Failure to actively oppose false doctrine/false teachers is a sin

In reading 1 and 2 Kings, patterns emerge. In a recent blog essay I'd mentioned that reading the books of the Kings is like watching the tide go in and out. The king was good, the borders enlarged. The king was bad, the borders came in. In and out. Repeat.

Another pattern is seen in the LORD's declaration of where on the spectrum the king's goodness or badness was. Sometimes the King was declared by God as outright evil. Very bad. Sometimes not so bad. Sometimes good. Here is an example. In 2 Kings 3:2a this is what is declared of Jehoram the son of Ahab who became king over Israel in Samaria:

"He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother,"

Why wasn't he as bad as Ahab and Jezebel? After all, "he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made." (2 Kings 3:2b). But Jehoram also clung to the sin of Jereboam which had made Israel sin, and this angered the LORD.

The lesson is twofold. Leaders set the example and when they are below reproach, the followers follow suit, also falling below reproach. In addition, you can't repudiate some sins, you must repudiate ALL sins. There is no picking and choosing.

Now, how about Jehu?

"Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan. And the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin." (2 Kings 10:28-31)

Did you catch that? "All His heart". King David was a man after God's own heart. (Acts 13:22). This is a high honor bestowed on a man. Why was David given such an honor in the bible? He loved and feared the Lord. He had absolute faith in God. You might wonder, David was a great sinner, how could he be deemed a man after God's own heart? He sinned, but he repented, fully. His heart was always pointed toward God.

David loved God's law. (Psalm 119:47-48) He delighted in it! Yet you note that despite Jehu doing what was in the LORD'S heart, he "was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD."

David was grateful for God. God was not a means to a kingly end for David, God was the end. (Psalm 26:6-7; Psalm 100:4).

In another case of the LORD deeming a king pretty good, we see Amaziah. "And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father." (2 Kings 14:3). Amaziah did not remove the high places and the people still sacrificed to other gods there. (2 Kings 14:4). However he did follow through on a point of God's law whereupon 'he struck down his servants who had struck down the king his father' but correctly did not kill the children of those, as the Law states. (2 Kings 14:5-6).

As you read through the Kings the recurring theme is worship of other gods on the high places. The First Commandment is to have no other gods before Him. That the King worshiped God wasn't good enough, he must set the example by destroying the altars of other gods. Leaving them in place is an implicit agreement with them.

This theme is seen in most of the NT books whereupon the Apostles or authors of almost every book decries false teaching. Following false teaching is following another god. Failure to repudiate false teaching is also a sin. See Revelation 2:20,

"But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols."

The church at Thyatira knew this woman, a Jezebel-type, was teaching falsely, and they tolerated it. They themselves weren't following her, which was good, but they did not strike her down from her high place, as it were. The Lord commended them for not following actively (Rev 2:24) but was still against them that they didn't dig out the cancer of her false teaching and protect the daughters of hell she was making. (Revelation 2:23).

Discernment is active on all fronts. It means relying on the Spirit to open our eyes to false teaching, and actively asking Him to do this. It means practicing discernment by reading the word and testing what teachers teach against it (Acts 17:11). It also means when you see brethren falling under the beguiling sway of false teachers, to do something about it. Don't tolerate it. If you do, thee Lord has that against you. Do what it right in the sight of the Lord!

"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." James 4:17)

Comments

  1. Well now, I must scold you for watching The Big Bang Theory. The title disregards God's creation of the universe, one of the actors is openly homosexual, plus smutty humor and fornication are just a few of the unsavory things on that series. Surely not something a self-professed watchman should be looking at. Or recommending.

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    1. Anonymous now you know my secret. I'm not perfect. I'm a sinner. Shhh don't tell anyone.

      If you yourself are NOT a "self-professed watchman," you're doing it wrong.

      Mt 16:3, Luke 21:28, Mark 13:37.

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  2. Stated,

    "...King David...sinned..."

    How grave were the sins of David?

    David's sins of adultery, cold-blooded murder, and subsequent cover-up were an exceptional evil in God's sight, it "displeased the Lord" (II Sam. 11:27). He became guilty of breaking the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth commandments (Ex. 20:13-17).

    David was guilty of despising "the commandment of the Lord" and despising God Himself (II Sam. 12:10). "Despise" (Heb. bazah) means to treat contemptuously, to scorn, to make of little account. Thus by his actions, David was declaring God to be of little account, unworthy of love and devotion.

    Further stated,

    "...but he repented, fully..."

    Yet, had not Nathan admonished David, would he have carried his sins to the grave, thus, answering, "Failure to actively oppose false doctrine/false teachers is a sin" that can lead people to their grave in their sins.

    Mario

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  3. OUCH, Mario (ouch in a "good way") ~ what you wrote spoke VOLUMES to me! An arrow right to my heart...

    Okay, so honest question! (for anyone/everyone reading here) ~ how do I go about bringing up the subject or hitting it head-on to one of dearest friends that Joyce Meyer is a false teacher?? I do agree that JM is an excellent "inspirational coach" or whatever they used to be called.... however, a "preacher" ~ nah! According to NT Scripture, women shouldn't even be "preaching" any how!

    I will be absolutely plummeted by friends who just love, love, LOVE her!! "Oh, she has just helped me SO much!", they exclaim.

    I appreciate good, Godly sound wisdom here! Thank you

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    1. Reva, I wrote the following recently, "How do you confront a brother or sister who follows a false teacher?"

      http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-do-you-confront-brother-or-sister.html

      I also add this link, from Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry comparing what Meyer teaches against scripture, you can use this or parts of it to help buttress your case when you talk with friends who are under her teaching.

      http://carm.org/joyce-meyer

      Quite often I ask "How has she helped you?" and go from there. They often reply, "She's helped me feel better about myself." And I ask another question, "Is that what a bible teacher is supposed to do, help us feel better about ourselves?" and so on. With me the subject of the conversation is often Beth Moore.

      Mario, please feel free to add to this.

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    2. The teachings of Joyce Meyer, as found in the link, http://carm.org/joyce-meyer, should be the gauge by which we approach her followers. After diligent prayer for God to guide us in our approach to our friends, we must be mindful of the following, "...there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before , so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received , let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (Gal. 1:7-10)

      The Bible clearly affirms that there is only one gospel, the gospel of Christ. The gospel is defined and revealed in the Bible, the Word of God. Any teachings, doctrines, or ideas originating from persons, churches, or traditions and not expressed or implied in God's Word, may not be included in the gospel of Christ. To mix them with the original contents of the gospel is to "pervert the gospel of Christ " (Gal. 1:7).

      God commands believers to defend the faith (Jude 3), to correct in love (II Tim. 2:25-26), and to separate themselves from teachers, ministers, and others in the church who deny fundamental Bible truths taught by Jesus and the apostles (II Jn. 9-11).

      One cannot be a genuine believer of the gospel and attempt to please people by compromising the truths of the gospel. It is our duty to speak "not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts" (I Thes. 2:4). All believers of the gospel of Christ must make it their aim, to please God even if it means displeasing some people.

      Above all, remember, with love, gentleness, patience, and meekness, we which are spiritual, are to restore those overtaken in sin (Gal. 5:22-23 & 6:1) through scripture.

      Mario

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    3. Hi Mario,

      Thanks, and agreed. BTW, here is another link I found where the teachings of Joyce Meyer are compared tot he bible. Two pastors discuss her in this 25 min radio program, called No Compromise Radio
      http://www.nocompromiseradio.com/2014/02/25/run-from-joyce-meyers/

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    4. Reva, the link I gave about the No Compromise study on what Meyer teaches, the two pastors are discussing your exact point, what to say to people who say "oh, but she's helped me." They said, that first, experiential bases of testing a teacher is no basis at all. Second, that if a person listens to Meyer long enough, they WILL abandon the bible, because she has. It's the Luke 6:40 syndrome. A tiny amount of arsenic may be OK but take in enough and it will kill you.

      Also another point about Meyer to use in rebuttal, Meyer lainly teaches that Jesus was not the Son of God at a certain point on the cross. This is rank heresy. He is the eternal Son. Last time I checked, eternal pretty much means always. So if the universe is held up by His word, and he stopped being the Son of God, who or how was the Universe held up? And where is the verse that states about this intra-Trinitarian hand-off?

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  4. Reading the amount of times that Israel strayed from the LORD eventually caused me to say to myself, "Really...AGAIN???"
    How hard headed were those people? As hard headed as I am, I guess. I see parallels in my life. God is good. I drift towards Him and away from Him like the tides. I want to be with Him forever.
    Please pray for me and know that I enjoy your writing immensely :)

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  5. I think too many are afraid to oppose false teachers for fear of being labeled as "divisive" or a "Pharisee." i.e., pride.

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  6. I have several friends who follow Beth Moore, and their attitude toward her reminds me of adolescent girls and their teen idol. I know any negative comments about BM would fall on deaf ears, so I don't say anything. However, if they bring it up, I will tell gently (and being able to do this gently is a huge step forward for me--I used to be much more confrontational) tell them what I believe about her. And I always get a "deer in the headlights" look, like they are incredulous I would even question such a godly woman. I guess my point is that I'm not going to waste my time trying to change their minds, but I won't back down when the topic is brought up. I also pray for these friends, for their eyes and hearts to be opened to the word of God and see His truth.

    I've also had conversations regarding Jesus Calling with two friends, one woman who, although younger than me, possesses a spiritual depth and maturity beyond her years. I was really surprised when she told me how much she enjoyed Jesus Calling and how it's blessed her heart. I told her of my concerns with it, and she even admitted having the same concerns. But she said the devotions bless her daily time with the Lord. So I am praying for her discernment in using this book.

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