Proximity And Heresy
By Pastor Tony Butler
“I marvel that you are
turning away so soon from Him
Who called you in the
grace of Christ,
To a different gospel,
which is not another;
But there are some who
trouble you
And want to pervert the
gospel of Christ.
Even if we, or an angel
from heaven
Preach any other gospel
to you
Let him be accursed.
Galatians 1:6-8
The heresy that Paul was addressing to the
Galatian church was their beginning to turn away from justification by faith to
justification by works law, namely the circumcision of Moses in order to be
saved. Paul warns them that this turning
away to another gospel (which really wasn’t another gospel, but a heresy) would
bring the anathema of God to any who would pervert the true gospel, which is
that a man is saved, forgiven, and declared
righteous by faith, alone (Gal. 2:16-21; 3:2, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14).
The key to understand why the Galatians were
beginning to accept the teachings of heresy is in the introductory verses. Somehow, they had begun to distance
themselves from Christ. When we begin to
distance ourselves from Christ, Who is the Truth, then we open ourselves for
deception. Remember the Prodigal son of
whom the Scriptures say “went into a far country,” far from his father, his
moral moorings and spiritual foundations.
In this far country, he spent his inheritance on riotous living. In the end, he repented and came back home
where he belonged.
In these last days, God’s people are often
removing themselves from close proximity to Jesus, in direct disregard of the
Scriptures which state, “draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” We are often like a chorus of a song I know
that says, “The truth is right in front of me, but I turn and walk away, looking
for the answers.”
Because God’s people are often not in close
proximity to Jesus, we are allowing sins and heresies in our midst that would
not normally be there. We have often
exchanged the truth for our selfish pursuits, and have allowed the deception of
Satan to challenge the eternal truths of Scripture by replacing them with our
vain opinions.
One of the greatest results of our distancing
from Christ is allowing the teachings of heretics, and accepting them as
brothers, all on the basis of commonality of doctrine. The false brethren that taught “Jesus, plus
circumcision for salvation” are no different than those who teach “Jesus, plus
Baptism,” “Jesus, plus a denomination,” “Jesus, plus the church, confession and
communion,” “Jesus, plus anything or anyone.”
Paul taught plainly in Ephesians 1:3, that everything of God is ours in
Christ. He, Himself, is sufficient to
save. He is received, and the Spirit is
given by faith, and faith, alone. The
false brethren of Gal. 2:4 believed in the Trinity and the resurrection, but
that did not save them. They never came
to God in the right way, and were telling the Galatians that faith in Jesus,
Alone, could not save them. Not only
were these false teachers, souls accursed of God, but also all who received
their message.
These false teachers can penetrate into the true
body of believers, as evidenced in the book of Galatians; but they can be and
should be exposed for what they are – false brethren or heretics. When I went to Promise Keepers, I was amazed
that as I was asked by their leaders to go find a member of a particular false
group that preaches works for salvation,
or Jesus plus, and ask his forgiveness for my condemnations of him. The truth
is that those who ask us to go to them ought, themselves, to cry out in
repentance to God, because they have been duped by a lie, and ask the Body of
Christ for forgiveness.
All that Christ has for us can only be received
by faith on the basis of Christ’s grace, and His Word (Gal. 3:2, 5). Commonality of doctrine can’t save us or
unite us. Ecumenism is a lie that
compromises the truth of Christ. We are
not one because we believe the same essential doctrines, but we are one because
by faith we trusted in Christ, Alone, for salvation (Eph. 2:8, 9; Gal. 3:26).
It is utter blasphemy to look at the One Who
took our place on the cross, and say to him, “What You did wasn’t enough, I
must add to it.” Precious reader, that
will bring the curse of God on your life.
Come to Jesus by faith, alone, and let your works be born out of a heart
of love, because you are saved not to be saved.
The further you get from Christ, the more you depend on your own
works. Stay close to Jesus, and you’ll
always find Him sufficient.