“Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1 HCSB).
1 Timothy 4:1 presents us with a disturbing portrait, for those who “depart the faith” will knowingly or unknowingly follow “deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons.” Their example reminds us that there are some spiritual teachings that seem good but aren’t necessarily based in truth.
For instance, let’s take the very first Biblical example of a deceitful teaching as found in the Old Testament book of Genesis…
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”
‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil'” (Genesis 3:1-5).
This exchange serves as a representative example of the danger revealed here in 1 Timothy 4:1. We can expose this danger by examining the proposition put forth by the serpent: “You will not surely die… your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…” That assertion carried several implications that failed to accurately reflect God’s true character…
- First, it implied that God did something wrong because He didn’t tell the truth (“You will not surely die”).
- This led to the insinuation that God was withholding something good from humanity: “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened.”
- Those propositions were certain to prompt a further question: what was God’s motive in denying access to this fruit? Once again, the serpent was ready with a disingenuous response: God was concerned that Eve would learn that she could become like Him (“you will be like God”).
This line of reasoning may have seemed plausible but was actually rooted in an intent to deceive. The same may be true of any philosophy, belief. or ideology that fails to align with genuine Biblical doctrine. Some teachings may seem plausible but plausibility alone is a poor measure of spiritual truth. Biblical accuracy should be be our standard as we seek to evaluate any spiritual teaching.