Gò0dNews for Everyone
False Teaching
A
by Eddie Turner
mong its countless teachings of the right ways to live our lives as humans, the Bible makes a great effort to warn us about the wrong ways to behave. In these verses from the
book of 1 Timothy, we are given two examples of false teachings that will be prominent among churches in the latter days. “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon
“God is trying to lead us back to His original design where man subsisted upon the natural products of the earth.” Unbiblical. “This is a work that will have to be done before God's people can stand before Him.” Unbiblical. You see the problem here, don’t you? This practice went from being a mere suggestion to a full-blown requirement for
the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
one's salvation. And coffee??? I think we should pause and pray
Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences
for these deprived individuals right away! Because false teaching
have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry
exists in so many varieties, each church it divides may be under
and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to
the impression that only its members can be saved. After all, if
be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know
what they do makes them right with God, those not doing it cannot
the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be
be right. Right? Regarding the abstinence of certain foods, Jesus
rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated
already set this record straight with the Pharisees.
by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:1-5).
“Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man” (Mark 7:18-20). Rituals like these may seem trivial to you and me, but God takes them very seriously. Any church that adds to, takes away from, or weaves its way in and out of His Word to be seen as having completed works of merit will suffer God's wrath. Moses' two nephews might have testified to this had they not been incinerated for their "special offering." You can read their story in chapters 9 and 10 of Leviticus. Humans are incapable of doing anything worthy of
Since God has pointed out some specifics for us, I decided to
salvation. A suggestion that a mere wiggle of one's little finger
do some checking up on these false teachings. After all, the Bible
makes people more ripe for salvation completely strips Jesus of his
does say that they will occur "in the later times." Given the many
divinity. Why? Because it makes him a liar. We're all expected to
prophecies concerning the end times that we have witnessed, I
do good works; to behave in a manner that reflects our gratitude
think we're there. For the record, I found the practice of abstaining
for his sacrifice. But those works are flawed because we are flawed.
from certain foods within a denomination very quickly. So, without
Even on our best days, our praises to God are marred by our self-
revealing any names, I am going to show you several relevant
centered and unforgiving hearts. This is the human condition. We
statements as they appear within that denomination's summary of
are to strive for goodness, but that bar is set way above our heads
foundational beliefs. And I'll point out whether each statement is
on purpose so that we will be completely reliant upon Jesus, who
biblical or unbiblical.
did for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In Christ alone means
“We do not earn our way to heaven by being vegetarians.” Biblical. “Erroneous eating and drinking result in erroneous thinking and acting.” Biblical. “It is God's direct instruction to all of us to eat a balanced and appropriate plant-based diet.” Unbiblical. “The Lord counsels the church to discard meats, tea, coffee, and other harmful foods.” Unbiblical.
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in Christ alone. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). As we continue our daily walk with God, may He break our hearts for the misguided and use us to lead His precious children away from false teaching and into the everlasting arms of his son, Jesus Christ.
