¹But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, ²by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, ³men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.

Optimism about the future depends upon which horizon one has in focus. In the short-term horizon, we need to be about the business of our fellowship with believers, combating false teaching, and dealing with the typical conflict that invariably arises. For this we need godly, qualified elders and deacons to lead the way and to be people of prayer so that we might live a “tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim. 2:1–2). The highest horizon, the ultimate locus of our hope, is that we see the “King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Tim. 1:17). But the in-between stuff can be demoralizing.

Paul paints a dark picture of what is coming, possibly seeing its beginnings already. There is no ambiguity about this prophecy; things in this world are getting worse, even to the point that some will “fall away from the faith.” This cannot mean the loss of salvation because of other clear Scripture that assures us of our security (see, for example, Eph. 2:5–6, Rom. 8:28–39, 1 John 5:11–13). Some think this refers to those who are close but fall short of genuine faith and fall away from the fellowship of believers. Most likely, it refers to Christians who fall away from walking the life of faith and fall back into legalistic ways, trying to earn salvation that is freely given them.

Whatever the correct interpretation is, the picture is dark, and the warning is stark. Christians must stand guard. To the Thessalonians, Paul writes, “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ” (2 Thess. 3:5). The deceitful spirits and the doctrine of demons have one goal: to draw our hearts away from a loving, gracious, merciful God, to convince the believer that he or she must work for God’s favor.

The Lord hasn’t saved us to put us right back into spiritual bondage. The tragedy of this is that those who espouse legalism actually believe they are right about their teaching. But they have seared their own consciences and have become utterly calloused to the grace and love of God. To the Colossians, Paul rejoins, “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence” (Col 2:23). Paul lived and preached so that people might become free and stay free in Christ.

Lord, show me my futile attempts to win Your favor through any works of merit.