1 Timothy 4:2 Hypocritical Liars

1 Timothy 4:2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

1 Timothy 4 begins with a reference to people abandoning the faith and following deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Verse 2 goes on to say that these teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. What they teach then is not true - they are liars. It has an appearance of good, however, because they are hypocritical liars. How can they carry it off? Paul says that their consciences have been seared as with a hot iron which is probably a  reference to desensitisation. People were aware that cauterisation, as in branding, left the skin no longer sensitive. Something similar happens with regard to conscience in these people. Their consciences no longer react as they should and so they are able to lie and act hypocritically without it bothering them too much. It is like the description in Ephesians 4:19 of people who having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity ....  It is important to remember this as it explains how some religious leaders cannot be taken at face value. It is also a reminder of the danger of desensitising one's own conscience to the point where it hardly functions. Such desensitisation does not come overnight but from long neglect.