Dual PanelFalse teaching
1THE Spirit explicitly warns us that in time to come some will forsake the faith and surrender their minds to subversive spirits and demon-inspired doctrines,
2through the plausible falsehoods of those whose consciences have been permanently branded.
3They will forbid marriage, and insist on abstinence from foods which God created to be enjoyed with thanksgiving by believers who have come to knowledge of the truth.
4Everything that God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected provided it is accepted with thanksgiving,
5for it is then made holy by God's word and by prayer.
6By offering such advice as this to the brotherhood you will prove to be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nurtured in the precepts of our faith and of the sound instruction which you have followed.
7Have nothing to do with superstitious myths, mere old wives' tales. Keep yourself in training for the practice of religion;
8for while the training of the body brings limited benefit, the benefits of religion are without limit, since it holds out promise not only for this life but also for the life to come.
9Here is a saying you may trust, one that merits full acceptance.
10“This is why we labour and struggle, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Saviour of all” -- the Saviour, above all, of believers.
11Insist on these things in your teaching.
12Let no one underrate you because you are young, but be to believers an example in speech and behaviour, in love, fidelity, and purity.
13Until I arrive devote yourself to the public reading of the scriptures, to exhortation, and to teaching.
14Do not neglect the spiritual endowment given you when, under the guidance of prophecy, the elders laid their hands on you.
15Make these matters your business, make them your absorbing interest, so that your progress may be plain to all.
16Persevere in them, keeping close watch on yourself and on your teaching; by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers.