LEARNING DAILY

 

Galatians 5:7, You ran well. Who hindered you from following the truth?

 

I have been reading through and studying Paul’s letters written to various churches and groups of Christians where he had taught. I have been impressed with the amount of writing he did concerning false teachers. I know I have spent quite a few days trying to make you aware of the deceit that would be prevalent in the last days. Deception and false teaching is not something  that will just begin during the last days; it has obviously been a cause of concern since the days the early church began. In Galatians 5:7-11, Paul writes about five things you and I need to know about false teachers. It is not enough to know false teaching and deception is always around us, we need to recognize those teaching it and reject what they say.

 

The first thing Paul writes is they contradict the truth. False teaching either takes the form of completely denying the basic doctrine or truths of the Christian faith or states that something besides what God’s Word is needed to be done to be a “complete Christian”. That is why you and I must spend our time studying the truth in order to recognize the false when we read or hear it. I pray often for God to increase my ability to discern between truth and falsehood. When we hear something that does not sound true there are several questions to think about. Does it go against the New Testament teaching? Is it adding something that is unbiblical to the Word? Is the message “new” teaching that says the Bible is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the modern church?

 

In verse eight, Paul gives us a second thought about false teachers; they are contrary to God. In Paul’s day, the false teachers misused the Old Testament teaching by telling Christians they had to follow the rules set by Jewish leaders. That is the legalism I wrote about a few days ago.  Legalism is not from God and is more about controlling people. False teachers and cult leaders try to use the Bible to support their life style. Even the devil did this when he tempted Jesus by misusing scripture. Go back and read Matthew 4:3-11.

 

In verse 9, Paul speaks about “a little leaven leavens the whole lump”. Basically, this means false teachers corrupt the church if allowed to continue. Leaven in the Bible is often “a symbol of corruption that spreads powerfully and secretly until it permeates everything (Matthew 16:6, 12)” (DJSB). You and I must be careful to not allow false teaching to creep into our church or into our lives.

 

Verse 10 tells us that false teachers will face judgment. In the first part of verse 10 Paul expresses his confidence that the Galatians will not follow these false teachers. He then tells them that those who are teaching false things will face the judgment of God because they were leading people into sin. I cannot think of anything more fearful than to stand before God and be judged by Him!

 

The last thing Paul gives us to watch for is in verse 11; false teachers will be critical of those who teach the truth. Think of what teachers of truth tell us. It is often speaking against man’s pride. We are under the condemnation of God and we can do nothing on our own that merits heaven. The only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ and by walking the narrow way to His kingdom. When you and I speak that truth, people are going to mock us and the opposition is going to come.

 

I took this from the DJSB, from bullet points its notes gave. It just seemed that important to relate to all who read this blog. “As we approach the coming of Christ and the end of the age, we will need this list.” David Jeremiah

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.