I have perceived that there is concern and even fear among many Christians concerning false doctrines, and their spread among Christians. Though I do not believe it correct to fear such, I understand the reason for concern, and am concerned myself. We should all be concerned about false doctrines spreading, if we love the truth.
Doctrine (from the Webster-Merriam Online Dictionary):
1 archaic : teaching, instruction
2 a : something that is taught b : a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief : dogma c : a principle of law established through past decisions d : a statement of fundamental government policy especially in international relations e : a military principle or set of strategies
Because this article is for those of you who already know it is important to have a love for the truth, and desire to be free of falsehood, I will not spend words trying to convince anyone of this importance. Let us just get right into the meat of how to discern false doctrines.
When someone specializes in recognizing a counterfeit, they first need to spend time recognizing the authentic. By intimate knowledge of the authentic, it becomes easier to discern the counterfeit as an impostor. So, if we are to discern a false gospel, we need to know the true gospel. If we are to discern a false doctrine of a false gospel, we need to know the true doctrine of the true gospel.
The true gospel of Scripture handed down by the inspired prophets and apostles of old makes it clear that man cannot redeem himself from the fallen state of sin and death. Though many religious minds misunderstood the purpose of the commandments of the Law of Moses, Jesus and the founding apostles clearly teach that the purpose is not to make man righteous or that he can save himself by works of the law.
It is by grace (unmerited favor) alone that God does all of the saving. He took care of it, just as planned from the beginning and prophesied to Adam and Eve after their fall, when he also cursed the serpent. Man does not earn it anymore than he can give birth to himself.
Why has God redeemed us by the blood of his Son? Though many will answer, “love,” and that is certainly true, there is more. God redeemed us to have open communion. God creates man in his image to have fellowship with him. That is what Adam was doing in the Garden of Eden (meaning delight, pleasure – paradise). There was unbroken fellowship.
When man ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil a veil came between God and man, as the mind of man was darkened by the resulting condition of sin and death. God became distance, invisible, and seemingly inactive in the daily affairs of men. His ways were forgotten by the children of Adam, and very few ever believed to receive the grace of God for forgiveness and a reversal of the fallen condition. Some of the types and shadows of men who believed and were pleasing to God by their faith are such as Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Elijah, Elisha, David, Isaiah, and the other scriptural examples. As a reward for their faith, some of these received supernatural reversal of the fallen condition in their lifetime, such as Enoch being translated, as was Elijah, and the ability of supernatural feats such as David and his mighty men.
These received even before 2000 years ago because they looked forward to the promise of Christ and believed though such had not manifested on Earth for all men to see. They looked forward in time by faith and saw it being accomplished, as God promised. None of the members of the hall of faith listed in Hebrews 11 attempted to do their own religious works to get out of the fallen condition and back into divine communion and unbroken fellowship with God. They all received by faith the divine grace promised.
God is creator and recreator. We do not create ourselves nor recreate ourselves, anymore than the clay shapes itself apart from the hands of the Potter at work on it.
So, we see God’s plan which is to have communion, blissful fellowship, with human beings created in his image, both male and female. This plan is activated and brought to completion by God’s divine grace, not the merits of mankind.
False doctrine, therefore, has the purpose of keeping people from receiving the true gospel and true doctrine by faith. The same deceiver who first led Adam and Eve wants to keep their children from redemption, or if that fails, to keep them from experiences the full benefit of their redemption in this age.
Thus, false doctrine’s primary mark is that it will attempt to teach people something that will keep them from communion and intimate fellowship with God through faith in the redemptive plan and sacrifice of Christ. It does not matter how good much of the doctrine seems, or how wise the teachings may appear to be; if it does not aid man to develop faith in the plan of redemption God has given us by divine grace, so that he makes us new creatures redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and none of it being of our own works to boast in, it is leading in another direction.
Some such doctrines are very obvious to the Christian, though those not believing in Christ do not see the same. But, there are clever and subtle doctrines the serpent has introduced to Christianity to misdirect our faith, without our realizing it. Paul mentions him as coming like an angel of light to deceive. He comes looking good with good looking doctrine. But it is deadly fruit he offers in disguise.
One example of a very subtle doctrine that does this is that of well-meaning Christians and even whole churches and denominations that attempt religious ritual and works to gain favor with God. Though all of the Kingdom is offered us by divine grace in Christ, doctrine enters in and claims to be from God that convinces Christians to do things to try to earn things of the Kingdom. Though many of the individuals caught up in such are well-meaning and ignorant of the deception, such doctrines are a slap in the face of Christ.
He declared on the execution stake, “It is finished!” False doctrines among Christians declare that what he did is not complete, and we must do something separately ourselves to add to it and make it complete for ourselves.
Take for example the gifts of the Spirit, which are called grace gifts when the original Greek term is translated properly. Some believe deceptive doctrine that leads them to believe such needs to be earned. Grace means unmerited favor. A grace gift is therefore a gift that is given by unmerited favor. To try to earn merit for such a gift is contrary to the nature of the gift!
In our ministry we’ve seen God show up and do some really amazing things, one of our favorites simply being the very tangible and heavy manifestation of the divine presence, aka the manifest glory or Shekinah, and the fullness of joy that causes inebriation through the whole being. Did we earn it? Is there something special we did that other Christian groups not experiencing such are not doing?
No! Unless by doing we mean believing God and receiving God’s grace. We simply believe and receive the unmerited favor. To the level we believe we receive, we experience. Our goal is to continue developing such faith until our hearts truly and fully believe perfectly in what Christ has done for us and who we are because of such grace. It is already finished and true in the spirit, but for it to manifest in the flesh, our heart must truly believe and act according to that belief. As we do, the Kingdom manifests on Earth as in Heaven.
I have operated in the 9 grace gifts given by the Holy Spirit as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. Did I earn a single one of them? No! Why do some never operate in any of the supernatural gifts while another person will experience all 9? Is it because one earns them while the other does not? No! It is that one believes and one does not. Faith without corresponding action is dead. Faith leads to action, including action on God’s part, for manifestation of what is believed into the Earth. If we really believe, God will take care of the rest.
I did not religiously fast or pray or do good works to receive any gifts or anointing. I was chosen and given such by grace. In fact, I wasn’t even looking for such. In fact, I was running the other way from God and his plan for my life, not wanting to surrender to my calling, because as I became aware of it as a teenager, it frightened me. I wanted to do my own thing. But, God’s grace would not be satisfied! He chased down his lost sheep, captured my heart and turned me around. Ever since, he’s been directing and inspiring my path and the supernatural anointing and gifting has come with the package of grace.
When I’m operating fluently in the gifts and anointing given, it is because I’m believing in such and submitting to God’s plan by faith. Even the faith I have was a gift from God, because I distinctly remember before the faith I have now, that I was deficient and could not have possibly made myself to believe. Nay, but the Holy Spirit came in me and sparked the faith!
This true doctrine always gives God ALL (not part) of the honor and praise. All of the credit goes to God! When religious Christians start trying to earn the supernatural things of the Kingdom from God, they are trying to gain such in a manner that gives themselves credit. If you can earn it, you can boast in it. “Look what I did!” I’ve even heard preachers get up on stage in their churches and on television and decree that they worked hard and sacrificed greatly to get the anointing and gifting they have, and these preachers tell the congregation that they will need to also sacrifice and earn anointing and gifting. That is true if we are practicing witchcraft, which learns of hidden things in natural creation and uses manipulation of creation to gain one’s desired results (within limits, set by God of course).
But, we are not talking about trying to manipulate creation for our own wills. If that is what we want, straight up witchcraft, not a screwy mixture of Christianity and witchcraft, is what we should go for. Both end up ultimately in rebellion against the plan and purpose for man and creation set by the Most High, and will have the same consequences.
If you want to follow Christ and receive the blissful things of the Kingdom of Heaven to manifest in your life, you need to submit to God’s will and receive his divine grace plan. You need to believe that you gain all in Christ. Nothing of the Kingdom has been omitted from Christ!
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
(Rom 8:32 NASB)
We may be tempted to fear that the true gospel of unadulturated grace will lead people to believe they have a license to continue in bad behavior. That is unfounded. To the natural mind it would seem likely, but the mind of Christ allows us to see the truth. In truth, when someone truly believes the gospel, it is transforming! Old things pass away and all things become new. The person becomes a new creation, born of the Spirit. This new person does not desire the things contrary to the Kingdom of Heaven. He will not have a desire to continue in rebellion against God. His heart is changed and cannot desire to live like that.
Those who would try to use God’s grace against him have not actually believed the true gospel yet with saving faith. They have not experienced transformation as a new generation because they have not believed and entered into God’s rest (Hebrews 3-4).
If any doctrine puts any manner of veil between man and God now that Christ has manifested in the flesh fully and finished the work of redemption and reconciliation, tearing in two the veil that once separated us, it is not from God! If any doctrine teaches Christians to earn the things of the Kingdom that are all included in the package we gain in Christ by grace, it is not from God!
More than ever we need to focus our attention on the sacrifice of Christ already made, the truth of co-crucifixion (Galatians 2:20), and pay no heed to the distractions that would lead us in the opposite direction, including to try to crucify ourselves through religious efforts. There is a lot of necromancy going on in Christian circles these days, with hardly anyone actually believing their old man is dead with Christ and their new man raised with him. This is because false doctrine has been infiltrating the churches for a very long time until false doctrines have become normal, traditional, and accepted by many. The Protestant Reformation centered on this truth, that Christianity needed to get back to “grace alone.”
I pray the Holy Spirit ignite faith in you to receive of the grace of God all done for you and given you in Christ!
January 18th, 2010 - 3:06 am
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