They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.
Summary: Paul’s message in this passage might seem complicated to some, but to those who know God’s Word, he is pointing the way to the answers to our questions.
Before we dive too deeply into this passage, let’s review the larger context.
To begin with, Paul summarized the Gospel in a beautiful passage that describes Jesus’ mission here on earth (1 Timothy 3:16). Then he says that “in later times” people will abandon their faith in God and follow things taught by demons (1 Timothy 4:1). Finally, he gives an example of the things that “hypocritical liars” teach. This includes forbidding people to marry and ordering people to abstain from “certain foods.”
So the question that comes to mind is this: Did Paul just give us the ‘secret decoder ring’ we need to find the ‘hypocritical liars’?
Sadly, the answer is that we don’t know.
Paul was drawing his examples from the hypocritical liars that existed in his day. There are a number of theories about who he had in mind, but since we don’t have the secret decoder ring, we don’t really know who he was talking about.
So what can we learn from the information he did give us? Let’s look at the two examples Paul used.
First is the question of marriage. Some people had apparently been drawn away from the true faith, enticed by a teaching that forbids people to marry. How can we tell if this is in line with the Gospel message or if it is a lie promoted by a ‘deceiving spirit?’
The answer to that question has to come from God’s Word. What does God say about marriage?
Genesis 2:18-24 describes why God made women and how they were made. This is echoed in the Gospel accounts using Jesus’ own words (Matthew 19:4-6). In Proverbs, God’s Word says:
“He who finds a wife finds what is good / and receives favor from the Lord.” (Proverbs 18:22)
There is a passage where Paul speaks about sexual relations in marriage and marriage in general (1 Corinthians 7:1-16). In this passage, he mentions that “I wish all of you were as I am (unmarried).” (1 Corinthians 7:7). However, he is clearly not speaking for the Lord (see verse 6).
Is there any “command” not to marry in the Bible? No, of course not. God invented marriage!
The same is true for food. God put the Israelites under a restricted diet for a time, but when the Mosaic Covenant was fulfilled by Jesus on the cross, a new covenant was put in its place. Jesus himself declares all foods clean (Mark 7:18-20) and then repeats the lesson to Peter after his ascension (Acts 10:9-16).
The Bible is a wealth of information if we know how to use it. In fact, you might say it really is our “secret decoder ring.”
Application: Read the Bible — every day.
Food for Thought: How can we find unity in the Bible instead of confusion and disagreement?
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Continue reading “1 Timothy 4:3 – Secret Decoder Ring”
