Can you tell me if there are any verses in scripture that specifically command us to keep away from false teachers? I've recently run across a woman that is most certainly a false teacher. I'm mulling over how to handle my relationship with her. I'm torn between completely separating myself from her or trying to witness to her about the truth as opportunities arise, like I would for unbelievers.
Here's one about false teachers....
Galatians 1:6-10
6. I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
7. which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
8. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
9. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
10. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ."
Acts 20:27-31
27. "For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.
28. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.[a] Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
29.I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.
30. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.
[ FALSE TEACHERS ]]
31. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. "
and beware of them.....
2 Corinthians 11:12-15
12But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.
13For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
And do not receive them, bless them, are let them into your house..........................
7. For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
2John1:7-9
8. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.
9. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.
10. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him;
11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds."
Sounds harsh...but that's the Apostolic attitude toward false teachers. Mark and reject.
Paul said to mark them and AVOID them. Not much clearer than that. When we ignore the AVOID part of that we can unknowingly open ourselves up to being influenced by them.
We think we need to get near them to pursuade them of there error... but you never see Paul do that. Sure, he confronted them, but he did not spend much time with them. He confronted their error and then walked away and had nothing to do with them.
That is our example.
Krispy
Which verses are you thinking of Krispy? I'm willing to do this but I want to base my decision on a clear understanding of scripture.
I will say that I've decided to speak the truth about this woman's church and her prophetess very clear to her. I'm tired of pulling my punches. I'm going to be more bold and speak up about the darkness and the light. I just need to work out whether or not I should visit with her at all after I speak out.
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, MARK them which cause divisions and offences CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINE which ye have learned; and AVOID them.
Is that clear enough for you? :-)
Some people take a hatchet to this verse and cut "contrary to the doctrine" to make it so that it means anyone who causes divisions or offends anyone. But without the butchery this verse is very plainly speaking about false teachers.
If you stand for truth in a compromised church you WILL cause division and offend people. But the key phrase in this verse is "contrary to the doctrine".
Krispy
"Is that clear enough for you? :-)"
no, it isn't.....what's the "DOCTRINE"?
i'm being serious. try and boil the "DOCTRINE" down to It's simplest form.
you can do the "Roman's Road"...yeh.
What about the Jerusalem council edict in Acts, that was sent out to Gentile converts to Messiah, The Way.
orrr......what about the First New Covenant Sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount? Pretty high bar set by Jesus there, wouldnt you say? That "DOCTRINE"?
i'm not baiting you, it's the word "DOCTRINE" i believe that has been misused for centuries......
a lot of people are so intent on pointing out false teachers, that they might miss The Teacher, God the Holy Ghost....maybe?
it is sad a lot of folks try and use God as a spiritual "ATM", or pray to statues, etc. sad.
Boy, you're fired up.
I think it's safe to assume that Paul is not talking about periphrial doctrines. He is talking about the basic tenents of the faith, Neil. Otherwise known as "orthodoxy". He is referring particularly in this case to gnostic doctrines... but also legalism "Judaizers".
Doctrine of salvation, grace, Jesus, etc... the main thing is the main thing.
It's not that hard to figure out, my brother.
Krispy
Can you give us a hint as to what she is teaching "falsely?"
This is just me but I move in mercy before I act hastely of "marking them and avoiding them!"
If it is a difference of "doctrine" as in say the Baptist doctrine vs the Charismatic doctrine, then that is merely a difference of opinion because both sides have Scripture to base their beliefs on and both will stand by them to the death. If it's that, then I would just be honest with her and tell her she makes you uncomfortable with all her different teachings and that you aren't interested in learning them. And then watch how she behaves.
Now, this is just me but if there was no difference in denominational doctrine and I thought someone was a false teacher, I would be upfront and honest with her first, explaining where I was coming from and THEN if she started behaving unlovingly toward me and angrily blaming me and in my face, then I would mark her and avoid her!
This is exactly what I did with a woman a couple of years ago and true to form, people usually prove themselves ... what they are when confronted and cornered with Biblical truth or even their own lies!
God bless you in the adventure ahead!!
Krispy is right about Paul and what he is confronting in this scripture. Paul confronted Judaizers, gnostics, and such many times if you read through all of his epistles and pay attention. The primary false doctrines he confronted were the legalistic doctrines of those who wanted to mix righteousness by keeping the law with that of grace and faith and entangle people in bondage to the law once again (Gal. 5).
That said, I think I see were Neil is coming from. I have noticed a tendency in the body to label any "doctrine" that is not "my doctrine" as a false teaching, and the person teaching it as a false teacher. For example, I believe strongly that the gifts of the Holy Spirit as outlined in 1 Corinthians are active in the church today, and have occasionally seen the Holy Spirit use me in one or more of these gifts. There are others who would immediately label me a false teacher if I was to teach this as it does not agree with their own interpretation of things. I think this is what Neil is concerned about. Am I right?
That being said, I would carefully and prayerfully compare what is being taught to the Word of God. If there are obvious and blatant teachings that violate the basic doctrines set forth by Christ and by the writers of the epistles, I would probably have a conversation with the teacher and bring these things up. If the person would not heed sound doctrine, I would not sit under the teacher. I would find another teacher to sit under.
Travis
i aint fired up at all Krisp......no. "basic tenets"...YES!!
those early gnostics must have been something to deal with.
you know Steve, i love all of Romans, but you know what my favorite chapter is?.....Sixteen. to me, Romans 16 show's us a glimpse of these earlier followers, and what a diverse bunch, Rome was the center of the world at that time, then Paul gives even more warnings, and one realizes these were REAL people working out Something earth-shaking, which is God with us---Immanuel. the Ressurected Messiah....before The Way (early Christianity) came east, these folk in that neck of the woods, they were all pagan.
then comes along Messianic Yahwistic Monotheism-----shakes the whole pagan world up. God is Good! He was NOT going to let the Gentiles remain with only paganism, so he sent His Only Son Jesus , as a Light to the Gentiles. Oh, the mercy of God.
i aint fussing with you, i know how you feel about the 'name and claim it" crowd, or the "prosperity" crowd, i feel the same, so Stevie, my doctrine is simple, I believe God, Jesus is Lord.
keep your powder dry, eight and high, God bless you, neil
dear brother you wrote,
" I believe strongly that the gifts of the Holy Spirit as outlined in 1 Corinthians are active in the church today, and have occasionally seen the Holy Spirit use me in one or more of these gifts."
amen, and sight unseen, my spirit tells me, you wouldnt be so foolish as to give false testimony, and i believe as to what you testify is true when you say the Lord has blessed you with these Gifts to build up the Body. I KNOW you fear God, and if one fears God, they aint going to be playing with the Deep Things of God. i have seen the exercise of the Gifts, only once did i witness one dear man in the flesh, and my brother Ted quickly sat him down.
you continued:"There are others who would immediately label me a false teacher if I was to teach this as it does not agree with their own interpretation of things. I think this is what Neil is concerned about. Am I right?"
yes, you said it much better than i could ever hope to. my mentor has said i should "pastor" or "preach", and i dont have the Call, i know myself, and take the warnings of Jeremiah 23 VERY SERIOUSLY.
sometimes i dream of a little church in the wildwood, just preach the Word, have meals together, and hold weekly (daily?) prayer meetings, and the "sign" above the Church would say one Word---------"JESUS"...thats it-----JESUS, and He is more than enough of a Beckon to burdened sinners and saints.
But i'm too wretched and messed up to even think of doing as such.
you concluded Travis with this:
"If there are obvious and blatant teachings that violate the basic doctrines set forth by Christ and by the writers of the epistles, I would probably have a conversation with the teacher and bring these things up. If the person would not heed sound doctrine, I would not sit under the teacher. I would find another teacher to sit under."
There it is.
make it plain, and the funny thing is this, violations of the most BASIC Christologic doctrine are ALWAYS "obvious and blatant"......just like rotten meat, you never have to ask, "is that meat bad?" coz the smell fills the air.
neil
Lysa asked:
Can you give us a hint as to what she is teaching "falsely?"
This situation is pretty clear in my mind. This woman in married to a man in our house church. She is a very zealous follower of Ellen G. White. She is actively evangelising me to win me over to her church. She believes things like that if someone keeps a Sunday Sabbath that they have taken the mark of the beast and that the tribulation will most certainly be in her lifetime.
There may very well be SDA's that are true believers but I think that if they follow the path far enough it leads away from Jesus and to destruction.
Rose, I think you know the answer...
It is rare that when a person places another human writer above the WORD that error will not result.
My suggestion is that you confront her but know this it will likely not get you anywhere so be prepared for it. The reason I am suggesting you confront her is because she is a part of your house church. I would also suggest that the confrontation occur with both (I assume you are married) husbands present - yours and hers.
Blessings,
ginnyrose
My suggestion is that you confront her but know this it will likely not get you anywhere so be prepared for it. The reason I am suggesting you confront her is because she is a part of your house church. I would also suggest that the confrontation occur with both (I assume you are married) husbands present - yours and hers.
She's not a part of our house church. She came a couple of times and the second time gave a new believer an Ellen White book. The men in the group asked her husband to either not invite her or to tell her that she may come as a guest only and to not distribute SDA materials.
I do plan to confront her. I've got some materials that she's lent me so I'm simply going to give them back to her explaining that I no longer want any SDA materials and I'm going to give her an article that shows that Ellen White fails the tests for a biblical prophet.
I need to discuss with my husband how I'm going to deal with her after the confrontation. I simply wanted to get some scripture to mull over and to add to the discussion.
Well, I thought she was a friend of yours when I responded the first time! I googled "ellen white" and exposed came up along with her name and there are LOTS of sights you can look into for extra ammunition when going to her. I had no idea who ellen white was before yesterday and asking a friend about her!
Yes, I agree with you that she needs confronted! Ginny advised along with her husband and that is a really good idea, so she can't go back and start a "she said, I said" argument him and plant doubt in his mind. I really hope she wants to "receive the love of the truth" from you guys.
God bless you, Rose!
I've stumbled on this particular thread with a hope to find encouragement in confronting a fellow sister in Christ at my church. However, I saw here that you, Natan4Jesus, has said that God send His Only son Jesus, as a Light to the Gentiles.
A small correction, Jesus didn't come for us first, brother. He came as a fulfillment of the promise that God first made with Adam, the Covenant with Abraham, and then followed with the Jews. Once they rejected Jesus as Messiah then He went out to the Gentiles. We have been "graphed on" thanks to their rejection. Don't you think that their refusal broke God's heart? His chosen people, the apple of His eye, refusing to accept the one thing they had been waiting for. A Messiah, Savior, the One to set them free...though He wasn't what they had thought He'd be.
I've noticed lately a lot of Christians today who refuse to accept this. Just like they refuse to accept that Jesus' Jewishness. It amazes me how these people who say they are deeply seated in the word of God yet the fruits of their knowledge suggests otherwise.
The Lord lead me to this message by Bill Mcleod entitled "Little Foxes and Dead Flies". I think it is needed in this discussion.
Blessings,
Jeremy221
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