Another "Must Read" For Sola and SAK -- The Word Was God

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Date Posted: 07:03:33 08/10/02 Sat
Author: Rev. Jack Howell
Author Host/IP: 64.12.101.172
Subject: Another "Must Read" For Sola and SAK

HERESY HUNTERS AND CRITICS OF REVIVAL
There are many today in the Body of Christ whose whole ministry is speaking out against those who they feel are wrong. There are also many successful books on this subject. While we must stand up for and defend the historic gospel of Christ, there is a way to do it and ways not to. Heresy must be dealt with in the church, but our way of dealing with it may not be God's way of dealing with it. God shows us His way through Paul, who was a spiritual father to the Corinthian church and could therefore speak to them as none other could concerning heresy and false doctrine. When you labor and sacrifice in love like Paul did, then God can use you to admonish and rebuke as well as encourage. God will even use you to expose sin in the camp, and false teachers by name. But remember he was not just a brother, but a father speaking in love prompted by the Holy Spirit.

Many in the body try playing this role having not labored in love and the result leads to death. Much of the New Testament letters to the churches deal with false doctrine and heresy, therefore leaving the example of how we must deal with and how we should not deal with heresy. The scripture says "be angry and do not sin" because anger and opposing heresy is borderline into stepping over into the flesh, into faultfinding, into debate, into contention. Without Christian maturity we will normally be in the flesh and not in the Spirit when we get angry, expose sin, reveal heretics, etc..

Paul was frequently the target of criticism by heresy hunters, and the Corinthian Church was a church that received these sayings against Paul - because of their immaturity. Paul had to show them plainly, the evidence that �these other apostles� indeed were �false apostles� while he was the �true apostle�. No one should ever have to prove their apostleship like this but if we allow those with a critical gospel to continue then they will subvert the hearers that have yet to mature.

Sound Doctrine is essential to the health of the church. Indeed, We need true apologists whom will help our teachers, pastors, prophets, apostles, etc. keep within true orthodoxy. True Christianity (orthodoxy) is based solely upon what the WORD of God says and many times, Christians disagree over what exactly God was saying in a certain passage of scripture (Biblical context in history volumes vs. possible future applications, etc.). This is where true apologists must recognize between errors that lead an individual outside the Grace of God or not (i.e. Does one HAVE to believe in a certain doctrine to be saved, can one be saved even if he believes and teaches that Adam was able to fly and go to the moon despite the fact it's not a"biblical" statement or doctrine). In a nutshell, They must be able to determine whether an additional belief or lack of belief according to the Orthodox creed invalidates the person's salvation. Clearly, believing that Adam flew while on earth and visited the moon is not 100% heretical simply because it can NOT be proven wrong, nor is it being(presumably) taught as a required belief for salvation by the minister. Thus, the true apologist would tell the teacher that the Scriptures don't support his teaching, departs from the traditional beliefs, could lead into deception IF loose interpretations continues, but does NOT in and of itself disqualify you from partaking in fellowship and communion with the body of Christ. On the other hand, teaching that Christ was simply an exalted man, glorified angel, or anything other than THE one and only Son of the most High God would clearly be "heretical" and thereby disqualify the believer from fellowship and communion with the body of Christ. It's essential that the true apologists be able to recognize these differences among the body of Christ without compromising what the Word of God says. "Error never shows itself in its naked reality, in order not to be discovered. On the contrary, it dresses elegantly, so that the unwary may be led to believe that it is more truthful than truth itself." -Irenaeus of Lyons

Let's make it very clear that any ministry, whose ENTIRE focus is on exposing the heresy of others, is in itself heresy. They sometimes talk about others as being �extra-biblical� but their entire ministry is extra-biblical because there are NO New Testament ministries in the Bible whose primary purpose was to expose others. Only on occasion did Paul, who had obtained great maturity, expose others by name, but his spirit was out of the nature of Jesus in doing it. The pattern of Paul in dealing with error, heresy, and false teaching was to bring to light the lie and apply truth that sets you free.

This "name-calling" is a big problem in the Body of Christ. Clouds of suspicion have been placed on valid ministries because of being labeled by other ministries. And so much of this labeling is inaccurate and misleading. Some critics have seemingly "won" their arguments at the high cost of their own integrity. With the goal of saving the Church from error, they have misrepresented their brethren. They have sought to remove error by committing another error. These misguided ministries have violated the commandment of God that says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor"(Ex.20:16). To inaccurately present the views of your opponent is to bear false witness against him. It is to violate the commandment of God in order to "win" your argument. This practice of "apologetics" by Bible-believing Christians reveals less ethical integrity than the unsaved scholarly world. Godly, scholarly debate can result in "iron sharpening iron." It can bring balance to extremes and broaden our understanding of God's Truth. But in order for this debate to be godly, we must take great care to represent our opponent's view with integrity. Otherwise, as so often is the case, we merely set up a "straw man" and then blow him over. No valid end is accomplished by this folly. Actually, much damage is done.

To quote someone out of context is to misrepresent what he or she teaches. Anyone can be shown to be a heretic by stringing together their statements without regard for the point they were making. This is done regularly on a national radio broadcast. I'm sure it grieves the Father's heart. Yet no one calls these ministries to accountability. The book of Proverbs reveals that God hates those who bear false witness and sow discord among brethren. It is quite possible to disagree and debate differing views without bearing false witness or sowing discord. Our testimony demands that we learn to do this. The world is watching how we treat our own. The view isn't too great at the moment. Let's pray things change.

"Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings," Psalms 17:8

"...Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." 1 Chronicles 16:22 and Psalms 105:15

"For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye." Zechariah 2:8

The above three verses should serve as a sobering reminder to us all concerning how serious God treats the subject of anyone touching his anointed improperly. Unfortunately, few Christians and ministers of the Gospel seem to realize this fact from the Word of God. No matter who someone is, if they are serving God, we MUST keep a "hands off" approach concerning them according to God's Word, lest we are found guilty of touching them improperly. How many times have you made malicious or derogatory comments about someone who claimed to be a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Even if you were jesting about that person, you may have been sinning in God's eyes! That's true. Every word that proceeds out of your mouth will be judged by God. Who are we to take it upon ourselves to judge a fellow believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? We must tread softly in this regard, lest we invoke the wrath of God upon ourselves. I am not condoing the practice that some Charismatics have done, such as prophesy out of their angry flesh, or pronounce God's judgment on critics, that is His job. There are 2 extremes like so many other areas in the kingdom: there are heresy hunters, and then charismatics dooming critics to hell. Let's stay clear of both !

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