Why Doctrine DOES Matter, Part 2: False Teaching/Teachers

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INTRODUCTION:

Hello Ladies! Welcome back again to another episode of Thoroughly Equipped. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to listen to this podcast. If you are new, welcome! May this episode be a blessing to you! 

In the previous couple of episodes, I had critiqued a book by Sarah Young titled: Jesus Calling for Teens: 50 Devotions to Grow Your Faith. And, usually, after a couple of episodes on my typical book critiques I like to compare the doctrine or teachings being taught in that book to the traditional view taught in Christian history. I call these episodes “Opposing Doctrines”. For the next “Opposing Doctrines” episode I want to look at certain Christological heresies that the church has historically dealt with. Now I’m putting this off for one main reason: I’ve decided to work on a short critique on the book that started the whole Jesus Calling franchise. I feel it’s important to really look at Sarah Young’s Jesus. There are many critiques on this book that are very useful in pointing out the problems with her devotional. So why add another? Because I want to solidify, by what she claims “Jesus” says, that it is a DIFFERENT Jesus than the one we come to know by studying God’s Word. And so to do this I want to be very thorough in my research of this IMMENSELY popular book, which even out did 50 Shades of Grey. We all know how popular that book became, unfortunately. So it will take more time for me to do my study. But you can look forward to that coming really soon. Until then I figured we would continue with our “Titus 2 Time”, and specifically, continuing our look at why doctrine really does matter.

Last “Titus 2 Time” we looked at what doctrine is and what Scripture says about doctrine, and how teaching that which is good (God’s teachings/doctrines) actually produces something- good works. This is the underlying point of Paul’s instruction in Titus 2, that when an older woman teaches that which is good it actually encourages the younger to love husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to husbands. When women produce these good works as a result of good and right doctrine, they exalt God’s word and do not revile it. For this episode I want to look at the flip side of that coin- and talk about false teaching, what does Scripture say about it, what does it produce, and how do we women identify it. 

So here’s the question we all need to think about: Are you consuming false doctrine? 

As women we have a lot that we can become concerned about. Such things as our looks, our health, what we put in our bodies. As mothers we are even concerned with what our children consume, they’re health. We long to bring nourishment as it is part of our hospitality, part of our nature.

Yet, for most of us Christian women, we week after week, sit under preaching and teaching of the typical American church. How do we know if we and our family are receiving spiritual nourishment? Is our pastor feeding the sheep healthy food or rubbish? And it’s not just on Sunday but what we consume spiritually when doing devotions, Christian books, social feeds, memes, Podcasts, videos, and even real life conversations. I’m not talking about worldly philosophy or worldly entertainment as we as Christians can identify the falsehood and spiritual rubbish those things teach. But I’m talking about social spheres that claim to be Christian and claim to help us grow in faith, maturity, and trust in God. This is where we must make right judgements, ones backed up by God’s word.

WHAT IS FALSE DOCTRINE?

As we learned in the previous Titus 2 Time episode, doctrine is a set of beliefs. That was episode 18, which I will include a link to that episode in the show notes.  Now these beliefs can be false or true. Doctrine comes either from God or man. Therefore false doctrine in the Church, is any set of beliefs that originate from man and not God.

– Right doctrine and right teaching is truth. Man’s doctrine and man’s teaching comes from the futility of their mind – which is darkened in their understanding, making them excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. What they do not know about God produces a fertile mind that lacks understanding. All of this is because of their hardened hearts as they reject God (Ephesians 4:17-25). Even some acknowledged God but hardened against the God of Scripture because they chase or create a God of their own imaginations committing idolatry  (Exodus 20:4-5).They use their darkened understanding and futile minds to make a God that is like themselves. They take the Lord’s name in vain,making His name worthless.  “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds. (Jer. 14:14)

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT FALSE DOCTRINE?

1. That false doctrine is dangerous as it leads people to rebel against God.

“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst (Deut.13:1-5)

False doctrine comes from men who claim to know God and speak for Him. But in actuality, instead of giving God’s commandments and precepts they teach and instruct their own words, their dreams, and their precepts (Matt. 15:9; Mark 7:7). We either follow man’s teachings that scatters or God’s teachings that unites (Matt.12:30). False teaching is given by shepherds who scatter the sheep, while true teaching is given by shepherds who care for God’s people drawing them to the righteous Branch, Christ (Jer. 23:1-7; John 15:5).

Over and over in Scripture we are told that false teachings are empty words, commandments, precepts, myths, speculations, worldly wisdom, philosophy, knowledge, decrees or doctrines of men (Isa.29:13; Ephs.5:6; Col. 2:20-23; 1Tim.1:3-7, 6:20; Col.2:8)

2. That false teaching and false teachers need to be marked and rebuked.

Because right and true doctrine must be taught to bring about salvation, sanctification, all for our future glorification -ALL false doctrine must be rejected, and rebuked; and ALL false teachers should be silenced and rebuked.

WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY ABOUT FALSE TEACHERS?

Scripture describes certain characteristics of false teachers.

The first characteristic we find in Scripture is that they walk in darkness. In 1John 2:18- 19, John contrasts those who walk in the light and those who walk in darkness. Those who walk in light keep or guard Christ’s word. They guard it, watch over it, hold to it, and obey it. When Christians keep Christ’s word they love the brothers. And that is the 1st way we tell whether one is in the light or in the dark – that they love the brothers. They love because their sins have been forgiven, they know the father, they have overcome the evil one, and because the word of God abides in them.

Now false teachers 1)Do not walk in the light so they never truly love the brethren. They say they walk in the light but to truly love one must abide in God’s word and this is what they depart from- the word. In essence they depart from the Gospel. The word given to them from the beginning (1 John 2:24,25). There are many many false teachers that do this. They longed to be teachers of the law, they longed to be known as wise, to sit among those of importance – to be called teacher (1Ti,.1:7). And so in doing this they depart from the Gospel. They neglect the proclamation of it to God’s people and instead focus on law. The Gospel was how you got in the door, now the focus is how to be a Christian. How to be righteous, but not true righteousness mind you. 1st- they do not present sin to you fully. And 2nd – they do not present Christ to you fully. 

See if they were to do this they would lose their job. If they truly believed that you and I could not gain our own righteousness by being a good Christian then they would understand that merely teaching us how to be a good Christian would be of no use; as you and I can not achieve righteousness by our works of obeying the Law. So to teach that Christ’s perfect righteousness is given to you would defeat their teaching of law because you already have received a perfect righteousness, by faith, through Christ who kept the law perfectly for you, therefore making their teachings of righteous living obsolete.

This is my biggest problem with women’s ministry today. All of these books, all of these conferences, all of these teachers with their entertaining stories, words of encouragement, make light of sin and teach an ease of righteousness apart from Christ. All their teachings prettied up with platitudes full of emotion to motivate you to love yourselves through God. They tell you you are enough, God loves you unconditionally, belittling Christ perfect life and ultimate sacrifice.

And this leads to the 2nd characteristic of false teachers – – they deny the Father and the Son (1John 2:22). In their words they proclaim a God that loves you just the way you are sins and all. They denying the Father’s holiness, and wrath against all sinners. They deny the necessity of the Son’s perfect life accredited to us and our sins being credited to Him.

The 3rd characteristic is, because they remain in darkness and do not abide in the Word and what they heard from the beginning, they live in immorality. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. ⁷ Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ⁸ Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1John 3: 6-10).

Another characteristic of the false teacher is that they do not confess Jesus Christ as God in flesh (1John 4:1-3). They may give lip service but is it a common theme? Does she teach that God came in flesh to obey the law perfectly and take our sins upon himself? Or is Christ in the background while you or her are the subject of her teachings? Who is she confessing? In her lecture, conference or book – who is getting the most attention? Is she proclaiming herself, telling you her life story, her testimony? Is she proclaiming you, your greatness, how important you are? Or is she proclaiming Christ and Him crucified for your sins? That He is Lord and His word is what we are to abide in? Does she teach the Scriptures, drawing from the prophet’s and apostle’s teachings, Christ and His commandments? For the Law, the prophets and the apostles were from God, led by the Spirit to write about Him( 2Chron. 24:19; Matt. 11:13; 1John 4:6; Luke 24:27; John 5:39).

The 4th characteristic of a false teacher is that they promote and exegete (draw teaching out of) their experiences.

But Scripture is clear that no experience will guarantee our salvation. No experience will urge one to turn to Christ. Jesus gives an example in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man explaining, through the father of Israel, Abraham, that even if one should have an experience with a dead man that experience would not be enough to convince them of Hell, let alone instruct them on how to avoid eternal damnation.  Paul proclaims that the Word is more sure than even seeing Christ in all His glory. (What an experience that must have been!)That the Word is a lamp shining in a dark place that we should pay attention to it (Luke 16:19-31; 2Pet. 1:16-19).

2 Peter, along with the pastoral epistles, the letters of 1 John, 2 John, and Jude, all warn of false teachers. 2 Peter is one of the most comprehensive epistles on the subject.   

In 2 Peter, Peter explains that Scripture is the teaching or set of beliefs that were spoken and given by God.  Peter ranks Scripture more than any experience as he informs us that it is not man’s words not even man’s interpretations or relaying of something God has told them. But that Scripture came about by the Holy Spirit moving the writers to write down God’s very words. It was not done by the writer’s will but by the will of God as he caused them to write His words (2 Pet. 1:19-21).

Peter, writing this epistle before his imminent death, knowing that false teachers will arise out of the church, instructs God’s chosen to pay attention to Scripture. Why does Peter warn them of false teachers? What do they do that is so bad?

1)They secretly teach destructive heresies. These heresies are hidden, not easily revealed or seen that they are not from God. The false teacher looks like us, talks like us, and seems to walk like us. They are men and, yes, women who called themselves pastor’s, teachers, speakers, believers. They identify as Christians who want to minister to other Christians.

Because they are secret, they are dangerous. Ladies – even question what I say. Every episode, every book review, every Titus 2 Time episode- do not just automatically trust me, look to the Scriptures. Look up those verses that I include, read them in context, and see if I am using them  correctly.

2 ) What they teach are destructive, damnable teachings, teachings that if we trust and believe them lead us to God’s wrath, not salvation. This is the most dangerous thing in all of this world – as we should not fear men who can kill the body but god who destroys both body and spirit (Matt. 10:28). We in our sinful, unregenerate nature are born to believe damnable doctrine. Unregenerate man denies God and is without understanding (Psalm 14:1; Prov. 19:3; Rom.1:31, 8:7) . In the same way false teachers may claim to know God but actually deny the master who bought them (2 Pet.2:1). Humans are created to worship. Even in man’s denial of God, humans worship. They worship false Gods, made to be like themselves. These false teachers worship and teach a false God and false Christ, denying in some way, either His deity, His humanity, His work on the cross, the blessings from it, and/or withholding the receiving of those blessings.

3) They teach heresies- These are lies that lead to division and factions of the church. Lies that promote a different God, attacking the Persons of the Trinity, the Gospel -the way and work of salvation, and the return of Christ.

Peter then dives into what motivates false teachers:

False teachers are motivated by 2 things:

1) Lust/sensuality – they follow their own desires, create teachings that support their desire to satisfy their flesh. That can be teaching for money, teaching for power, teaching for fame, even intellect or notoriety, or to be known as godly or righteous.

2)They are motivated by their Self -authority for their own glory. These women want to receive the glory. They want to be known, popular, seen as the ones to go to for knowledge, advice, and instruction on godly living, imagining that godliness is a means of gain (1 Tim. 6:3-5)

Underneath the stories, lectures and “sermons” is the underlying teaching that they are the example, they “have arrived”, they overcame the trials and problems in this life and now they can teach you. Their talks, advice, and lectures expose who they point to as lord of their lives, it exposes whose authority they teach. If they talk about themselves and their life stories or motivate you through flattery and emotionality, the “you can do it” type of speeches, they reveal that they desire autonomy, they desire to be their own authority.

But if she speaks of Christ, calls out sin in your life, urges repentance, points to the gospel as the continual cure for these sins, and teaches and exposites the Scriptures to equip you for every good work then she exposes whose authority she is under. For these teachings point away from herself and point to the Lordship of Christ in all of life.

Peter goes on to say that false teachers, in their greed, exploit us with false words (2 Pet.2:2-3).They indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they are daring, brazen, audacious, coming off in a very appealing charismatic way. Driven by their own self will, despising the authority of Christ, yet claiming to be obedient to Him, they teach without fear. They do not respect the powers and authorities that God has instituted. They revile angelic majesties(2 Pet. 2:10). These women or men believe they are higher or of more importance than the angels, be they servants of God or servants of Satan. They decree and declare ordering the servants of God about every which way, they rebuke and bring a reviling judgment against the servants of Satan and even Satan himself. Peter explains that not even the holy angels speak insults or rebuke any authority of their own accord. He gives an example of Michael the archangel respecting and recognizing the power and status of Satan, refusing to speak evil against him and instead relies on the Lord to make right judgment (Jude 8,9; Zec 3:2)

How do false teachers deceive?

Having a heart trained in greed, being accursed children, they entice unstable souls, forsaking the right way (2Pet 2:14-15).

How do they entice? They speak out arrogant words of vanity, enticing our fleshly desires, by sensuality.(verse 18)

These false teachers speak with confidence believing God has chosen them to speak for Him, yet ignoring His word, they speak their own words.  Their words of insight, their stories, their advice, their knowledge is vain and useless. Yet in their arrogance they believed themselves to be wise. They know that we, in our flesh, make decisions and are driven by our desires and experiences. So they draw us, attracting us to themselves and their teachings by appealing to our senses (2 Pet.2:2). They use music, entertainment, false miracles, signs and wonders, verbose and philosophical speeches all to entice the eyes, the ears, and the emotions. Logical and critical thinking is discouraged and being a Berean makes you an outcast.

They pray on people. Especially those in desperate times and need. Those that are going through trials and tribulations looking to make their life better or escape sins, yet they are springs without water (2 Pet.2:17). They deceive by claiming to hear from God and teach His ways but never actually give and teach Christ and His word thereby never satisfying peoples thirst.

They promise freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption, for what a man is overcome by this he is enslaved (2 Pet.2 :19). False teachers are enslaved or overcome by their own sin, never really coming to or remaining in Christ. Never preaching or teaching Him as the One who sets us free. So because they remain enslaved to sin, they preach and teach the law instead of Christ, believing they can fulfill it instead of Christ already fulfilling it for us.

WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY FALSE DOCTRINE PRODUCES?

1. It produces ungodliness 

Paul, writing to Timothy states:

Remind them of these things (all that he had written in chapter 1), and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene.(2Tim 2:14-17).

It is the Holy Spirit that is the Author of Scripture (2 Pet.1:21). He teaches and enlightens us by it. So as we study it, the Holy Spirit works in us to produce His fruit, making us more like Christ, more godly.

False doctrine does not produce the fruits of the spirit. Because the Holy Spirit, the 3rd person of the Trinity teaches us, through the Scriptures, all things (John 14:26; 2 Pet.1:3). His teaching is truth (John 17:17) – and produces certain specific fruit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (Gal. 5:22-23). This is the fruit of God’s doctrine.

2. Ultimately it leads to idolatry – putting a faith and trust in a false God, false Christ, and a false Spirit.

We women have our idols – we worship and look to these to save or satisfy our flesh.. We can make idols of our husbands – trusting in them to give us love and comfort.  We trust in our parenting to save our children – things such as healthy eating to save them physically, or education, Christian or not, to save them physically and even spiritually, thinking that, by it they will be wise and successful in this life. We trust in relationships to give us love and affection. We trust in our jobs to provide for us. We trust in our comfort, health and wealth to tell us whether we are in God’s favor and many more such idols. 

False doctrine, again, makes God to be like us, making us believe He wants for us what we, in our flesh desire.  

Right doctrine, God’s doctrine  – reveals to us our idols, exposes our sinful desires, calls us to repentance and preaches Christ crucified for those sins. Right doctrine, God’s teaching instructs us into righteousness and good works because by it our faith grows in knowledge and discernment knowing what is good and true therefore directing us into all the works God has for us to do.

 You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him (Deut. 13:4). How can we walk after the Lord, fear Him, and obey Him if we are learning or have learned falsely about Him?

3.  It leads people to stray/depart from the faith as people devote themselves to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons (1Tim.4:1). Christ warns that false anointed ones (Christ means The Annointed One), false christs and false prophets (men who speak for God) will arise, show false signs and wonders, and will deceive, if possible, even the elect (Matt. 24:24).

4. It shipwrecks faith.

Scripture explains that faith is the substance of things hoped for. Our hope is in the God who has made specific promises to us. Our faith is our trust in Him and these promises. It is when we trust, believe, have faith in the Gospel, in all of God’s promises that we live a certain way and in them have peace and joy. 

When one is taught and trusts in false doctrine, it misplaces our faith causing it to become shipwrecked, to go nowhere.

Scripture is very clear that because false doctrine is dangerous and can shipwreck  a person’s faith, pastors and overseers are to point out and rebuke false Doctrine (1Tim.1:18-19). Scripture urges the overseers in the Church to, not only, correct and point out false doctrine but rebuke false teachers as well.

In Titus 1:9- Paul instructs Titus to hold fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching so that the overseer will be able to both exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict it.

1 Tim 1:3- Paul’s instruction to Timothy was to instruct certain men not to teach strange or different doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths, stories, or endless genealogies – because they give rise to distractions, mere speculations, that do not further the administration of God which is by faith.

The goal of Paul and all the apostles’ instructions/ directions is love from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere or true faith.

Some men, turning away from the goal of love from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith – teach the law instead -they teach moralistic therapeutic deism. They proclaim a god, who through therapeutic and philosophical teachings, can be appeased in good works, living a moral life through obedience to the law.

But Paul says that the law is for the lawless (1Timothy 1:8-11). For those who perform the acts that are a result of unsound teaching. Sound teaching from right doctrine produces love – – the fulfillment of the whole law. It brings one to know and love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves, albeit, imperfectly on this side of glory. But as John says we do not need someone to teach us as we have the Holy Spirit and are taught by God through His Word (1 John 2:27). This sound teaching comes from Jesus Christ, in which are found faith and love, and His salvation of sinners (The Gospel), to which we should fully accept and believe( 1 Tim. 1:14)

5.  At its worst, false teaching does not save.

 If we are taught a different anointed one (false Christ) a different Spirit, or a different Gospel (though there is no other Gospel), we will not be saved (2Corin.11:3-4; Gal.1:6-9). Christ is the way the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father except through Him (John 14:6) 

6. And at the least: it stunts the growth of a disciple.

Ultimately, our lives are a reflection of what we believe. And our emotions are an expression of what we believe. We start as disciples, consuming God’s Word as milk. Sound doctrine, over time, trains us up to become mature. The more we study God’s Word, the more it becomes solid food, strengthening us in knowledge and discernment causing our love to abound more and more (Phil. 1:8-9). 

And this is where we see the practicality of sound doctrine. 

False teaching affects our homes. It doesn’t produce faith in the Gospel, as it is faith that pleases God (Heb.11:6). And living faith produce good works (James 2:14-26) and therefore our households are not full of the good works of repentance, love, forgiveness, and all the fruits of the Spirit.

Conclusion

Now, ladies, let’s think about this. We have seen from Scripture, what the Holy Spirit explains about false teachers through the apostle Peter. So I ask you and I ask myself: Do we want to be like the false teachers? Do we want to be enslaved to our sins, and guided by our senses, being tossed to-and-fro by every teaching and wind of doctrine (Ephs. 4:14-16)? Because this is what false teaching produces. It produces false believers and other false teachers. For those of us women who have children, or teach children, have friends and minister to them or our local church, we (in one sense or another) are teaching. So we must pay attention to what we are learning. For a pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher (Luke 6:40).

Yes, if we believe falsely we will teach falsely, either by word or by deed.

So dear sister, who is teaching you? Do you put yourself under teachers, especially female teacher’s, who teach that which is good so you are encouraged to love husbands and children, be pure and self controlled, to work at your home, be kind and submissive to husbands? Do you come up under teachers who teach what is good holding God’s words up in honor? Do they understand that to draw you away from the word of God and proclaim themselves and their teaching would be to revile God’s word?

Or do you put yourselves under teachers who talk about you and your worth and greatness, or  themselves, their ideas, their dreams and revelations?

Who do you want to be more like? Them or Christ? Whoever they proclaim and teach you will become like.

The blind will lead the blind, but let us find men and women to teach and proclaim Christ and His Word so we may be led by Him and become more and more like Him. 

So next Titus 2 Time, I want to talk about where we women go from here. Now that we see how imperative sound doctrine is and how dangerous false doctrine is, how do we discern truth from error?

But until next time, ladies, I pray you are searching out men and women who will proclaim Christ, always reminding you of the Good news that He came in flesh, to live and die for sinners, and that by faith in this Gospel, we are counted righteous, declared justified by God who adopts us as his children. I pray you compare every teaching, even what is taught in this podcast, to Scripture. I pray you are in God’s Word.

MelbaToast