1 Timothy 4:1-3- Apostasy in the Latter Times

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1 Timothy 4:1-3 says, "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; 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."

Looking at the underlined statements, those are some of the many last days there will be plenty of false teaching. So what's going on?  Here are they:

  • Some shall depart from the faith- This is in reference to apostasy in 1 John 2:19.  Listen, no Christian will ever depart like Judas Iscariot did.  Every Christian is a new creature in God (2 Corinthians 5:17).  There is no condemnation in the eternal sense (Romans 8:1).  Here's what- in the latter times, the Christians will see the fakes weeded out among them.  Many will play church but they were not saved.  Some of them can be working for the Vatican (ex. Jesuit operatives) or are simply just there to cause trouble.  Some of them pretend to be fundamental Baptists but they are nothing more than parodies of Christianity.  No Christian in any way will be able to denounce their faith in Jesus Christ, instead they will choose to endure to the end (even if right now, they may not be showing it) rather than give up on their faith.  
  • Doctrines of devils and speaking lies in hypocrisy- People have elevated man-made tradition above God's Word.  Mark 7:8-13 has Jesus blasting out the Pharisees for that offense.  They go against the very Word of God.  They teach that the Scriptures are not sufficient, they preach another Jesus who is NOT the Jesus of the Bible each one with weird unbiblical ideas about Him (2 Corinthians 11:4) and they teach a legalistic means of salvation which by the way is false because real good works happen because one is saved and not contributing to salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 4:5, Titus 3:5).  They are hypocrites also because they suffer from a double standard.  They like the Pharisees say and do not (Matthew 23:3).  Also, works salvation is nothing more than a hypocritical, sanctimonious doctrine that is a sure road to Hellfire.
  • Conscience seared with a hot iron- It becomes so light for these hypocritical teachers to live a double standard life and sin all they want.  The Roman Catholic institution as an example, has priests who while they teach purity and tell others to oppose the reproductive health bill are guilty of several sexual sins like premarital sex, extramarital sex and even in some cases, abortions inside convents which are revealed by former priests and nuns who have left the system to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.  Other parodies of Christianity like the Pentecostal charismatic movements have been making a quick buck out of their parody miracles or through various exaggerations.  They all add sin to sin (Isaiah 30:1).
  • Forbidding to marry- Most of the pagan world have enforced celibacy into its priesthood.  The Roman Catholic institution has forbidden its priests from marrying in the later centuries when it first allowed its priests to marry.  They say that the priests have to follow Jesus' celibate life in order to become another Jesus.  However 1 Timothy 3:1-4 is clear that the bishop must be a family man, a husband of one wife and a good example.  Being a good example is not enough, a bishop must be a legitimate family man, a husband of but one wife.  While Catholic apologists use various passages in the Old Testament to try and defend their priesthood's order, however they seem to deliberately ignore the fact that the priests were required to be married. Celibacy is not a sin but to enforce it is just plain wrong.
  • Command to abstain from meats- Again, this is mandatory and not voluntary.  The Roman Catholic institution has set rules on abstaining from meats like on Fridays and during Lent when it is NOWHERE in the Bible, direct or indirect in any statement.  There is nothing wrong if a person chooses to be a vegetarian for health reasons or out of a dislike of meat but it's wrong to enforce fasting on anyone.  What's even crazier is that Lent comes together with the Passover and the Jews ate passover lamb so what gives anybody the right to demand fasting when God commanded the Jews to eat lamb?

Based on this, this is again a sign of the last days where false christs and false prophets will arise.  Even so come Lord Jesus and take your place.