They will prohibit marriageIn the early church, some false teachers began to impose ascetic practices, including the prohibition of marriage. This reflects a misunderstanding of the goodness of God's creation, as marriage was instituted by God in
Genesis 2:24. The prohibition of marriage contradicts the biblical view that marriage is honorable (
Hebrews 13:4) and a reflection of Christ's relationship with the Church (
Ephesians 5:31-32). Historically, certain sects, such as the Gnostics, viewed the material world as evil, leading them to reject marriage. This teaching is a departure from the truth that God declared His creation, including marriage, as "very good" (
Genesis 1:31).
and require abstinence from certain foods
The requirement to abstain from certain foods echoes the Old Testament dietary laws, which were fulfilled in Christ (Mark 7:18-19,Acts 10:15). In the New Testament, believers are no longer bound by these restrictions, as salvation is not dependent on dietary practices (Colossians 2:16-17). The insistence on abstaining from foods reflects a legalistic approach that undermines the freedom found in Christ (Galatians 5:1). This teaching may have been influenced by Jewish traditions or ascetic philosophies that viewed physical indulgence as sinful.
that God has created to be received with thanksgiving
God's creation, including food, is intended to be enjoyed with gratitude. This principle is rooted in the acknowledgment of God as the provider of all good things (James 1:17). The act of giving thanks sanctifies the believer's use of creation, aligning with the practice of blessing meals (1 Corinthians 10:30-31). Thanksgiving is a recurring theme in Scripture, emphasizing a heart of gratitude as a response to God's provision (Philippians 4:6).
by those who believe and know the truth
Believers, who have accepted the truth of the Gospel, recognize the freedom they have in Christ. This truth is grounded in the knowledge of God's Word and the work of Christ, who declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19). The phrase underscores the importance of discernment and understanding in the life of a believer, as they navigate teachings that may contradict the Gospel. Knowing the truth involves a relationship with Christ, who is the embodiment of truth (John 14:6), and a commitment to living according to His teachings.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
PaulThe apostle who authored the letter to Timothy, providing guidance and instruction for church leadership and Christian living.
2.
TimothyA young pastor and protégé of Paul, stationed in Ephesus, tasked with addressing false teachings and leading the church.
3.
EphesusThe city where Timothy was ministering, known for its diverse religious practices and the presence of false teachings.
4.
False TeachersIndividuals within the church who were promoting ascetic practices, such as forbidding marriage and certain foods, contrary to the gospel.
5.
BelieversThose who have faith in Christ and are encouraged to receive God's creation with gratitude.
Teaching Points
Discernment Against False TeachingsBelievers must be vigilant and discerning, recognizing teachings that deviate from the truth of the gospel.
The Goodness of God's CreationGod's creation, including marriage and food, is inherently good and should be received with thanksgiving.
Freedom in ChristChristians are called to live in the freedom Christ provides, not bound by human-imposed restrictions that contradict Scripture.
Gratitude as a Spiritual PracticeCultivating a heart of gratitude for God's provisions is essential for spiritual growth and aligns with knowing the truth.
The Role of Sound DoctrineUpholding sound doctrine is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the faith and guiding others in truth.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of 1 Timothy 4:3?
2.How does 1 Timothy 4:3 warn against false teachings in today's church?
3.What role does gratitude play in receiving God's creation, according to 1 Timothy 4:3?
4.How does Genesis 1:31 relate to 1 Timothy 4:3's view on creation?
5.How can we discern between true and false teachings in our daily lives?
6.How can 1 Timothy 4:3 guide our dietary and lifestyle choices today?
7.Why does 1 Timothy 4:3 warn against abstaining from foods God created to be received?
8.How does 1 Timothy 4:3 relate to dietary laws in the Old Testament?
9.What historical context influenced the message in 1 Timothy 4:3?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from 1 Timothy 4?
11.What does the Bible say about forbidding marriage?
12.What are the key events in the Acts of Thomas?
13.Does the Bible mention the paleo diet?
14.In 1 Timothy 4:3, why criticize dietary and marital restrictions if some have legitimate health or social benefits?What Does 1 Timothy 4:3 Mean
They will prohibit marriage- Paul warns that some claim greater holiness by outlawing what God calls good. “Marriage is honorable among everyone” (Hebrews 13:4), yet these teachers label it worldly.
- From the beginning, the Lord declared, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Jesus affirmed this inMark 10:6-9, uniting husband and wife under God’s design.
- Forbidding marriage therefore rejects both creation’s order and Christ’s words, showing the “deceitful spirits” behind such rules (1 Timothy 4:1).
and require abstinence from certain foods- Asceticism sounds pious, but it adds human commands to God’s Word. Paul addresses this elsewhere: “Why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to regulations… ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch’?” (Colossians 2:20-22).
- The New Covenant removed the ceremonial distinctions that once marked Israel’s diet (Acts 10:15;Romans 14:17).
- When people turn diet into a spiritual litmus test, they shift hope from Christ to personal effort—exactly what the gospel rejects (Galatians 5:1).
that God has created- Food and family spring from the Creator’s generous hand. “Everything that lives and moves will be food for you” (Genesis 9:3).
-Psalm 104:14 celebrates the Lord who “causes grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate.” He designed physical blessings as gifts, not traps.
- Declaring His gifts off-limits is a veiled accusation that God’s provision is flawed, echoing the serpent’s original suspicion-casting (Genesis 3:1-5).
to be received with thanksgiving- The proper response to God’s bounty is grateful enjoyment, not guilt-ridden abstention. “For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected” (1 Timothy 4:4-5).
- Gratitude re-centers our hearts on the Giver (Colossians 3:17;Ephesians 5:20).
- Thanksgiving turns ordinary life—marriage, meals, daily work—into worship, keeping legalism at bay.
by those who believe and know the truth- Faith joins us to Christ, freeing us from man-made chains. Jesus said, “If you remain in My word… you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).
- Those “who believe” recognize Scripture, not human tradition, as the standard (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
- Purity is internal, rooted in grace; “To the pure, all things are pure” (Titus 1:15). External prohibitions cannot produce the holiness already granted in Christ.
summaryPaul exposes ascetic teachers who deny God’s good gifts—marriage and food—claiming their restrictions produce spirituality. Scripture insists the opposite: God created these blessings for believers to enjoy with thankful hearts. Rejecting them insults His generosity and undermines the freedom Christ secured. True holiness flows from faith, truth, and gratitude, not from man-made rules.
(3)
Forbidding to marry.--This strange and unnatural "counsel of perfection," St. Paul, thinking and writing in the Spirit, looked forward to as a perilous delusion which would, as time went on, grow into the impious dogma of certain of the great Gnostic schools. This teaching was probably, even in those early days, creeping into the churches. The Jewish sects of Essenes and Therapeutae had already taught that "abstinence from marriage" was meritorious. Men belonging to these sects doubtless were to be found in every populous centre where Jews congregated, and it was always in these centres of Judaism that Christianity at first found a home. St. Paul, however, saw no reason to dwell on this point at any length; the gross absurdity of such a "counsel "as a rule of life was too apparent; it was a plain contradiction of the order of Divine Providence. But the next question which presented itself in the teaching of these false ascetics, as we shall see, required more careful handling.
And commanding to abstain from meats.--Once more we must look to those famous Jewish religious communities of Egypt (the Essenes and Therapeutae), the precursors of the great monastic systems of Christianity, as the home whence these perverted ascetic tendencies issued. These precepts too, like the counsel respecting marriage, were adopted in after years by several of the principal Gnostic sects; and it was especially those times St. Paul looked on to, although, no doubt, the seeds of their false asceticism had already been sown broadcast in the principal Christian congregations.
It has been asked why, in these solemn warnings against a false asceticism which St. Paul foresaw might and would be substituted for a really earnest Godfearing life, the question of celibacy was dismissed with one short sentence, while the apparently less-important question of abstaining from particular kinds of food was discussed with some detail. The reason is easily discoverable. The counsel to abstain from marriage was a strange and unnatural suggestion, one contrary to the plain scheme of creation. Any teaching which taught that the celibate's life was a life peculiarly pleasing to God would, at the same time, throw a slur upon all home and family life, and the Apostle felt that men's ordinary common sense would soon relegate any such strange teaching to obscurity; but with the question of abstaining from meats--that was connected with the precepts of the Mosaic law, which dealt at some length (probably from reasons connected with the public health) with these restrictions in the matter of meats.
These false teachers, while they urged such abstinence as a likely way to win God's favour, would probably base, or at all events support, their arguments by reference to certain portions of the Mosaic law, rightly understood or wrongly understood.
These points, then, might have risen into the dignity of a controverted question between the (Pauline) Gentile and the Jewish congregations. So St. Paul at once removed it to a higher platform. All food was from the hand of one Maker--nothing, then, could really be considered common or unclean without throwing a slur upon the All-Creator.
Which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving.--God's primeval intention is thus sharply contrasted with men's arbitrary restrictions. This divine intention is repeated with still greater emphasis in1Timothy 4:4.
Of them which believe and know the truth.--The true "Gnostics," in St. Paul's eyes, were not those self-sufficient men who were out of their own corrupt imagination devising these strange and unnatural methods of pleasing God, but those holy, humble men of heart whobelieved on His crucified Son, andknew the truth of the glorious gospel.
Verse 3. -
Created for
hath created, A.V.;
by for
of, A.V.;
that for
which, A.V.
Forbidding to marry. This is mentioned as showing itself first among the Essenes and Therapeutic by Josephus ('Bell. Jud.,' it. 8:2, and '
Ant. Jud.,' 18, 1:5). It became later a special tenet of the Gnostics, as stated by Clem. Alex., 'Strom.,' 3:6; Irenaeus, "
Haer.," 1:22, etc. (quoted by Ellicott). See other quotations in Pole's Synopsis. Commanding to
abstain from meats;
βρωμάτων (
1 Corinthians 8:8;
Hebrews 9:10; comp.
βρώσει,
Colossians 2:16;
Romans 14:17). The word "commanding" has to be supplied from the preceding
κωλυόντων, "commanding not." Some of the sects prohibited the use of animal food. A trace of this asceticism in regard to food is found in
Colossians 2:16, 21, 23. (For a full list of authorities on the asceticism of the Jewish sects, see Bishop Lightfoot, 'Introduction to the Epistle to the Coloss.,' pp. 83, 84.) The chief passages relating to it are those referred to above from Josephus:
Γάμουὑπεροψία παρ αὐτοῖς, "They despise marriage;"
Ἐσσαίων οὐδεὶς ἄγεται γυναῖκα, "
None of the Essenes marry" (Philo, 'Fragm.,' p. 633); "Gens sine ulla femina, venere abdicata" - "A people without a single woman, for they renounce marriage" (Plin., 'Nat. Hist.,' 5:15). As regards their food, Bishop Lightfoot says, "The Essene drank no wine; he did not touch animal food. His meal consisted of a piece of bread, and a single mess of vegetables" ('Introd.,' p. 86). Professor Burton (in Kitto's 'Cyclopaedia,' art. "
Gnosticism') says of the later Gnostics that, from their principle of the utter malignity of matter, and the elevating nature of
γνῶσις, two very opposite results ensued - one that many Gnostics led very profligate lives; the other that many practiced great austerities in order to mortify the body and its sensual appetites (p. 770). Some of our modern Eneratites, in their language concerning the use of wine and beer, approach Gnosticism very closely.
To be received (
εἰς μετάληψιν); a classical word, but only found here in the New Testament, not used by the LXX.
With thanksgiving. Observe the identity of thought with
Romans 14:6. These passages, together with our Lord's action at the last Supper (
Luke 22:17, 19), at the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (
Luke 9:16), and St. Paul's on board ship (
Acts 27:35), are conclusive as to the Christian duty of giving thanks, commonly called "saying grace" at meals.
The truth (see
1 Timothy 3:15;
John 18:37;
Ephesians 4:21, etc.).
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
They will prohibitκωλυόντων(kōlyontōn)Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 2967:To prevent, debar, hinder; with infin: from doing so and so. From the base of kolazo; to estop, i.e. Prevent.marriageγαμεῖν(gamein)Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 1060:To marry, used of either sex. From gamos; to wed.[and require] abstinenceἀπέχεσθαι(apechesthai)Verb - Present Infinitive Middle
Strong's 568:To have in full, be far, it is enough. From apo and echo; to have out, i.e. Receive in full; to keep away, i.e. Be distant.from certain foodsβρωμάτων(brōmatōn)Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 1033:Food of any kind. From the base of bibrosko; food, especially articles allowed or forbidden by the Jewish law.thatἃ(ha)Personal / Relative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3739:Who, which, what, that.GodΘεὸς(Theos)Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316:A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.has createdἔκτισεν(ektisen)Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2936:To create, form, shape, make, always of God. Probably akin to ktaomai; to fabricate, i.e. Found.toεἰς(eis)Preposition
Strong's 1519:A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.be receivedμετάλημψιν(metalēmpsin)Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3336:Participation, sharing in, receiving. From metalambano; participation.withμετὰ(meta)Preposition
Strong's 3326:(a) gen: with, in company with, (b) acc: (1) behind, beyond, after, of place, (2) after, of time, with nouns, neut. of adjectives.thanksgivingεὐχαριστίας(eucharistias)Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 2169:Thankfulness, gratitude; giving of thanks, thanksgiving. From eucharistos; gratitude; actively, grateful language.by those whoτοῖς(tois)Article - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.believeπιστοῖς(pistois)Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4103:Trustworthy, faithful, believing. From peitho; objectively, trustworthy; subjectively, trustful.andκαὶ(kai)Conjunction
Strong's 2532:And, even, also, namely.knowἐπεγνωκόσι(epegnōkosi)Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1921:From epi and ginosko; to know upon some mark, i.e. Recognize; by implication, to become fully acquainted with, to acknowledge.theτὴν(tēn)Article - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.truth.ἀλήθειαν(alētheian)Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 225:From alethes; truth.
Links
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NT Letters: 1 Timothy 4:3 Forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain (1 Tim. 1Ti iTi 1tim i Tm) 
