"The Spirit clearly says ..." What does Paul mean by this? He could be referring to the warnings that Jesus gave, eg in Mark 13, or it could be to specific revelation, or a mixture of both. Whatever the case, the warning is clear. Some will abandon the faith. Instead they will follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Now see here one way in which the demonic operates. It is not always, indeed not often, through dramatic means. Rather it is through the mundane. However, behind false teachings are deceiving spirits and demons. We see examples of that today in false teachings on things like sexual morality, the reality of hell, the divinity of Jesus. Indeed, anything that is contrary to the clear teaching of the Bible. Now we do need to be careful here. There are matters where there is genuine debate, and even when someone is wrong in some matter of teaching it does not automatically mean that they are teaching "devil's doctrines"! We do not want to go around accusing each other of teaching demonic doctrines just because we happen to disagree on a certain matter. However, it does mean that we should be on our guard and take proper Biblical teaching seriously.
The people who advance these false teachings will have lives that match. They will be hypocritical liars, and have seared consciences, ie be numb to the normal warnings of our conscience. Now look at how they showed themselves here. It was not in advocating immoral behaviour, but in forbidding people from marrying, and in advocating abstaining from certain foods. Sometimes those who teach "demonic doctrines" will have a seemingly pious attitude. However, the teaching will be wrong, and there will be hypocrisy behind the teaching. The world was created by God, and all things created by Him are to be received with joy and thankfulness. Indeed it is holy, consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
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