Hear now the Word of God from 1 Timothy 4 verses 1-5. 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." Sins are reading in God's Word. Let's ask His blessing now upon it. and another brief word of prayer. Lord, we come today eager to hear you speak to us. We pray that you would ready our hearts to do just that. May your spirit work through the word that it might be unto us a living word, that it might penetrate to our hearts, and that you might sovereignly apply it to our lives. Lord, I do pray this morning that you would grant your servant the ability to speak clearly as we consider your word. And we trust You, Lord, now as we open this Scripture to give You glory and honor that we might learn to live as You have commanded. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. A thorough reading of 1 Timothy suggests, as we have said before, that one of the main reasons that Paul wrote this letter was the presence of false teachers within the churches of Ephesus. And you'd be forgiven if you had forgotten that fact, because Paul has not directly mentioned the threat of false teachers since chapter 1. Back in chapter 1, he came out strong against those certain persons teaching different doctrines, going so far as to single out two individuals for particular critique, Hymenaeus and Alexander, who he had handed over to Satan. But then, the apostle began to give, as we have seen, more positive instructions for the church in chapters 2 and 3, laying out directions pertaining to how people are to act as Christians. what certain people are to do within the life of the church and what everyone is to believe. That's where we ended last week. So given that trajectory, it can feel as if we are, as we turn to chapter 4, unexpectedly crashing back down to earth as the false teachers suddenly come back to the forefront again. Here in chapter 4, the apostle circles back to where he started in order to identify more of the defining markers of those who had diverged from the faith, once for all delivered to the saints, to use the language of the book of Jude. Now he focuses especially on the ethical teaching of those false teachers. The ethical teacher. And what we learn as Paul zooms in on the false teaching of the false teachers is that they and their followers were characterized by a devotion to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons. They weren't just novel. They weren't just a little unorthodox. No, they were doing the bidding of the evil one. And this devotion, particularly in their case, manifested itself as a rejection of certain relationships, certain foods, which had been given by God to be received as gift. And so what Paul is doing in 1 Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 through 5 is communicating this historical phenomenon in the church of Ephesus and critiquing this historical phenomenon in the book of Ephesus. And since he speaks of this false teaching with what we might call historical specificity, and he always does, it can feel as if this particular passage has no bearing on us. I mean, if you really think about the details as we're going to see them. He speaks to people in a different time and place who experience challenges that are quite different, we might say, from those that confront us. So what could we learn from this text? Yet as we step back and look at the bigger picture, I think we'll begin to see that the problems faced in Ephesus, though they were very distinct, they never really went away. They never really went away. And in fact, this general problem shown here in the Bible, It continues to manifest itself in new ways in every new context as we continue throughout history. And that's easier to see and recognize when we drill down and see that behind the very specific forms that this false teaching took in the book of 1 Timothy, stands a general overarching commitment to man-made piety. Don't miss this. What stands behind the particulars, 1 Timothy, is a commitment to man-made piety, which undercuts biblical doctrines and biblical practices. And that's something which definitely still remains a problem. Every age has people who want to go their own way. They want to configure religion to fit their mindset and their path to holiness. And so we might state the issue in these verses in more general terms like this. Man-made piety. Untethered from God's Word and God's world displays the influence of demonically driven deceit, not spirit-driven sanctification. I'll say that one more time. Man-made piety, which is untethered from God's Word and God's world displays the influence of demonically driven deceit rather than Spirit-driven sanctification. So we have to take God at His word, stick with His word, and receive His gifts with gratitude. Yes, Ephesus, they were confronted with unique forms of man-made piety. Made up schemes to get right with God, which included particular rules that God had not tried to enforce. And those unique forms needed to be corrected, which is what's taking place in this part of the letter. But every age, when we start thinking about it, has its own unique schemes to get right with God. which must be rejected in favor of God's Word. And so as Paul directly takes on the man-made piety of the false teachers, and therefore indirectly takes on man-made piety in every age, we find him in the text, here's our outline, making the diagnosis in verses 1 and 2, describing the disease in verse 3, and offering a cure in verses 4 through 5. So the diagnosis, the disease, and then the cure. First of all, verses 1 and 2. Returning to the problems that existed within the church at Ephesus, Paul begins by diagnosing the condition that existed around, if not, even at this point, within the church. What's happening? Well, there was an air of spiritual sickness lingering about the body. at least insofar as its members continued to entertain, at times, the teaching of the false teachers. This was not something Paul was surprised about. This was not an unexpected development. He saw it, actually, as we see here in these first verses, as the outworking of prophecy that had previously been given to the church. As we read at the beginning of verse 1, now the spirit expressly says that in later times, some depart from the faith. Now to understand why he's saying this, think about the context. In the previous section, the apostle, what did he do? He outlined the content of the faith in that concise creedal hymn of chapter 3, verse 16. The church confesses the mystery leading to godliness which we saw centers on Jesus Christ. He came in the flesh. He died for sins. He was raised from the dead. His accomplishment was witnessed in heaven and on earth. People everywhere began to believe on him and he's now gone to heaven where he sits enthroned in glory until the second coming. That is the faith which we confess. And it's this faith that some had, Paul says, not unexpectedly begun to depart. which is probably why Paul chooses right here to return to the false teacher. He's drawing a contrast between those who confess the church's confession about Jesus Christ and those who have departed according to what the Spirit had beforehand stated. But that raises a difficult question. When did the Spirit say this? Where did the Spirit say this? And for that matter, what exactly did the Spirit say? Those are difficult questions, and the Apostle Paul does not try to spell that out for us. It could be that Paul as an Apostle had received direct revelations on this matter, that the Lord had indicated to him through the Spirit that there would be a falling away from the faith. That's possible because we see Paul talking about fallings away in earlier books that he wrote, like 2 Thessalonians. But that's not necessarily necessary for these words to be true, because similar things had been prophesied by others before. And since the Spirit is the primary agent of inspiration, Paul's declaration here could really refer to any prior prophecy spoken under the influence of that Spirit. Think about, here's a good example, Book of Revelation, you have the letters to the churches, and Jesus is speaking, And then every one of those speeches is concluded with this statement, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. So even Jesus can be said that when he speaks, the Spirit is speaking. And so this can refer to any inspired word of God. For example, regarding the last days, Jesus says in Matthew chapter 24, verses 10 and 11, and then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray." Jesus himself had said something very similar to this would happen. And in years prior to the writing of this letter Paul himself had predicted such things for the church in Ephesus as we see in Acts chapter 20 verses 29 and 30. There he said to the Ephesian elder, I know that after my departure Fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them." Now I give you two examples. I could give you others. The point here is that while it's hard to know exactly what prophecy Paul is talking about, we see a broad New Testament consensus that in later times, or in the last days, many would fall away and depart from the faith. It's the teaching of Jesus, it's the teaching of Paul, it's the teaching of Peter, teaching of Jude, teaching of John, maybe there's others. Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. This is a consistent theme in the New Testament. And these later times slash last days prophecies would have been applicable to Timothy and his situation as the New Testament demonstrates in other places. I'll give you one example here. The Apostle John, for instance, could refer to his days as, quote, the last hour even. as he does in 1 John 2.18. So, later times, last days, last hour, all of these phrases point to that period of time in which we are still living, inaugurated by the resurrection and ascension of Christ, marking the last period of history. marking the last period of history between the first and second coming of Christ. And that's why the prophecy of falling away pertained particularly to later times in the grand scheme of redemptive history Timothy was already inhabiting. the later times. So Paul's not warning Timothy of something here that he's not going to experience. He's warning Timothy about something that's already happening. And we're going to see this again in 2 Timothy. Not that we're going to go to 2 Timothy, but if you read 2 Timothy, you will see, again, that Paul's going to talk about things that are happening in the last days, in the last times, and those are things that Timothy was dealing with at present. And so understanding this, was vital to understanding what was going on in the Church of Ephesus in the middle of the first century. Timothy was living through prophecy fulfilled, a falling away from the faith, a departure from the gospel message, and that's a departure which happened in those last days, those later times, and which is happening in these last days, these later times. So on the basis of inspired prophecy, Then the Spirit had said that some would depart from the faith, and as an alternative to holding to the faith, they would begin devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. And these striking words, Paul heightens his diagnosis. They're not just sick. They are sick. But the sickness which is plaguing the church at this point, it's not purely natural. They don't just have a cold. It's something that has spread inside from the outside, as deceiving spirits, demonic forces, have exerted their influence to promulgate, to promote things that were contrary to the Christian faith, and rather than doing battle against such forces, which is what Paul had told the Ephesian church to do in Ephesians chapter 6, many were voluntarily giving themselves over to and devoting themselves to these malevolent forces and to the false teachings which they were instigating. And in this way, in this way, Those who were, quote, departing the faith resembled the seed sown along the path in Jesus' parable. So do you remember what happens to the seed sown along the path? Jesus tells you in Mark chapter 4, verse 15, as He explains to His disciples, He says, and these are the ones along the path where the Word is sown. When they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the Word that is sown in them. That's what's happening for these that are departing the faith in the Ephesian church. They had heard the Word of God. They had received the good confession, that truth contained in 1 Timothy 3.16. But Satan had come in and he had taken advantage of them, turning them quickly to his side. hardening them against the gospel message which they had received. And this was a multi-pronged attack that they were undergoing. It wasn't just demons, Paul doesn't lay all the blame on supernatural spiritual entities, because he also acknowledges the active role that false teachers had human false teachers in the spreading of the message of the deceitful spirits and demons. He explains in verse two that those who are departing and devoting themselves to such things do it through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared. Here the image is that the false teachers have been... You think about when you brand cattle with a hot iron. It's like their hearts, it's like their consciences have been branded and seared. They've been desensitized. They've been cauterized. They are now unfeeling and so it's nothing for them to hypocritically posture as wise teachers when really all that they were doing was peddling lies and doing the devil's bidding. That doesn't bother them one bit. They've been branded. And in this way, the spirits working behind the scenes had able and willing representatives to do their bidding. The health of the body was not well because bad actors of this kind We're at work. What's the diagnosis? Sickness is in the air. As the Spirit had said, nonetheless, sickness is in the air. Multipronged attack on the people of God. And as we listen to the Apostle Paul diagnose the Ephesian church served by Timothy in this way, I think it instructs us, first of all, These two verses help us to explain why some depart from the faith after appearing to be so invested. We all, surely, surely, we all here, adults especially, you all know somebody who walked in the faith, who professed the faith, who had the appearance of a Christian believer, and then for some reason, maybe unbeknownst to you, what exactly happened? They left, they departed, they went away, they went after false teaching or they gave it up altogether. And the reason that this passage in the New Testament broadly is helpful for us understanding this phenomenon is that it shows us that it's not, this is not an overturning of the perseverance of the saints. The point in a passage like this is not that the elect have fallen away when people depart from them. The point is not that those who are regenerated have become unregenerated as they wander away. Instead, what's happening here is the same thing that was observed by John, who coincidentally also wrote as one who pastored in the Ephesian churches, but which is observed by John in 1 John 2.19. They went out from us But they were not of us. Important dividing line. They went out from us, not as those who had lost their salvation, not as those who had genuinely been saved and then got unsaved, but as those who were not really ever of us. They were like the seed scattered along the path, which maybe began to sprout up, even put forth buds, but it did not have roots. And it was taken away by Satan. John goes on, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, then they would have continued with us. But they went out. That it might become plain. that they all are not of us. So this departing from the faith that was taking place under Timothy's ministry was not a failure of the gospel to save those who received it. No, it was an exposure of those who had falsely professed at some time. Not that they knew they were falsely professing, but those who had walked down the path for a while without saving faith, who had looked like a Christian, but then had made plain that they were not really a believer. And this is a sadly common reality, even in these later times, that the church will be negatively affected by departures from the pure gospel of Christ. You probably already know people who profess the faith and have walked away. You probably don't yet know your last person who has professed the faith and will walk away. is at work. And he has a way of entrapping and snaring those who do not truly know Christ and the new birth, turning them to do his service and his bidding. So let's not be surprised when this happens. Paul wasn't surprised in the first century. We shouldn't be surprised today. It helps us explain what's happening here. And it helps us also, I think, to explain the hasty spread of false teaching which goes on around us when the true doctrines of the faith are so widely resisted. You look around churches today, and even within churches, the teaching is a mess. And I don't just mean that they don't dot every Calvinist I and cross every Calvinist T. That's not my point. On the basic matters of the faith, people are dreadfully confused. Whole churches are dreadfully confused about the basic core fundamental commitments of the gospel. And this reflects the situation in our text. Satan and his minions They work to sow tares among the wheat, muddying the waters, leading people astray. It's a victory for Satan when the church is confused over what it believes. And that gives an opportunity for Satan to come in and pluck up the seed along the path and to repurpose it for his own ends. And furthermore, because we are living in a fallen world, there will always be, as there were in Timothy's day, certain people who are willing to do Satan's bidding by deceptively encouraging others to imbibe false teaching. So Satan's at work, he has his instruments at work, and the result is a lot of confusion, a lot of false teaching, a lot of false doctrine. The perfect storm situation for people to be ensnared, pulled away, and repurposed for the works of Satan. And so from these lessons, from these first two verses, we have to learn to remain awake and vigilant. That we might recognize apostasy when it happens around us. People depart and go away. And that we might resist apostasy when it comes for us. The elect will never be lost. Done deal. The elect will never be lost. But unfortunately, none of us here have elect stamped on our forehead, at least not that we can see. And so we must all be vigilant that we work out our salvation in fear and trembling, lest the devil come and seize us as well. Some may depart, but we must not go with them. We must hold fast to the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the diagnosis. The church is sick. because of demonically influenced false teachers. It's true then, it's true today. And so when people go looking for a utopian church, it's no surprise when they don't find it. Because there wasn't one in the 1st century, or the 2nd century, and there sure ain't one in the 21st century. We still do battle against this sickness which lingers in the air around us. It's a fallen world. But then when we come to verse 3, we come to what I'm calling the disease. Paul, in making this diagnosis that there was sickness in the air around the church at Ephesus, he doesn't leave it in an abstraction. Immediately after diagnosing his patient as ill, he identifies the particular disease causing the problems So that Timothy, I don't know, I'm using an analogy here, his assistant, he's a physician's assistant, I don't know, can begin administering the proper medicine. He wants Timothy to see where the real problems lie so that he can apply the proper solutions. And this disease that Paul was trying to treat manifested itself with some easily observable symptoms. As such, we read that the insincere liars whose consciences were sheared could be described as those who, quote, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. These descriptions fill out substantially what we have already learned about the false teachers in Ephesus. We said way back At no point in this letter does Paul stop and give us a comprehensive textbook definition of what the church was up against, but we pick up clues along the way, and here we pick up some major ones. In chapter 1, we discover that these false teachers were the sort of people who majored on the minors by devoting themselves to myths and genealogies and to speculative legal theories based on the law of Moses. And all of these things, they were vain, they were unbiblical. But now we learn that on the ethical side of the equation, they had paired their obscure and speculative theology with a, as we said earlier, a man-made path to piety. A man-made path to holiness. A man-made path to righteousness. And their path to holiness, their path to piety is centered on abstaining from certain created realities. They rejected marriage, presumably all the things that came with marriage, such as sexual relations, childbearing. And they rejected certain foods. We don't know what exactly was on the menu for them, but perhaps they rejected the consumption of meat. That was a trend that Paul had to deal with in a different context when he wrote to the church in Rome. There, it was less a severe threat. It was sort of an inter-church division that he was dealing with. Here, it's one of the main tenets of these false teachers. Now, as Paul highlights these two particular symptoms of the Ephesian disease, he doesn't spend here much time at all discussing the forbidding of marriage. Really, he says nothing about it. And he may have decided to set that aside because he's already, in his book, deemed marriage permissible and appropriate. He did that back in chapter 2, he did that in chapter 3. And he's going to do a similar thing in chapter 5. So in a sense, he has answered, he will answer that falsehood. They're wrong to forbid marriage. Jesus never did that. But as we see at the end of verse 3, as well as in verses 4 and 5, he really wants to focus on those dietary restrictions that were being proposed by these false teachers. Whatever the specific restrictions were, these people were erring by requiring abstinence from foods that God had created to be received. By who? By those who believe and know the truth. Language pertaining to Christian believers. In other words, the false teachers were trying to take away things that God had given to Christians for their grateful enjoyment. They were trying to be stricter than God. They were trying to be stricter than God. And that precisely is why their disease was so deadly. I mean, taken in isolation, we might wonder what was so bad? What is so bad of people who have kooky views on marriage and food? I know people who have kooky views on marriage and food, and I don't immediately think to anathematize them. What is the big deal? The scriptures make room for fasting, don't they? We can choose what we want to eat. And Paul's letters elsewhere even commend singleness in certain circumstances. Better than not married, certainly. Those things are pretty innocuous, right? Surely, it's overkill to condemn this stuff as the teaching of demons. Not in this case. Not in this case, because the kooky views on marriage and food were, in the case of these false teachers, a man-made piety, untethered from God's Word and God's world, which sought to provide a path It sought to provide people a path to righteousness that was different from the one established by God. It sought to provide a path to righteousness that was different from the one provided by God. Their kooky views were legalism grounded on ungrounded heresies. Get that? It's not just weird practices. It's weird practices as a way to save yourself on the basis of foolish notions. That's why it was such a big deal. God had given certain foods which were to be received by the saints as good and worthy of thanks, and these deceitful men were intent on ripping those things from their hands in order to further their own reputation. Because they can handle this. We can handle this. We're the truly righteous. We're the truly holy. We don't eat that stuff. We don't get married. And if you want to be righteous like us, you'll come and do likewise. As Calvin observes, as he comments on this passage, prohibitions like these, quote, arise from that hypocrisy, which having forsaken true holiness, seeks something else. for the purpose of concealment and disguise. For they who do not keep from ambition, or covetousness, or hatred, or cruelty, and such like, they endeavor to obtain a righteousness by abstaining from those things which God has left at large. Why are consciences burdened by those laws? But because perfection is sought in something different from the law of God. This, he says, is not done but by hypocrites, who in order that they may with impunity transgress the righteousness of the heart, which the law requires, endeavor to conceal their inward wickedness by those outward observances, as veils with which they cover themselves." He's saying these false teachers and people who do things like this are trying to become righteous by doing something God's Word didn't say anything about. And in so doing, they're actually concealing how wicked they are, because they're not following what God has actually said, But they seem holy because they're doing pretty well with these rules they made up themselves. It's a veil. It's a concealment of just how wicked they are. And he's saying that those who would seek to win you to a religion of their own making like this, they're wooing you for their own sake. That they might look wise. That they might like righteousness. That they might look like God's chosen people. And so congregation, beware Those who would seek to bind you by laws not given by God. Beware those who would seek to foist upon you standards of goodness and righteousness not found in God's Word. Beware those who would try to turn you away from God's good gifts for the sake of self-righteousness. Such as these are symptoms of disease and those who exhibit them as a way of getting right with God are liable to depart from the faith altogether. It was wrong to create a religion divorced from God's Word in first century Ephesus. It's wrong to create a religion divorced from God's Word today. We think of Christians today. Whether in Rome or the East, there's really no limit to the bizarre small groups who will come up with their own rules and regulations. Don't eat this on this day. Don't eat that on that day. Follow our fasting laws. Don't get married. Who try to impose upon God's people a burden heavier than the one that the Lord laid upon them. This is man-made piety. And it's no good. It is a disease. Coming to verses 4 and 5, Paul doesn't conclude with a diagnosis of sickness and description of the disease. No, in order to help Timothy, to help his flock, he also provides a cure, at least for this one manifestation of disease plaguing Ephesus. Again, he's left marriage aside. He's already commended marriage in this book. But elaborating on his previous evaluation of God's created gifts, he reminds Timothy again here that such things as these folks were abstaining from, they were given to be received by thanksgiving. In verses 4 and 5, he says, for everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected of its receipt with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the Word of God and prayer. You see, this is the crucial thing to grasp. In order to defeat man-made piety, Paul takes us back to God's Word. He takes us back to God's Word as the standard, arguing that everything created by God is good, and relatedly, everything is made holy by the Word of God. When he says this, most likely Paul has in mind those statements in Genesis, which give God's evaluation of his creation. Think of Genesis chapter 1. We hear it several times, but particularly in verse 31, when everything has been made. We read verse 31, and God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was good. And this goodness is applied to all foods. After the flood in Genesis 9-3, God says, I give you the plants, I give you the animals. Sure, God restricted the diet of his people under the Mosaic Covenant, but he did that for his own unique purposes. Those restrictions were not driven by wrong-headed ideas about the goodness of created things. Those things that they didn't eat didn't cease being good. when God withheld them from them. So Paul here takes them back to the words of Genesis. God creates good things and gives them to his people. And he begins to administer the cure by pointing the church back to what the Bible has to say about these things. Noting that these things are made holy, or made clean, or sanctified, or set apart by the declarative word of God. There's no need to set aside and abstain from that which God has called good and worthy of consumption. Doing so doesn't make anybody holier. Maybe you don't like the way a particular food tastes. That doesn't make you holier. It makes you picky. Furthermore, that which is objectively declared good by God's word is subjectively received as good when we receive it out with thanksgiving. And this Thanksgiving is especially, he says, expressed in prayer. And this is a point which the Apostle pounds in verses 3 through 5. Abstaining from certain foods doesn't make anybody righteous because all foods are goods created by God to be used with gratitude unto Him. He again and again, they're good, they're to be received with Thanksgiving. They're good, they're to be received with Thanksgiving. With Thanksgiving and prayer. An approved text for thanking God for the food that He gives us throughout the day? Well, this is a good place to look. The food which we eat is sanctified by the Word of God because God has declared it good, He has set it apart for our use, and it's sanctified through prayer as we receive it as we have been taught to receive it through thanksgiving. And as long as we receive these gifts with thanksgiving, they pose no obstacle to our piety. So we might phrase it this way. While man-made piety, which would require abstinence from certain foods and drinks, is a threat, biblical piety, which would require thanksgiving for foods, is the great duty and delight of the Christian life. And therefore, though false teachers would enslave us in various ways to their own preferences, for their own personal gain, God's Word sets us free to serve Him with joy and gladness. And while we inhabit God's world, we must always return to God's Word that we might know how to live as God wants in His world, not as others want. In the words of Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 20, paragraph 2, God alone is Lord of the conscience. and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in anything contrary to His Word or beside it in matters of faith or worship." And so if you want to know how to free yourself from the potential of falling prey to false teaching like this, to man-made piety, then remember this lesson taught in the text. Bow your conscience before the Lord alone, as one who has received His salvation, and you will be saved from the deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. He alone is Lord of the conscience." And so to close, we see the unexpected evil of man-made piety, which is untethered from God's Word and which rejects God's world. It seeks to provide a way of salvation that ultimately leads to hell. It looks like sanctification, but it's demonic deceit. It's the false gospel of being a good person in somebody else's eyes, whatever that means. We've got to reject all that. We've got to return to God's Word and receive His good gifts with thanksgiving and prayer. Along these lines, the Apostle Paul writes, and we'll close with this, in Colossians chapter 2, 20, 3.4, I think this is very relevant, he says to the Colossians, if with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations, do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, referring to things that all parishes there use, according to human precepts and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion, asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value. in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. As you go from this place today, reflect on Paul's words, the word of God, and consider the ways in which, I can't necessarily answer this question for you, ways in which you might be falling prey or potentially falling prey to man-made pie to yourself. Is there something outside of God's word which you use as a measuring stick of righteousness by which you determine who is good and who is bad? Are there rules and regulations coming from the doctrines and commandments of men, which, to you, are the most important thing. If so, put them aside. Put them aside. Take hold of that gracious gospel of Christ, the mystery of godliness. And serve the Lord as He requests, with hearts filled with gratefulness for everything you've received, knowing that you have died yourself, and you have been raised with Christ, and your heart is to be set on His glory as you live in this world.