Beware of False Teachers

Intro

- North Face jacket in China

o Have you ever had a situation like that? In the moment it seems like such a great idea, but then later you realize that they totally tricked you

o These people were good at what they did. They made me think I was getting an incredible deal. The power of persuasion was too much to resist!

o It one thing when we are tricked into wasting a few dollars, but often the stakes are much higher when it comes to what we believe.

- Last week we talked about standing firm in the truth

o There is no shortage of things in this world that try to pull us away from the truth

o And in our passage this morning. Paul directly addresses the threat of false teachers among the Galatians

o We have seen these guys several times in our study of Galatians, the Judaizers.

- Read Gal. 5:7-12

- You were running so well! What happened?

o Paul used a metaphor that we see him use often in his letters- the Christian life compared to running a race

o This race is a marathon- it’s easy to start well

§ Illustration- working out- start off too strong

§ What really counts is how we finish- if we start off in a blaze of glory and then go down hard, we are missing the point

§ Understand, we will have difficult times, when it seems too hard to keep on pushing, but we must keep running

§ This also helps us understand God’s greater plan when we mess up, and we will mess up.

- Now, we may not have any Judaizers in our churches today, we may not have anyone convincing us that we need to adopt Jewish customs if we want to truly follow God and have a relationship with him

o But Christianity is full of false teachers, and they aren’t always easily identifiable

o It order to stand firm in our faith, we need to be aware of the danger that false teachers present and familiar with their tactics so we can guard against their false gospel.

The Method- Persuasion

A. Hindered from obeying the truth

1. The Judaizers tripped them up

Illustration- throwing a pillow to trip Evan

a. But that would be obvious- the Judaizers were much more devious in how they went about it

b. They changed the rules of the race ever so slightly- they acted like they were helping

(1) Adding in legalistic self-effort instead of faith

2. What is the truth?

a. The Gospel- this has been Paul’s message all along

(1) Gal. 2:5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

b. We do not define truth- God does

(1) We cannot twist it to fit our lifestyle or our desires

(2) We cannot soften it to seem more palatable to others

c. We can either accept or reject it

d. It isn’t enough to know it. We must obey it!

(1) The Galatians knew the truth, but they were not following it

(2) We talked last week about how faith shows itself through action- if we believe something is true, it only makes sense to act on it

B. It looks good

1. false teachers don’t try to persuade us with something that looks terrible

a. illustration- Balut

(1) this is more like turkey bacon- someone trying to persuade you that this is bacon- it looks like bacon, maybe even smells a little like bacon, but don’t be fooled!

2. But it is not from God (v.8)

3. How do we identify what is from God?

a. We must know the truth so well that we can quickly spot the counterfeit gospel

C. Our responsibility in not to persuade, but to speak truth

1. Paul’s example 1 Cor. 2:1-5

2. Satan is the great persuader

The Effect- like Poison

A. A little bit of error can contaminate everything

1. Making root beer illustration

B. This is not a major reinvention of the gospel- it’s just a small addition with major consequences

C. When false teaching or sin is tolerated, when it is made light of, when it’s seen and “not that big of deal”, ruin is sure to follow

1. 1 Cor. 5:6- Paul uses the same illustration of the corrupting power of sin

2. Poor doctrine leads to sinful living- we live according to what we truly believe

3. Sinful living leads to poor doctrine- we justify the way we want to live

The Penalty

A. Those that lead others away from the Gospel under the disguise of righteousness will face the greatest penalty

1. Jesus’s harshest words were directed at the Pharisees and religious leaders

2. Paul’s strongest rebukes are to the false teachers

3. We often reserve our greatest condemnation for unbelievers living in sin or for Christians that fall into sin

a. But often in scripture there is compassion for those that do not know God and grace for those who are fighting against sin

(1) Woman at the well- Jesus had compassion

(2) Not a toleration, but an understanding of our human nature

b. We often condemn unbelievers living in sin- or save our harshest judgment for believers struggling against sin, yet we tolerate false teachers

B. Paul wished for them to be cast out

1. Back to the story of Hagar and Ishmael

2. V. 12 However you interpret this verse, it is clear what Paul means

a. He wants them to bear the full weight of their penalty for trying to lead the Galatian Christians astray

3. This very well could have been identifying the false teachers with the pagan priest that many of the Galatians followed before they believed in the gospel.

a. He wanted them to take the identifying mark of those priests

(1) “look, if this it what you are going to teach, then you might as well go the whole way and be just like these pagan priests.”

b. Paul’s point is that circumcision is no longer a sign of the covenant between God and man. In fact, placing that much importance in it was no different than how the pagan priests marked themselves for their false God

4. This is simply a continuation of what Paul has said from the beginning

a. 1:9 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.

C. Paul’s anger did not come as a reaction to being personally attacked, although they most certainly attacked his authority, message, and ministry, but rather it came as a reaction to God’s truth being twisted for selfish gain

- But we are not without hope- this is a heavy passage, I mean, that vs. 12 is… intense- I don’t want to leave you with that!

The Hope (v. 10)

A. Paul was confident that they would not fall for this false gospel

1. How could he know that?

2. He seemed very concerned for them this whole letter

B. Paul’s confidence was found in God’s faithfulness

1. not in the Galatians or even his ability to change their minds

2. Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

C. Hope even in the midst of persecution (v.11)

1. Paul is saying “obviously I am not preaching the necessity of circumcision like some have accused me of doing. If I was, then why would the Judaizers be persecution me!?”

2. When we stand firm in truth, there will be opposition

3. To Paul, it’s a good sign- it means he was heading the right direction

Conclusion

- When we stand firm in the truth of the gospel, we have great hope no matter what we face in this world

- There are many, even today, that want to twist the gospel

o They will try to persuade you with promises of acceptance, prosperity, or special favor

o and it will be convincing if we do not have our eyes fixed on the truth

So What?

- Don’t be drawn into a persuasive false gospel

- Do not lead people into a false gospel- the penalty is great!

- Place your hope in the Lord and the strength of the Spirit that he gives to us

o It is only through his grace that we can persevere to the end