1 Timothy 4.5-All Foods Are Sanctified By Means Of The Word Of God And Prayer
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday June 8, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 4:5-All Foods Are Sanctified By Means Of The Word Of God And Prayer
Lesson # 78
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 4:1.
In 1 Timothy 4:5, Paul teaches that the reason why all foods are clean is that the Lord Jesus Christ taught they were, thus abrogating the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law.
1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men 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. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; 5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. (NASU)
1 Timothy 4:5 is composed of the conjunction gar (γάρ) (gar), “for” and the third person singular present passive indicative form of the verb hagiazo (ἁγιάζω) (eye-ee-ah-zoe), “it is sanctified” and the preposition dia (διά) (thee-ah), “through” and its object is the genitive masculine singular form of the noun logos (λόγος) (loe-goce), “the Word” and the genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (θεός) (thay-oce), “of God” and the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed by the genitive feminine singular form of the noun enteuxis (ἒντευξις) (in-deffk-cease), “prayer.”
The conjunction gar is causal meaning that it is introducing a statement that presents the reason why all foods are clean.
As we noted, in 1 Timothy 4:3 Paul described the content of the Judaizers’ teaching which adversely influenced some pastors in Ephesus so that they taught false doctrine.
This description was two-fold.
The first description was that they forbid marriage and the second is that they command abstinence from foods, which alludes to the observance of the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law.
In 1 Timothy 4:4, Paul continues to address and elaborate on this second description.
In this verse, he presents the reason why the Judaizers’ insistence upon adhering to the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law is demonically inspired, namely all food created by God is inherently clean.
He goes on to teach that no food is to be rejected so that as a result it is to be received with gratitude.
The Judaizers’ prohibiting people from eating animals, which the Mosaic Law prescribed as unclean for the nation of Israel is demonically inspired because everything created by God is good meaning that it is inherently clean.
Now, here in 1 Timothy 4:5, Paul teaches that the reason why it is clean is that the Lord Jesus Christ taught that it was clean, thus abrogating the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law.
Therefore, in verses 4-5, Paul is teaching that the Judaizers’ teaching that one must abstain from eating unclean animals as stipulated in the Mosaic Law is demonically inspired because everything created by God is good or inherently clean because it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God taught that all foods are clean and thus abolished the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law for believers.
His teaching sanctified all foods.
The verb hagiazo means “to sanctify” in the sense of set apart something for the exclusive use of God’s people.
Here the word’s subject is each and every creature produced by the Lord Jesus Christ.
The term denotes that the Lord Jesus Christ set apart each and every creature He created for the exclusive purpose of benefiting the human race and especially, those who have trusted in Him as Savior.
The noun logos means “word” and refers to the Lord Jesus Christ’s teaching that all foods are clean.
The Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles whose teaching is in the New Testament make clear that the dietary laws of the Mosaic law did not apply to the church (Mark 7:2, 5; 14-19; Acts 10).
The gospels and Acts both record that the Lord Jesus taught no food is unclean (Matthew 15:10-20; Mark 7:14-19; Acts 10:1-15).
Paul taught the churches throughout the Roman empire that all foods were fit for consumption (Romans 14:14; 1 Corinthians 10:25; Titus 1:15).
The noun logos refers to the Lord Jesus Christ’s teaching that all foods are clean from the perspective that it is a message from the Father in the sense that by the power of the Holy Spirit, it is revealing the Father’s will for the Christian with respect to all foods.
The noun logos is the object of the preposition dia, which functions as a marker of means indicating that the sanctification of all foods was “by means of” the Word of God.
The apostle Paul uses logos in the genitive case rather than in the dative case to denote means since the former is closer to a causal idea than the latter.
He wishes to emphasize that all foods are clean not only “by means of ” of the Word of God but also “because” of the Word of God.
The noun theos refers to God the Son and not the Father since the word was used with reference to the former in 1 Timothy 4:3 and 4.
This is indicated by the fact that the Scriptures teach that the Son of God is the Creator and Paul is speaking in the context of the creation of each and every creature with respect to them being food for the Christian.
Also, in verse 5, the noun logos and the preposition dia express the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ’s teaching is the means by which all foods are sanctified.
Of course, by the power of the Spirit, our Lord’s teaching revealed the Father’s will for the Christian with respect to all foods.
Theos is a genitive of source which means that the noun logos “originates” from God the Son.
The noun logos refers to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ that all foods are clean.
Therefore, as a genitive of source, logos denotes that this teaching that all foods are clean “originates from” God the Son.
The noun enteuxis refers to prayer offered up to the Father in a general sense without reference to whether or not this prayer is intercessory or a simple petition for oneself.
The context indicates that the word is a reference to thanksgiving offered up to the Father in prayer by the Christian before, during and after eating food of all types.
In verse 4, Paul taught that the Judaizers’ strict adherence to the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law was demonically inspired because each and every creature produced by God the Son is undefiled.
In other words, absolutely nothing is rejected (by the Lord) consequently it is always to be received with thanksgiving.
Therefore, enteuxis is referring to the Christian offering up thanksgiving to the Father in prayer as a result of partaking of any type of food whether it is designated as unclean by the ceremonial aspect of the Mosaic Law or not.
The noun enteuxis is also the object of the preposition dia indicating that the Christian offering up thanksgiving to the Father in prayer is another means by which all foods are sanctified in addition to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you recall, hagiazo referred to the fact that all foods are set apart for the exclusive use and benefit of the Christian.
This was accomplished by means of the Lord’s teaching.
However, these foods cannot benefit the Christian if they do not exercise faith in this teaching.
These foods are set apart for the benefit of the Christian by the word of the Lord but they don’t benefit the Christian if they do not exercise faith in the Lord’s teaching that all foods are clean.
Now, a Christian won’t thank God the Father in prayer for these foods if they are not partaking of them but they will if they do partake of these foods.
Thanksgiving therefore, implies that the Christian is partaking of these foods and is an expression of faith in the Lord’s teaching.
So the sanctification of food has two sides.
The first is the Lord’s teaching that all foods are clean and the second is the response of faith by the Christian as expressed by thanksgiving to the Father in prayer for these foods.