Tag: Discernment

Discernment Bible Study

Choose What Is Right: A Study in Discernment- Lesson 4

Michelle Lesley

Previous Lessons: 1, 2, 3,

False Teachers, God’s View, Our Response

Read Jude, 2 Peter 2

Questions to Consider

Throughout this study we will be looking at various passages of Scripture rather than working our way through a book of the Bible verse by verse. Because of that, we will need to be extra vigilant to rightly handle these passages in context. I will always attempt to provide the context you need for understanding these passages correctly, but if you need more clarity please feel free to read as much of the surrounding text as you need to – even the whole book, if necessary – in order to properly understand the passage presented.

1. Do you notice the similarities between 2 Peter 2 and Jude? Click here and read the second paragraph under “Author and Date”. What might be the reason for some of the similarities?

Make a two column chart. Examine Jude and 2 Peter 2 side by side, verse by verse. (You may want to do this with two Bibles, two devices, or a split screen on your Bible app or device.) List the verses or phrases that are strikingly similar in wording and concept. What does each mean? Why might God have emphasized a particular verse or phrase by placing it in Scripture twice?

2. To what general group of people are Jude’s (v.1) and Peter’s (1:1) letters addressed? What is Jude’s (3) appeal to the church? Why is he urging them to contend for the faith (Jude 4, 2 Peter 2:1-3)? What are some of the things that happen to a church when false teachers gain a foothold?

Do these epistles apply to you as a Christian, and to the church, today? Why? Have you (or your church) ever been urged by a pastor or teacher to contend for the faith? Why do you think that admonition is so lacking in the church and from Christian teachers today?

2. How does Jude (4a) describe false teachers entering the church? How does Peter (1) say false teachers will bring in destructive heresies? Compare this characterization to the way these passages say false teachers infiltrate the church and the home. What does this characteristic of sneakiness tell you about false teachers? Why aren’t they just open and honest with Christians and the church about what they want to teach?

3. What do Jude (4, 13) and Peter (3, 17) say is the final destiny of false teachers?

Examine 2 Peter 2:4-10. Who are the godly people mentioned in this passage and how did God deal with them? Who are the ungodly who are listed, and how did God deal with each of them? Do these ungodly people include false teachers (10, Jude 8)?

What does this tell you about how God views false teachers? How He views and protects His faithful children?

4. What are Jude (8-9) and Peter (10b-11) telling us about angels, blasphemy and the glorious ones? How does this reflect the pride and arrogance of false teachers?

What are Jude (10) and Peter (12) telling us about the ignorance of false teachers? Think about how the indwelling Holy Spirit illumines Scripture to the Christian. What might be one reason false teachers do not understand Scripture or how to properly handle it?

What is the significance of Jude’s (11) comparison of false teachers to Cain? Of Jude’s (11) and Peter’s (15-16) comparison to Balaam?

Consider the imagery in Jude’s (12-13) and Peter’s (17) comparative metaphors to false teachers. What are the characteristics of each metaphor mentioned, and how do they apply to false teachers?

5. In your own words, write a brief summary of the character of false teachers according to Peter and Jude. Do you know of any pastors or teachers who could be described this way? Who, and why?

6. What does Jude (17-23) say about how we should respond to the types of teachers he and Peter are describing?

Homework

If you’d like a little extra study on these passages, check out:

Wednesday’s Word ~ Jude

Living Stones: A Study of 1 & 2 Peter ~ Lesson 11

Suggested Memory Verse

Discernment

Throwback Thursday ~ Discernment: What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Michelle Lesley

Originally published January 22, 2016

You read that right. Throwback Thursday is on Wednesday this week.
Life doesn’t always follow our schedules. :0)

…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…
Ephesians 4:14-15

Christians who know what discernment is have a variety of perspectives about how it should be practiced. Should we teach about false doctrine at all or just make sure our church is teaching sound doctrine? Should we name the names of false teachers or speak about them anonymously? Should we warn people away from false teachers or just pray for those false teachers privately? What’s the biblical precedent for using a stringent tone when speaking of those who teach false doctrine?

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the phrase “speaking the truth in love” from Ephesians 4:15 as it pertains to speaking and writing about false doctrine and false teachers.

Many Christian women have the mistaken idea that “speaking the truth in love” equals being “nice.” We’re always smilingly sweet and never say anything that might hurt someone’s feelings or could rock the boat at church.

Many Christian women have the mistaken idea that “speaking the truth in love” equals being “nice.”

Are we to be kind? Yes. Are we to do our best not to hurt others? Of course. Should we be making waves over every little thing that rubs us the wrong way? Absolutely not. We are to deny ourselves, setting aside our personal preferences and, in many cases, even our own rights, to the point of laying down our lives for others.

We need to understand the distinction between personal preferences and biblical doctrine. We die *to* personal preferences. We die *for* the purity of biblical doctrine.

But we need to understand the distinction between personal preferences and biblical doctrine. And that’s where I think a lot of people get confused. We die to personal preferences. We die for the purity of biblical doctrine. The enemy is stealthily infiltrating and conquering church after church with false doctrine. We are at war. And that’s going to mean ruffling feathers, rocking the boat, and hurting feelings sometimes. Because the full armor of God doesn’t come with a white flag or a pen for signing peace treaties.

The full armor of God doesn’t come with a white flag or a pen for signing peace treaties.

But how do we war for the truth “in love”?

Well, think about the concept and practice of “love.” Love always has an object. We don’t just say, “I love.” We say, “I love my children,” or “I love peanut butter and chocolate ice cream.” Speaking the truth “in love” is not as much about our demeanor or tone of voice as it is about the object of our love. It’s our love for others that compels us to speak biblical truth. And it’s that same love for others that should drive the manner in which we speak the truth.

So when it comes to speaking the truth about false doctrine, how should we be motivated by love? And love for whom?

We love Christ– As Christians, our love for Christ should motivate everything we do. If we’re speaking truth from fleshly motives such as pride, the desire to make a name for ourselves, or the competitive drive to win an argument, everything we say can be 100% factually right and we can still be spiritually in the wrong because the motive of our heart is wrong. God isn’t a debate judge awarding us points for compelling arguments. God weighs the heart.

We love God’s word– To love Christ is to love the Bible because Scripture is literally God Himself speaking to us. Besides the cleansing of the temple, the passage in which we see Jesus’ righteous anger displayed most clearly is Matthew 23. Here, Jesus delivers a scorching rebuke to the scribes and Pharisees for twisting God’s Word and, in doing so, leading people away from the truth of Scripture. It is only natural for those of us who have the mind of Christ and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit to have that same love for God’s Word and feel righteous anger over the maligning of it.

We love the church– To love Christ is also to love His bride, the church. Christ gave his life to cleanse the church “so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Seeing Christ’s bride blemished and corrupted by false doctrine should grieve us deeply and motivate us to call the church to be cleansed “by the washing of water with the word.”

We love the captives– Paul speaks of false teachers “who creep into households and capture weak women.” Sometimes, the women who follow false teachers simply don’t know any better. Often, they’re not genuinely saved. They are casualties and prisoners of war held hostage by the enemy. We are to love them enough to show them the truth of God’s Word so that “they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

We love the enemy– Every Christian was at one time an enemy of the cross. Every last one of us. Until someone loved us enough to intervene with the truth of the gospel. False teachers – those who, despite biblical correction, unrepentantly teach doctrine which is plainly refuted by Scripture – have made themselves enemies of the cross, even if they call themselves “Christian,” even if they wear the title of “pastor,” even if they’re holding a Bible in their hands and refer to it occasionally as they “teach” us.

In the same way a loving sister would not turn a blind eye and hope for the best if her sibling began using drugs and became increasingly addicted, it is not loving to stand idly by and allow false teachers to continue to sink deeper and deeper into Satan’s clutches by doing his bidding without making every effort to stop them in order to rescue them.

*It is not loving* to stand idly by and allow false teachers to continue to sink deeper and deeper into Satan’s clutches by doing his bidding without making every effort to stop them in order to rescue them.

Sometimes – just as with the drug abuser – this can be accomplished early on with a private word of correction. And sometimes – as with the addict – more extreme measures of “tough love” and intervention must be employed. But we always love them enough to desire that they come to repentance and embrace the truth.

Our love for these also drives the manner in which we speak truth to them. A good soldier would never deal with a civilian casualty in the same way he would fight off an enemy bent on waging war. Likewise, part of discernment is knowing who the enemy is (and is not) and dealing with people in a biblically appropriate way. This requires humility, wisdom, thorough proficiency with our tools and weapons, unceasing prayer, and complete dependence on and self-crucifying love for our King. We trust in Him and His Word to guide us in the wise and loving way to humbly speak His truth.

Discernment. Speaking truth. What’s love got to do with it?

Everything.

Discernment. Speaking truth. What’s love got to do with it? Everything.

Discernment, False Doctrine

Throwback Thursday ~ Jesus Loves Me: The “Contending for the Faith” Version

Michelle Lesley

Originally published March 6, 2018

Every now and then I do a little creative writing… :0)

Discernment Bible Study

Choose What Is Right: A Study in Discernment- Lesson 3

Michelle Lesley

Previous Lessons: 1, 2,

What Is False Doctrine?

Today’s Scripture passages are embedded in the body of the study. Please click the links in each question.

Questions to Consider

Throughout this study we will be looking at various passages of Scripture rather than working our way through a book of the Bible verse by verse. Because of that, we will need to be extra vigilant to rightly handle these passages in context. I will always attempt to provide the context you need for understanding these passages correctly, but if you need more clarity please feel free to read as much of the surrounding text as you need to – even the whole book, if necessary – in order to properly understand the passage presented.

1. Have you ever studied the book of Judges? If you have, you know this book has a very clear theme which can be found in Judges 17:6b and 21:25b. What is that theme? What does it mean to do what is right in your own eyes? Is believing what is right in your own eyes part of doing what is right in your own eyes? How and why? As Christians, how are we supposed to live and believe? What are some ways Christians (or those who claim to be Christians) today do and believe what is right in their own eyes rather than doing and believing what is right in God’s eyes?

How do we know the difference between what is right in our own eyes and what is right in God’s eyes? What is our standard for answering that question? Our authority for life and doctrine? If this is how we’re to live and believe – submitting to the truth of God’s written Word as our authority in life and our measuring stick for evaluating right actions from wrong actions, right beliefs from wrong beliefs – is it biblical to say that this is also how teachers are to teach?

2. When you get right down to the bottom line, there are two basic ways of doing and believing what’s right in your own eyes – failing to rise to the standard of God’s Word, and going above and beyond the standard of God’s Word. Not being as restrictive as God’s Word is, or being more restrictive than God’s Word is. Too much “grace” or too much “law”.

Consider this concept as applied to sex, and what the Bible says about it:

Which side of the road is the “too much ‘grace'” side? “Too much ‘law'”? Which view is the biblical view? (Notice that the biblical view is a “middle of the road” balance between the extremes of man-made “law” and “grace”. If you wander off the road you’re wandering off into darkness. The biblical view is the only one which leads to the sun (Son).)

The theological term for “too much ‘grace'” is antinomianism (also sometimes called “license” – as in, “a license to sin” – or “licentiousness”). The theological term for “too much ‘law'” is legalism (showcased in the Pharisees of Jesus’ day).

3. Antinomianism often fleshes itself out today as:

  • “I’m saved and all my sins – past, present, and future – are forgiven, so why not sin as much as I want?”
  • An “It’s no big deal!” approach to sin
  • The idea that the sin in question is actually biblical (or loving / loving your neighbor, tolerant, compassionate, “what ‘Jesus’ would do”)
  • Obeying what the Bible actually is says is legalism (“Pharisaism”).

What does the Bible say about antinomianism? What does God say about people who claim to be Believers but don’t obey Him?

What are some specific examples of antinomianism that you’ve observed in evangelicalism, in your denomination or church, in your own heart and life?

5. Legalism is most often seen today in churches or individuals who make issues of preference, conscience, or Christian liberty – which are neither prescribed nor prohibited in rightly handled Scripture – into “law”. They consider these “laws” equal to Scripture and believe that anyone who violates them is in sin. A few (generalized) examples:

What does the Bible say about legalism? What are some specific examples of legalism that you’ve observed in evangelicalism, in your denomination or church, in your own heart and life?

Would you say that antinomianism or legalism is the false doctrine most people tend towards today…

  • …in evangelicalism in general?
  • …in your denomination and / or your church?
  • …in your own heart?

6. If you believe falsely about God, sin, the gospel, etc., what impact will that have on your life and your worship?

Let’s look at some examples of unbiblical worship in Scripture. In each of these instances:

  • What was the false belief or doctrine that led these people to worship unbiblically?
  • Was this an expression of legalism or antinomianism?
  • What was God’s response to their false doctrine / false worship? How does God’s response demonstrate how seriously He takes false doctrine / false worship?

Syncretism and idolatry in the temple

Ananias and Sapphira

Nadab and Abihu

The people worship Herod

Taking the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner

The Pharisees’ beliefs and practices

7. Since God takes false doctrine / false worship so seriously, what is His posture toward those who teach false doctrine?

8. Some Christians believe that only aberrant soteriology – a false gospel, unbiblical teaching about how to be saved – is false doctrine. Consider these Scriptures. Is this idea biblically accurate?

9. What is false doctrine? Carefully and biblically define this term in your own words.

Homework

Today’s study includes passages from Judges and Ezekiel. You may wish to peruse the relevant parts of my Bible studies on Judges and Ezekiel. How is the state of the church today similar to the state of God’s people and the temple in Judges and Ezekiel?

Suggested Memory Verse

Discernment

Fighting Off the Wolves

Michelle Lesley

Originally published March 20, 2018

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Photo and quote courtesy of The Patriot. ©2000, Columbia Pictures, Inc.

I love pastors. I really do. As a minister of music’s wife, church member, and through involvement in other ministries, I’ve known a lot of them. They have a tough job that most of us wouldn’t take on in a million years. I pray for and encourage my own pastor and my pastor buddies regularly, and try to remind y’all to do the same from time to time. All this to say, I’m not a preacher-basher. Far from it.

But sometimes there’s a bit of a veering in a dangerous direction, like a vehicle heading towards the center line, among (some, not all) pastors who are momentarily distracted and might need a friendly “Hey, did you see that truck we’re about to crash into?” from their terrified, front seat passenger.

Color me terrified.

There are pastors out there who treat false teachers with kid gloves. They refuse to label anyone as a false teacher, or only vaguely allude to certain false teachers without naming names. I’d like to encourage those pastors to pull the steering wheel to the right and call a spade a spade. Yes, they need to use the label of false teacher soberly, sadly, and only after making sure, with hard evidence, that it is warranted, but enough with grown men of God tiptoeing around under the guise of “we don’t know what’s in that person’s heart” or “I’m afraid to be painted with the ‘mean old discernment blogger’ brush.”

Enough with grown men of God tiptoeing around under the guise of “we don’t know what’s in that person’s heart” or “I’m afraid to be painted with the ‘mean old discernment blogger’ brush.”

The Bible doesn’t say anywhere that a pastor shouldn’t call someone a false teacher and warn the flock about him just because the pastor doesn’t know for sure what’s in the person’s heart or because he’s afraid of what others might think. We are all to look at their words and their behavior and judge (that’s right, I said “judge“) whether or not they are teaching what accords with sound doctrine. And if they’re not, they need to be denounced. Not in a wild-eyed, foaming at the mouth, wingnut way, but certainly loudly and decisively as a mature man of God.

We never see Paul or Jesus or Peter or Jude or any other godly man in the Bible being over-cautious about firmly calling out those who had proved themselves to be false teachers.

We never see Paul or Jesus or Peter or Jude or any other godly man in the Bible being over-cautious about firmly calling out those who had proved themselves to be false teachers.

“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” – Jesus, Matthew 16:11

“Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites…blind guides…fools…serpents…brood of vipers.” – Jesus, Matthew 23

“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” – Paul, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

“For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” – Jude, Jude 4

“They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray.” – Peter, 2 Peter 2:13b-15a

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”
Paul, Galatians 1:8-9

Would pastors today be wise to use this same kind of verbiage? Maybe. Maybe not. These godly men spoke and wrote in a way that was appropriate for their time, culture, and context. Our time, culture, and context are different and may call for a different approach. But the point is, none of them were afraid to speak the truth boldly about false teachers in order to protect the sheep God had entrusted to them. And we sheep today desperately need courageous shepherds who will do the same.

Pastors, if you speak out against false teachers, there are people who will get mad at you. It’s unavoidable. But there are others who know the truth and will be cheering you on and supporting you. And there are still others you will turn back from false doctrine who will learn the truth of God’s word and love you for warning them. And their souls are worth any risk or trial.

Be encouraged, dear pastors. Be strong in the Lord. Be faithful to Him. You can do this!

Be encouraged, dear pastors. Be strong in the Lord. Be faithful to Him. You can do this!

Remember the words of your brother and fellow laborer Paul, who, after condemning false teachers in Galatians 1:6-9, may have anticipated the same backlash you might receive:

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:10