Course: World
Religions, Cults and Heresies
Section Two: Cults and Heresies
Introductory Lesson (5):
Lesson Title: The Gravitational Pull of the Old Testament.
Text: Galatians
Theme:
Beware that zeal doesn't lead to Old Testament bondage.
Introduction: The
gravitational pull of the Old Testament
Carnal thinking will always be drawn back to
the Old Testament like a magnet. There
is only one antidote for 'false teaching' preach the cross. Not glorying in leaders or genealogy, not
glorying in knowledge, and not glorying in our church; but rather glorying in
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ that has left us with nothing else to glory
in but Christ crucified.
If we move away from the cross we will be drawn
back into bondage.
Cults and Heresies that call themselves Christian
are usually characterised by their use of Old Testament teaching to oppose New
Testament Christianity.
For instance:
1.
Seventh Day Adventists use the Old Testament
teaching of the Sabbath to oppose the New Testament teaching that the Sabbath
rest was fulfilled through Christ.
2.
Mormons follow a form of Old Testament history
concerning a Promised Land and the building of temples to oppose the New
Testament teaching that God now dwells in the hearts and lives of His people.
3.
Roman Catholicism is built upon an Old
Testament form of priesthood offering the sacrifice of the Mass on behalf of
the laity. This contradicts the teaching
of the priesthood of all believers and the once for all sacrifice of
The people who are in most danger of being drawn
into error are often those who are most zealous for God. They may be more open to deception because
they are aware of the apostasy in the Church.
Mormonism and Seventh Day Adventism arose during a time of revival in
which the Second Coming of Christ was strongly emphasised. Their teaching is built upon the belief that
they are the true church and the nominal church is apostate.
Introductory
Story: Zeal can pull into legalism
Some Christians in their zeal to be committed to
Christ have been led into a teaching that the bride of Christ is only an elite
few within the body of Christ.
They teach that to be in the bride a person must
have a higher standard of obedience.
It is a teaching associated with William Branham
(1909-1965).
The women are taught to only wear long skirts, and
have long hair; some do not cut their hair at all.
Baptism in water is regarded as invalid if the
words 'in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost' are spoken instead of 'in
the name of Jesus'.
This teaching has
the effect of isolating those who adhere to it.
Those within the group usually associate this
isolation with the cost of being zealous disciples of Christ, but in their zeal
to live for Christ they have been drawn back to a legalistic form of
religion.
Galatians
5:13-14 states 'For, brethren, you have been called unto
liberty; only use not liberty for an
occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is
fulfilled in one word, even in this;
You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'
True Christianity is not the way we dress or wear our hair; it is not the music we listen to or the food we eat; it is not keeping rules and laws; but it is the life of Christ in us (Colossians 1:27). We become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). The body of Christ can only glory in the cross.
Main Points:
1.
Glorying
in the flesh instead of the cross
A characteristic of cults is that they glory in a
leader or an organisation. Glorying in leaders is carnality.
1
Corinthians 3:3-6 'For you are yet carnal: for whereas there is
among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as
men? For while one says, I am of Paul;
and another, I am of Apollos; are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but
ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God
gave the increase.'
Mormons follow the teaching of Joseph Smith
(1805-1844), Seventh Day Adventists follow Ellen G White (1827-1915).
Following leaders can have terrifying consequences
as was seen when a charismatic preacher Jim Jones (1931-1978) died with almost
1000 of his followers in the Jonestown Massacre in
The Jews gloried in their lineage. They were the children of Abraham.
The Pharisees were proud that they were the
descendants of Abraham.
John
We are not to glory in leaders or in being
descendants of great leaders. All are
one in Christ Jesus. Glorying in leaders or race has no place in the body of
Christ.
Galatians 3:27-29
'For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are
all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s
seed, and heirs according to the promise.'
British Israel - teaches that Anglo Saxons are the
descendants of the lost tribes of Israel.
The Danes, who invaded
Answer: This teaching is not backed by factual
evidence. But even if it was true it has
no relevance to New Testament Christianity because all are one in Christ.
2. Glorying in the teaching instead of the
cross
Cults pride themselves in their teaching.
'Knowledge so called'.
1 Timothy
Gnosticism: salvation
through knowledge.
Consider:
Jehovah's Witnesses glory in their knowledge – they are Gnostics not
Christians.
Paul writes about the simplicity of the Gospel
2 Corinthians 11:3
'But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his
subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ.'
Eve was deceived by false teaching offering her
immense prosperity and great personal advantage.
Genesis 3:4-5 'And the serpent said unto the woman, You
shall not surely die: For God knows that in the day you eat thereof, then your
eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.'
- Beware
of those claiming revelation knowledge.
The devil can easily deceive those who are zealous
for truth into believing they hold greater truth than those who hold a more
shallow understanding of the gospel.
All the cults claim to have 'knowledge'.
Mormons - teachings collected by the prophet
Mormon.
Seventh Day Adventists - teachings of Ellen G White
Jehovah Witnesses - teachings of Judge Rutherford.
- Cleverness
of words - Story: H C Andersens (1805-1875) 'The King's
new clothes'.
The people were told the King had an amazing
invisible new set of clothes. All who
were told believed. A child who had not
heard, he sees the King without any clothes and shouts 'the King has no clothes
on'.
Example (clever
words that appear spiritual): Teaching
on healing that divides sickness from symptoms (deny the sickness). This is a dangerous teaching because denying
symptoms can be deadly. The symptoms
help us to know something is wrong.
The Bible does not teach denial - the Bible teaches
trust in Christ.
3. Glorying in the church or organisation
instead of the cross
1 Thessalonians 2:3,
'Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away
(apostasy) first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;'
Many cults and heresies believe they are a
restoration of the true church in opposition to apostasy.
Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists etc., maintain that
they are a restoration of the true church, they consider other churches to be
apostate.
Regarding all other churches as apostate produces a
'we are the people' mentality.
The people of God are not those who belong to a
particular organisation but it is all those who have the life of Christ in
them.
There is one body of Christ in whom Christ
dwells.
Cults will accuse the church of apostasy but their
existence is totally dependent upon organisation.
Apostasy is when the church moves from new life in
Christ to an organised religion.
Cults cannot exist without an organisation.
Question: Can the body of Christ exist without an
organisation?
We must differentiate between what is the body of
Christ and what is an organisation.
Division in the body of Christ is always wrong, but division in an organisation can be the leading of the Holy Spirit.
The Reformation in the 16th century did not divide
the body of Christ.
It divided the organisation of the Roman Catholic
Church but through this division came liberty to the body of Christ. It was a wonderful move of the Spirit of
God.
Carnality will always gravitate away from the
liberty in Christ to bondage.
This happened after the Reformation when Protestant
organisations replaced the organisation of the Roman Catholic Church - people
associated themselves with leaders.
These organisations then had a natural tendency to
gravitate away from the liberty in Christ towards legalism on one side and
faith in the sacraments on the other.
What is the
answer?
The body of Christ needs to be more Christ centred
and less organisation centred.
A Christian is one who has received new life in
Christ Jesus. It is not what he or she does;
it is who she or he is.
There is one body of Christ and we are not to
divide ourselves around leaders or organisations. People enjoy different kinds of meetings but
this should not stop us from having fellowship with the body of Christ. The
foundation upon which the church is built is Christ and not leaders:
1
Corinthians 3:11, 'For other foundation can
no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.'
Summary:
The antidote that will keep us from false teaching
is trusting in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross
'alone'. Salvation is by faith in
Christ alone.
Faith alone in the finished work of Christ on the
cross will keep us from:
1)
Glorying in the flesh and following after leaders
and dividing the body of Christ.
2)
Glorying in new teachings and moving away from the
simplicity in Christ.
3)
Glorying in the church or organisation and coming
into bondage to men instead of moving in the liberty with which Christ has set
us free.