In 1:9 Paul does not say “sound teaching” or even “pure teaching”; he speaks of “healthy teaching.” Certain teachings may be sound or pure without being healthy. Healthy teaching is always related to life and is able either to nourish us or to heal us. Only something living can be healthy. For example, we do not speak of a table or chair as being healthy. The teachings of the apostles were not only sound and pure, but were healthy, full of life.
The crucial point of the healthy teaching of the apostolic ministry concerns the Triune God processed to dispense Himself as the all-inclusive Spirit into His chosen ones so that they may be brought into an organic union to receive the divine transfusion and thereby become sons of God and members of Christ. As a result, they can be the Body to express Christ, the One in whom the fullness of God dwells. Almost all of this is neglected by Christians today. Even those teachings which are truly sound are for the most part superficial.
Some believers are told nothing more than that if they receive the Lord, they will be saved by grace. They do not even receive an adequate explanation concerning what it is this grace saves them from. According to Ephesians 2:8, a verse often quoted in pointing out that salvation is by grace, to be saved does not mean to be saved from hell. According to the context, to be saved is to be saved from death, or from a deadening situation, that we may be raised up and seated in the heavens in a living way. Furthermore, contrary to the common, superficial understanding, grace in Ephesians 2:8 is not simply unmerited favor. It is the Triune God as everything to us for our enjoyment. Christians who emphasize the preaching of the gospel often quote Ephesians 2:8. However, because they understand this verse very superficially, rarely does anyone touch the reality of it.
In the foregoing message we pointed out that Paul was an apostle according to the command of God, the promise of eternal life, the faith of God’s chosen ones, and the full knowledge of the truth. Can the majority of Christian teachers honestly say that they have the full knowledge of the truth? Certainly not. They may be familiar with particular doctrines and consider this doctrinal knowledge the full knowledge of the truth. Some may know all about the seven dispensations and yet not possess the full knowledge of the truth. The Lord Jesus once declared, “I am the truth” (John 14:6). If, as is the practice of many Christians, we interpret truth to mean doctrine, then the Lord Jesus would have been saying, “I am the doctrine.” How ridiculous! Many Christians, even Bible teachers, do not know the meaning of truth in the New Testament. Eventually, superficiality can lead to hypocrisy, and hypocrisy, to superstition.
There is a doctrine commonly held among Christians that as long as a person believes in the Lord Jesus, he is saved and he will have no problems at the time of the Lord’s coming. According to this view, when the believers are raptured, they will not have any problems with the Lord, and all will reign with Him in the kingdom. There is even a bumper sticker which makes light of the rapture by saying: “Warning-in case of rapture, this car will be unmanned.” Many Christians mistakenly believe that simply because they are saved they have a “ticket” which will admit them into the kingdom of the heavens. But as D. M. Panton has pointed out, many will be surprised to realize that this ticket is false and will not admit them into the heavenly kingdom. A great many of today’s Christians may have the shocking realization that the ticket which some minister told them would guarantee an entrance into the kingdom will not be accepted at the time of the Lord’s coming. Because such superficial and even superstitious teachings are prevalent today, we need to fight against them, just as Paul fought against the hypocrisies of Judaism and Gnosticism.
Another teaching we must oppose is the saying that as long as two or three meet in the name of the Lord, they are the church. According to this erroneous teaching, there can be many different churches in a locality. What falsehood! Two or three believers may meet in the name of the Lord, but that does not necessarily mean that they are the church in that locality.
Although we need to fight against superficial and superstitious teachings, this definitely does not mean that we deliberately cause trouble to our family, relatives, friends, or neighbors. Yes, we must fight for the truth of God. We must be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. However, it is absolutely necessary that we maintain the best relationship with others. The young people must honor their parents, and we all need to have a proper relationship with our family, relatives, and neighbors. We in the Lord’s recovery should be the best neighbors and the most peaceable of people. It is an evil rumor and slander to say that we are not human. We aspire to be the most human of people, those who are Jesusly human, divinely human. In all our contact with others, we need to display the highest humanity and the best conduct and behavior. We are not fighting against persons-we are fighting against isms.
Our burden is not simply to oppose superficiality, hypocrisy, and superstition. It is to minister Christ and the church for the fulfillment of God’s economy. God our Father certainly has an eternal purpose to fulfill. But Satan has come in with many distractions and falsehoods. Our burden must be to minister the all-inclusive Christ and the church as the Body of Christ to those who love God and seek Christ. We need to help all those who pursue the Lord to come to the full knowledge of the truth. We need to sound the trumpet that those who seek the Lord Jesus may come together as a living Body of Christ to fulfill God’s purpose and to hasten the coming of the Lord. Concerning this, we all must be desperate and give ourselves to prayer. On the one hand, we like to maintain a peaceful situation with others. On the other hand, for the sake of God’s purpose, we must stand firm for the full knowledge of God’s truth and fight the good fight against the evil powers of darkness.
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