TRUTH WON’T SCRATCH ITCHING EARS; IT HEALS DEADLY INFECTION

By BEZELT3

Sound doctrine, in biblical terms, is not an optional side dish for the exceptional nerdy Christians. It is the pure proclamation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and every truth that flows from it like a stream from a fountain. 

You see, rejecting sound doctrine, therefore, is not just bad taste, it is apostasy in seed form. It is the Galatians problem all over again; swapping the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ for another Gospel, which Paul bluntly said is no Gospel at all.

Itching ears? Well, that describes the deep universal temptation to only hear what affirms our unregenerate desires. Whereas the unvarnished Gospel tells sinners that they are spiritually bankrupt and need Christ’s righteousness, itching ears want a sermon series that says that they are basically awesome people and that God is thrilled with them and that all they need to do is go to the next level. One is God-centered truth, the other is a self-centered materialism with a few Bible verses duct taped on it for legitimacy.

In the 1st century, this tendency bred factions. Someone said, “I follow Paul.” Others, “I follow Apollos.” Still others, “I follow Cephas.” And the really pious said, “I follow Christ,” but in a way that still made them proud. Today the names are different. You know, celebrity pastors, conference speakers, Christian influencers, heavy-duty anointed men and women of God. But the disease is the same. It’s choosing leaders based on personal preference instead of biblical fidelity. It’s the ecclesiastical equivalent of choosing a restaurant because they have your favorite flavor of ice cream instead of because the food is actually good tasting and nourishing for you. 

Paul nails this diagnosis in Romans 1:25. He says that people exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. This is not merely about golden calves and pagan idols. It’s about worshipping self. Left to our own devices, we will naturally prefer the desires of the flesh over obedience to God. The false teachers simply, well, they simply monetize this inclination. 

And here is the marketing genius of the prosperity preacher. Again, if you’re selling ice cream, you make sure that people see you eating it. You know, big smile, chocolate on your chin, the whole nine yard. So, if you’re selling God’s guaranteed plan for health, wealth, and promotion; new cars, new houses, whatever. Well, you need to showcase your own mansion, your luxury car, and your $5,000 sneakers, or whatever it might be. Never mind that the blessing came from the tithes of people who can barely keep the lights on. 

Scripture is crystal clear. False teachers will be here until Christ returns in glory. Which raises the question. Do these false teachers ever stop to think? Well probably not. More likely they think it’s a lucrative job and someone’s got to get paid for doing it. 

But the true believer sees all of life through the lens of God’s goodness, His justice, His mercy, and His sovereignty. False teachers do not roam free outside of His providence. Even their lies are woven into God’s ultimate plan to purify His Church, to sift the wheat from the chaff, and magnify His truth. For the elect, false teaching is not a death sentence. It is a refining fire driving them back to Scripture as their only infallible rule for faith and life. 

So, we must keep proclaiming the whole counsel of God with the courage of Paul and the stubbornness of a puritan refusing to dance around the truth. And if that means fewer itching ears want to listen to the truth, well so be it. After all, the goal is not to scratch the itch, it's to heal the deadly infection.

This commentary was borrowed from BEZELT3 YouTube Channel.