Jennifer Rothnie Supporter Housewife, Artist, Perpetually Curious

I Tim 4:1 follows directly after this verse about the 'mystery from which true godliness springs' in I Tim 3:16:

"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."

This great mystery, the gospel, is the faith which some will abandon in exchange for deceptive teachings. They will trade true godliness (faith in Christ, from whence springs virtue and holy living) for a false appearance of godliness. They will set up rules, such as do not marry and do not eat certain things (I Tim 4:3), which they then try and enforce upon others.

These people are not mere fakers, but started with faith in Christ and then abandoned the truth, deceived to trade grace in exchange for false works. Their faith was merely temporary, not a genuine faith that proves true until the end. They stopped abiding with Christ, which leads to a terrible fate (John 15, II Pet 2:17-22, etc).

These people are 'hypocritical liars, with seared consciences'. Therefore, we should be honest and open to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. When we are quick to spot sin in others but slow to acknowledge our own sin and repent of it, we become judgemental, unfruitful, and eventually blind and seared to our sin. Jesus warns of this in Matt 7:3-5, and we see the dire consequences of this pattern of living as if we didn't have Christ in Eph 4:19, Rom 1:18-31, Jude 1:12-13, and other places in scripture. These people glory in their own shame, while trying to judge others for meaningless tasks.

The counter to this is given in Eph 4:21-32
"That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness....And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

This can be summed up with Eph 4:1-3:
I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Eph 4:1

We can spot these deceptive teachers, who themselves are deceived liars, by examining what they teach. Are they judging others for a meaningless practice and teaching them to abstain from something in order to be more 'holy'? Some modern examples might be 'Do not smoke, don't get a tattoo, don't drink coffee, don't watch tv, never drink, don't eat meat, never celebrate a secular holiday,' etc. Meanwhile, they excuse the sin in their own lives because they follow added 'rules' that they claim make one truly Christian or a better Christian.

Conversely, a good teacher will focus on our relationship with Christ and how that leads to discerning the will of God and growing in virtue and holiness, such as in II Pet 1:3-11. We can certainly examine scripture to see what wisdom God gives that applies to our daily living, on any topic - smoking, politics, tattoos, tithing, etc. Teachers should also clearly label sin as sin (such as adultery, homosexual behavior, drunkenness, gossip, etc.) 

Related: 
https://ebible.com/questions/673-does-hebrews-6-4-6-mean-we-can-lose-our-salvation#answer-14122
https://ebible.com/questions/672-does-hebrews-10-26-mean-that-a-believer-can-lose-salvation#answer-7631
https://ebible.com/questions/4158-how-can-i-know-if-i-am-truly-discerning-the-bible-properly#answer-6522

July 01 2016 • 17 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

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