1 Timothy 4 – 6

Verse 4:1 opens with a warning we all need to heed:

But even so, the Spirit very clearly tells us that in the last times some will abandon the true faith because of their devotion to spirits sent to deceive and sabotage, and mistakenly they will end up following the doctrine of demons.

For some reason we think Satan will present evil to us and it will be obvious. Think about it Hitler was able to get a nation to do some of the most heinous acts in the name of Jesus. It will be difficult for those who are weak in faith to distinguish between what is from Satan and not God. That is the key to studying and reading scriptures, we need to know when we are presented a false Jesus.

Think about how you’d answer for doing this. Would you say “I was deceived; you can’t hold that against me”? Then God would reply “I gave you a study guide to me, yet you obviously did not read it or you would have known.” Yes we are accountable for deception as much as knowingly disregarding scripture, the question is would deception cost us salvation?

Verse 5:1 is starting to mean something to me:

Respect an elderly man. Don’t speak to him sharply; appeal to him as you would a father. Treat younger men as brothers, 

As I get older I often wonder why I would deserve respect of anyone. I often get called out by my children for hypocrisy and wonder why I do things yet say others. I can think of many younger who I agree with totally and many older I think of as fools. I think Paul is saying respect your elders, not necessarily follow them. Honestly, I think this gets abused so often that means we must accept what is said without question.

This got abused in the 60’s with the “don’t trust anyone over 30” mantra.

Verse 6:5 warns us about works:

and these people constantly bicker because they are depraved in their minds and bereft of the truth. They think somehow that godliness is the way to get ahead.

We cannot move ahead because of what we do, but at the same time I often wonder if we fall behind because of what we don’t do. Think about this a little, is it a greater sin to do evil not knowing or to know and still do it? Some would say a sin is a sin of equal proportion, but some scripture imply that sinning with knowledge is worse. In this instance is NOT actually doing what is required worse that doing it for status? Both are wrong and both I believe have consequences, just have no idea what they are.  Go DO …