hope

Last week we looked at the problem of hypocrisy and how we’re all vulnerable to the accusation of not living up to God’s calling. But when we admit failure, we hypocrites find hope in Christ and what He has done for us.

For a Christian, even worse than hypocrisy is heresy. It differs from the label of an unbeliever. Heretics aren’t non-believers; they adhere to their doctrines. But they reject orthodox biblical truth.

Some of Jesus’ original followers reconsidered their commitment and ended up abandoning Him.

“On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’ ⁶¹Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? . . . ⁶⁶From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” – John 6:60-61, 66

Heretics claim faith; but what they believe differs from the gospel. They adopt and proclaim non-scriptural ideas about the nature of God, the person and work of Jesus Christ, and the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. Throughout the history of the church, theologians and pastoral leaders have fought false teachings that contradicted the message of Jesus Christ.

But in the Bible, heresy takes on a different tone.

The Greek word hairesis occurs nine times in the New Testament. Six are in the book of Acts and describe religious sects, including Sadducees, Pharisees, and Christians.

Paul mentions the word twice. In one verse (1 Corinthians 11:19), it means “differences” and in the other (Galatians 5:20), it’s translated as “factions.”

Peter refers to it once (2 Peter 2:1) where it retains the translation “heresies.”

You would think that the Bible would use the term quite a bit, but the only reference to a heretic in the New Testament is in the King James Version:

“A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; ¹¹Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.” – Titus 3:10-11

The New American Standard Bible uses another phrase:

“Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, ¹¹knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.” – Titus 3:10-11

And the New International Version (the Bible I usually quote in my blog posts) employs still another:

“Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. ¹¹You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.” – Titus 3:10-11

These versions show that the word “heretic” has less to do with erroneous teaching than with the disruption of community within the church. It’s relational, not intellectual.

Or is it?

How do heretics alienate Christians from each other? By teaching things that differ from “the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3).

Personalities didn’t set Sadducees against Pharisees against Christians; theology did.

And in the early church, various groups coalesced around ideas that appealed to the interests of people who wanted to advance their spiritual status in unhealthy or specious ways. Their teachers defied the truth of the gospel and substituted their own insights.

Christians must avoid heresy at all costs.

“Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so.” – Hebrews 13:9

But heresy can be powerful and positive. For example, last year, the British newspaper, The Guardian, touted the necessity of introducing heretical thinking into economics to revitalize it. The paper held up the medieval German theologian Martin Luther as an example of a revolutionary. He reversed the meaning of heresy. According to The Guardian, Luther “made ‘heretic’ into a term of moral approval. He didn’t mean to: he thought it was his opponents who had fallen into heresy. To Luther, and to everyone before him, a heretic was someone who was wrong in fact and morally wrong as well . . . The word has come to imply moral integrity, and the hope of future vindication.”

Through his study of the book of Romans, Luther concluded that contrary to the dogma of the day, God justifies sinners not by their good works but by their faith in Christ.

“For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed–a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” – Romans 1:17

Luther aligned himself with the plain teaching of the Bible:

• “He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ ³¹They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.’” – Acts 16:30-31
• “Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” – Galatians 2:16 (NLT)
• “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9
• “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” – 1 John 5:13

Martin Luther didn’t seek to challenge the church or to contradict the Bible. He pursued God’s revealed truth and discovered for himself and for others the beauty of divine grace in Christ. And once he trusted Jesus alone for salvation, there was no going back.

If you’re going to suffer the charge of heresy, if you’re going to challenge the flaws of the status quo, make sure you’re right!

And the only way to do that is to seek the Lord and delve into His Word. As Luther is reputed to have declared, “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason (I do not accept the authority of popes and councils because they have contradicted each other), my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. So help me God. Amen.”

Jesus is the hope of heretics who trust Him!