Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:1-5)

Departing From The Word Of God

Truth is older than error but error is more readily accepted than truth. The failure of the human mind has been to accept one body of truth. Satan’s first attack against the will of man was to ask the question, “Has God indeed said?” The devil knew he could not force the woman to eat of the forbidden fruit but if he succeeded in tempting her to accept a lie as truth, his work would be accomplished. God had clearly told Adam and Eve they could eat of every tree of the garden and were forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The commandments of the Lord have never been burdensome or difficult to understand. Satan deceived Eve into accepting error more than remaining true to the word of God. His tactic has remained the same. The first step of sin always begins with departing from the word of God.

Apostasy is an individual challenge every man faces as he is daily confronted with the decision to obey God or follow his carnal desires. The problem of apostasy becomes a global pandemic when men begin to pervert the word of God to create systems of faith that depart from the faith once established by the Holy Spirit. Paul warned the early Christians a time would come when men would depart from the foundations of truth, to follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. God knew the nature of how men would handle the word of truth and foretold through the Holy Spirit of those who would pervert the truth of the gospel. It is clear the gospel can be corrupted by the wisdom of human reasoning. Like Israel of old, being unsatisfied with the word of God, men add to and embellish religion to fits his own needs and wants. This falls more into the desire of pride and the carnality of man-made religion. Israel wanted to be like the nations around them and succeeded in destroying the nation of God through idolatry.

Satan will never be able to destroy the church of Christ but he will make every effort to corrupt and change the doctrines of God to fit his pernicious purpose. Men will rise up who are hypocrites and liars clothed in the garments of religious jealousy. At first glance, it seems incredulous that honest men would follow such unashamed lies as false religion but the reason is that their consciences are dead. They will teach men it is wrong to be married and establish dogmas that prohibit the eating of certain foods. This was certainly the case with the formation of the Roman Catholic Church which numbers are estimated at 1.2 billion adherents. It would seem clear in the letter to Timothy that Paul (through the Holy Spirit) is alluding to the Roman and Greek apostasy. Sadly, Protestant churches today are illegitimate children of the whoredom of apostasy following in the same paths as their mother.

The Bible is the word of God. Everything needful for man to understand the mind of God is contained within the pages of the Bible. There is no other book that comes from the Divine. The book of Mormon, the Koran, the teachings of Buddha and all other books that claim to be of divine origin are false. Jesus declared that He is the only way to the Father, He is the only body of truth and life cannot be found outside of Jesus Christ. The faith once delivered to the saints is the revelation of eternal truth and the only truth that will save the soul of man. Jesus died to deliver the grace of God into the hearts of men. Accepting, following and teaching any doctrine that is not found in the Bible is the doctrine of demons and deceiving spirits. The Holy Spirit declared this truth. Anything else is departing from the word of God.