Paul gave the young
evangelist Timothy this charge: “preach the word; be ready in season
and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and
instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2). Why was it so important for
Timothy to do this? Paul goes on: “For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled,
they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own
desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn
aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
Apostasy was coming. At some
point, those who were once receptive to the pure, unadulterated gospel would
want something different. How does such a change happen? It certainly does
not happen overnight. There is a progression that takes place, leading
Christians away from sound doctrine and into false teaching.
What Is Sound Doctrine?
We must first understand what
we are discussing. These terms may be defined differently by different
people. But we are interested in how the Bible defines them. In the passage
quoted above, sound doctrine is used synonymously with the word
and the truth. Earlier, Paul spoke of several things that were “contrary
to sound teaching,” adding that this sound teaching was “according
to the glorious gospel” (1 Timothy 1:10-11). “Sound words”
are “those of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6:3). This
included the words of Paul and the other apostles (2 Timothy 1:13; 1
Corinthians 14:37).
How much of the gospel is to
be categorized as sound doctrine? When Paul preached, he “did
not shrink from declaring... the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27).
Peter said, “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the
utterances of God” (1 Peter 4:11). Paul warned the Galatians
that one who would “distort the gospel” is in fact teaching “a
different gospel” (Galatians 1:6-7). Sound doctrine is the word
of God without and additions, subtractions, or changes.
What Is False Teaching?
This is another term that
causes some difficulty for people. False teaching is simply a message that
is contrary to the truth of the gospel. As Paul told the Galatians, it is a
perverted form of the gospel (Galatians 1:6-7). He told the brethren
in Thessalonica that one can either “believe what is false” or “believe the
truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12). There are those who claim that one
can only be called a false teacher if his motives are corrupt. But it is
God's place, not ours, to judge the hearts and minds of men (Hebrews
4:12; John 12:48). Our responsibility is to judge their fruits
(Matthew 7:15-16). The basis for determining whether one is a truth
teacher or a false teacher is their message.
How Does the Progression Occur?
So how do we move from sound
doctrine to false teaching? First, we must understand that this shift really
does occur. The Bible tells us so. The Ephesian elders were told, “from
among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away
the disciples after them” (Acts 20:30). Peter said, “there
will also be false teachers among you” (2 Peter 2:1). Paul
wrote, “The Spirit explicitly says” that some will depart from the
truth (1 Timothy 4:1). He told Timothy of two of these men –
Hymenaeus and Philetus. These men had “gone astray from the truth”
(2 Timothy 2:17-18). In order to go astray from the truth, they
first had to be in the truth. Yet they departed from it. How does
this happen?
We first begin with sound
doctrine. Without this, one does not need to fall into apostasy, he is
already in error. So in this article, we are talking about those who begin
in the truth and move away from it into error. Our responsibility is to “retain
the standard of sound words” (2 Timothy 1:13) and to “contend
earnestly for the faith” (Jude 3). If this is what we are
currently doing, we need to continue on this path. But sadly, many depart
and eventually end up in total apostasy.
The first step into apostasy
is for one to teach the right message, but without the proper appeal to
Scripture. At this stage, their points and conclusions may be valid, but
they are abandoning the book, chapter and verse style of preaching. They no
longer preach as Paul did, where he “reasoned with them from the
Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence...” (Acts 17:2-3).
They may still agree with sound doctrine, but they are no longer backing up
their points with Scripture.
As one removes Scripture from
his teaching, he must fill his lessons with something else. What will he use
then to back up his points?
-
Stories -- It may be that there is nothing wrong with
the occasional story to illustrate a point. But when a sermon is built
around and filled with stories, then there is a problem. Paul said that
those who “turn away their ears from the truth... will turn aside to
myths” (2 Timothy 4:4). We need to focus on the word of God.
If it’s necessary to use a story to illustrate a point, there are lots
of events in the Bible itself we could use. Relying too much upon
non-Biblical stories and analogies is dangerous. I’ll explain why later
in this article.
-
Human wisdom -- The Bible warns against following after
human wisdom. The proverb says, “There is a way which seems right to
a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
Yet many preachers use human wisdom to support their preaching. This
comes in many different forms, such as famous quotes, song lyrics,
scientific theories, psychology, etc.
-
Misused Scriptures -- One can make a passage say almost
anything if they ignore the context. A preacher may sometimes be tempted
to take shortcuts in his studies, and rather than find the right passage
that supports his point, he finds one he can twist into making his
point, even if the context indicates that the passage is not making the
same point he wants it to make. Want to teach about brotherly love?
Great. Just don’t use a passage about the Lord’s rebuke of the Ephesians
departure from Christ to do it (Revelation 2:4 -- “you have
left your first love”). Use passages that actually talk about
brotherly love.
Remember, at this first
stage, the message is still basically the same. The only difference is the
way in which it is presented. This new way appeals to many people. For many
in the audience, this style of preaching will hold their attention better.
For the preacher, he may have an easier time writing lessons since he
doesn’t have to spend as much time in careful study of the word of God. But
when this style of preaching is adopted, there are several things that begin
to happen:
-
People begin to trust in what they’ve heard before and what they
already think, rather than God’s word. If the appeal is no
longer made to Scripture, then another standard must adopted in order to
determine the truth. Naturally, that standard becomes that which is
familiar and agreeable.
-
They believe something because it makes sense. Human
wisdom prevails when it comes to subjects with which they are unfamiliar
or if they lack maturity in them. Failing to approach new and/or
difficult topics with careful and targeted Bible study leaves us to
follow whatever seems reasonable to us.
-
They also begin to put their trust in man, particularly the
preacher. God’s word is a “lamp to [our] feet”
(Psalm 119:105). But if we no longer rely upon the light of His word
to show us the way, we have to find direction from some other source.
For many, this source becomes the preacher. If he is teaching myths and
fables, instead of the word of God, the dependency of the brethren upon
him grows.
When Christians become
accustomed to this kind of preaching, error can take hold and do severe
damage to the brethren, both individually and to a congregation as a whole.
Eventually, false teaching will be introduced. If we have not been trained
sufficiently with “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17),
or are out of practice with it, we will not be able to fight off the error
that is creeping in. We’ll notice why in a moment.
But first, think of how a
false teacher must introduce his error. We know he cannot do so through a
reasonable explanation of the Scriptures as Paul did (Acts 17:2-3).
So what style of preaching will the false teacher use to advance
his doctrine?
-
He will use stories to back up his points. People enjoy
stories. A good story-teller can keep an audience captivated. But
further, you can teach anything, make any point, through a story. This
is perfectly suited to a false teacher (and is also why it is dangerous
to rely too heavily on non-Biblical stories and analogies).
-
He will use human wisdom to validate his claims. False
teaching is based upon human wisdom. Society, in general, is conditioned
to follow after human wisdom. If one uses human wisdom to promote a
message, rather than contrasting the wisdom from above (the word of God)
from earthly wisdom (James 3:15-17), he can teach almost anything
because he is using the standard that society generally accepts.
-
He will misuse Scripture to state his case. This is a
common tactic -- ignore the context, change definitions, explain away
certain passages. This is how there are so many different denominations
teaching differing doctrines, yet all claiming to follow the Bible. They
twist the Scriptures and convince many people that their message is
actually from God.
Notice that this style of
preaching is the same as it was under the first step towards apostasy --
stories, human wisdom, misused Scriptures. As a result, it is often hard for
people to see the difference between truth and error. Why? They have become
accustomed to this style of preaching. It makes sense. It sounds familiar.
And they have forgotten how to accurately handle the word of God to “test
the spirits” (1 John 4:1), and, upon finding one who is teaching
error, to destroy “speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the
knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5). As a result, they eventually
go along with the error, oblivious to the fact that they have departed from
“the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).
How Is This Stopped?
How can we stop this
progression from occurring? The solution is simple: We must use the style of
preaching commended to us in the Bible. We must “speak as the oracles of
God” (1 Peter 4:11), just as Paul who “reasoned... from the
Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence” (Acts 17:2-3). We
must not be afraid to talk about all that God has revealed to us,
lest we “shrink from declaring the whole purpose of God” (Acts
20:27).
Preachers must use this style
of preaching. Elders, along with the rest of the brethren, must not only
tolerate this type of preaching, but demand it. This may not be popular, but
it is God’s way. We ought to trust Him, knowing that His way is best.
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