False Teachers: Perverting Sexuality

by David Chadwick

There has never been a more important time to discern correctly about false teaching. Our world is rampant with deception, often within the church. I have heard countless stories over the years of pastors, Bible study teachers, even small group leaders saying truly bizarre things to the people of God. It is no small thing to play a role in stewarding the heart of another person on their faith journey.

Therefore, let’s look at the second sign of a false teacher according to the book of Jude: They have open boundaries on sensuality and human sexuality. Jude 1:4 says that they “pervert the grace of our God into sensuality…”

One specific example of something like this would be a pastor who tells a young woman that he sees himself marrying her when he is already married. Or targets a woman for sexual infidelity. How horrific! God’s boundaries for sexual morality are explicitly clear in his Word. It is solely to be between a man and a woman within the boundaries of a committed, heterosexual, monogamous relationship (Genesis 2:24). It’s something Jesus affirmed (Matthew 19:4-6). Sexual purity is God’s will for your life (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

False teachers intentionally push these boundaries. They will not speak to fornication before marriage or adultery outside of marriage from the pulpit. Or multiple partners in marriage. They avoid talking about the sinful reality of same-sex relationships. They dance around the tragedy and irreversible harm of gender transition and dysphoria. The Bible is clear on all of these subjects. God’s people and especially his teachers are called to be faithful to the text.

If the person speaking into your spiritual life or shepherding your heart is not doing this, he or she could be a false teacher. Be alert! Woe to anyone who has sought to rewrite the Bible to accommodate his or her own personal desires. God cannot and will not bless a church that carries these wrong views. You must be vigilant to not dance in the deception.

Guard your heart from perversion. For from your heart flows the wellspring of your life (Proverbs 4:23).

False Teachers: Creeping in Unnoticed

by David Chadwick

Our church has been doing a verse by verse study through the book of Jude. The book of Jude is all about contending for the “faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). It also gives the church very serious warnings of the dangers of false teaching.

Over the next week, I want to lay out five warning signs of false teachers. More specifically, I want to help you learn to rightly discern false teachers from pure ministers of the gospel. I hope these specific indicators will help you grow in wisdom and discernment.

Every book in the New Testament, except Philemon, warns of false teachers. It must be very important to God or he would not have persistently warned us of their danger.

The first warning sign of a false teacher is this: they creep into your church unnoticed (Jude 1:4). They are like hidden reefs that live underwater in the unseen ocean, but end up sinking countless ships (Jude 1:12). They come in with bells and whistles and are often very attractive to the body with their speech and demeanor, but they have an agenda. After drawing men and women unto themselves, they begin to teach wrong things.

Every church, leadership and members alike, should be aware of the wicked agenda of false teachers. In order to do so, it is imperative to have a right understanding of the Bible and sound doctrine.

With that said, don’t be quick to throw stones and deem other ministers of the gospel as false teachers unless it is overtly and inextricably understood to what has been clearly outlined through the Bible and throughout church history. We must be so careful that we do not hastily call all disagreements about the non-essential tensions of the Christian faith as being heretical. There are mysteries in the Christian faith that must be humbly wrestled out until Jesus’s return, believing that love and unity are God’s greatest desire for the children of God.

However, in the essentials of the faith, there is no wiggle room for error. Whether it is with a congregant or a pastor in the pulpit, there are some things where right is right and wrong is wrong!

Don’t let false teaching get a foothold in your church. It can be both divisive, dangerous, and destructive.

Pondering the Prepositions: Around

by David Chadwick

This week, as we wrap up our mini English lesson of pondering prepositions, I hope that you will never look at these small words the same way. I pray that they have shaped your prayer life and will continue to shape your view of God as you abide in him.

Let’s finish with this final preposition: AROUND.

God’s presence is all around us. Psalm 139 says he is everywhere and we cannot hide or flee from his presence.

Not only that, but Hebrews 12:1-2 says there is a cloud of witnesses around us. Who is in this “cloud of witnesses?” These are the faithful believers who have gone before us to eternity. For me, this would include my mom and dad, my big brother Howard and other loved ones. Who would this be from your life? According to the Bible, they are now cheering us on as we finish our race.

They could also be the saints listed in Hebrews 11, those in the Old Testament who walked by faith and anticipated one day the coming of the Chosen One of God, Jesus. That would mean that such saints as Abraham, Enoch, Daniel, and other giants of the faith are in our cloud of witnesses cheering us on to life’s finish line.

Additionally, Hebrews 1:14 says that angels are “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.” Their job is to worship and serve God and to care for his elect, his kids, while we are on earth. Are they also in our cloud of witnesses? I think so.

So, biblically speaking, we are surrounded by God’s presence, by a cloud of witnesses which includes our loved ones, Old Testament saints, and ministering angels. Wow!

There is a thin veil that separates this visible, physical, temporal world and the invisible, spiritual, eternal world. Sometimes I can almost feel my dad’s presence cheering me on to the finish line. Could it be that God graciously allows him to be one of the ones cheering me on in times of need? I sure like to think that could be the case!

How would your day change if you pondered the AROUND preposition all day long? If you really knew there were angels, loved ones and biblical saints surrounding you? If you really knew there were people cheering you on to your life’s finish line?

I think it would make this race called life both more joyful and peaceful. More relaxing and eventful.

Take heart, dear friends. Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33).