In his first letter to Timothy, Paul warned: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” 1 Timothy 4:1–3 (ESV) Now here in his second letter, he places the problem of false teaching into a prophetic framework, warning of the dangers to come. In this warning, his focus is on the lifestyle that accompanies false beliefs, rather on the causes. And what he tells us is that there will be distinctive marks of the last days that we need to be aware of.