DON’T GO BEYOND WHAT’S WRITTEN (PART II)

“To Teach Error is to Invite God’s Wrath”

By Akin Ojumu

False teachings poison the Christian soul, and false doctrines are toxic to sound mind. No true follower of Christ will be tolerant of erroneous doctrine. You can’t call yourself a Christian and excuse false teachers or try to explain away their false teachings. To accommodate Biblical error is to give aid and comfort to the enemy of Christ.

Fending off false teachers is a matter of life and death for any true believer. Rebuffing false teachings is the difference between spending eternity in glory and burning forever in the lake of fire. Developing the requisite skills to recognize a false teacher is, therefore, an existential necessity for any believer. 

All Christians are called to follow the example of the Berean believers. Adopting the Berean posture of healthy skepticism is vital for the survival of any Christian. To be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil in these Last Days, the followers of Christ must have their spiritual antennae up at all times. They must learn to question what is preached in the name of Christ. 

Those who make a shipwreck of their faith by habitually consuming false teachings have only themselves to blame. False teachers are cunning and false teachings are often packaged and presented as the real Gospel. Nevertheless, discerning false teachings is not as difficult as it seems. Despite their cunning craftiness, false teachers often give themselves away.

If you want to know whether or not a preacher is a false teacher, all you’ve got to do is to compare what the preacher is saying in the name of God to the Word of God. In order for you to do that successfully, though, it means that you yourself must be familiar with, and grounded in, the Word of God. Without knowing what the Word of God says, you are never going to be able to tell whether what the preacher is saying is actually the Word of God.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Just before His ascension, the very last instructions the Lord Jesus gave His disciples are recorded in Matthew 28:19-20. He asked them to make new converts as they go out into the world, and to teach those converts to observe all He has commanded.

Known as the Great Commission, Jesus’ instructions to the Apostles were for them to teach what He commanded. They weren’t commissioned to teach human philosophy or man’s wisdom. Jesus didn’t send them to make motivational speeches, train the converts in business acumen, coach them on how to grow large investment portfolios, teach them asset acquisition and management, build their leadership skills, or teach corporate strategies. The Great Commission is pretty simple, “Teach what I commanded you.”

Quod non est biblicum, non est theologicum. What is not biblical is not theological.

Anyone who teaches anything other than what Jesus commands is a false teacher. The Bible contains all of Jesus’s commands. Any deviation from what’s written in the Bible is false teaching. Any preacher who teaches his own personal “revelation” from God is a false teacher. The woman who preaches instructions she claims God gave her in a dream is a false teacher. Giving people promises in God’s name that God has not promised is erroneous doctrine.

“I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.” (1 Corinthians 4:6).

It is the duty of a Pastor to preach only that which is written. To preach outside the Scripture is going beyond what’s written. Those who do so are arrogant windbags, swollen up like bloated frogs. They are purveyors of damnable heresies who will bring swift destruction on themselves and those who believe their lies.

“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” (2 John 1:9).

It doesn’t matter how pious they sound, those who don’t abide in the teaching of Christ don’t have God and are not of God. Preachers who add to the Book of Prophecies, i.e., Scripture, God will add to them the plagues described in the Book. Pastors who subtract from the Bible, God will take away their share in the Tree of Life and in the Holy City.