But the Spirit speaks expressly, that in latter times some shall apostatise from the faith, giving their mind to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons
Paul has just described the mystery of godliness, and now he turns to its dark opposite. The Spirit warns in plain words that some who once held the faith will give it up.
This warning came straight from the Spirit of God. At that time He still spoke to the church through prophets.
When the Apostle wrote, the Holy Spirit was still giving inspired messages through prophets, as we see in Acts 13:2. The apostles and prophets who carried that inspiration belonged to the foundation of the church (see Ephesians 2:20). Inspiration has now ceased, though we have the Holy Scriptures as its result. He no longer speaks in that authoritative way. Still, He remains with us for ever, and those who have eyes to see can often perceive His direction.
The warning comes straight after the mystery of godliness. The order matters, because the enemy strikes first at the foundation.
The apostle has mentioned the mystery of godliness. Now he speaks of Satan's power against the faith and truth of God... The faith is the foundation on which everything rests, so Satan aims to destroy it first. He knows that once people give up faith and deny the truth of God, he, the master-mind, can easily bring in his seducing spirits and put demon doctrines in place of the faith.
Kelly sets this warning beside another prophecy about the "last days." The time here is simply "after," and the number is small.
The earlier letter (1 Timothy 4:1-3) gave a prophetic warning. But that evil is quite different in time, character, and extent from what we have here. The Spirit did not say "last days." He spoke expressly of later, or after, times — the times that follow the apostle's writing. Instead of a widespread condition of "men" in Christendom, he there spoke of "some" only. The language suits and supposes comparatively few.
The word behind "depart" is stronger than it sounds in English.
A verb form of this word occurs in 1 Timothy 4:1. Translators should have kept "apostatise" there, both for consistency and to keep the definite sense of religious defection. The word does not mean corruption. It means abandonment — in politics it means revolt against authority.
Abandonment is only half of it. Something else moves in to fill the empty space.
The apostate is not simply one who neglects the truth, nor rejects the truth. He once professed the faith. He then gives up the truth on purpose and takes up some other religious creed as better than Christianity... So apostasy is not only giving up the truth. It also means taking up error — the doctrine of demons.
At first glance, those who fall away look like the same people who tell the lies. Kelly, working from his own translation of the verse, counts them separately.
"Some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of men who spread false stories." So three parties were involved in the abandonment of the faith. First, the victims of the errors. Second, the unseen power of evil — the spirits or demons that misled them. Third, the men who spread false stories, who were the channel... A man may tell lies in hypocrisy. We can hardly speak of a demon's hypocrisy, and Scripture gives no ground for giving a conscience to a seducing spirit.
Commentators differ over the details that follow in verses 2 and 3: forbidding marriage and banning certain foods. Some see a system that enforces celibacy and self-denial:
Its main features are seduction, untruth, and hypocrisy. Its dreadful companion is a seared conscience that the truth cannot get through. Its fair pretensions are enforced celibacy and strict self-denial, and by these it gains a reputation for holiness among men.
Others locate it in deliberate dealings with spirits:
People have often taken the Spirit's warning in the first three verses as applying to the Church of Rome. We believe it points instead to the deliberate trafficking with demons that we see today in spiritism... Spiritism teaches that both celibacy and vegetarianism are necessary for anyone who wants to be a good "medium." This fulfils both parts of the verse.
- Spoken — The Spirit gives this warning "expressly," in plain, strong words. He spoke it then through inspired prophets; it stands now in Scripture.
- Targeted — Satan attacks the faith first, because everything rests on it. Destroy the foundation, and demon doctrines move in easily.
- Abandoned — "Depart" means apostatise. It is not corrupting the truth but revolting from it, and then taking up another creed instead.
- Channelled — Three parties are in view: the unseen spirits, the human liars with seared consciences who speak for them, and the victims who listen.
- Limited — It is "some," not all, and "later times," not the "last days." The Spirit gave this warning ahead of time, so no believer need be caught off guard.
speaking lies in hypocrisy, cauterised as to their own conscience,
The Spirit's warning about the last days names the people through whom the error travels, and describes what has happened inside them. Two questions follow: who is speaking the lies, and what does it mean for a conscience to be branded with a hot iron?
Verse 1 names seducing spirits and teachings of demons. Verse 2 turns to people: the ESV speaks of "liars" and their insincerity. One commentator, quoting the verses in his own translation, finds three parties here, not two:
"Some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of men who peddle legends." So three parties were involved in this falling away. First, the victims of the errors. Second, the unseen power of evil, the spirits or demons that misled them. Third, the legend-peddlers who were the channel. This shows the importance of a correct translation. It does not mean that the demons were the ones speaking lies in hypocrisy, any more than that they had their conscience branded with a hot iron... A man can speak lies in hypocrisy. We can hardly speak of a demon's hypocrisy. And Scripture gives no ground for saying that a seducing spirit has a conscience. But this is exactly true of the false teachers whom these unseen agents of evil carried along.
Commentators differ on this point. Another writer reads the lie as coming from the demons themselves, and shows what a seared conscience can no longer do:
The demons speak lies while professing to maintain the truth. The devil we know "is a liar" (John 8:44) and deceived our first parents by speaking lies in hypocrisy. The truth has no power over the souls of those who fall away, and they give heed to teachings of demons. This proves that their consciences are so seared that they can no longer tell good from evil.
The lie does not come as open unbelief. It comes dressed up. One writer links this pretence to the searing that follows, and names man-made religion as what deadens the conscience:
Then there would be speaking lies "in hypocrisy," making a display of religion. And all this man's religion, or what man has invented, would "sear the conscience." It would deaden it to God's religion, the religion of "the truth." Man's rules would back it up: his "forbiddings" and "abstinences," which people must obey and practise, though they are so contrary to the thoughts and gifts of God.
One reference work sets this phrase beside another state Paul names, and defines what the searing leaves behind:
Paul speaks of some who have a "defiled mind and conscience" (Titus 1:15). He speaks of others who, in departing from the faith, have their "conscience seared with a hot iron" (1 Tim. 4:2). That means a hardened conscience, one that no longer feels what should cut it to the heart.
A conscience does not die in a moment. One writer traces the slow burn to the habit of teaching one thing and living another:
Those who teach the law today do not keep the law, any more than the law teachers in Galatia kept it. Professing what they do not carry out makes a man dishonest. It makes him a hypocrite; he pretends to be what he is not. He is deceiving himself, as we read in Galatians 6:7. As he goes on deceiving himself, his conscience slowly dies. It is burned, as with a hot iron, so that it no longer has any feeling. And without shame such men can stand up and teach what they know is not the truth.
Anyone can ignore a conscience until it stops speaking. One writer turns the warning into a rule for us, and pictures conscience as a light that can be covered over:
Those who spread such things ignore their own consciences so far that these become seared as with a hot iron, and in the end lose all proper feeling. We must not dare to treat conscience in this way. We must always let it do its true, sensitive work. The sensitive parts of our body warn us against dangers that threaten our health and even our life. They can lose their ability to work without any warning. If grime covers the lens of a lighthouse lamp, nobody will see the warning light.
- Source. Behind the human teachers stand unseen spirits. Commentators differ over who speaks the lies: the men who pass them on, or the demons behind them.
- Mask. The lie comes wrapped in a display of religion, invented by man. That invented religion is what deadens the conscience to the truth.
- Brand. "Seared with a hot iron" means a hardened conscience, no longer able to feel what should cut it to the heart.
- Process. The burning is gradual. Teaching what you do not practise deceives you first. In the end a man can teach what he knows is false and feel no shame.
- Guard. Conscience is a warning light. Let grime cover the lens and the light still burns, but nobody sees it. So never overrule your conscience; let it do its work.