Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. – 1 Timothy 4:1-5

In 1 Timothy 1 Paul commands his young protege to remove the false teaching prevailing in the Ephesian church and wage the good warfare of faith. In the passage above we get an idea of how these two aspects of ministry are related. The first two verses reveal three characteristics of false teaching: it is 1) a mark of the later times, and 2) comes from deceptive demons and 3) lying leaders. False teaching is rarely overt, in fact, this passage shows us just how covert false teaching is. Instead of blatantly rejected the deity of Christ or the inerrancy of the Bible the false teachers were advocating an ascetic theology – forbidding marriage and the eating of particular foods.

How then are God’s people to fight against such subtlety? Notice three devices Paul gives in this text to drive out deception . . .

Truth drives out deception.  Paul says that the blessings of marriage and food are to be received by people who believe and know the truth. When Paul writes of the armor of God in Ephesians 6 he begins with the belt of truth. As Thomas Brooks said, “Men take no hold of error till they have let go their hold of truth, therefore hold fast to truth.”¹   Holding fast to truth means devotion to the Word.  Hearing the word preached is an underestimated battering ram of truth against the enemy’s fortress of deception.  Reading the word with humble devotion illuminates the mind and heart, driving out the darkness of deception.  Speaking the truth to one another in discipling relationships is vital and necessary, for truth is a community treasure (Eph. 4:17).  In everything we hold fast to Christ, for He is the truth.

Thanksgiving drives out deception.  Two times Paul says that we are to receive God’s gifts with thanksgiving.  In another letter he says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18).  Just how does thanksgiving drive out deception?  Thanksgiving is little more than remembering and acknowledging God – for who He is and what He has done.  To give thanks in everything is to hold fast to God in everything.  He is a mighty fortress, a bulwark never failing. Thanksgiving places our souls next to this bulwark.

Holiness drives out deception. We see in this text that the false teachers advocated a false holiness, which Paul combats with a right understanding of holiness. Jesus said that we are made holy in truth (John 17:17) and the Spirit’s work of holiness produces the fruit of thanksgiving (Eph. 5:20).  We can be sure that where holiness reigns, truth and thanksgiving thrive.  The beauty of these devices is that they all fuel one another; pursuing truth brings holiness and thanksgiving, pursuing holiness dives the soul deeper into the truth and thanksgiving, and increased thanksgiving grows truth and holiness.  Church, we must be about the pursuit of holiness. You want to strive against Satan? Strive for holiness.

Root yourself in Christ by faith and wage the good warfare against Satan’s deception by wielding truth, thanksgiving, and holiness.