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Erroneous Doctrines Dangerous
SAYS the apostle Jude, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto
you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was
once delivered unto the saints." The apostles and their colaborers in the early
Christian. church were constantly obliged to meet heresies, which were brought
in by false teachers in the very bosom of the church. These teachers are
represented not as coming openly, but creeping in unawares, with the gliding
motion of a serpent. They followed their own pernicious ways, but were not
satisfied without drawing away others with them. They had no connected chain of
truth, but taught a disjointed medley of ideas, supported bar a passage of
Scripture here and another there. These disconnected scriptures were woven
together into a tissue of falsehood that would strike the fancy, and would
deceive those who had not, by searching the Scriptures for themselves, become
established in the truth for that time.
Satan worked through these false teachers. Under a profession of regard for
the truth, they concealed base purposes, for their hearts were corrupt. Had they
come disclaiming faith in Christ, they would have been rejected at once; but
professing to believe in him, they gained the confidence of some, and without
shame or conscience perverted the truth to suit their own unsanctified hearts.
And when once these deluded souls had departed from the old landmarks of faith,
they had let go their anchor, and were tossed about like the waves of the sea.
These lying prophets are described in the word of God; their deeds are recorded
in the register of Heaven. Their hearts and their deceptive, wicked works were
not understood by men; but the Lord saw them; he read their hearts as an open
book, and knew that their very thoughts and purposes were corrupt.
False teachers are just as active in our day as they were in the days of the
apostles. Satan has many agents, and they are ready to present any and every
kind of theory to deceive souls, heresies prepared to suit the varied tastes and
capacities of those whom he would ruin. There are cheap fallacies for those who
are easily led into error, and who desire something new, odd, or fanciful, which
they cannot explain intelligently: or even understand themselves. A mysterious,
disconnected set of ideas is more in accordance with their minds than the plain
truth, which has a "Thus saith the Lord" for its foundation. He has other
heresies, — intellectual poisons, — which he has concocted for another class of
minds in this age of skepticism and proud reasoning. These sophistries have a
bewitching power over minds, and thousands are deceived by them.
One class have a theory that there is no personal devil, and that Christ had
no existence before he came to this earth; and they try to maintain these absurd
theories by wresting scriptures frown their true meaning. The utter folly of
human wisdom in matters of religious faith is thus made manifest. The heart that
is not sanctified, and imbued with the spirit of Christ, is perverse in its
interpretation of the inspired word, turning the truth of God into senseless
falsehood; and some who have not searched the Scriptures with humble hearts
allow these wild speculations to unsettle their faith; they accept them in place
of the plainly revealed will of God.
Satan assails another class with arguments that present a greater show of
plausibility. Science and nature are exalted. Men consider themselves wiser than
the word of God, wiser even than God; and instead of planting their feet on the
immovable foundation, and bringing everything to the test of God's word, they
test that word by their own ideas of science and nature, and if it seems not to
agree with their scientific ideas, it is discarded as unworthy of credence. Thus
the great standard by which to test doctrines and character is set aside for
human standards. This is as Satan designed it should be. Some say, "It is no
matter what we believe, if we are only honest." But the law and the testimony
remain valid, and we are to seek unto them.
The law of God is the great moral standard by which character is to be
judged. It is the expression of his will, and must be obeyed from the heart. Its
holy principles must underlie our course of action in all our business
relations. Those who belittle their profession of faith by conformity to the
world, show that they despise the riches of the grace of Christ. They cry. "The
grace of Christ! we are not saved by works, but by Christ;" but they continue in
sin, — continue to transgress the law of God. They act as though they considered
it their privilege to live in sin that grace may abound. But every indulgence in
sin weakens the soul; it welcomes Satan to come in and control the mind, making
the individual his effectual servant.
In these days of delusion, every one who is established in the truth will
have to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. Every variety of
error will be brought out in the mysterious working of Satan, which would, if it
were possible, deceive the very elect, and turn them from the truth. There will
be human wisdom to meet, — the wisdom of learned men, who, as were the
Pharisees, are teachers of the law of God, but do not obey the law themselves.
There will be human ignorance and folly to meet in disconnected theories arrayed
in new and fantastic dress, — theories that it will be all the more difficult to
meet because there is no reason in them.
There will be false dreams and false visions, which have some truth, but
lead away from the original faith. The Lord has given men a rule by which to
detect them: "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them." If they belittle the law of
God, if they pay no heed to his will as revealed in the testimonies of his
Spirit, they are deceivers. They are controlled by impulse and impressions,
which they believe to be from the Holy Spirit, and consider more reliable than
the inspired word. They claim that every thought and feeling is an impression of
the Spirit; and when they are reasoned with out of the Scriptures, they declare
that they have something more reliable. But while they think that they are led
by the Spirit of God, they are in reality following an imagination wrought upon
by Satan.
Their character was described and their doom denounced by the ancient
prophets. It was ordained of old that those who unsettle faith in the word of
God should bear the condemnation of God.
Jude says, "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew
this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt,
afterward destroyed them that believed not." This will be the sure fate of all
the characters described by Jude, who depart from God, and lead others away from
the truth. Although the Lord gave Israel the greatest evidences of his favor,
and upon condition of obedience, the rich promise that they should be to him a
peculiar people, a royal nation, yet because of their unbelief and disobedience
he could not fulfill the promise. Because of their transgressions, he removed
his restraining power over their enemies, the ungodly nations around them, and
did not protect them as he had done.
Some profess Christianity year after year, and in some things appear to
serve God, and yet they are far from him. They give loose rein to appetite and
passion, and follow their own unsanctified inclinations, loving pleasure and the
applause of men more than God or his truth. But God reads the secrets of the
heart. Base thoughts lead to base actions. Self-righteousness, pride, and
licentiousness are far-reaching, deep, and almost universal. These tare the sins
for which God destroyed the inhabitants of the old world by a flood of water,
and they are corrupting the churches in these last days. They are the hidden
rocks upon which are wrecked thousands and tens of thousands who profess
godliness. Only those who are closely connected with God will escape the devices
of Satan and the prevailing moral corruptions of this age.
The character is revealed by the works, not by occasional good deeds and
occasional misdeeds, but by the tendency of the habitual words and acts. Those
who would put God out of their knowledge will show a want of principle. man will
show which master he is serving with the strength of his intellect, his skill,
and his ability. The servant of Christ will watch unto prayer; he will be
devoted, humble, meek and lowly in heart, seeking to know and do the will of
God. Whereas he was once the servant of sin, he has, through the grace of God,
become transformed in mind and character. He will love the day of Christ's
appearing; for he will be able to say with Paul. "I have fought a good fight, I
have finished my course, I have kept the faith."
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Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, 10:[193], 194 , March 27, 1884.
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