“Guard Against False Teachers And False Doctrines!”

“Guard Against False Teachers And False Doctrines!”
While going to Macedonia Paul urged Timothy to stay in Ephesus so that he may “command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer…”(I Ti. 1:3-9a).
It takes one who has been there to know what is there and to have the courage to correct when things go wrong. Paul knew the true doctrines. He also knew that Timothy – young as he was – also knew the true doctrines. One cannot point out what is false if the one doesn’t know the truth.
These days it is difficult to distingush between reality and subterfuge; between truth and falsehood.
Unfortunately as it stands, correct a fool and he will hate you. Otherwise, the goal of such a command should be love emanating “from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
The first and second greatest commandments concerns our vertical love of God with the entirity of our beings and our horizontal sharing of selfless love of and with others. Such love should come from “a pure heart.” Those who qualify to ascend the hill of the Lord are those who have clean hands and pure hearts. They do not lift up their souls to idols or swear by what is false(Ps.24:3-4).
Of false teachers Paul says, “They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.” Indeed, send a blind to lead a blind and expect the worst!
They are everywhere, parading the streets with their Bibles or sitting in their shrines (temples) with cross and Bibles they hardly open, shouting “Jah, Jehovah…!”; claiming to be prophets and prophetesses, yet prophesying only falsehoods that divide families and communities. If questioned on their source of authority and scripture knowledge, their defense is that the apostles were illiterate fishermen.
Such people should be stopped from teaching false doctrines! They should be stopped out of love and to maintain the purity of the faith.
But if official truth is falsehood we may not have any moral highground to denounce the falsehood of those deviants.
We should pray for the spirit of discernment so that we are not taken off our track of a genuine search for salvation.
Be sure that the goal of a comnand is love, coming from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. And if you are in position to command, be of the same as you expect of others. Let us live the faith by the golden rule – doing to others as we would want them do to us.
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit guide me not to teach false doctrines and guard me against falses teachers. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Babila Fochang