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1 Timothy 4:2 – Discerning Truth

Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

Summary: What is the Gospel and what isn’t? This is the question that Paul wants us to be able to answer with confidence. 

If I am being honest, I have to admit that writing meditations on Paul’s letter to Timothy is difficult. 

It is challenging because Paul is extremely blunt in his letter to Timothy. He doesn’t mince words. It is my personal opinion that this is because he has a deep relationship with Timothy (Philippians 2:22). Because of their personal closeness, Paul feels free to talk plainly. I sometimes wonder if, had Paul known his letter would end up in the Bible, he would have worded some things differently. 

Paul’s position is unique. 

Raised to be a Pharisee, he studied under the best teachers available (Acts 22:3). His scholarship, I suspect, was above reproach (Acts 26:24). He knows God’s Laws and the laws of Moses. He showed extreme enthusiasm and initiative when it came to chasing down Christians and throwing them in prison (Acts 8:3). Then, he was confronted by the Lord Jesus Christ face-to-face (Acts 9). 

All of these facts add up to this: Paul is uniquely qualified to make pronouncements about the Gospel. He understands the times, he knows the history of the Jews better than most, and he has personally been commissioned by the Lord Jesus. 

Who else has qualifications like these? 

If your answer is “Nobody,” I agree with you. Unfortunately, because Paul does not have credentials that are legitimate in the world’s eyes, he tends to inspire a lot of competition — ‘wannabe’ authorities on God’s will for you and me. 

Which brings us to today’s passage: 

”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.” (1 Timothy 4:1-2)

How are we to tell the difference between God’s will and the teachings of “hypocritical liars?” Outside of adhering strictly to the Bible as God’s Word, Paul gives us a clue in the word “hypocritical.” 

A hypocrite is someone who says one thing and does another. We use phrases like “double standard” to describe how they think and act. If we use the Bible as a guide, we can check what people say and do against God’s Word. If they say, “I believe the Bible is God’s Word,” and then act in ways that ignore what God’s Word says, they might be a hypocrite. 

Application: Follow God’s advice in Matthew 7:5 — “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Food for Thought: How does this passage help us discern what is true?

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1 Timothy 4:1b – Calling Jesus

A ghostly form of a man reaches up toward the radiant hand of Christ (Grok)

[The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith] and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 

Summary: Paul points back to the origin of deception to help us see the danger of listening to anything other than Christ.  

In our last meditation, “For or Against?,” we explored two possible views about what “abandon the faith” might mean. 

The first one we explored was about divisions in the church. Where there is a disagreement, it seems reasonable to assume that one or both of the groups involved might be wrong. Then we looked at a second possibility — is Paul talking about individuals who abandon the faith? 

In fact, both possibilities are really the same. After all, groups are made up of individual people. So, if the people follow deceiving spirits, the group they belong to is doing the same thing. 

In the second half of this verse, Paul explains what is going on. When people “abandon the faith,” it means they no longer listen only to God. “Deceiving spirits,” aka “demons,” have been at work distracting people from God’s truth. 

If this sounds familiar, it should. 

In the third chapter of Genesis, the Bible describes in detail how the serpent* came and deceived Eve. Both Eve and Adam allowed themselves to be enticed by the possibility of being “like God.” Instead of relying on God’s judgment, they took things into their own hands and believed that God was not serious about his warning that they would die if they ate from the forbidden tree (Genesis 2:16-17).†

Being deceived is as old as the human race. Satan has lost the war, but he continues fighting the battle (Revelation 20:7-10). He seems intent on dragging as many souls as he can with him into the burning lake of fire (Revelation 20:14-15). 

Fortunately, God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7). 

His purpose and his Creation stand and survive as he intended. His Church also survives as he intended, but like the people who fill the earth, a tinge of corruption has divided the church. 

So what is a person to do? What is the “faith” that some have abandoned? What do the deceiving spirits teach, and how do we recognize it? 

The answer to these questions can be as long or as short as we want. Let’s cut to the chase: When we come to the end of this life, and the body stops working, we will find ourselves confronted by the spiritual realm. Who will you call out to? Will you call for the church on earth to save you, or will you call out to Jesus? 

Personally, I will be calling out for Jesus. 

Application: Keep our eyes on Jesus.  

Food for Thought: How can we tell if something is “taught by demons?”

*The “serpent” is assumed to be the same serpent mentioned in Revelation 20:2, “He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”

†See 1 Timothy 1:16c – “The Way Home”

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1 Timothy 4:1a – For or Against?

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith…

Summary: Paul’s statement about “later times” leads us to wonder what he means by “abandon the faith.”   

Believe it or not, this passage is a troublemaker. 

“Why?” you ask. 

When I was a small child, my parents attended a mainstream Protestant church. This church was very much in the tradition of centuries of Protestant churches that are direct offshoots of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church, in turn, is a survivor of the Great Schism of 1054 AD. (The Great Schism is when the Church split into Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox branches.)

Up until that time, there had been only one church. After that first split, there were two different groups that claimed to represent the true faith. 

In those days, your choice of church depended on where you lived. The two traditions were separated by both tradition and geography. Today, in any given town or city, you might have both Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches to choose from. There are also innumerable branches of Protestant and other churches to add to your selection. 

All of these churches claim to represent Jesus and teach the precepts of the true faith. While everyone politely ignores the differences between churches, the implication is obvious. If one represents the “true faith,” the others must have ‘abandoned the faith.’

So, which one is the “true faith?”

This tendency to want to own the trademark for the Truth goes clear back to the first disciples. When they see someone who has clearly been paying attention to Jesus cast out demons in his name, they want to shut him down because he was “not one of us” (Mark 9:38). 

Jesus responds with a simple if somewhat paradoxical truth: “Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40). 

Wow. That seems like a rather low bar, doesn’t it? Could it really be that simple? 

One of the questions people argue about is whether or not someone can lose their faith. (This is another interpretation of Paul’s words in this verse.) While it might be interesting to think about and discuss, the idea of churches splitting over this question is tragic. 

Who ultimately decides? Are we saved because someone’s theological system says we are or because Jesus saves us? 

The “faith” Paul is talking about was just described as the “mystery from which true godliness springs” (1 Timothy 3:16). The answer to the mystery is Jesus. Christianity is all about Christ. When people forget that, it makes me wonder if they are the ones Paul is talking about when he says, “…in later times some will abandon the faith.”

Application: Trust Jesus, only Jesus.  

Food for Thought: What are the benefits of theological arguments? 

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1 Timothy 3:16 (All) – All About Jesus

Picture of Jesus holding two children by the hand, walking toward church (Grok)

Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:

He appeared in the flesh,
    was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
    was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
    was taken up in glory.

Summary: Looking back at the whole passage allows us to consider what it really is.   

Before we move on, let’s take a moment to look at this verse as a whole. 

Paul doesn’t explain where this saying or poem came from or how it was used. At the time Paul was writing this, there was no “New Testament” as we know it today. Instead, they seem to have relied heavily on ‘word of mouth’ and the Holy Spirit. 

Paul’s entire letter to Timothy is essentially a collection of instructions on how to run a church. The “sayings” provide foundational truths like “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15) and “Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task” (1 Timothy 3:1). 

This passage goes a bit further. 

It sounds almost like a hymn or perhaps a creed. If it is a creed, a formal statement of beliefs, then it is quite complete. God’s Son becomes flesh, is vindicated, seen, preached, believed, and exalted. If you had to fit an explanation of what Christianity is all about on the back of a business card, it is hard to improve on 1 Timothy 3:16. 

The only thing missing are the explanations Scripture gives of how it all works. Which raises the question, “What is needed to be saved?” Do you need to know what repentance is to repent? Does a person need to understand how sanctification works to be sanctified? 

Or, is it all about Jesus?

Is the Scripture true that says “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”? (Romans 10:13, Joel 2:32)

Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27) Is it any more complicated than all that? 

From the standpoint of an overseer, yes. They have to be able to discern the good from the bad. Much of what is in Paul’s letter to Timothy addresses this topic. Yet, when it comes to our faith in Jesus as individuals, is it about what we know or who we know? 

Application: Trust in Jesus.  

Food for Thought: From the standpoint of the average believer who is not a church leader or a theologian, what is the most important thing for them to know? 

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