1 Timothy

4:1-5

5. Ministerial duties in the face of heresy, 4:1-16

i] False asceticism

Paul now gives us an insight into the apostasy of those members of the church taken in by the false teachers who were introduced to us in chapter one. He particularly underlines the asceticism promoted by the false teachers, making the point that his readers were forewarned of this apostasy, of the emergence of false teachings and of its satanic origin.

In this passage Paul continues to deal with "the ordering of Christian life", Barrett, 2:1 to 6:21, although now he focuses on the conduct of Timothy's ministry, encouraging him in v1-16 to engage with the heresy presently infesting his congregation. In v1-5 Paul sets out to describe the heresy, although he doesn't actually analyze it for us. Paul is more concerned with encouraging Timothy to fight it rather than to explain to Timothy what he already knows. This leaves us at somewhat of a disadvantage. Numerous theories have been advanced, particularly that the heresy is some form of gnosticism (possibly Jewish gnosticism), the illumination and thus redemption of a person through the acquisition of secret knowledge. The practical consequence of gnosticism is a form of dualism, the separation of spirit and flesh producing asceticism and/or indulgence. It does though seem more likely that the heresy is nothing more than nomism, namely, an attention to law-obedience to both restrain sin for the maintenance of a believer's standing/approval before God, and to shape holiness for the full appropriation of God's promised blessings. Paul wants Timothy to stand against the notion that "a program of Law observance such as that forwarded by the would-be teachers (1:7) is efficacious and appropriate", Johnson.

de "-" - but. Paul is moving on from his final point in chapter 3 where he speaks of the mystery of the gospel. Now, as he looks at something that is anything but the truth, he uses the adversive "but", probably best rendered here as "however", to introduce his next point.

to ... pneuma "the Spirit" - The Holy Spirit.

rJhtwV adv. "clearly" - expressly, explicitly. The "word" is a clear one from the Lord.

legei (legw) pres. "says" - The present tense is typical of a word from the Lord, a word that might have been said in the past, but has present ongoing ramifications. This word may be a past prophetic word to the congregation, or a word given at this very moment by Paul.

oJti "that" - Introducing a dependent statement, indirect speech, expressing the content of the Spirit's message

uJsteroiV (oV a on) comp. adj. "latter [times]" - Probably a comparative used as a superlative, so "the last times", ie. "the last days", referring to the days of the messiah's reign, now and not yet.

tineV "some" - a reference to someone or something indefinite*. Those abandoning the faith are obviously members of the church rather than the false teachers.

aposthsontai (afisthmi) fut. "will abandon" - will depart from. Possibly alluding to Jesus' warning of the great "falling away", which future is now, cf. Mk.13:22.

thV pistewV (iV ewV) gen. "the faith" - Possibly an objective genitive, they abandon the Christian faith. Knight argues that it is subjective with objective overtones, ie. they lose their faith and so abandon the faith. Yet, it seems more likely that the genitive is ablative, expressing separation, so "depart away from." "The faith" may be "the Christian faith", Simpson, possibly even "fall away from believing the gospel".

proseconteV (prosecw) pres. part. "follow" - paying attention to. The participle is modal, expressing the manner in which the action of the verb "will depart from [the faith]" is accomplished. Used in the sense of take note of / give heed to and follow.

pneumasin planoiV "deceiving spirits" - deceitful spirits. They lead astray with teachings that are demonic in nature, in the sense that they undermine the truths of the gospel.

en + dat. "such teachings come through" - in. The preposition here probably takes an instrumental sense, ie. the teachings are mediated to the believers "by means of" the false teachers.

uJpokrisei (iV ewV) dat. "hypocritical" - hypocrisy. The false teaching is hypocrisy in that it is applied hypocritically in the lives of the false teachers, ie. they don't do what they preach. In reality, they probably can't, as is always the case for a law-bound person. They are forced to pretend that they keep their do's and don'ts.

yeudologwn (oV) "liars" - of those who don't speak the truth. Not so much "liars", rather, those who do not proclaim God's truth; they do not teach Biblical/gospel truth.

kekausthriasmenwn (kausthriazw) perf. pas. part. "[whose consciences] have been seared as with a hot iron" - having been seared. The participle is modal, as with "follow / paying attention to", v1. Commentators opt for two possible interpretations: their consciences have been i] "cauterized" in the sense of losing sensitivity toward divine truth, "whose conscience having lost all feeling", CEV, or ii] "branded" in the sense that they now carry satan's brand, ie. they are owned by satan, "branded with the devil's sign", NEB. The first option is to be preferred.

kwluontwn (kwluw) pres. part. gen. "they forbid" - forbidding, hindering, preventing. The participle is modal, as with "having been seared", v2, expressing the manner in which the action of the verb "will depart from [the faith]", v1, is accomplished.The genitive agrees with "liars", indicating who is doing the forbidding. The false teachers are typical law-bound pietists. They have their package of rules and regulations for the Christian life which, presumably, they believe secures their standing in the sight of God and/or progresses their holiness. Of course, on numerous occasions Paul has countered this heresy with the simple truth that our eternal standing is by grace through faith and not works of the law. "Puritan" works of supererogation can take many different forms. The version promoted by these nomists was focused, at least in part, on an abstinence from sex and certain foods. This form of piety is also reflected in the problems addressed by Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth, 1Cor.7. In fact, it is likely that these legalists align with "the circumcision group" in Galatians, "the weak" in Romans and are the same ones into "self abasement" in Colossians 2:8-23.

gamein (gamew) inf. "to marry" - to enter into legal sexual relations. The infinitive forms a dependent statement, indirect speech, expressing what they forbid. Sex is probably the issue here, not just the bond of marriage. It's very hard to be an ascetic, refraining from sex, when you are married.

apecesqai (apecw) inf. mid. + gen. "[and order them] to abstain from [certain foods]" - to hold oneself away from. Again the infinitive here forms an object clause / dependent statement, indirect speech, expressing what is ordered, although the command, "order them" is supplied for meaning. The grammatical form is a zeugma (that which is joined together) ie. the two infinitives (verbal nouns) "to marry" and "to abstain" are joined by the single participle (functioning as a verb) "they forbid", but it only properly suits "to marry" and therefore "order them" has been supplied by the NIV.

brwmatwn (a atoV) gen. "certain foods" - foods. Given the use of this word in Romans and 1 Corinthians, it is likely that Paul intends the specialized meaning of "meat" to apply here. This is all about eating spiritually proper foods, particularly meats that are ritually clean, or possibly refraining from eating meat at all, ie. being vegetarian.

aJ "which" - The antecedent, with which this relative pronoun agrees in number and person, is "foods", although "to marry" could also be an antecedent with which it would have a notional agreement.

ektisen (ktizw) aor. "[God] created" - Christ's lifting of the food laws obviously drives Paul's argument, cf. "nothing is unclean in itself", Rom.14:14, Mk.7:19. Here Paul alludes to the creation, in that what God made is "good" and therefore, not to be rejected.

eiV metalhmyin (iV ewV) "to be received" - for partaking. "To be gratefully shared in"

meta eucaristiaV (a) "with thanksgiving" - A prepositional phrase commonly used by Paul, expressing gratitude for God's goodness.

toiV pistoiV kai epegnwkosi thn alhqeian "those who believe and who know the truth" - by the believers and the ones having known the truth. The single definite article applies to both "those who believe" and "who know [the truth]" (substantive participle "the ones having known") indicating that both are equally descriptives of the same entity, namely, Christians.

oJti "for" - because. Here providing the reason why it is ethically acceptable for believers to eat all foods (along with getting married and thus participating fully in life.

pan ktisma (a) "everything" - every creature. The construction of the phrase, "all", followed by a noun without an article, serves to emphasize the individual elements of the "all". "Everything created"

qeou (oV) gen. "God" - of God. The genitive is not actually instrumental, but ablative, of origin. The "every created thing" comes out of God, from God, and therefore by nature, is good. It is therefore, proper for a believer to participate fully in the rich diversity of life.

lambanomenon (lambanw) pres. pas. part. "if it is received [with thanksgiving]" - take, receive. The participle serves to form an adverbial clause of condition. The believer is free to participate in life, but there is a condition, our participation must be "with thanksgiving." In a narrow sense, Paul may be referring to the prayer of thanksgiving performed prior to a meal, a prayer that in a sens, sanctifies the meal. Yet, it is more likely that he is thinking in broad terms. We are free to participate in everything that we can give thanks for, under God. Paul is not advocating hedonism, but rather a participation in the "good" that God has given us to enjoy, eg. sex is good, but only within marriage, meat is good, but not meat offered to idols.

gar "because" - for. Rather than introducing a purpose clause and therefore, a further development in the argument, it is more likely that this conjunction serves to introduce a restatement, or summary, of the reason provided in v4 as to why it is ethically acceptable for believers to participate in God's good creation.

aJgiazetai (aJgiazw) pres. pas. "it is consecrated" - it is being sanctified / made holy. Holy, in the sense of being fit for use, suitable, acceptable, rather than "consecrated", ritually pure. Here Paul restates the thought of v4. Since the creation is good, it (sex, meat) is "fit" for use (marriage / eating meat, is acceptable).

dia + gen. "by" - through, by means of. Instrumental.

logou qeou "the word of God" - word of God. The genitive is again probably ablative, expressing origin, "a word from God", and given the context, the "word" here is God's particular revelation which states that the creation is good.

enteuxewV (iV ewV) "with thanksgiving" - intercession. Paul is restating the qualification made in v4 where the participation in God's good creation is "with thanksgiving", ie., thankfully enjoyed under God, rather than enjoyed without reference to God (hedonism).

1 Timothy Introduction

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