Compiled and annotated by the Rev. Dr. Timothy Smith
The Holy Scriptures of the New Testament declare as to confrontation with
sin, the teachers of another gospel and false prophets the following:
A. Concerning Sin Generally
Matthew 18:15-17: "And if a brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if
he listens to you, you have won a brother. But if he does not listen to you,
take one or more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses
every fact may be confirmed. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to
the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer." [emphasis
added]
B. Jesus implores His followers to "judge with righteous judgment" (John
7:24)
It is appropriate to observe the Biblical distinction between judging or
condemning a person's soul -- which is clearly God's role -- from the
Biblical mandate for Christians to judge or distinguish between right and
wrong, between good and evil. "The Lord will judge his people. It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:30). The
matter of eternal judgment of a person to his or her eternal fate is
rightfully reserved to God alone. Nevertheless, He desires of His people to
know the difference between that which is right and that which is wrong and
to live that which is moral and good by forsaking that which is immoral and
evil.
So often one encounters someone citing the Biblical passage: "Judge not,
lest you be judged" as if the Christian is to have nothing to do with any
kind of judging or judgment process. This is unfortunate since Holy
Scripture is quite clear that it is the responsibility of every Christian to
"discern between good and evil" as Solomon prayed to the Lord (I Kings 3:9).
From the New Testament, we are admonished by our Lord to "[t]ake heed that
no one leads you astray" (Matthew 24:4). In order to do so, Jesus implored
his followers: "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with
righteous judgment" (John 7:24). In fact at Luke 12:57, Jesus asks: "Why do
you not judge for yourselves what is right?" He approves of one of Simon
Peter's judgments by affirming him and saying: "You have judged rightly"
(Luke 7:43). See also, Luke 13:57; I Corinthians 5:9-13.
"The spiritual man is to judge all things" declares the Apostle Paul at I
Corinthians 2:15. Otherwise we would all be "children tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their
craftiness in deceitful wiles" (Ephesians 4:1).
Clearly when Paul spoke of judging those 'inside' the church he qualified
that judgment in many ways. Judgment should be implemented (1) in a spirit
of gentleness and an awareness that one's own self is vulnerable to
temptation (Galatians 6:1); (2) in a mournful manner (I Corinthians 5:2) and
with regard for the offender as a brother and not an enemy (II Thessalonians
3:15); (3) out of a desire to reclaim the offender for God's kingdom rather
than punitively condemn the offender to hell; (4) with a zeal to restore him
quickly and enthusiastically to the community following repentance (I
Corinthians 5:5; II Corinthians 2:5-11; 7:8-13); and (5) in proportion to
the recalcitrance of the offender and the severity of the offense (I
Thessalonians 5:14; I Corinthians 5:1-2). Yet, equally as clearly, Paul
insisted that the church do its job of judging those within the community of
faith who have deviated from Biblical norms. Anything less would be
unloving.
Many instances also appear in the Old Testament admonishing God's people to
distinguish and choose between right and wrong, good and evil. For example,
see Malachi 3:18: "So you will again
wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him." Our role
is clear in this regard.
C. As To Unbelievers
II Corinthians 6:14-17: "Do not be bound together [fn: unequally yoked] with
unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or
what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with
Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what
agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the
living God; just as God said, 'I will dwell in them and walk among them; and
I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from
their midst and be separate,' says the Lord." [emphasis added]
Matthew 10:11-15: "And into whatever city or village you enter, inquire who
is worthy in it; and abide there until you go away. And as you enter the
house, give it your greeting. And if the house is worthy, let your greeting
of peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your greeting of peace
return to you. And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you
go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say
to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the
day of judgment, than for that city." [emphasis added]
D. False Teaching and Prophecy
(1) As to those who proclaim another/different Gospel:
Galatians 1:6-10: "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who
called you by the grace of Christ, for another gospel; which is really not
another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the
gospel of Christ. But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach
to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached, let him be accursed
[fn: Gk: anathema] ... For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or
am I striving to please men ? If I were still trying to please men, I would
not be a bondservant of Christ." [emphasis added]
Romans 16:17-19: "Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause
dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and
turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of
their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive
the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached
to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what
is good and innocent in what is evil."
I John 1:1-7 (especially verse 6 in italics for emphasis): "What was from
the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we
beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life - and the life was
manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the
eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us - what we
have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have
fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with
His Son Jesus Christ. All these things we write, so that our joy may be made
complete. And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to
you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say
that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do
not practice the truth, but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son
cleanses us from all sin."
II Corinthians 11:3-4: "But I am afraid ... your minds should be led astray
from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and
preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different
spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not
accepted, [NIV: you put up with this easily enough]."
I Timothy 4:1-3: "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some
will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and
doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own
conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate
abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by
those who believe and know the truth."
II John 7-11: "This is love, that we walk according to His commandments.
This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you
should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those
who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the
deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what
[you] have accomplished, but that you might receive a full reward. Anyone
who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have
God ... If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching [of Christ],
do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting, for the
one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds." [emphasis
added]
(2) As to false doctrine, teachers and prophet:
In Matthew 7:15-16, Jesus states: "Beware of the false prophets, who come to
you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know
them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs
from thistles, are they?"
In I Timothy 1:1-5, Paul urges Timothy to remain in Ephesus "in order that
you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay
attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere
speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by
faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good
conscience and a sincere faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from
a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." See also, I Timothy
6:3-6.
I John 4:1-3: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to
see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out
into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that
confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God: and every
spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is he spirit of
the antichrist of which you have heard that is coming, and now it is already
in the world."
Romans 16:17-20: "Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause
dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and
turn away from [other translations: avoid] them. For such men are slaves,
not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and
flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting." [emphasis
added]
II Corinthians 4:1-4: "Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we
received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things
hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word
of God, but by the manifestation of truth commencing ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it
is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world
has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light
of the gospel off the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
Titus 1:12-16 at verse 13, 14 and 16 advises to "reprove [the false
prophets] severely that they may be sound in their faith, not paying
attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the
truth. To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and
believing, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are
defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being
detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed."
II Peter 2:1-10, quoting 1-2, 4, 9-10a: "But false prophets also arose among
the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will
secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought
them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their
sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and
in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from
long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. For if God did
not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed
them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the
ancient world."
In Galatians 2:4, Paul issues a warning concerning those who would go beyond
the word of God in placing rules upon the faithful that "it was because of
the false brethren who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have
in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. But we did not yield in
subjection to them for even one hour, so that the truth of the gospel might
remain with you."
Romans 1:21-32 lists many sins and false understandings of Scripture and
ends by noting that "although they know the ordinance of God, that those who
practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but
also give hearty approval to those who practice them."
II John 9-11 declares: "Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the
teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching,
he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not
bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him
a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil
deeds." [emphasis added]
See also, II Timothy 2:16-18 as to false teachers and "false teaching
spreads like gangrene." [v.17]
(3) As to immoral or divisive believers
I Corinthians 5:9-13: "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with
immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world,
or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would
have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate
with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an
idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with
such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge
those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges.
Remove the wicked man from among yourselves." [emphasis added]
I Corinthians 15:33-34: "Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good
morals.' Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning."
I Corinthians 6:18: "Flee immorality." [emphasis added] Further in this
regard, I Thessalonians 4:2-8 reads: "For you know what commandments we gave
you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your
sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each
of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not
in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man
transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the
avenue in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly
warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in
sanctification. Consequently, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but
the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you."
See also II Thessalonians 3:6 as to "keep away from every brother who leads
and unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from
us" [emphasis added] and Luke 10:10-12 as to those who "do not receive you."
Christians are warned in II Timothy 3:1-5 that "in the last days difficult
times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful,
arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving,
irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of
good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its
power. Avoid such men as these." [emphasis added]
E. Admonitions from the Book of Revelation
Revelation 2:2-5a as to Ephesus: "I know your deeds and your toil and
perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test
those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to
be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and
have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your
first love."
Revelation 2:9 as to Smyrna: "I know your tribulation and your poverty (but
you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not,
but are a synagogue of Satan."
Revelation 2:14 as to Pergamum: "I have a few things against you, because
you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam .."
Revelation 2:19-22 as to Thyatira: "I know your deeds, and your love and
faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater
than at first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman
Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, she teaches and leads My
bond-servants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things
sacrificing to idols. And I gave her time to repent; and she does not want
to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will cast her upon a bed of sickness,
and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they
repeat of her deeds."
Revelation 3:15-19 as to Laodicea, quoting verses 15-16: "I know your deeds,
that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So
because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of
My mouth."
F. The Christian's Calling
II Corinthians 6:17-7:1: "'Therefore, come out from their midst and be
separate,' says the Lord. 'And do not touch what is unclean; and I will
welcome you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters
to Me,' says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, having these promises separating
ourselves from darkness, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all
defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
[emphasis added]
All quotations are from the New American Standard Version unless noted
otherwise.
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