The first kind of heresy relates to the authority of the Bible. Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed.” Christian faith and conduct are based absolutely on the Bible. Isaiah 8:20 says, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because in them there is no dawn.” The law and testimony spoken of in this verse is the Scripture. Everything has to be measured by the Bible. If anyone measures anything by another standard, he is preaching heresy. The most popular heresies today set up other things as standards. For example, some say that the church is the standard. Others say that the Bible sets the general standard, but that the church sets the specific standards. They put out many ordinances in addition to the Bible. We cannot have fellowship with any group that bases its teaching and judgment on any person or organization. Adding anything to the Scripture is heresy. Some have said that the Bible is right, but that they have received additional inspirations. This is surely a heresy. For example, in Shanghai a group of Bible students claim that a man must read their “Studies in the Scriptures” before he can know the Bible. These are the Russellites, otherwise known as Jehovah’s Witnesses. They have other authorities in addition to God’s Word. This is wrong. Consider the Christian Scientists. They claim that their words have the same standing as the Bible. Anyone who puts his word on the same level as the Bible is surely a heretic. A man can have no authority apart from the Bible. Some who believe in supernatural phenomena say that the Holy Spirit speaks through the Bible on the one hand, but that He also speaks independently through them on the other hand. They do not realize that God’s revelation is one complete entity. All the revelations complement one another; there is no conflict between them. Any new speaking must complement the established revelations recorded in the Bible. Hence, anything that deviates from the Bible or elevates itself to a position of authority is a heresy.
The second kind of heresy has to do with the person of Christ. Satan’s greatest goal in introducing heresies is to attack the person of Christ. The Scripture shows us that the Lord Jesus Himself is God (John 1:1-3). Yet Satan wants men to deny that He is God. Concerning the person of Christ, the Bible shows us (1) that the Lord Jesus is God, (2) that He is the Son of God, (3) that He is the Christ appointed by God, (4) that He is a perfect man, and (5) that after His resurrection He is both God and man in heaven. At that time, God made Him both Lord and Christ. Some may ask, how can He be both man and God as well as the Son of God? They think that this is too confusing and that no one can know who Christ is. You can just tell them that the Bible says so. Christ also said that no man can know the Son except by the Father’s revelation (Matt. 16:17). The Lord admitted that it is not easy to know His person. Heretics only acknowledge one aspect of the Lord’s person; they do not acknowledge all the aspects. But to deny any one aspect of His person is enough to constitute a teaching as a heresy. Throughout the ages, many heresies have concentrated their attack on one or more aspects of the Lord Jesus’ person. As long as one can annul one aspect of His person, he can annul the entire work of the Lord. For example, some people say that the Lord Jesus was not a man. This annuls His work of redemption through the blood. Some people say that He is not God. This annuls the power of His work in the remission of sins. Those who attack the person of Christ do not have to attack every aspect of His person; they only have to annul one aspect, and then they are more than qualified to be called a heretic.
Man has many kinds of misunderstandings about the Bible. Some of these misunderstandings are excusable, while others are inexcusable. Concerning the person of Christ, we have to be very strict in upholding its integrity. Although you may not understand many teachings about the person of Christ and may not be able to satisfactorily explain them, you have to acknowledge the facts. Most heresies concentrate their attacks on certain aspects of the person of Christ. This is Satan’s ultimate goal. The apostle John pointed this out in his old age. If anyone says that Christ is one person while Jesus is another, he is preaching heresy. If anyone says that after the death and resurrection of Christ, there is only the Spirit and that Christ ceases to exist, he is likewise preaching heresy. If anyone says that God first created a “Word,” that the Word was God’s first creation, after which the Word created the heaven and earth and all the living creatures, he is preaching heresy. If anyone says that Christ is a Spirit subordinate to God and superior to the angels, who came to earth to be a man, he is preaching heresy. Some separate the Son of God from the man Jesus on earth. Some separate the man Jesus on earth from the resurrected and ascended Christ. Some deny that Jesus of Nazareth is now in heaven. Man uses two knives, one to cut off the Son of God from Jesus of Nazareth, the other to cut off the man Jesus from the resurrected and ascended Christ. Those who do this are preaching heresy. Satan loves to confuse the person of Christ. First John 3 says that the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil (v. 8). If a man does not recognize that Jesus the Son of God has come in the flesh, it means that he does not recognize the Lord’s work in destroying the devil. Hence, those who destroy the person of Christ destroy God’s plan.
Second John 7 says that “those who do not confess Jesus Christ coming in the flesh” are deceivers. Man may believe that the earthly Jesus was a man, yet not believe that He was God coming in the flesh. This separates the Son of God from the earthly man. Verse 10 is a very serious word; it was spoken by one who was full of love: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not say to him, Rejoice!” Verse 11 says, “For he who says to him, Rejoice, shares in his evil works.” Those who love the Lord must love and protect His person. First John 4:1 says, “Do not believe every spirit, but prove the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Verse 2 is the same as 2 John 7, except it states the fact in another way. Verse 3, which is the same as 1 Corinthians 12:3, says, “Every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God.” To not confess Jesus means to not acknowledge Him as the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ’s coming in the flesh involves His history on earth, while His becoming the Lord involves His history in glory. God proclaimed Him Lord on the day of Pentecost. Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that Jesus died and never resurrected. They say that three days after Jesus was crucified, “Christ Jesus the divine” was born. This is heresy; this is not merely a difference in interpretation. All those who break up the person of the Lord Jesus into different entities are heretics. The heretics always break up the one person of the Lord Jesus into different persons. Many heresies are aimed at destroying the person of our Lord Jesus.