False Teachers Either: 1) Add-To Or Modify The Message, or 2) Are "Antichrist"
Gal 3:1-5 (Phi) O you dear idiots of Galatia, who saw Jesus Christ the crucified so plainly, who has been casting a spell over you? I will ask you one simple question: did you receive the Spirit by trying to keep the Law or by believing the message of the gospel? Surely you can't be so stupid as to think that you begin your spiritual life in the Spirit and then complete it by reverting to physical observances? Has all your painful experience brought you nowhere? I simply cannot believe it! Does God, who gives you his Spirit and works miracles among you, do these things because you have obeyed the Law or because you have believed the gospel?
Gal 2:4-5 (Phi) In fact, the suggestion would have never arisen but for the presence of some pseudo-Christians, who wormed their way into our meeting to spy on the liberty we enjoy in Christ Jesus, and then attempted to tie us up with rules and regulations. We did not give in to them for a moment, for the truth of the gospel for you and all the gentiles was at stake. (Gal 5:1-10)
Gal 2:21 (Phi) I refuse to make nonsense of the grace of God. For if righteousness were possible under the Law then Christ died for nothing.
Rom 1:16-17 (NIV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
2) The "Antichrist" in Scripture is Any Minister Who Denies Jesus as The Christ
1 Jn 2:18-22 (Phi) ...You have heard of the coming of antichrist. Believe me, there are antichrists about already, which confirms my belief that we are near the last hour. These men went out from our company, it is true, but they never really belonged to it. If they had really belonged to us they would have stayed. In fact, their going proves beyond doubt that men like that were not "our men" at all.
1 Jn 4:1-3 (NIV) Dear friends, 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. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
Hollywood Terminology and The Undiscerned Infection...
Hollywood has used the term "Antichrist" to refer to what Scripture refers to as "the Beast", and Christians have picked this up. The shoe fits, and we all know who is being referred to when the term "Antichrist" is used: "the Beast" of Scripture. But by misunderstanding the biblical meaning of antichrist, we may miss the important point that the enemy is within our camp.
2 Cor 11:13-15 (Phi) "God's messengers?" They are counterfeits of the real thing, dishonest practitioners masquerading as the messengers of Christ. Nor do their tactics surprise me when I consider how Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is only to be expected that his agents shall have the appearance of ministers of righteousness--but they will get what they deserve in the end.
Notice The Motive, And The Result
2 Pet 2:1-3 (NIV) But there were false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies... Many will follow their shameful ways and bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.
1 Tim 6:3-5 (Phi) This is the sort of thing you should teach and preach, and if anyone tries to teach some doctrinal novelty and does not follow sound teaching (which we base on our Lord Jesus Christ's own words and which leads to Christlike living), then he is a conceited idiot! His mind is a morbid jungle of disputation and argument, things which lead to nothing but jealousy, quarreling, insults, and malicious innuendoes--continual wrangling, in fact, among men of warped minds who have lost their real hold on the truth but hope to make some profit out of the Christian religion.
Who Causes Division?
Rom 16:17-18 (NIV) I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and who put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
Jude 1:19 (NIV) These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
Jude 1:16-19 (Phi) These are the men who complain and curse their fate while trying all the time to mold life according to their own desires. They "talk big" and pay men great respect if it is to their own advantage. Now do remember, dear friends, the words that the messengers of Jesus Christ gave us beforehand when they said "there will come in the last days mockers who live according to their own godless desires." These are the men who split communities, for they are led by human emotions and never by the Spirit of God.
Are we "causing division" to rebuke false teachers; or are we obeying God?
Titus 3:10-11 (NIV) Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
1 Tim 1:3-4 (NIV) ...command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith.
Spiritual Aids?
The Body of Christ, functioning properly, should be excising these false teachings and standing against the "wolves" (Titus 1:9). But somehow Satan has duped us into believing that if we obey God's instructions, we are the ones "causing division", instead of the false prophets and teachers (wolves) we are commanded to rebuke (Titus 1:11-2:1). Satan has attacked the church's "immune system", and we accept the wolves, who take advantage of the flock, in as "brothers" (2 Jn 7-11).
2 Thes 2:10 (NIV) ...They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie...
Biblical Examples of Rebukes & Principles for Protecting The Message
2 Tim 2:15-17 (Phi) For yourself, concentrate on winning God's approval, on being a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, and who knows how to use the word of truth to the best advantage. But steer clear of these unchristian babblings, which in practice lead further and further away from Christian living. For their teachings are as dangerous as blood-poisoning to the body, and spread like sepsis from a wound. Hymenaeus and Philetus are responsible for this sort of thing, and they are palpable traitors to the truth...
2 Tim 4:14-15 (NIV) Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
Are We As Concerned About The Problem As The Writers Of Scripture?
2 Tim 4:2-5 (NIV) Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (Titus 2:15a)
Gal 2:4-5 (Phi) In fact, the suggestion would have never arisen but for the presence of some pseudo-Christians, who wormed their way into our meeting to spy on the liberty we enjoy in Christ Jesus, and then attempted to tie us up with rules and regulations. We did not give in to them for a moment, for the truth of the gospel for you and all the gentiles was at stake. (Gal 5:1-10)
Gal 2:21 (Phi) I refuse to make nonsense of the grace of God. For if righteousness were possible under the Law then Christ died for nothing.
Rom 1:16-17 (NIV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
2) The "Antichrist" in Scripture is Any Minister Who Denies Jesus as The Christ
1 Jn 2:18-22 (Phi) ...You have heard of the coming of antichrist. Believe me, there are antichrists about already, which confirms my belief that we are near the last hour. These men went out from our company, it is true, but they never really belonged to it. If they had really belonged to us they would have stayed. In fact, their going proves beyond doubt that men like that were not "our men" at all.
1 Jn 4:1-3 (NIV) Dear friends, 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. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
Hollywood Terminology and The Undiscerned Infection...
Hollywood has used the term "Antichrist" to refer to what Scripture refers to as "the Beast", and Christians have picked this up. The shoe fits, and we all know who is being referred to when the term "Antichrist" is used: "the Beast" of Scripture. But by misunderstanding the biblical meaning of antichrist, we may miss the important point that the enemy is within our camp.
2 Cor 11:13-15 (Phi) "God's messengers?" They are counterfeits of the real thing, dishonest practitioners masquerading as the messengers of Christ. Nor do their tactics surprise me when I consider how Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is only to be expected that his agents shall have the appearance of ministers of righteousness--but they will get what they deserve in the end.
Notice The Motive, And The Result
2 Pet 2:1-3 (NIV) But there were false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies... Many will follow their shameful ways and bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.
1 Tim 6:3-5 (Phi) This is the sort of thing you should teach and preach, and if anyone tries to teach some doctrinal novelty and does not follow sound teaching (which we base on our Lord Jesus Christ's own words and which leads to Christlike living), then he is a conceited idiot! His mind is a morbid jungle of disputation and argument, things which lead to nothing but jealousy, quarreling, insults, and malicious innuendoes--continual wrangling, in fact, among men of warped minds who have lost their real hold on the truth but hope to make some profit out of the Christian religion.
Who Causes Division?
Rom 16:17-18 (NIV) I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and who put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
Jude 1:19 (NIV) These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
Jude 1:16-19 (Phi) These are the men who complain and curse their fate while trying all the time to mold life according to their own desires. They "talk big" and pay men great respect if it is to their own advantage. Now do remember, dear friends, the words that the messengers of Jesus Christ gave us beforehand when they said "there will come in the last days mockers who live according to their own godless desires." These are the men who split communities, for they are led by human emotions and never by the Spirit of God.
Are we "causing division" to rebuke false teachers; or are we obeying God?
Titus 3:10-11 (NIV) Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
1 Tim 1:3-4 (NIV) ...command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith.
Spiritual Aids?
The Body of Christ, functioning properly, should be excising these false teachings and standing against the "wolves" (Titus 1:9). But somehow Satan has duped us into believing that if we obey God's instructions, we are the ones "causing division", instead of the false prophets and teachers (wolves) we are commanded to rebuke (Titus 1:11-2:1). Satan has attacked the church's "immune system", and we accept the wolves, who take advantage of the flock, in as "brothers" (2 Jn 7-11).
2 Thes 2:10 (NIV) ...They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie...
Biblical Examples of Rebukes & Principles for Protecting The Message
2 Tim 2:15-17 (Phi) For yourself, concentrate on winning God's approval, on being a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, and who knows how to use the word of truth to the best advantage. But steer clear of these unchristian babblings, which in practice lead further and further away from Christian living. For their teachings are as dangerous as blood-poisoning to the body, and spread like sepsis from a wound. Hymenaeus and Philetus are responsible for this sort of thing, and they are palpable traitors to the truth...
2 Tim 4:14-15 (NIV) Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
Are We As Concerned About The Problem As The Writers Of Scripture?
2 Tim 4:2-5 (NIV) Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (Titus 2:15a)
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