#3 Fundamental Foundations Of Faith (Identifying False Doctrines) Series

Fundamentals of Faith

Understanding The False Doctrines Of The Apostasy

INTRO.

A. In our first lesson, we sought to gain a better understanding of the church by

understanding the name and the nature of the church.

1. We are the “called out” that is the meaning of the word ‘Ekklesia'

2. The church is the body of Christ, and there is only one body- Eph. 4:4.

B. In the second lesson we saw how it was foretold that the early church would fall

into apostasy. In Acts 20:30 Paul wrote that men would rise up and draw

disciples away from the truth.

C. Today, I would like for us to consider some of the false doctrines that began to

be taught by the apostate church.

D. By knowing what these false doctrines are and knowing what the Bible actually

teaches, we can safeguard the church against them.

I. UNSCRIPTURAL USE OF NAMES

A. Father, as a religious title- Mt. 23:9

“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.”

1. As I said, this is referring to its use in a religious sense.

2. Noting wrong with referring to your biological father as your father Eph. 6:4

“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the

training and admonition of the Lord.” [same Greek word used in both verses]

3. To refer to any preacher or minister as “Father” is a clear violation of Jesus‘

command. I am not Father Tim!

4. But this is what happened as the church fell into apostasy, people began to

refer to religious leaders as “Father.”

B. Priest- as a title for a specific group in the church.

1. What about referring to me as “the priest” at North Brandon?

2. This is also a violation of the scriptures because all of us are priests I Pet. 2:5,10

“5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy

priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through

Jesus Christ…9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy

nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who

called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”

3. Every child of God, every baptized believer is a priest. We are all

priests of God, so it would be wrong to give me and Greg the title of priests

alone. We are all priests in God’s service.

4. However, there are many religious groups today that do just that, only those

who have dedicated their lives to preaching the gospel are called priests.

5. This led to the division of the believers into the priestly class and the laity.

This is why priests in these denominations wear special garments, to

distinguish them from the members. However, the Lord does not want us to

make these kinds of distinctions among ourselves Gal. 3:28

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither

male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We are all one in Christ.

Equal

C. Many religious groups today refer to a separate class of people as “fathers” or

“priests.” This is a digression from the teaching of the N.T.

II. FORBIDDING MARRIAGE

A. I Tim. 4:1-3a

“1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith,

giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy,

having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry…”

As the church fell into apostasy, it was believed by many that if you wanted to be

truly holy, you needed to remain free from all fleshly entanglements. To be truly

holy, you needed to remain celibate- unmarried.

B. However, the New Testament indicates that many of the apostles were married.

1. Mk. 1:29-31

“29 Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house

of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon's wife's mother lay

sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31 So He came and took

her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she

served them.”

2. I Cor. 9:5-6

“5 Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other

apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who

have no right to refrain from working?” This clearly states that many of the

apostles and church leaders were married. There is no indication at all that an

extra layer of holiness was gained by being unmarried.

C. Furthermore, the New Testament indicates that to be a bishop, a man must be