Pastor Kyle continues in our Sunday Sermon series through the Bible’s book of 2 Peter chapter 2 and starts by stating that when he thinks about false teachings of the Bible, he thinks about Cults and people that don’t read their Bibles and don’t know how to apply the Word of God to their lives. People that reject standard and foundational Christian doctrines and go off in their own spiritual direction. All of that is 100% true as examples of false teaching. How did those espouse and believe false teachings get to that place in the first place? Many of them, likely, never heard or believed the gospel in the first place and they struggled with the concept of God all along.
But, pastor Kyle knows other stories that are a lot more complicated than that. He’s known people that seemed to really believe in the Bible and the Lord, that subsequently strayed into some strange belief systems that looks a lot more like the secular culture then it does than belief in God and His teachings. He doubts if people just wake up one day and say: “I want to believe in some strange Theology today. I want to become a member of a Cult.” It’s never that simple. Folks are not that nonsensical and we all are responsible for our own choices. Sin is also a huge factor; we’d be naive to under-estimate the pull of sin. Many times people doubt standard biblical Christian doctrine when they just want to justify their sinful lifestyle; they do not want to change. None of these things are universal truths, but they are contributing factors. The Apostle Peter was writing to the people that believe in the Lord and wants them to know that any one of us can head down that path of false teaching. How do we all make sure that we do not get there?
2 Peter 2:1-3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
The Apostles state that false teacher have been among the people in the past and will arrive in the future. We are all accountable to belief and teach good spiritual doctrine but the Bible is clear that God holds ministry leaders to a higher standard than those who do not teach, especially when it comes to the right teaching and preaching about the Word of God. James 3:1 tells us, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” Jesus spoke of the hypocrisies of some of the Pharisees, who taught one thing but didn’t hold themselves to the same standard. SO, with just cause, the Apostle Peter focus’ in on ministry leaders that propagate false teaching first. Because so many will follow false teaching and be led astray, Peter starts at the top.
Church leaders and teachers must be sure that they are on-tract with God personally and that what they are teaching is from the Word of God and from God Himself. To be sure that teaching lines up with God, make sure that it lines up with the Holy Bible. Plain and simple, if something in not in-line with the Bible, then it is not in-line with God. If church leaders and teachers do not take what they are teaching seriously, then God is going to deal with them. But, this is not just for ministry leaders; you do not get a free pass. This truth applies to you. This is for every Christian. We all need to take the topic of false teachers and false teaching very seriously.
Galatians 5:16-17 ”But, I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
If we are on-tract with God, then we are very unlikely to stray into false teaching. Check your heart and your relationship with God all the time. 2 Peter 2:1-3 should be a heart and a gut check for all of us because we need to constantly be monitoring our relationship with God. False prophets arose among the people. It’s easier than we’d like to admit to slip into false teaching. Peter tells us that people secretly bring in destructive heresies. When we lead down the path of false teachings, we bring destruction upon ourselves. The antidote is to be a people that love God’s Word and check our hears against the Bible constantly.
Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on false teachers in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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