1 The Spirit tells us clearly that in the last days some will defect from the faith and follow deceitful spirits and devilish doctrines,
2 led by lying hypocrites whose conscience has been branded with the stamp of infamy.
3 These persons forbid marriage and condemn the use of cer tain foods which God created for those who know the truth, and which the believers receive with thanksgiving.
4 Everything created by God is good, and all food is lawful; nothing is to be rejected if we receive it with thanksgiving,
5 for it is blessed with the word of God and prayer, and made holy.
6 If you explain these things to the brothers and sisters, you will prove to be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the teachings of faith and the sound doctrine that you have followed.
7 Reject irreligious fables and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness.
8 Phy sical training is of limited value; god liness, instead, is useful in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the life to come.
9 Here you have a sure doc trine you can trust.
10 We toil and endure because we trust in the living God, the Savior of all, especially of those who believe.
Advice to Timothy
11 Command and teach these things.
12 Let no one reproach you on account of your youth. Be a model to the believers in the way you speak and act, in your love, your faith and purity of life.
13 Devote yourself to reading, preaching and teach ing, until I come.
14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift conferred on you with prophetic words when the elders laid their hands upon you.
15 Think about it and practice it so that your progress may be seen by all.
16 Take heed of yourself and attend to your teaching. Be stead fast in doing this and you will save both yourself and your hearers.
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Comments 1 Letter to Timothy, Chapter 4
• 4.1 After the death of the apos tles, new masters who tamper with the faith appear in the Church.
One of the numerous errors of these people is to despise all that comes from the body: they condemn marriage, forbid meat and wine. Concerning marriage, see the Introduction to Colos sians. For those who said matter comes from evil powers whereas souls come from God who is good, having children was to imprison in an evil body souls which later would have to be saved. This is why they condemned, not sexual relations but marriage and procreation. In this contempt of the body and of a nature created by God, there is nothing Christian (see Col 2:23).
In the last days (v. 1): these are the days beginning with Jesus’ resurrection and stretching to his second coming (Heb 1:2; James 5:3).
The Spirit tells us clearly. The prophets of the Church often predicted that people would come to preach their own theories, and not authentic faith.
The believers receive with thanksgiving. From the beginning, it was the custom in Christian families to give thanks to God at the family meal.
Train yourself in godliness (v. 7). Here we have another danger. Contrary to teachers who despise life and want us to live as strange characters, there are others who are totally absorbed in external things. In the Greco-Roman world there was much enthusiasm for sports and races. Without despising the body we are asked to check if we give each part the importance it deserves and the time corresponding to it.
• 11. Faced with all these false teachers, Timothy must be an example of a true apostle.
Let no one reproach you on account of your youth. Usually, in the Christian communities and in the Jewish ones, the leaders were older men. This is why they were called “elders“ or “presbyters” (which means the same thing). Timothy, who is visiting the church on behalf of Paul, has authority over these elders, even though he is much younger than they are. The example of his sincere faith and profound knowledge of the Bible will be his strength.
Do not neglect the spiritual gift (v. 14). If someone was named to a ministry or an official position in the church, this was considered as a spiritual gift: for example, presbyters, deacons, bishops, prophets. While other gifts, such as healing the sick, came directly from the Holy Spirit, ministries were received through a laying on of hands. An apostle or a prophet would lay his hands on the candidate to transfer to him the authority that he had received in a similar way. Thus, in the Church, every leader receives his authority from Christ through a succession of people going back to the apostles.
On this occasion the prophets present would also address the candidate with exhortations and warnings (see 1:18).
Devote yourself to reading, preaching and teaching until I come. This counsel is always valid. To be steadfast in reading and study is what costs most in the majority of liberal professions. Very few people are courageous enough to persevere in study once they have passed their examinations. This is so, even in the Church. The “pastors,” clergy and lay, are constantly tempted in thinking such and such an activity is pastorally useful, that leisure is “relaxing” even at the cost of postponing study and meditation on the Word. The Church is always lacking people able to express their faith creatively – a gift that springs from spiritual knowledge and habitual contact with the Word of God: smiles, goodwill and psychology cannot replace this charism.