Holding Fast the Faithful Word
And he [Yeshua] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Eph. 4:11–16 ESV)
For this reason I [Paul] left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— ... holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. (Titus 1:5–9 NKJV)
The elders of Grace and Truth Sabbath Fellowship encourages everyone to study the Bible and learn from other Bible teachers. We are all still learning; The Elders do not consider all our beliefs 100% correct and unchangeable. You are not constrained to believe and practice exactly what we do. You have the freedom to study and pray for wisdom, understanding and divine revelation.
But with that freedom comes responsibility. As it is a sin for big denomination’s leaders to proclaim false doctrines to millions, so it is a sin for all of us to teach false doctrine to one person. Obviously it is a lesser sin that affects fewer people, but we should not treat doctrines casually. We have the warning:
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. (James 3:1 ESV)
But that should not stop us from learning and teaching. Honest mistakes
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, (Acts 17:30 ESV)
Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, (Acts 18:24–27 ESV)
The purpose of this message is not to solve any specific doctrinal or other controversy, but to discuss the importance of truth and the process for determining it.
Start with humility, and love for those who are in error
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Matt. 23:37 ESV)
Daniel was a righteous man who both learned from existing Scripture and received many revelations from the Father, yet he was not of the “God loves me and not you” mentality.
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. (Dan. 9:1–5 NKJV)
The apostle Paul gave us great encouragement to rightly learn and the Scriptures:
This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. This saying is trustworthy:
For if we died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.
Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to fight about words. This is useless and leads to the ruin of those who listen. Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. Avoid irreverent and empty speech, since those who engage in it will produce even more godlessness, and their teaching will spread like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among them. They have departed from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and are ruining the faith of some. (2 Tim. 2:10–18 CSB17)
Effectively studying and teaching a doctrine requires much time and patience. It is not a matter of finding all of the scriptures that are compatible with our own views. It is a matter of finding Scriptures that establish that teaching, and a matter of truthfully answering questions about Scriptures that appear to contradict the teaching.
One of the best ways to study a doctrine is to make a table of the relevant verses, with a separate column for two or three of the primary understanding of that doctrine. Then fill in how each doctrinal understanding explains each scripture.
Table of All Relevant Bible Verses about a Particular Subject
Bible Verses Passage 1 Passage 2
Understanding A How “A” explains Passage 1 How “A” explains Passage 2
Understanding B How “B” explains Passage 1 How “B” explains Passage 2
Understanding C How “C” explains Passage 1 How “C” explains Passage 2
The advantages of this method are: 1) If part of an understanding is not based upon any Scripture, it does not make it into the table. 2) When a certain doctrinal understanding has no explanation for relevant scripture(s), it “sticks out like a sore thumb” in the table. This writer has used this method many times and sometimes changed his doctrinal understanding based upon it.
Check up on yourself
Do you believe you have a good understanding of doctrine, prophecy, world events, etc?
There is a way to find out! Keep a notebook with a description of each doctrine at the top of a page: The Passover, The Beast, winners of the next election—whatever is important to you. Put dates in the left margin and summarize what you believe to the right. Never erase or remove anything—if you come to a new understanding, just make a new entry below. Look at it after five years and see if you agree with all your past positions. Do you think all your current positions will be the same in another five years?
What about others that you have influenced? Did you help them grow in grace or knowledge, or distract them with things that did not help them be ready to reign with Yeshua.
Warning Signs of False Teachings
We need to be careful when listening to the teachings of others—whether it be from a well-known ministry, a YouTuber or a friend sitting at the same table. The following warning signs do not make a teaching false, but when several of them are present, be very careful.
A teacher about “subject B” starts with something like: “If they (other teachers) lied about subject A, wouldn’t they also lie about that subject B?” Sure, someone who lied about one subject is a practiced liar, so they might also lie about another. But this statement does not make a teaching about subject “B” any more or less true.
A teacher begins by trying to make you afraid of believing the “wrong thing” before he makes any valid comparison between the “right” and the “wrong” things.
More information is presented about what is wrong with other teachings than what is right about a new teaching.
Those who defame other teachers, call them names and make up clever sarcastic saying about them are usually lacking in the substance of their reasoning.
Use of hyperbole or embellished dogmatic assertions that one’s own view is true are not reasons to accept their point of view.
Fear-mongering: “If you don’t get this doctrine correct right now God is going to punish you.” (If you held an erroneous belief for many years, it is good to take weeks or months to before changing to a new teaching, lest you make a mistake again.)
“The truth about a subject has been hidden so well that on a handful of people know it.” (Then how can anyone know it is true?)
A teacher clearly has hate for those who disagree with him.
A teacher has little love for anybody.
The “help fund my teaching” message is as prominent as the teaching itself.
