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Jesus came into this
world to preach God’s truth and rescue us
from spiritual blindness (Matt. 13:13),
and it is the mission of those who have been
saved by the gospel to help rescue those who
are still in the darkness by sharing the
light that has come into the world (John 1:5).
We have to be careful about what we
teach, especially if we consider ourselves
to be a teacher in the church. James 3:1
says, “Not many of you should become
teachers, my fellow believers, because you
know that we who teach will be judged more
strictly.” God says elders and teachers will
be judged more strictly due to the
seriousness of their responsibility.
Discernment was a constant theme directed
toward God’s people in His Word. We can read
warnings about the importance of fleeing
what is false and running back to the God
who rescues us throughout the whole Bible.
Christians need to defend the
faith against false teachers.
First Peter 3:15-16 says, “But in your
hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be
prepared to give an answer to everyone who
asks you to give the reason for the hope
that you have. But do this with gentleness
and respect, keeping a clear conscience,
so that those who speak maliciously against
your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed
of their slander.” (NIV)
Jude 1:3, 22
says, “Beloved, although I was very eager
to write to you about our common salvation,
I found it necessary to write appealing to
you to contend for the faith that was once
for all delivered to the saints... And have mercy on those who doubt;”
Titus 1:9 says, “He must hold firm
to the trustworthy word as taught, so that
he may be able to give instruction in sound
doctrine and also to rebuke those who
contradict it.”
Second Timothy 2:24-26
says, “And the Lord’s servant must not be
quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to
teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.
God may perhaps grant them repentance
leading to a knowledge of the truth, and
they may come to their senses and escape
from the snare of the devil, after being
captured by him to do his will.”
Second Corinthians 10:5 says, “We destroy arguments
and every lofty opinion raised against the
knowledge of God, and take every thought
captive to obey Christ,”
Colossians 2:8 says, “See to it that no one takes you
captive by philosophy and empty deceit,
according to human tradition, according to
the elemental spirits of the world, and not
according to Christ.”
Colossians 4:5-6 says, “Walk in wisdom toward
outsiders, making the best use of the time.
Let your speech always be gracious,
seasoned with salt, so that you may know how
you ought to answer each person.”
When we have to confront false
teachings, the question comes up repeatedly
if we should call people out by name who are
leading the flock away from God’s Word into
error.
When teachers speak
out publicly
we have a responsibility to address their false doctrines
publicly.
Sometimes we have to call
out false teachers and defend God’s church
against their teachings. It is not wrong to
hold people accountable for what they say in
public.
There are many examples of
God’s people calling someone out for their
error and confronting the darkness.
God sent Nathan the prophet to confront
David about his sin with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 12:1-14). God’s prophets and leaders were
often called upon to confront the errors of
their day.
Look at how Jesus spoke
to the scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23.
Matthew 23:13 says, “But woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For
you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s
faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor
allow those who would enter to go in.“
Matthew 23:15, “Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across
sea and land to make a single proselyte, and
when he becomes a proselyte, you make him
twice as much a child of hell as
yourselves.“
Matthew 23:16-17, “Woe
to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone
swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if
anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he
is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For
which is greater, the gold or the temple
that has made the gold sacred?”
Matthew 23:25, “Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the
outside of the cup and the plate, but inside
they are full of greed and self-indulgence.“
Matthew 23:27-28, “Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly
appear beautiful, but within are full of
dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So
you also outwardly appear righteous to
others, but within you are full of hypocrisy
and lawlessness.“
Matthew 23:33, “You
serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you
to escape being sentenced to hell?“ (cf.
Matt. 23:23, 24, 29; Mark 12:38-40;
Luke 11:39, 43, 52; 12:1; John 8:44, 49, 55).
The scribes and the
Pharisees that Jesus confronted on an almost
daily basis taught an oppressive doctrine of
works-righteousness and the people were
overcome by guilt and hopelessness because
of it. They represented the God of the Bible
as a judgmental God who cared more for
strict adherence to the law than He cared
for the people themselves.
The gospel
that Jesus died to share with us is good
news for lost souls. God is love (1 Jn. 4:7-8; 4:16;
John 3:16; 15:13; Rom. 5:8; Eph. 2:4-5). He loves us with a
fatherly love and wants us to be with Him in
a loving relationship for all eternity.
That’s why we have to be ready to confront
false teachers and false prophets who would
lead God’s people away from the true gospel
with the inspired word of God.
We have to stand up for the gospel.
Paul
confronted Peter personally when he saw Peter behaving hypocritically
toward the Gentiles and then wrote the
events down to remind the Galatians of the
conflict (Gal. 2:11-14).
Paul,
like Jesus, had some pretty harsh things to
say about people who taught a false gospel.
Galatians 1:8-9, “But even if we or an
angel from heaven should preach to you a
gospel contrary to the one we preached to
you, let him be accursed. As we have said
before, so now I say again: If anyone is
preaching to you a gospel contrary to the
one you received, let him be accursed.”
Galatians 5:11-12, “But if I, brothers,
still preach circumcision, why am I still
being persecuted? In that case the offense
of the cross has been removed. I wish those
who unsettle you would emasculate
[castrate/mutilate] themselves!”
Philippians 3:2-3, “Look out for the dogs,
look out for the evildoers, look out for
those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the
circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of
God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no
confidence in the flesh” (cf.
1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2 Tim. 2:17-18; 4:1-5; 4:14-15).
Like Jesus, Paul wasn’t afraid to
call out people by name for their false
teachings either. Elymas, also called
Bar-Jesus (Acts 13:9-10); the seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest (Acts 19:11-20);
Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Tim. 1:19-20; 5:20; 6:20-21); Phygelus
and Hermogenes (2 Tim. 1:15); and
Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Tim. 2:16-19).
He also called out good people who were
teaching error like Euodia and Snytyche
(Phil. 4:2-3); and he even called out
his friend and former traveling companion
Demas, for deserting the faith (2 Tim. 4:10).
Doctrinal error and false
teachers must be confronted to protect the
body of Christ.
It is obvious that both Jesus
and Paul said some harsh things to people at
times. They called them hypocrites, fools,
foxes, blind guides,
whitewashed tombs, lawless, liars, and of
their father the devil.
Why were
they so harsh with some people? It was
because they despised anything that would
stand in the way of another person from
accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ. Remember, saying
harsh things isn’t automatically wrong. But
what we say always needs to be tempered with
love and wisdom (Col. 4:5-6). We need
to be careful when we speak harshly and we
need to attempt to be kind whenever
possible. We have a responsibility to speak
the truth when dealing with peoples’
rebellion against God, and some people only
respond to direct (and seemingly harsh)
confrontation.
False prophets and false
teachers must be called out because people’s lives
are at stake.
Confrontation is an
inevitable part of life when you are dealing
with some kinds of people. Confrontation may seem
harsh, but if you truly love someone you
won’t let them live a lie, and you won’t let
them lead others astray by a false gospel.
Sometimes, being direct is the most
loving thing you can do for people who are
so blinded by their false beliefs that they
are headed for a Christless eternity.
The Bible gives us guidelines on how to
deal with erring, or contentious people, in
and out of the church.
Romans 16:17,
“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for
those who cause divisions and create
obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you
have been taught; avoid them.”
Sometimes we need to confront false teachers
like Paul did in both his letters and
in person (Gal. 1-2; 1 Cor. 6; 15; Gal. 2:11). Paul taught the church
how to correct error. We need to watch
ourselves so we don’t fall into the same
error and we need to do our counseling with
gentleness and respect (Gal. 6:1; 1 Pet. 3:15-17). Repentance is more likely to
happen when we are patient (2 Tim. 2:24-25). Jesus said if possible, to go to
the person in private to keep the conflict
from spreading and to try to protect the
people involved (Matt. 18:15).
The
goal of this process is restoration.
James 5:19-20, “My brothers, if anyone
among you wanders from the truth and someone
brings him back, let him know that whoever
brings back a sinner from his wandering will
save his soul from death and will cover a
multitude of sins.”
Sometimes
restoration is impossible and we need to
remove the person causing the problem.
First Timothy 6:20, “O Timothy, guard the
deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the
irreverent babble and contradictions of what
is falsely called “knowledge,”
Titus 3:10,
“As for a person who stirs up
division, after warning him once and then
twice, have nothing more to do with him,”
God’s people have an obligation to test
teachers and people who claim to be prophets
to see if they are from God or not.
Jeremiah 14:14 says, “Then the LORD said to
me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my
name. I have not sent them or appointed them
or spoken to them. They are prophesying to
you false visions, divinations, idolatries
and the delusions of their own minds.’”
(NIV)
Beware of false teachers!
In Matthew 7:15 Jesus said, “Beware of
false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s
clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
The word “beware” means that we all should
be on the alert, especially shepherds so
they can identify false teachings, and those
who teach it. False teachers can be very
subtle and deceptive. The scriptures call
them wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Paul
used the same Greek word for beware in Acts 20:28-29 when he said,
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to
all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has
made you overseers, to care for the church
of God, which he obtained with his own
blood. I know that after my departure fierce
wolves will come in among you, not sparing
the flock;”
False prophets were
stoned to death in Old Covenant times because they
threatened the spiritual lives of the
nation.
Deuteronomy 18:20
says, “But the prophet who presumes to speak
a word in my name that I have not commanded
him to speak, or who speaks in the name of
other gods, that same prophet shall die.”
We may not stone false prophets to
death today, but we still have to deal with
them. They are still a real threat to the body of
Christ. The strongest warnings to the church
in the last days are against false prophets
& teachers leading the church away from the
truth of the gospel.
Warnings about false prophets in
the Church.
First Timothy 4:1-5, “But the
Spirit explicitly says that in later times
some will fall away from the faith, paying
attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines
of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of
liars seared in their own conscience as with
a branding iron, men who forbid marriage
and advocate abstaining from foods which God
has created to be gratefully shared in by
those who believe and know the truth. For
everything created by God is good, and
nothing is to be rejected if it is received
with gratitude; for it is sanctified by
means of the word of God and prayer.”
Second Timothy 3:1-5, “But realize this, that
in the last days difficult times will come.
For men will be lovers of self, lovers of
money, boastful, arrogant, revilers,
disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
unloving, irreconcilable, malicious
gossips, without self-control, brutal,
haters of good, treacherous, reckless,
conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers of God, holding to a form of
godliness, although they have denied its
power; Avoid such men as these.”
Mark 13:22, “for false Christs and false
prophets will arise, and will show signs and
wonders, in order to lead astray, if
possible, the elect.”
Second Peter 2:1-3,
“But false prophets also arose among the
people, just as there will also be false
teachers among you, who will secretly
introduce destructive heresies, even denying
the Master who bought them, bringing swift
destruction upon themselves. Many will
follow their sensuality, and because of them
the way of the truth will be maligned; and
in their greed they will exploit you with
false words; their judgment from long ago is
not idle, and their destruction is not
asleep.”
We are to test the
prophets
by the word of God.
First John 4:1, “Beloved,
do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they are from God,
because many false prophets have gone out
into the world.”
First Corinthians 14:32, “and the spirits of prophets are
subject to prophets;”
Here are
four
tests from the scriptures you can use to determine if a
prophet is from God, or not:
1. Their
prophecies must come true.
Deuteronomy 18:22, “when a prophet speaks in
the name of the LORD, if the word does not
come to pass or come true, that is a word
that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet
has spoken it presumptuously. You need not
be afraid of him.”
2. They cannot
have falsehoods in their visions.
Jeremiah 23:32, “Behold, I am against those
who prophesy lying dreams, declares the
LORD, and who tell them and lead my people
astray by their lies and their recklessness,
when I did not send them or charge them. So
they do not profit this people at all,
declares the LORD.”
3. They cannot
steal their writings from other people.
Jeremiah 23:25, 30, “I have heard what the
prophets have said who prophesy lies in my
name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have
dreamed! … Therefore, behold, I am
against the prophets, declares the LORD, who
steal my words from one another.”
4.
They cannot contradict the Word of God.
Isaiah 8:16-20, “Bind up the testimony;
seal the teaching among my disciples. I
will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his
face from the house of Jacob, and I will
hope in him. Behold, I and the children
whom the LORD has given me are signs and
portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts,
who dwells on Mount Zion. And when they
say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the
necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should
not a people inquire of their God? Should
they inquire of the dead on behalf of the
living? To the teaching and to the
testimony! If they will not speak according
to this word, it is because they have no
dawn.”
We live in an age when false
teachers abound. False teachers, false
prophets, false miracle workers, and false
gospels are all competing for God’s people
and we have to do whatever we can to protect
the body of Christ.
If any of you
follows someone who claims to be teaching
God’s word and they say they have a
“special” word from God through visions and
dreams, you need to be very careful and test
their teachings by the word of God. God has
warned us! The last thing any Christian
should ever want to do is lead another
person into a false religious system, their
eternal lives are at stake!
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