Some Will Depart From The Faith

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.”

This verse teaches us that some will abandon the faith. They previously said they were Christians, but then reject what they once professed. Paul says they depart from the faith by devoting themselves to false teaching. This false teaching is attributed to demonic activity. This activity is either direct upon a person or through someone else (i.e. the false teacher). Identifying false teaching is only be established by knowing what the truth is. If we do not know the truth, we cannot expect to identify falsehood. The truth is always the standard we must use to measure any teaching.

Paul warned the Ephesian elders about the wolves who would come in among the church and decimate it (Acts 20:29, 30). Timothy is at Ephesus when Paul writes to him (1:3). Paul left him at Ephesus to prevent false teaching. He was to instruct the Ephesians not to teach any different doctrine or engage in vain and foolish speculations about myths and endless genealogies (speculation about OT family trees). False doctrine is dangerous, and myths and endless family trees are a waste of time. True doctrine springs from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith motivated by love (1:5). The last verse of chapter 3 is possibly an early Christian hymn. Paul calls it the “mystery of godliness” (3:16). This mystery of godliness contains doctrinal truth in summary form about the person of Christ. It is similar to a confession of faith. This hymn highlights the Incarnation, the Resurrection, and the Ascension of our Lord. It also points out the authenticity or validity of the truth in the Scriptures, since this truth was proclaimed among the nations. This proclamation is the preaching of the Gospel.

So having given Timothy this great declaration of Christian truth or doctrine (3:16), Paul now, in chapter 4, indicates that there will be a departure from it. The revelation of the Holy Spirit in verse 1 is either by direct revelation to Paul or through the revealed Scriptures. There was nothing vague about this revelation. It was clear. Paul uses the word “expressly.” This word means that the Spirit used particular or explicit words. You cannot miss the intent of the words used by the Spirit. We all know that the use of words is important. We must know what words mean in order to understand. The Spirit is not being vague or unclear. He uses words to convey precisely what he intends. The specificity of this express revelation is that there will be a departure from the faith by some people. It is going to happen. False teachers are going to come into the Church and they are going to teach false doctrine.

Paul has already indicated in chapter 1 that certain persons had swerved from the truth and were wandering in vain discussions, desiring to be teachers of the law, not understanding what they were saying or things they spoke so confidently about (1:6, 7). This statement by Paul seems to imply that false teachers don’t understand what they teach. There is confusion in their minds. Their minds are speculating about many things. They twist the truth. The Apostle Peter mentions Paul’s writings in this statement: “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” (2 Pet. 3:15, 16).

Sinners suppress the truth, exchange the truth for a lie, do not obey the truth, and refuse to love the truth (Rom. 1:18, 25; 2:8; 2 Thess. 2:10). In 2 Timothy 2:16, Paul mentions that Hymenaeus and Philetus had swerved from the truth. They were teaching that the Resurrection had already taken place. Paul says that false teachers who lead silly women astray, are always learning but never arrive at the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3:6, 7). In 2 Timothy 3:13, Paul states: “evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.“ False teaching is about deception and the deliberate leading astray from the truth. It is remarkable how many times Paul refers to these things. He warns Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3, 4 that “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

The false teaching in our verse manifests itself in forbidding marriage and requiring abstinence from foods (4:3). False teaching determines the burden of holiness on someone by what they deny or give up. There is legalism to false teaching. The Judaizers who hounded Paul wanted to lay the burden of circumcision and the law on the Gentiles (Gal. 5:11; 6:12–14). Paul understood this to be a desire to evade the persecution of the Cross. It also placed a burden on the person to fulfill the entire law, which he could not do. False teaching does not spring from the motive of love but from legalism and license. The false teacher demands certain requirements of others, but never of himself. Marriage and food, however, are gifts from God, and therefore they are good (vs. 4; see Mark 7:19). When we give thanks for our food, we are acknowledging that God provided it for us. You cannot turn around and forbid that same food to someone else if you have given thanks for it. Prayer and God’s Word sanctify the food (vs. 5).

Paul calls the false teachers in our passage “liars” (4:2) with seared consciences. They are desensitized to the Gospel and rebel against it constantly. False teachers have abandoned the faith and they lead others to do the same. Departing from the faith is apostasy (4:1). All those who apostatize were never true believers, to begin with. Ultimately, apostasy manifests itself in a denial of the Person and Work of Christ. The Apostle John calls them “antichrist” (1 John 2:18–22). They leave the fellowship of the church, take others with them, and teach their false doctrine. It happens all the time. The Holy Spirit is the guardian of the truth and the faith. He does this through the Word outwardly and through his residence within us (1 John 2:27). It is the Holy Spirit who guides us into truth (John 16:13). The true believer loves the truth, relishes the truth, and recognizes the truth.

One of the great dangers facing the Church at present is the heaping to ourselves of many teachers. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:3 that “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.” Here is sound teaching that will not be tolerated, and this is done by listening to teachers who suit one’s passions. The current lowering of the flag of God’s truth is because of this. We find that more and more, people do not want the truth. They cannot handle sound teaching or doctrine. They say it is too heavy for them. By lightening the Word, they wander away from the truth. This is all around us today. Our verse indicates that “in the latter times” apostasy is going to happen. That’s today! The way to guard yourself against this danger is by believing and knowing the truth (vs. 3). Knowing the content of our faith and confessing it prevents us from folly and apostasy. Listen to and study only God’s Word. Submit to the Holy Spirit for illumination. Don’t be swept away by dangerous deceitful spirits who emphasize the flesh and experience. Lean on the truth.