Dear Coolerthanme,
It seems from Paul's sadness and fear concerning the
spiritual welfare of young believers in Acts 20:28-30 (these verses are used in the post "How do recognize a wolf in sheep's clothing?"), that he
KNEW false teachers
would come from the outside and from the inside to rob them of their joy and freedom in Christ, to gain a following for themselves. Apparently, they weren't then and aren't now as few and far between as we would like to think. Recently Billy Graham's daughter, Anne, highlighted in her video series "Expecting to See Jesus", where she issues a wake-up call using the signs of Jesus' return, that she believes there are
many false teachers in the pulpits
today. She discusses this as one of the signs outlined in Matthew 24. So it might be easier than we realize to get involved with such teaching. It demonstrates how much Satan hates God's child, and now that he IS SAVED, wants to ship-wreck his present faith and steal the rewards he would definitely experience and gain here and in the next age from practicing it. Our ACTIVE FAITH is a greater act of COURAGE, and a
greater FIGHT in a BLOODY BATTLE than we can now imagine!
So, Paul
warns his friends with tears and
prays for their faith. And, for us, God's word gives us a record of what false "churches" do to believers.
It calls out the RESULTS OF FALSE TEACHING: the sheep's true loss of overflowing joy A good friend and colleague who I tried so hard to get into my old GCx church finally said openly to me after several visits and meeting numerous members,
"Why would I want to go somewhere where almost everyone seems to be crying on the inside, while smiling on the outside?" Paul says
point blank, "What has happened to all your joy?" (in Galations 4) Having present active faith produces REAL JOY.
"what has happened to all your joy?"
Galatians 4:15
Do you know what a wise and reliable christian psychologist once told me?
Depression, if not from a chemical imbalance, is caused by LOSS, it is grieving !.
It hit me! - - That my loss, back then, was my saviour.
What does Paul say he feared would happen to those christians? That they would be alienated (separated from sweet fellowship and dependence on their Saviour's deep unconditional love)
by those who isolated them for their own use The False Teachers had a grand plan to outdo OTHER CHRISTIAN LEADERS to make a "BETTER CHURCH" for personal showing. The young believers would then slowly drift away as they attempted through their efforts to be acceptable (as they had been told by men) to be "good WORTHY christians"; exchanging their
trusting in WHO they really were ALREADY in Christ
for WHAT they have deceptively been told (by agents of Satan) that
they must actually must DO to prove their devotion or "godliness". Christ would certainly not forsake them because He NEVER GOES AGAINST His Word. But that they would slowly desert Him, their HELPER, COUNSELOR, SHEPHERD, and FRIEND. Because Christ is our only true source of joy, that begins to fade away and they are left with only the flesh to perform things
only the SPIRIT through Faith can do.
The twisted way of life they call christianity becomes a
VERY heavy burden. The very thing to help them, renew them, refresh them and strengthen them
HAS BEEN CUT OFF like a separation from a beloved spouse and they experience a BEREAVEMENT. Their dependence (Present-tense Faith or Active Believing) on Christ and His Word is the only access to the spring of GRACE (ability to obey God) they so desparately need . Paul is worried they will fall away themselves from depending that very GRACE to live the christian life and thus, MISS OUT on all the joy and strength to actually live the
miraculous God has planned for them.
Anyhow, just wanted you to know that the deception we have experienced is not uncommon to get
caught up in according to the scriptures, and we should not condemn ourselves. But God does say to watch out for it and run for your VERY FAITH. Perhaps The Great Commission (X=Whatever) Churches should be more appropriately called "The
Better Commission Churches, since it is after all, a "better" (different) one than Jesus called us to.
Learning to Wise Up With You,
Janet Easson Martin
