Subject: Call those things that are not |
Bible Note: Mother S, false teaching was in the world in apostolic times and it is in the world still. Our standard of faith and practice, and hence our shield against false teaching, is the truth of God's word. That is one of the primary reasons why it is so incumbent on believers to examine the Scriptures daily to see whether the things they are being taught are true. (Acts 17:11; 2 Tim. 2:15) The judgment and the verdict against false teachers is not ours to make. The Scriptures have already made those for us and made them clear to us. But it is our duty and responsibility to pay attention to what God has already said and to act accordingly. We are not being judgmental when we do this; we are being obedient to Scripture. We are most of us prone to have itching ears, and we have an enormous and virtually insatiable appetite for the new, the dazzling, the kinds of teaching that tell us how warm and fuzzy Christianity is and how good it makes us feel. More likely than not, the very things that tickle our ears the most are the things we need to listen to the least. --Hank |