09 - What Makes False Teachers Tick? 2009

Saw last time:

Believers in Jesus Christ have been delivered from empty religious rituals.

16 “Therefore, don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink (Meaning—Pay no regard to anyone who sits in judgment on you as to legal observances about foods), or for not celebrating certain religious festivals (yearly feasts), or a new moon (monthly ceremonies) or Sabbaths (the day of atonement and feast of tabernacles, which have all come to an end with the appearance of Christ).”

Why should these things be refused?

17 “For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.”

We are not to allow ourselves to be cheated by those who want to pressure us to into unbiblical practices such as worship of angels, or asceticism—punishing the flesh in order to subdue the sinful nature, and so on.

We are not to allow experiences—no matter how convincing—to trump the word of God. “Even if you claim to have seen an angel, it doesn’t matter. If the message is anything other than salvation by grace through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, let it be accursed!”

Next, Paul exposes the character of false teachers:

What makes false teachers tick

The Apostle says that the problem with those that seek to marginalize Christ or add to His finished work is:

“…Their sinful minds have made them proud…” –vs. 18

These false teachers are filled with pride. They believe they are above the Word, smarter than God, and almost always claim to have a “new” revelation.

One commentator wrote: “There are many people who think if they cannot understand a preacher’s sermon, he is a deep, and learned, and intellectual theologian.  If he uses sentences that have no meaning, and words that they can't fathom, and if he makes speeches, calling them sermons, out of which they get nothing, then he is a very learned, and deep, and profound theologian. 

And then, if by and by he does say something that they can understand, immediately they seize upon it as being the words of a sage and of a great man of God, no matter what he says.  Now, if that's not screwball, I don't know what is.  “Smart”: “I can't understand it.”  “Deep”: “I can't fathom what he's talking about.”  “Learned and intellectual”: “I have no idea what he's saying.” 

By arrogance and intellectual pride, men depart from the Word of God to teach things God never commanded. This is the root of false teacher’s motives.

But even more importantly, Paul says:

19 “…they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body.”

Paul’s argument is, “How can these Judaizers, or false visionaries, pronounce any judgment at all on the body of Christ or any of its members when their carnal minds have never had an inkling about the wonderful spiritual body of Christ and about its still more wonderful Head, the Lord Jesus Christ!”

In other words, these folks are on the outside looking in! The false teacher takes “delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen…” vs. 18

The Apostle then adds that the whole body of Christ does its divine growing “by constantly receiving supply of vitality and by constantly being knit together as one developing unit.”

And how does this “knitting together” take place?

“For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.”

From the head, Jesus Christ, the supply flows out to every part of the body and at the same time knits it together into one spiritual, divine, living and growing organism!

These critical Judaizers had never once embraced the Head, so therefore had never once been a part of the body they criticized!

So Paul says, “If they criticize you, judge you, and try to cheat you of your reward, tell them where to get off!

Then we learn a wonderful fact of what the Head, Jesus Christ, has done for us:

 20 “You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world.”

You have been entombed with Him in the baptism in which you were also raised up to walk in newness of life!

FACT: We were there on the cross with Jesus. That is, our old man of sin—the sin nature—was crucified with Christ.

Listen closely to the Word of God:

“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

Satan can only operate in the dark. He capitalizes on our ignorance, defeats us through our lack of understanding, and does his best to rob us blind over our lack of knowledge of what Jesus did for us!

This is why Paul said, “KNOWING THIS.”

7 “For he who has died has been freed from sin.”—Ro. 6:6-7

“Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call!”

“Because our old, sinful self was crucified with Christ, we no longer respond to it as a dead slave no longer responds to his master’s demands.” Message Bible

A dead slave can’t hear his former master, nor respond to him. The master may demand, yell, argue and debate all day long, but to no avail. The former slave is dead to him.

This is why Paul says:

“So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, 21 “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”?

You’re dead to these old rules and laws that cannot save you. You are no longer chasing the shadows. That which was casting the shadow has now fully arrived—the once for all sacrifice of God’s Lamb!

So Paul closes out Chapter 2 with these words:

22 Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. 23 These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.”

It is not by religion, religious ritual, rules and regulations that we defeat the flesh and have victory over sin. It is by the power of the Spirit of God within!

Ro. 8:13 “For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever.”

Summary:

The real thing has come—Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

The shadows have passed away, the reality has arrived.

You will not live a holy life by self-denial, but by the inward dwelling Holy Spirit’s power.

Don’t allow anyone to cheat you of what Christ has done for you by judging the liberty you have in Christ. Your prize shall come from Him alone!