Beware of the Leaven

We see an increase today of new ways to interpret Scripture that has saturated nearly all of Christendom. With the advent of the internet, we also see the prophecied increase in knowledge, but not all knowledge is good or Godly. Those areas of knowledge that are most dangerous are of the esoteric or cryptic kind: Philosophy, Psychology, New Age Mysticism, Neopaganism, Sufism, Theosophy, Kabbalism, Rosicrucianism, Astrology, and many, many, more. Christianity has not gone unaffected by these mysterious diseases. Very many Churches have incorporated some of these teachings into the fabric of Sunday sermons and teaching sessions. When we interpret the Word of God through any of these filters we effectively alienate ourselves from God. So, consequently, today we have many Gospels but still only one Truth. With the increase of knowledge, many Christians have become illiterate. So how are we to decide which of the many Gospels is the true Good News?

The things we believe to be true about God are reflected in the doctrines we accept, or said a different way, our doctrine is a direct reflection of how we view God. This is why it is so important that Christians adhere to all the simple teachings of Christ and His Apostles and not build a system of preferential doctrines. We see that each subsequent generation seems to discover new and heretofore unknown doctrines and even complete belief systems. It has been said by these pioneers that “We need a new theology constructed through the synthesis of current dialog,  a new foundation for discovered truths.” These new “Emerging” theologians of today (Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, and many others) would argue that new wine cannot be kept in old bottles lest they break, so new bottles must be created to handle their progressive interpretations. The new wine referred to by Jesus (Matthew 9:14-17) is the concrete teachings of the New Testament and the old wineskin is the Law of the Old Testament, especially the corrupted version of the Pharisees. These deceivers would have us believe that the new wineskin is a lens through which Scriptures must be viewed and interpreted, a new foundation that can handle their new (wine) doctrines. Over many hundreds of years, progressive theologians have slowly corrupted the true and simple teachings of Jesus and today the corruption is so complete that a person can hardly understand the simplicity of Christ without first consulting one of these new gurus of modernity.

Yesterday I read about the Corona Virus that has the ability to infect large numbers of people worldwide and to kill innocent unsuspecting people at random. We should pay attention to what is happening and take precautions. Most people will probably keep their antennas up and listen to those who are close to the problem when they give advice. When it comes to something more grave and threatening, like eternal TRUTH, we tend to listen to only those parts of the message that tickle our ears or of immediate concern and ignore the truth for a feeling of ease and comfort. There is something that is more grave to our health than the Corona Virus, it is the eternal death from the infection of false doctrines.

Psychology is the Corona Virus of this present time and it has infected very many Christians worldwide. When Jesus made the statement, “Will I even find faith on the earth when I return” He was not just trying to scare people, although a good scare might be productive, He was sounding a general alarm that we need to throw out everything we ever knew about the truth and start all over again fresh.

Revelation 2:4-5 “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent . . . .”!!?