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?
I can’t help but notice the correlation of what Paul is saying in this passage and what Jesus said to the Pharisees, of which, at that time, Paul would have been a part of. So, I think Paul understood first hand the effects of abandoning faith, the source of the teachings that would lead someone down that path, and the type of conscience it would require to live a life of hypocrisy.
Matthew 23:25-28
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
John 8:44
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
I believe one of the biggest lies that the enemy tells and propagates is that we have the ability to obtain or maintain the “good graces” of God through what we do or abstain from. Teaching that or believing that ourselves automatically makes us a hypocrite, because there is no possible way for us to this. We then place ourselves in the judgement seat, picking and choosing what we think we can accomplish, and expecting others to live up to our standards. Grace is a gift, and our role in it is to accept it, and live up to it. It is by grace that we can accept the truth and be transformed by it. This passage helps us discern what is true because it points to the only possible justification, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The fruit of abandoning faith is a seared conscience; one must be seared in order to ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I also think that the searing of the conscience doesn’t mean one is unaware of the hypocrisy; I think it means that they easily dismiss the conviction, citing their own works as justification. So that being said, if we recognize the conviction of the Holy Spirit and ignore it, citing our own works or “abstinence” in other areas, we are not living in truth.
Ephesians 2:8–9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Romans 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
Galatians 2:16
16 yet we know that a person is not justified[a] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
1 Timothy 1:19
19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,
Thank you, Chris!
Interesting point about Paul being a Pharisee and the connection with Jesus and the warning about hypocrisy! Well done!
Well said CH. Thank you.