Steer Clear of False Teachers - Tuesday with Timothy #70

1Ti 6:3-5 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, [even] the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

I think that the “otherwise” isn’t just to the immediate context, but the whole epistle. But this moves beyond this letter on to the whole counsel of God; the words of Christ and doctrine according to godliness. The warning is for those who do not teach truth and will not consent to truth. False teacher who teach contrary to God’s word and will not submit to God’s word are condemned. These men teach contrary to the wholesome, healthy truth of God’s word and are against the words of Jesus Christ, even though they claim to be his ministers. The doctrine of God is according to godliness and teaching that doesn’t not teach, promote, and pursue godliness in the lives of the church is falsehood. You need to steer clear of any such man or ministry that teaches such false doctrine.

Paul pulls the cover off these false teachers and gets to the heart. Here are the characteristics of the false teachers.

1)      Proud

2)      Ignorant

3)      Morbid fascination with questioning truth

4)      Concerned with deconstructing language and fighting about things that don’t matter

5)      Corrupt minds

6)      Destitute of the truth

7)      Equates money and gain with godliness

What are the consequences of such a mind?

1)      Envy

2)      Strife

3)      Blasphemous slander

4)      Evil suspicions

5)      Meddlesome and perverse disputes

1) Pride will cause a man to never receive the truth. He won’t sit at the feet of Christ and learn. He won’t listen to the rebuke of Scripture because he is already right. He will protect himself and promote himself, caring little for the souls of others.

2) It’s interesting that pride and ignorance are linked together here, because they are often linked together in life. Sometimes, the less a man knows, the more proud he is about it. Ignorance of revealed truth is a shame for anyone, but ignorance in a teach is really inexcusable and extremely dangerous. Paul says they are know nothing’s of the truth and don’t put up with or listen to teachers who don’t know the truth.

3) Next, doting about questions, or a morbid fascination with questioning truth.  Here is Strong’s definition of the Greek word translated “doting”. νοσέω noséō, nos-eh'-o; from G3554; to be sick, i.e. (by implication, of a diseased appetite) to hanker after (figuratively, to harp upon):— Thayer's says it is to be sick; metaphorically of any ailment of the mind. To be taken with such an interest in a thing as amounts to a disease, to have a morbid fondness for. There is nothing wrong with asking questions, but what kind of questions are you asking? What is your motivation for asking questions? There are different types of questions. It’s a modern proverb to say there are no such things as stupid questions. I have worked much of my adult life in helpdesk settings, and I can attest that is utterly false. There are stupid questions. As a pastor, I also know that not all questions are good questions. Some are to gain information. Some are to find out where you stand on a particular issue, curious about your thoughts on a subject. There are wicked questions, there are question designed to entrap, there are questions designed to bring doubt and confusion. These men have a sick fascination with questioning truth that there are no answers to. This isn’t the sign of a profound or deep mind. Be wary of teachers who always have questions. It’s not humble, but as we have seen, it’s ignorance and pride, and deceptively wicked.

We'll come back and look at some more next time, Lord willing.