Good morning,
I am so thankful that, by
the grace of God, I have been able to read the living eternal truth God
has given us foolish, dream directed human beings. The Bible has been
with us for thousands of years and countless people have been brought
into God’s family by hearing and believing the truth it gives us. It
is God breathed, but the words he has given us are available to both his
family and his enemies. When guided by God’s Holy Spirit we see one
set of truths. When guided by the lying spirits and their human
helpers, a whole different set of “truths” lead us away from the author
of eternal truth. Satan is a confident liar. His confidence is based
on his ability to get us to believe that what we want without God’s
control in our lives, is the “real” truth. When our Enemy is allowed to
plant these false teachers, he is careful to choose attractive,
intelligent, people who have a special kind of spiritual power that
makes their presentations make sense to those without God’s Spirit.
Paul knew what he was
talking about since his ministry was constantly marked by the challenges
of these false teachers. Paul gives us some reliable guidelines to
help us identify these ungodly teachers true relationship to the truth
of God’s words. The first warning sign is the arrogant confidence of
the teacher. He or she can not be wrong. Secondly he warns us that
what they teach is not based on the broad base of truth in the Bible,
but their own personal understanding. The next sign to look out for is
that they really enjoy arguing with others and insist that the meaning
they have assigned to the words is the only way to understand what the
Bible is saying. Since it is natural for us to push back when someone
is trying to force us to see things their way, it isn’t long before
anger and its other relatives show up in us and in those around us.
These teachers really enjoy causing trouble. Gentleness and grace only
show up if they think they have won their argument. Since their minds
are controlled by lies, they actively stop believing and teaching God’s
holy words and replace them with their own better ideas. The final sign
that he mentions here is that to these individuals, financial rewards
and public success is the proof that they are right. May the Lord give
us his wisdom in knowing who to believe and who to expose.
1 Timothy 6: 4
Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks
understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the
meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division,
slander, and evil suspicions. 5 These people always cause trouble.
Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth.
To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.
Roy Wisner
