1Timothy 4:3-5 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God
hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know
the truth. (4) For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be
received with thanksgiving: (5) For it is
sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
H.L. Mencken defined Puritanism as "The haunting
fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” Had he lived today, it would be
interesting to see what he would have to say about the secularism. His snipe at Christianity is more of a shot at what is perceived by people who don't want to be told they are wrong and assume that forsaking God's way is the path to happiness. It
is somewhat amusing to be called a prude or a puritan today, because it isn't
the Christian who goes about worrying that someone may be happy. The Puritans
didn't either, by the way; they were champions of liberty in Christ and knew the way to happiness.
The lie of secularism is that they offer true freedom and
liberty. In reality, the further one goes from the liberty that is in Christ
Jesus, the more one will find himself in bondage. No society can be free from
all moral law or codes of morality. There has to be a line drawn
somewhere and someone has to hold a pen and decide where to start drawing. I would rather have a good and holy God hold the pen than Congress. The
standards of Jesus Christ are not bondage but the path to joy and fellowship
with Christ for the born again believer in Jesus. We are not saved by the law
and we are not saved by keeping the law; but we have fellowship with Jesus by
walking in the light, led by the Spirit.
But the secularist and God haters can't abide by the Word
of God. That just will not due. They want freedom. They want to be set free from
those terribly restrictive edicts the Bible lays down.
But what happens? They cast away God's law and make their own. God ordained
marriage which is good for everyone involved, when done as God intended. It is
good for men, good for women, and good for society in general. God gave liberty
in the eating of meats and blessed us with the liberty to eat with joy and
thanksgiving. What does secular society do? They destroy the gift of marriage
and make so many food laws that Moses is saying "wow, come on guys,
lighten up!"
The great libertines of secularism, who have done away
with the oppressive puritanical ways of the Bible have opened the door of the
liberty that is found in Secularism. This great "freedom"that we have includes
laws against soda. Laws against trans fats. Laws about going to the bathroom.
Laws about who can bake cakes for whom and when and why. Soon, the unspoken
laws about being able to tell the truth will be written laws and they certainly won't be to protect speech. The great proponents
of secularist freedom are writing laws about pronouns now and how to use them. I might be jailed for
the high crime of saying "he". Pronouns in the hands of a man who knows how to use them can be a dangerous thing in a society built upon lies. Not only are you not allowed to go
against these liberties, you are not even allowed to think differently. You
have the freedom to shut up and do as your told, or else.
Humanity will have laws and they will have standards. The
further you get from God's ways, the more oppressive and harmful the laws.
These false teachers in Paul's day were drawing people away from the truth by
giving MORE oppressive and restrictive standards. They were adding to the Word
of God and this had an appeal. The falsehoods these preachers were selling are
very similar to the points of controversy we find ourselves in today, Marriage and food. While we
could point to other religions that use these tactics, I think that secularism
is the greater threat since evangelical churches are following the leadership of
the High Priests of this religion of the unnamed god.
False teachers draw people away by giving people something to do. Works righteousness is a lot like an old school football coach and his secret health remedies, when it starts to hurt, you know it is working. They were telling people to not enjoy the good gifts of God and through their sacrifice and pain of not enjoying God's gifts, they would be closer to God. The question of marriage was one that circulated in the
days of the early church. Paul answers the questions the Corinthians had about this
very topic in I Corinthians 7. These false teachers spoke against marriage and
were forbidding marriage, either to some or to all. This is contrary to the
true Biblical teaching that marriage is a good gift from God.
Paul likely was combating the early sects that would come
to be the Gnostics, who felt all things physical were evil. In this section,
Paul has grouped two issue relating to the physical together - abstinence from
marriage and abstinence from food. Abstaining from food or certain types of
food, as a means to holiness. Likely this was similar to the food laws of the
Old Testament and the false teachers were saying that in order to grow in
holiness, you had to abstain from certain foods, which of course is utter nonsense. Not only is it wrong headed, but dangerous. This is the devilish doctrine that people leave the faith over. These are issues of eternal significance.
So, get married, within the bounds God has given and praise
the Lord for it. Eat what God has provided for you, and praise Him for it. Be
thankful for the food and enjoy what God has given. It is not unholy to eat
the food God has given to us, if we thank Him for it. We do so by faith and the Word of God, or by
God saying it is ok to eat it. We can enjoy barbecue by faith because God said we can enjoy it. God has given permission for us to eat meats, so dig in! Thank God for
the food he has provided and enjoy it with thanksgiving.
When people break from real sins, they have to make their
own. Sins such as eating too much gluten. The transgressions of trans fats and
the iniquities of preservatives. We pay our tithes and offerings by paying twice
as much for free-range chicken eggs. Eat this, don't eat that. Touch this,
don't touch that. I'm all for eating healthy and I'm certainly not saying that
you shouldn't mind what you eat, but don't make a religion out of it and watch out for those who do.
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