By: Dale Weckbacher
1 Timothy 1:18
Timothy, my son, here
are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you
earlier. May they give you the confidence to fight well in the Lord's battles.
NLT
The first article of our spiritual armor is the belt of
truth (Ephesians 6:14). Paul wrote the
letter to the Ephesians while in jail no doubt with a Roman soldier guarding
him. He must have observed what the soldier’s
armor consisted of and equated these implements with spiritual warfare.
The belt of the soldier’s armor girded all of the other
pieces of the soldier’s armor and therefore acted as a foundation for his
armor. The belt also allowed someone to
gather up his robe and tuck it in for swift movement, which would have been
necessary for a soldier in battle. (1) A good soldier would therefore have taken
great care to insure his belt remained in good condition.
Paul is about to place Timothy in charge of the church at
Ephesus, the very church he taught about the armor of God, and so it is not surprising that he begins his
instructions to Timothy by encouraging him to stop those teaching incorrect
doctrine to the church. Even though Paul
does not specifically mention what these false teachings were, we can find
historical context in other portions of scripture that provide a hint as to
what these doctrines are,
1)
The doctrine of Jewish Legalism (Acts 15:1) –
These individuals are referred to as Judaizers who came from Judea and began
teaching Gentile converts to Christianity that unless they were circumcised
according to the custom of Moses, they could not be saved. Paul strongly condemned this teaching in
Galatians 1:6-9 calling it a perversion of the Gospel of Christ. Paul goes on in Galatians 3:1-5 to remind us
that it is a mistake to believe that salvation can come through works of the
law. In fact, Paul goes on to say one
falls from grace if they listen the teaching of these Judaizers. (2) It is perhaps these false teachers that Paul
is referring to in 1 Timothy 1:7.
2)
The doctrine of Gnosticism (1 Timothy 6:20-21) –
The word Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word gnosis which means
knowledge. It is perhaps only alluded to
in 1 Timothy 6:20-21 where it is referred to as empty chatter and opposing
arguments falsely called knowledge. (2) The Greek culture was one that had a hunger
for knowledge and wisdom that could only be satisfied by acquiring more and
more knowledge. (3) The Greeks were also pantheists believing in
many gods and therefore were perhaps struggling with the belief in only one God. False teachers were perhaps emerging within
the congregation of the Church in Ephesus introducing myths or what we would
call today a new revelation or interpretation of sound doctrine (1 Timothy1:4). These false teachings would only
lead to arguments and divisions in the church and distract people from learning
to live lives of faith in the one true God (1 Timothy 1:4).
3)
The doctrine of Ascenticism (Colossians 2:18-23)
– This doctrine teaches that sin in inherent in the material substance of the
human body and the only way for one to rid themselves of it is to punish their
bodies through self-denial or in extreme cases, physical punishment of the
body. (2) While Christians are wise to avoid certain
activities such as those mentioned by Paul in 1 Timothy 1:10, simply abstaining
from these activities are of no value against fleshly indulgence for only the
blood of Christ, the Word of God, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
provides the strength we need to avoid sinful temptations.
4)
The doctrine of Antinomianism – This doctrine is
the direct opposite of Ascenticism for it teaches a separation of body and
soul, allowing the body to engage in any activity while maintaining the purity
of the soul. Paul chastised this doctrine
in 2 Timothy 3:2-9. (2)
5)
The doctrine of Docetism – This doctrine teaches
that God could have nothing to do with matter and taught that it was
inconceivable that Christ could be God in the flesh. (2) The Apostle John confronted this belief and
urged believers to test teaching by determining if it taught that Jesus was God
in the flesh. Any teaching denying this
is false teaching (1 John 4:1-3).
There are false teachings rampant in the Church today, many
of which are similar to those Paul would have encountered. We therefore as soldiers dedicated to
fighting well in the Lord’s battles, must be aware of these false teachings and
gird ourselves up with a foundation of truth to confront these false
doctrines. Among the great lies of the
church today are,
1)
Overemphasis of Prosperity – The Bible teaches
that the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Some have interpreted this to mean that money
is evil but it is only loving money above loving God that is evil. However, some in today’s church, in an effort
to increase their membership and finances teach that God wants all his children
to be rich. They cite scripture like
Luke 6:38. However, Jesus also said that
in this world we would have trouble (John 16:33) and that we should not store
up our treasures on earth but in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). God does promise to meet our needs
(Philippians 4:19) but it is incorrect doctrine to believe this equates to
being rich. (4)
2)
Exaggerated view of Grace – Ephesians 2:8
reminds us that our salvation is through grace and not our own works for
nothing we could ever do would earn salvation from our sins. However, some erroneously take this to mean that
one can go on sinning after salvation and God’s grace insures they are
saved. This is similar to the doctrine
of Antinimianism in the time of Paul and just as that doctrine was incorrect
then, it remains incorrect today. In
addition, we must question the sincerity of heart of someone accepting Christ
with the intention of continuing to live the sinful life they led prior to
accepting Christ but since only God knows the hearts of men and women, we must
leave that judgment to God. (4)
3)
Antinimianism – This is the next step in one
having an over exaggerated view of grace and is a brand of Christianity absent
of one striving to grow in Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to transform their
sinful thinking (Romans 12:1-2). God’s
grace is not some get out of jail free card allowing us to continue living in
sin but came at the cost of God’s only Son.
We therefore should reciprocate by expressing our love for God through
allowing the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to transform us. (4)
4)
Deification of Man – This brand of Christianity
teaches that Jesus came to make us bigger and better. This teaching strives to elevate people to an
equal level with God and cites 2 Corinthians 5:21 as proof of God’s desire to
elevate us to an equal level with Him.
However Romans 3:21-24 teaches that the righteousness of God in Christ
justifies us but does not mean we achieve equality with God. (4)
5)
Challenging the Authority of the Word – The
Bible narrative can be viewed as a love story with God creating the universe
with man being his greatest creation only to have man sin and become separated
from God (Genesis 1-3). The remainder of
the narrative is God creating a path for his greatest creation to be reconciled
to Him. The narrative ends with God once
again living in fellowship with man as it was in the beginning (Revelation22). Therefore, the narrative of the
Bible is complete and there is no need for additional divine revelation, only
teaching to help us understand what is already contained in the narrative. Therefore, the church needs no further
authority than the Word of God. (4)
6)
Rejecting Hell – Throughout church history, we
have experienced what many term hellfire and brimstone preaching. While this is the destination of those that
continue to reject God’s gift of redemption, it fails to teach that God could
have simply left us to our sins but instead provided a path to reconciliation
through the death of His Son on the cross.
Unfortunately, many churches have abandoned or even rejected the
existence of hell perhaps fearing this will turn people off. However, if hell does not exist and there is
no eternal punishment for our sins, why even bother accepting Christ. (4)
7)
Universal Reconciliation – This is the next step
in the rejection of hell and teaches that Jesus death on the cross means all
humanity is saved and there is no need for us to do anything, in essence, the
doors of Hell are closed. Those adopting
this flawed doctrine believe that there are many paths to reconciliation with
God and is in direct contrast to Jesus declaration that He is the only way to
salvation (John 14:6). (4)
The belt of truth is a foundational weapon in the arsenal of
one dedicated to fighting well the Lords battles. This truth is also vital to exposing the lies
of false doctrine which scripture warns us about in the last days (1 John 4:1). We therefore must make it our mission to
continue girding ourselves up with the truth.
Next Wednesday, we will learn the proper use of the
Law.
1. Johnson, Dave. Armor of God: Belt of Truth. lifehopeand
truth.com. [Online] Life Hope & Truth. [Cited: June 11, 2016.] http://lifehopeandtruth.com/change/christian-conversion/armor-of-god/belt-of-truth/.
2. Williams, Bob.
False Doctrines of the Early Church. www.biblelessons.com. [Online]
Biblelessons.com. [Cited: June 11, 2016.] www.biblelessons.com/doctrine.html.
3. Schmidt, Tiffany.
Philosophy in Ancient Greece. cgim.dbq.edu. [Online] CDIM, January 29,
2005. [Cited: June 11, 2016.]
4. Hill, Steve.
The 7 Great Lies in the Church Today. www.charismamag.com. [Online]
Charisma Podcast Network, April 5, 2013. [Cited: June 12, 2016.]
www.charismamag.com/spirit/spiritual-growth/17093-the-7-great-lies-in-the-church-today.
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