I was asked an interesting question this week: “Why does God want us to kick someone out of church after just a couple of unheeded warnings but forgives each of us time and time again for our sins?”
It would be good to look at just what the church is. It is the Bride of Christ, a group, a family of believers, that gather together for instruction, fellowship, and assistance. If someone with ungodly motives comes into the church, he can mislead many. Scripture warns us about such people:
2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
So, there are people who come into the church to mislead others. Sometimes they do this purposely, but most often they do it unknowingly. We have people in the church who are sincere but are sincerely wrong. Sometimes these people are not apparent at first, and it takes the more mature Christians in the church to identify them. A new or unschooled Christian might not know better.
Last week I talked about how the church handles division and disrupters. There’s a process, and that process is meant to correct the offender, see him repent, and bring him back into the fold. But there are people who will not accept discipline and must be asked to leave the local body.
Sin and error in the church bring division. They hurt the bride of Christ. Jesus is very protective of His bride and will come against those who would try to corrupt her.
Christian individuals are to turn to the church for the reasons given above. When an individual Christian hears something new or doesn’t sound right, that person’s responsibility is to first check it against Scripture then speak with a church leader about it. Iron sharpens iron. We’re here for one another.
In the early church, there were traveling preachers. The culture was such that they would be welcomed into a local Christian’s home to stay for as long as the preacher was in town. Other Christians would join with him in an evening meal and talk about the faith. This served two purposes. First the local church leaders could hear what this man had to say and endorse or correct what he taught. If he was teaching error, he would be asked to leave. Secondly, he would bring news and teachings from other Christian bodies. Again, though, the local leaders would examine these teachings to accept or reject them. This is the church in action, protecting and instructing the body.
The Christian individual, on the other hand, is also God’s pride and joy. They are learning and growing in Christ as they are being sanctified. We are going to make mistakes. Jesus knows that. He’s a man as well as God the Son. He was tempted as we are and can identify:
18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Heb. 2:18)
For the Christian individual, God is constantly working in us. He is making us more Christ-like. Because we carry the sin nature and will until the day we die, God knows are apt to sin. Upon our confession, he forgives us.
Why is this important?
Sometimes we think it’s kind of unfair of God to forgive us our sins but hold the false teacher or disrupter responsible for their actions. Know that it is fair. God is both protecting His children and His Bride.
We need to think of the church as more of a hospital and a school. We go there for healing and instruction. Without proper precautions, infection is much more likely to spread there. Those who would infect us may not be repentant and must be kept from contaminating the Bride.
So, as Christian individuals, we must keep an eye out for new teachings. Dr. Walter Martin used to say “New truth is almost always old heresy.” Beware of new stuff.
These false teachers can even use Scripture to seemingly support their views, but Christians must beware. Scripture can be twisted.
And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (2 Peter 3:16)
Back to the original question, a false teacher is an attack on the church, the Bride of Christ, sinful behavior is a character flaw. God deals with each differently. He loves His church and loves His people. He wants to keep both pure.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 