through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,
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?
Who speaks the lies
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:
William Kelly"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:
Hamilton SmithThe 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.
Hypocrisy as a religious display
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:
J. G. BellettThen 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.
What a branded conscience is
One reference work sets this phrase beside another state Paul names, and defines what the searing leaves behind:
Morrish Bible DictionaryPaul 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.
How a conscience reaches that state
A conscience does not die in a moment. One writer traces the slow burn to the habit of teaching one thing and living another:
G C WillisThose 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.
The warning turned on us
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:
Leslie M. GrantThose 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.
Summary
- 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.