Greetings John,
May the love of God our Father and the grace of our Lord Jesus and
the comforting and teaching presence of the Holy Spirit be with us as
we explore God's Word and human history for understanding God's
will in these endtimes. Let us enter with our hearts into the Holy
Holies through the new and living way of Christ's blood; Entering his
prsence in worship and peace as we seek these answers. In Christ,
we are a peculiar people, a holy generation and a royal priesthood
bringing forth his praises. All things that are truly from God the
Father will bring praises and worsip to Christ and a building up of
His Body, the Christian people. With this spirit of worship, let us
begin. Also, may the Lord bring your mind out of the world an worldly
concerns and help it focus upon these eternal realities.
I praise God that you have chosen the Holy Word of God in the letter of,
Timothy to begin and guide our search. It is in these Holy Epistles
that we learn that:
"15: And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures,
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which
is in Christ Jesus.
16: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
So our search for truth is based upon the sure foundation of Jesus
Christ and the Holy Word of God. The Epistles to Timothy were written
in approximately 67 A.D. while Paul was in Rome waiting for his
martyrdom for Christ. Several of Paul's Epistles and some of the
Gospels were already circulating and being read among the
Churches. Timothy's mother had obviously accepted Jesus when Timothy
was young and had trained him in the Word of God. He was probably one
of the youngest disciple of Paul.
The Epistles of Timothy were some of the last Epistles written and Paul
assumes that his readers will have a knowledge of his other earlier Epistles.
The Epistles of Romans, 1 and 2 Cor., Galatians, Ephesian, Philippians,
and the events in Acts etc. were written approx. 5 to fifteen years
before the Epistles of Timothy. It may seem trivial at first glance but
the sequence of Epistles help us understand the later Epistes. The
earlier Epistles like Romans, Galatians, Cor., and Philippians establish
foundation for several key doctrine that Paul received from the Lord.
Titus was written almost at the same time with 1 and 2 Timothy.
St. Paul was writing these Epistles and having something like a dialog
with the various Churches. He was giving the Churches the revelations
he was receiving from God. If we walk in to the tail end of these
dialogs without understanding what had been said and revealed in the
previous Epistles, we would have difficulty understanding some of the
key concepts and terms. It is similar to walking in on a conversation
thats been going on for a couple of hours and having to be briefed as
to what was said before you arrived.
Some of the key doctrine that Paul establishes in his early Epistles
to the Romans, Galatians and Corinthinas and others that the Apostles
had established during the first Apostolic council in Acts 15 are:
1. Justification by faith through the grace of God.Rom 3:28, 5:1
2. Righteousness by faith and not by the works of the law.Rom. Rom.3:21
3. Circumcision of the heart and not of the Fesh. Gal.2:28,29
4. Promises to Abraham that he would be heir to the world was not
to Abraham or to his natural seed through the law , but through the
righteouness of faith. Rom.4:13.
5. The promises made to Abraham and to his seed were not to "seeds"
plural but to seed singular, meaning the seed of Jesus Christ.
All the promises of God come through Abraham's SEED--Jesus Christ.
Gal.3:16
6. All the promises of God are in Christ Jesus. 2Cor. 1:20.
7. The Church of God is the Body of Christ, the gathering of the people
of God and is to be honored. 1Timothy 3:15, 1Cor.(the whole Epistle)
8. The beginning of the totat Old Test. breakdown between Jew and Gentile.
In Christ, God has broken the wall of partition. Gal.3:28
9. In Christ, neither circumcision or uncircumcision mean anything
but only a new creature in Christ Jesus. Gal.6:14,15.
10. Christians are the Circumcision and worship God in the Spirit.
Phil.3:3.
11. Beware of the "Jewish fables" against Christ and other false
traditions of the Jews who reject Christ.(like genealogies and necessity
of following food laws.)
Titus 1:14, 1Timothy 1:4, Phil. 23:2, Acts 15
Now John, within this context, let us look at 1Timothy.
1Tim.
4: Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which
minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in
faith: so do.
5: Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart,
and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
6: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain
jangling;
7: Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what
they say, nor whereof they affirm.
Paul begins his Epistles with these admonitions to Timothy:
1. Be careful of those who try to be teachers of the law.( This refers
to the Judaizers in Galatians.
2. Who try to teach fables of justifiation by law instead in place
of Justificiation by faith.
3. To substitute law to achieve the love and peace of a good conscience
that comes only "faith ungeigned"
Notice how we need the earlier Epistles to clearly understand what Paul
is talking about in 1Timothy4:3.
Let us move on. In 1Tim. 2:5:
For their is one God, and one mediator beteeen God and m3en, the man
Christ Jesus.
Paul establishes here that no one can come to Father or know the Fateher
except through Christ Jesus.
In 1Tim. 3:15
15: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to
behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living
God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
God gives us here the principle that it is in his Churches, the Body of
Christ, where God deposits his truths. The Church is not just something
you treat abusively because it is the very Body of Christ.
Now we are ready to look at your verses in 1Tim. 4 in context.
1: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits,
and doctrines of devils;
2: Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with
a hot iron;
3: 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.
4: For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused,
if it be received with thanksgiving:
5: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
6: If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou
shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words
of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
7: But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself
rather unto godliness.
Your comments:
"The spirit of antichrist? Demonic doctrine? Yes, according to these
verses. Applicable to a number of denominations claiming Christianity
as their flag? Yes."
The spirit of antichrist is clearly defined in the Scriptures as"
'He who denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh'. An antichrist
is not a Christian. Most of these admonitions in Timothy and
other Epistles are directed at Christians or Christian Churches.
So this is not the spirit of antichrist, but rather, as you say, demonic
or evil spirits that are influencing some of the new Christians.
Christians are often deceived thrugh their flesh to commit sins.
If a Christian or a Christain Church holds and teaches false doctrines
it would be improper to call them antichrist, because they do not reject
Christ. They are merely in error and being influenced by evil spirits.
The word heretic is generally applied to these situations.
There are some cults and "churches" that call themselves Christian but
deny the divinity of Jesus Christ. These "churches" or cults are
definitely antichrist.
Examples of antichrist "churces" would be:
1. Mormons.
2. Jehovah's Ws
3. Unitarian church
4. Modern Judaism
So, I hope we agree that all who deny that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God who came in the flesh are antichrist.
Those who accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God who came in the flesh
but teach wrong doctrines are not, according to biblical definition
called antichrist.
I will answer your next question and disagreement in my next post.
May the Lord reveal His will to you according to the desires
of your heart.
In the love of Christ
Emile |
