3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
3 They will tell you not to get married. They'll tell you not to eat this or that food - perfectly good food God created to be eaten heartily and with thanksgiving by Christians!
3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
3 They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth.
8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
8 For bodily exercise profiteth little:
8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
8 Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.
8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
8 "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come."
(Read 1 Timothy 4:6-10)
Outward acts of self-denial profit little. What will it avail us to mortify the body, if we do not mortify sin? No diligence in mere outward things could be of much use. The gain of godliness lies much in the promise; and the promises to godly people relate partly to the life that now is, but especially to the life which is to come: though we lose for Christ, we shall not lose by him. If Christ be thus the Saviour of all men, then much more will he be the Rewarder of those who seek and serve him; he will provide well for those whom he has made new creatures.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Timothy 4:3
Commentary on 1 Timothy 4:1-5
(Read 1 Timothy 4:1-5)
The Holy Spirit, both in the Old and the New Testament, spoke of a general turning from the faith of Christ, and the pure worship of God. This should come during the Christian dispensation, for those are called the latter days. False teachers forbid as evil what God has allowed, and command as a duty what he has left indifferent. We find exercise for watchfulness and self-denial, in attending to the requirements of God's law, without being tasked to imaginary duties, which reject what he has allowed. But nothing justifies an intemperate or improper use of things; and nothing will be good to us, unless we seek by prayer for the Lord's blessing upon it.