1 Timothy 4:3 (DBY)

Passage

forbidding to marry, [bidding] to abstain from meats, which God has created for receiving with thanksgiving for them who are faithful and know the truth.

Nearby Context

1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit speaks expressly, that in latter times some shall apostatise from the faith, giving their mind to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons

1 Timothy 4:2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, cauterised as to their own conscience,

1 Timothy 4:3 forbidding to marry, [bidding] to abstain from meats, which God has created for receiving with thanksgiving for them who are faithful and know the truth.

1 Timothy 4:4 For every creature of God [is] good, and nothing [is] to be rejected, being received with thanksgiving;

1 Timothy 4:5 for it is sanctified by God's word and freely addressing [him].

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "created", "faith", "forbidding", "marry", "abstain", "meats", "receiving", and "thanksgiving". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "created" and "faith", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "speaking lies in hypocrisy cauterised as to..." into verse 4's "For every creature of God is good...", so "created" and "faith" belong inside that flow. In 1 Timothy context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "created" and "faith" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.