothy and beyond.

Matt