Guarding Against False Teaching

Day 285.
[Paul works hard] that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments… See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:2-4, 8 ESV)

No matter how smart you think you are there is a danger of going astray from the truth found solely in Christ if you drift away from the church. The church is the place God has deposited his truth, built of living stones that are “knit together in love.” The danger of going astray is real because arguments seem plausible on the one hand and appealing on the other. The reason there are false religions in the world today is because they carry some appeal to the followers. The appeal is a sense of power or closeness to God that keeps the individual in control. In a sense, false religions hold out a way to get God under your control by living a certain way. When Christians fall to these false religions it is often because they have slipped away from the church, the body of Christ.

and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. (Colossians 2:2-4, 8, 19 ESV)

This happens when people see the church not as the dwelling place of God, but merely a place where spiritual goods and services are available if and when needed. When that idea creeps into our thinking, church becomes optional as we rarely think we really need it.

Can you imagine losing a ligament in your body? When a person makes church optional he not only puts himself at risk but damages the body. How might you guard yourself from false teaching?

Ask God to hold you close and thank Him for the gift of the church!

McCheyne’s Bible Reading Plan: 1 Kings 15, Co 2, Ez 45, Ps 36