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1 Timothy 5:12
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12 Having [echo] damnation, [krima] because [hoti] they have cast off [atheteo] their first [protos] faith. [pistis] KJV-Interlinear
12 thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their previous pledge. NASB
These verses, 12 -16, really need to be considered together, rather than as isolated verses. But we will study them separately and then tie them all together.
Separately you could make the false conclusion that young widows risk being damned for all of eternity, and such is not even close to what is being taught in these verses.
Condemnation or damnation, ‘krima,’ means to make a decision either for or against something.
To cast off, ‘atheteo,’ means to cast off, to set aside, to neutralize or violate.
Faith, ‘pistis,’ nearly always deals with beliefs or faith, but is also means moral conviction, commitment or pledge. And that is the correct application here.
Remember that the scriptures must be interpreted in the time in which they were written, so as to gain the correct meaning of what is being taught. And back in Pauls day, the duty of a woman (wife) was in the home, first to her husband, and then to her children and household. Not in some sequential order, but her priorities are her home and family.
Second, maturity is in view here as well. A young woman (widow) has lost her husband and is thrown in the turmoil of a questionable life. She has not been the bread winner of the family and now, suddenly, her whole life is in question. Thus she is vulnerable.
If she is young (and that age is loosely defined), then her foremost thoughts may be to get her home life back on track, and into something with which she is more familiar and secure. And for a widow who has no resources with which to support herself, that make life suddenly extremely frightening.
Trying to enter into some ministerial role, may pose an emotional conflict, wherein she may get depressed, insecure, disillusioned, and so forth. And she may certainly be taken advantage of or forced into compromising situations by unscrupulous types. And any of these things could easily lead to a falling off of her own spiritual life.
On the one hand she may have a conflict with her pledge to God and to her own personal desires for life. On the other hand, she may be forced into making a decision, pitting one desire against the other.
And that means she would have to make a choice, which could easily lead to guilt because she may feel that she has betrayed her pledge to God, or her pledge to her family, or to her pledge to having a life that she really wants, or in being compromised, or all of these.
Therefore, it is better for the young widow (or anyone – remember that this principle can easily be applied to anyone), to not be placed in a position, or enticed into a position that would lead to emotional conflict within herself. Thus avoiding a potential failure in her spiritual life.
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