Morning Moments

1 Timothy 4
3 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.

TEACHING THAT CONTRIDICTS THE SAVIOR
It was God, Himself who initiated and instituted marriage and Jesus who sanctioned it by His presence at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. He made numerous references to marriage and some of the men He chose as apostles were married - even Peter whom the Roman church considera the first pope. How ridiculous! It was God who said that it was not good for man to be alone. It was God who made the first wife for man. So any teaching or teacher that forbids marriage violates the teaching of the Savior.

On the other hand, the Scripture does not require one to marry. The Scripture says it is better to marry than to burn. If a man has the need or the desire to marry, he should do it, but to lead the church he should be a "one woman kind of man", which is to say that he is "bound to his wife" for life (his or hers), as Paul teaches in Romans 7.

When I was in the military, I had a good friend who was priest. I asked him how he could cousel married couples if he was not married. His response was, "one doesn't have to have a disease to diagnose a cure." That was an excellent answer...and a true one.

Asceticism was on the rise in Greco-Roman paganism, and although most teachers (both Jewish and Gentile) advocated marriage, the doctrine of celibacy was becoming more popular (especially among Gentiles, but some Essenes also seem to have practiced it). “Abstaining from foods” probably refers to Jewish food laws (see comment on Romans 14:1-4). [Bible Background Commentary]

It is also true that marriage, not celibacy, is the one clear picture of the believer's relationship with Jesus Chirst. Paul writes that it is honorable among all and that the marital bed is undefiled (does not mean perversion). It is clear and true that there are those who have a gift of abstinence, who do not have the desire to marry nor do they need to, but that is certainly not to forbid marriage.

False teachers as seductive deceivers will twist the Scripture to build false doctrines. Forbidding to marry is a false doctrine regardless of who teaches it. But there is one thing more that it is important in our understanding. Paul indicated that because of the great persecution of the church, it might be good to consider the danger of taking a spouse and soon losing that spouse by death. It is not a command but a consideration.

BLESSINGS!