1 Timothy iv. 1–3
“Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.”
those who adhere to the faith are fixed on a safe anchor, so those
who fall from the faith can nowhere rest; but after many wanderings to
and fro, they are borne at last into the very gulf of perdition. And
this he had shown before, saying, that some had “already made
shipwreck concerning the faith,” and now he says, “Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits.” This is said of
the Manichæans, the Encratites, and the
Marcionites, and the whole of their tribe, that they should hereafter depart from the faith. Seest thou that this departure from the faith is the cause of all the evils that follow!
But what is
“expressly”? Plainly, clearly, and beyond doubt. Marvel
not, he says, if some having departed from the faith still adhere to
Judaism. There will be a time, when even those who have partaken of the
faith will fall into a worse error, not only with respect to meats, but
to marriages, and other such things, introducing the most pernicious
notions. This refers not to the Jews, (for “the latter
times,” and a “departure from the faith,” is not
applicable to them;) but to the Manichees, and the founders of these
sects. And he calls them very justly, “seducing spirits,” since it was by these they were actuated in speaking such things. “Speaking lies in hypocrisy.” This implies that they utter not these falsehoods through ignorance and unknowingly, but as acting a part, knowing the truth, but “having their conscience seared,” that is, being men of evil lives.
But why does he speak only of
these heretics? Christ had before said, “Offenses must need
come” (Matt. xviii. 7.), and he had predicted
the same in his parable of the sower, and of the springing up of the tares. But
here admire with me the prophetic gift of Paul, who, before the times
in which they were to appear, specifies the time itself. As if he had
said, Do not wonder, if, at the commencement of the faith, some
endeavor to bring in these pernicious doctrines; since, after it has
been established for a length of time, many shall depart from the
faith. “Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from
meats.” Why then has he mentioned no other heresies? Though not
particularized, they are implied by the expressions of “seducing
spirits and doctrines of demons.” But he did not wish to instill
these things into the minds of men before the time; but that which had
already commenced, the case of meats, he specifies. “Which God
hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and
know the truth.” Why did he not say, by the unbelievers too? How
by the unbelievers, when they exclude themselves from them by their own
rules? But is not luxury forbidden? Certainly it is. But why? if good
things are created to be received. Because He created bread, and yet
too much is forbidden; and wine also, and yet excess is forbidden; and
we are not commanded to avoid dainties as if they were unclean in
themselves, but as they corrupt the soul by excess.
Ver. 4. “For every
creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received
with thanksgiving.”