Sound doctrine and apostasy

One of the chief concerns of the New Testament is the end times or the “last days”. Between Christ and the apostles, the text spends a lot of words articulating the things that will characterize the period. The expression “last days” itself has been a source of controversy. One cannot number the voices that have claimed knowledge of the exact day on which Christ will return. From heretics like Charles Taze Russell[1] to a reformer like Martin Luther, men have failed to heed the warning of Christ to not meddle in such matters[2].

 “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority”
—Acts 1:7

In the revelations, the apostle John reinforces this all important point that all believers must observe with necessary reverence;

¹⁵ (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”)

Men did not take heed. Failing spectacularly in their predictions, they missed the simple fact that the “last days” is a period that ends only with the return of Christ. No man (regardless of how plausible their analysis may seem) must dare predict a date. While Christ himself had warned against this as we have seen, He however, provided pointers by which believers are to recognize when the end was near. Interestingly, those pointers he provided begun to manifest very early after His departure. It was clear then; even the apostles were living in the “last days” much as we are today. The last days then is a period starting from the departure of Christ to the moment of His return. They are false prophets because in disobedience, they made predictions when Christ had categorically instructed against such pronouncements.

Among the pointers to be expected in the last days is apostasy, a departure from the teachings of Jesus and the proliferation of distorted versions of it. These are to be perpetrated by false teachers who as it will be around in large numbers. By the time Paul’s ministry took off, the attack had begun in earnest. Many will fall for it unless they stayed with the teachings accredited custodians of the Gospel. In keeping with the words of Jesus, Paul writes to his beloved Galatians and shares his concern;

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!” — Galatians 1:8

In laying out the kingdom manifesto during the famous Sermon on the Mount[3], Christ warned very early in his ministry;

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” — Mathew 7:15

In the verses that follow, he provides a treatise on what it all means for those who will in disobedience follow them. It cannot be doubted from then on, that false prophets, false teachers, here referred to by Christ as wolves in sheep clothing will infiltrate the church. In the book of Acts, physician/historian and Gospel writer; Luke captures an important admonishment;

“ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” — Acts 20:28-30

Verse 30 of the above text is of great interest;

“Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them”.

Really? How does this not bother some people? They will rise in the church ad their agenda will be a selfish one. They will draw men to themselves. The indefatigable Peter shares a concern and a piece of advice;

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. — 2 Peter 3:17

Along came the game-changing Paul who had previously subscribed to the unsound doctrines of Pharisee-ism and was consequently persecuting Christ’s followers with never-seen-before zeal. After his rather dramatic transformation by the renewal of his mind[4], his ministry was characterized by the defense of the faith and a concern for the sanctity of the word. He writes to his protégé Timothy;

“ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” — 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Un-sound doctrine undermines God’s word and it’s power. It is the door way to false faith and apostasy. We become Christians because of something we believe. We miss it if what we believe happens to be wrong. False preachers and their false doctrines may not present themselves openly. That’s the whole point of being a wolf in sheep clothing. In between their language rest subterfuges and nuances that will in small doses pollute until they have crystalized into death. The devils main tool is deception and he has mastered his craft over thousands of years. From very early he made great strides. False teachings and half-truths by supposedly credible men of God are his Trojan horses and too many believers are flocking to them with itching ears. This generation may have seen more apostasy than the rest of history combined.  In the African church, the conversation about sound doctrine must begin NOW and SD-21 is the Launchpad. The apostasy of false teaching for personal gain has become the norm—just as Christ predicted. In the second instalment of this series, We will attempt to throw some light on the importance of sound doctrine and how it was handled by Christ and the apostles as well as the prophets of old as we gear up for the sound doctrine conference; SD-21. Go to part 2

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[1] Founder of the Jehovah witnesses)
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events (a comprehensive list of end time predictions)
[3] Matthew 5-7
[4] Romans 12:2