How To Deal With Church Members Attracted to False Teaching?
A very helpful section of Martin Downes book Risking the Truth:
Downes:
How have you dealt with church members or students who have been attracted to, or taken in by false teaching?
Michael Horton:
‘Pastoral sensitivity and prudence is required in order to know whether a fellow-Christian needs ‘Law’ or ‘Gospel’. (A terrific discussion of this is found in William Perkins’ The Art of Prophesying.) So an obstinate person who persists in heresy should be warned with the threat of excommunication (as Paul treated the Galatians).
However, a struggling Christian who has been exposed to false teaching must be corrected with patience and love. This person is a bruised reed or a flickering candle, and we know how Christ treats them – for to some degree, we are all in this catagory.’
On Heresy, Creeds, Commentaries, Helps and Study Notes
Heresy is not so much rejecting as selecting. The heretic simply selects the parts of the Scripture he wants to emphasize and lets the rest go. This is shown by the etymology of the word heresy and by the practice of the heretic. "Beware," an editorial scribe of the fourteenth century warned his readers in the preface to a book. "Beware thou take not one thing after thy affection and liking, and leave another: for that is the condition of an heretique. But take everything with other." The old scribe knew well how prone we are to take to ourselves those parts of the truth that please us and ignore the other parts. And that is heresy. —A. W. Tozer, We Travel An Appointed Way
Men must interpret to the best of their ability each particular part of Scripture separately, and then combine all that the Scriptures teach upon every subject into a consistent whole, and then adjust their teachings upon different subjects in mutual consistency as parts of a harmonious system. Every student of the Bible must do this, and all make it obvious that they do it by the terms they use in their prayers and religious discourse, whether they admit or deny the propriety of human creeds and confessions. If they refuse the assistance afforded by the statements of doctrine slowly elaborated and defined by the Church, they must make out their own creed by their own unaided wisdom. The real question is not, as often pretended, between the word of God and the creed of man, but between the tried and proved faith of the collective body of God's people, and the private judgment and the unassisted wisdom of the repudiator of creeds. — A. A. Hodge, A Short History of Creeds and Confessions, 1869.
In order to be able to expound the Scriptures, and as an aid to your pulpit studies, you will need to be familiar with the commentators: a glorious army, let me tell you, whose acquaintance will be your delight and profit. Of course, you are not such wiseacres as to think or say that you can expound Scripture without assistance from the works of divines and learned men who have laboured before you in the field of exposition. If you are of that opinion, pray remain so, for you are not worth the trouble of conversion, and like a little coterie who think with you, would resent the attempt as an insult to your infallibility. It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others. - C.H. Spurgeon, Commenting and Commentaries, 1890.
But still ye will say I can not understand it. What marvel? How shouldest thou understand, if thou wilt not read, nor look upon it? Take the books into thine hands, read the whole story, and that thou understandest, keep it well in memory; that thou understandest not, read it again, and again. If thou can neither so come by it, counsel with some other that is better learned. Go to thy curate and preacher; show thyself to be desirous to know and learn, and I doubt not but God - seeing thy diligence and readiness (if no man else teach thee) - will himself vouchsafe with his holy spirit to illuminate thee, and to open unto thee that which was locked from thee. — Thomas Cranmer, Preface to the Great Bible, 1540.
And considering how hard a thing it is to understand the holy Scriptures, and what errors, sects, and heresies grow daily for lack of the true knowledge thereof, and how many are discouraged (as they pretend) because they cannot attain to the true and simple meaning of the same, we have also endeavored both by the diligent reading of the best commentaries, and also by the conference with the godly and learned brethren, to gather brief annotations upon all the hard places, as well for the understanding of such words as are obscure, and for the declaration of the text, as for the application of the same as may most appertain to God's glory and the edification of his Church. — Geneva Bible Preface, 1560.
Depravity According to Calvin
Quoted from John MacArthur's chapter John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology, ed. Burk Parsons (Reformation Trust, 2008), 137–138
The phrase “total depravity” (not an expression of Calvin’s but a phrase descriptive of his view) has an unfortunate ambiguity about it. Many who are exposed to that terminology for the first time suppose it means Calvin taught that all sinners are as thoroughly bad as they possibly can be.
But Calvin expressly disclaimed that view. He acknowledged that “in every age there have been persons who, guided by nature, have striven toward virtue throughout life” [Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2.3.3.]. Calvin suggested that such people (even though there are “lapses . . . in their moral conduct” are of commendable character, from a human point of view. “They have by the very zeal of their honesty given proof that there was some purity in their nature” [Ibid.]. He went even further: “These examples, accordingly, seem to warn us against adjudging man’s nature wholly corrupted, because some men have by its prompting not only excelled in remarkable deeds, but conducted themselves most honorably throughout life”
Nevertheless, Calvin went on to say, such thinking actually points the wrong direction. Instead, “it ought to occur to us that amid this corruption of nature there is some place for God’s grace; not such grace as to cleanse it, but to restrain it inwardly” [Ibid.].
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An Observation about Israel in Ephesians 2:11-21 & 3:5, 6
The following passage really makes up the heart of Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. Here he reveals a great mystery which was hidden in previous ages:
"Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ ... So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord."Notice in this passage that Paul speaks to Gentiles as having been previously separate and alienated from Israel and the covenants, but in Christ, Gentiles have become citizens of Israel. Being "brought near" was their modern day parlance for Jewish proselytes. Because verse 12 and verse 19 are separated by some text (which speaks of benefits in Christ) many do not pay attention to their close connection. Let’s have a look then: Verse 12 "alienated from the commonwealth of Israel" is joined to (vr. 19) "you are no longer strangers and aliens". No longer aliens to what? No longer aliens to the commonwealth of Israel. That means that Gentiles who are in Christ are now "citizens" (v. 19) of Israel built as a house with Christ as the chief cornerstone. In other words, Jesus Christ is the True Israel of God (its fulfillment and foundation) as are all who are joined in union to Him. To say it another way, both OT and NT saints who are in union with Christ are citizens of Israel according to this passage. Likewise we are partakers of its promises, according to another nearby passage:
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Chapter Eight: The King Will Desire Your Beauty
We have now seen just what the true message of Christianity is, and how it applies to every person under heaven, regardless of circumstances or background. We have seen that this gospel-message demands a response, and have made clear the high cost of following Jesus, and the priceless reward that it will bring. But we must still touch upon another matter, which is equally misunderstood in American Christianity today; and that is, just what it means to be a Christian, what we are saved to and for; in a word, exactly what is the purpose of all that we have been speaking of. Is the ultimate goal of God's plan of salvation simply to give me a “get out of hell free card”? Is the reason for evangelism and missions just to get as many individuals as possible into heaven? Now, these things are not at all bad – it is good, unimaginably good, to be delivered from hell, and there is great rejoicing in heaven over every individual soul that is converted1 – but still, there is a greater, unifying purpose to the whole plan that does not end with individual destinies alone. And in order truly to understand Christianity, we must understand this overarching goal. In the next chapters, that is what we will be discussing.
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Quotes from Risking the Truth
"It should be a rule with us to have nothing to do with any man or ministry that errs in regard to the way of salvation in Jesus Christ. Whatever good a man may do along other lines, he has done the greatest conceivable harm if he errs at this point. 'It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea'" (Matt 18:6) - Joel Beeke
What principles should we apply so that we keep ourselves from being deceived?
"I think that the number one principle in seeing through the subtlety of error is learning to handle truth in its biblical context. As someone has said, 'A text without a context is a pretext.'- it is a lie! It is often pretty clear to any discerning mind when a text has been wrested our of its comfortable context in order to say what someone else wants it to say. When I listen to many preachers today and they state something which makes my hair stand on end, I will often wait for them to prove it from the Bible. I often find that all I need to do is dig around the verses they would have quoted and I find that there has been a gross misapplication of Scripture. The Holy Spirit was saying one thing when He inspired the sacred writer, and the preacher is saying something totally different.When the context is not able to help, the second principle is that obscure passages of the Bible must be interpreted by those passages of the Bible that are more perspicuous. In other words, Scripture does not contradict itself sinice its primary author is the Holy Spirit. So, if a false teacher quotes Scripture to suit his situation but it contradicts the clear teaching of another passage of the Bible, it should send all the warning signals that you are in danger and ought to tread carefully. Is that not how the Lord Jesus handled Satan when he tempted him using the Scriptures in Matthew 4? Jesus simply referred to other Scriptures that were clearly being violated by the meaning that Satan was putting upon the Scriptures he was quoting. We should do the same!" - Conrad Mbewe
Risking the Truth: Handling Error in the Church by Martin Downes Now Available!
May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering..
Risking the Truth: Handling Error in the Church - NEW!!!
Risking the Truth: Handling Error in the Church by Martin Downes Now Available!
Description: Here is a unique, insightful and stimulating collection of interviews on handling truth and error in the church today by some key church leaders and communicators from across the world.
These men reflect on this key issue in relation to their own lives, pulpit ministry, local church leadership, seminary training, denominations, the impact of the academy, Evangelicalism, contemporary trends, history, creeds and confessions, and specific doctrines that are currently under attack. They know each other personally, or at least by reputation, and share a mutual esteem for one another's work. Together they represent a prodigious literary output.
There is personal reflection on these matters, lessons drawn from experience, and practical advice. The interviews are introduced by a primer on heresy and false teaching, and concluded with a chapters on why “Being Against Heresies Is Not Enough” and “What Really Matters in Ministry: Directives for Church Leaders in Acts 20.”
Contributors include: Carl R. Trueman, Tom Schreiner, Michael Horton, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Derek Thomas, R. Scott Clark, Tom Ascol, Guy Waters, Kim Riddlebarger, Ron Gleason, Sean Michael Lucas, Iain D. Campbell, Gary L. W. Johnson, Conrad Mbewe, Geoffrey Thomas, Joel Beeke, Robert Peterson, Michael Ovey.
“It is a privilege to introduce and recommend this unique book. …a very distinctive contribution to the early twenty-first century church. Martin Downes has assembled an all-star team…”
--Sinclair B. Ferguson, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina
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Book Review: The Prayer of the Lord, by R. C. Sproul
Throughout much of Church history, the Lord's Prayer (together with the Decalogue and the Apostle's Creed) has been one of the most foundational elements used in instructing new believers and children in what it means to be a Christian. But unfortunately, while it is frequently recited by rote today, it is not so commonly used as a guideline to teach Christians just what it means to pray, how we should approach God, what we should speak to him about, and so on. Even books on the topic of prayer itself, in the modern church, rarely employ the Lord's Prayer, given to his disciples for the specific purpose of teaching them how to pray, as a foundational shaping paradigm. The Prayer of the Lord, by R. C. Sproul, is a very refreshing exception to this trend, and in a crystal clear and surprisingly simple way shows modern disciples of the Lord, in his own words, just what it means to pray.
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Understanding Romans 10:17 by Pastor John Samson
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17
As most of my readers know, I did not always embrace the reformed faith. For the first 20 years of my Christian walk I was fairly convinced of synergistic theology, though I would recoil at the idea of labeling it as such. In my mind, I just believed the Bible, or so I thought.
I was recently having a discussion with a gentleman through e-mail and he was lamenting the fact that I no longer believed as he does (he is a synergist). He said my problem was that I gave false teaching a chance to wreak havoc in my soul by exposing myself to it – by listening to it. He then wrote “Faith comes by hearing. If you keep hearing something you start to believe it.” He thinks of reformed theology as falsehood, and so using this verse (Romans 10:17), was seeking to show the source of my error, namely that I should never have listened to reformed theology.
Leaving the discussion about reformed theology aside, is what he wrote correct? Does hearing something mean that you will believe it? I would suggest not, and go further to say that his view of Scripture is incredibly low to say such a thing. The obvious implication of his words is the concept that we believe anything we hear. But is that true? I have heard many things in life that I do not believe. Some people in England believe Manchester United are the greatest soccer team in the land, when it is clear that this title belongs to Liverpool alone. I could hear someone talk of the Manchester team in such glowing terms all day and all night for a week, and never believe the bald faced satanic lie. I jest, of course (slightly anyway - after all the Manchester team are called "The Red Devils") - but the point is still a valid one. We do not believe everything we hear - even something we hear repeatedly. It is God Himself who gives the gift of saving faith (Ephesians 2:8,9) - it is not the product of our natural humanity, however many times a person hears the Gospel preached.
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