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False christs, apostles, prophets, teachers are not brothers

A True Brother Or Sister Who Sins

        The book of Galatians, authored by Paul the apostle, is a letter written to Christians in which he discusses and expands on justification by faith, to the exclusion of the Mosaic law.
        Paul had previously discussed the subject of justification by faith in the book of Romans in a more scholarly and logical manner, but without special reference to the Judaizers in Galatia as he does in Galatians. Paul emphatically and passionately presents his argument that a Gentile does not have to convert to Judaism in order to be a convert to the new faith of Christianity.
        In Chapter 5 of Galatians Paul’s discussion focuses more on exhortations to Christian liberty, love and walking in the Spirit. In verses 22 and 23 Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit contrasting them with the works of the flesh in previous verses.
        Paul then shifts the discussion of how Christians are to relate to a brother who sins in one of those areas of the “works of the flesh” in an unintentional moment of human lapse, even though they belong to Jesus Christ.
        Note that in verse 1 of chapter 6, Paul addresses the “brethren,” i.e., a known believer and follower of Jesus Christ. In verse 10, Paul reemphasizes to whom he is speaking, “especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
        Paul ends his letter in verse 18, again re-emphasizing to whom he is speaking: “Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen”

False Christs, False Apostles, False Prophets, And False Teachers Are Apostates

        In Galatians, chapter 6, Paul is not addressing false christs, false apostles, false prophets or false teachers—apostates who have departed from the Christian faith given, once for all, to the saints as recorded for humankind in the Bible. His remarks are addressed only to those who are known disciples of Jesus Christ who may, in an unguarded moment, unintentionally lapse into indulging their human fleshly passions in a manner inconsistent with a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Recognize The Difference Between True Brothers And Sisters Among You From Those Who Are Apostate

        It’s important that a distinction be made between true brothers and sisters in Christ and those who are apostate. Failure to recognize what the Bible says about apostates, as compared to what the Bible says about true believers, can cause a wrong application of biblical instructions. True believers are to differentiate their behavior towards false christs, false apostles, false prophets and false teachers—the apostate—and true believers and disciples of Jesus Christ.

Our Attitude Towards Apostates

        In my article “Scriptural Guidelines For Today’s Apostasy,” I presented what the Bible says about those who identify themselves as enemies of the cross by being led away by doctrinal error. They cause divisions and offences contrary

Apostasy

Excerpted from Nelson’s Bible Dictionary
     A falling away from the faith. The nation of Israel fell into repeated backslidings (Jer. 5:6), (RSV). The prophet Jeremiah predicted the judgment of God upon such disloyalty: “Your wickedness will chasten you, and your apostasy will reprove you” (Jer. 2:19), (RSV).
     Some of the noted apostates in the Bible are: King Saul, who turned back from following the Lord (1 Sam. 15:11); Hymenaeus and Alexander, who “suffered shipwreck” of their faith (1 Tim. 1:19-20); and Demas, who forsook the apostle Paul because he loved this present world (2 Tim. 4:10).
     In (Acts 21:21) the apostle Paul was described falsely as one who taught the Jews living among the Gentiles to commit apostasy (forsake, NKJV). (Second Thessalonians 2:3) declares that the Day of Christ “will not come unless the apostasy comes first” (NASB). This great apostasy will be the time of “the final rebellion against God, when wickedness will be revealed in human form” (2 Thes. 2:3),(NEB).
     Apostasy is generally defined as the determined, willful rejection of Christ and His teachings by a Christian believer (Heb. 10:26-29; John 15:22). This is different from false belief, or error, which is the result of ignorance. Some Christian groups teach that apostasy is impossible for those persons who have truly accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord.

False Christs

Excerpted from Nelson’s Bible Dictionary
     Persons who pretend to be Christ but who are actually representatives of all that Christ opposes (Matt. 24:24; Mark 13:22). False Christs are similar to Antichrist and his prophets, described in the Epistles of John (1 John 2:18; 2 John 7). These false Christs take their place in the long line of false prophets who have existed since Old Testament days.

The Antichrist

Excerpted and edited from the article “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Which God Gave Unto Him:”
     There are some who teach that the “antichrist” is identified in Matthew 24:5,24, Mark 13:6,22 and Luke 21:8. In these verses Jesus is speaking of those who will come in His name and those He calls “false Christs.”
     Vine’s Expository Dictionary says about the antichrist: “antichristos can mean either “against Christ” or “instead of Christ,” or perhaps, combining the two, “one who, assuming the guise of Christ, opposes Christ” (Westcott). The word is found only in John’s epistles, (a) of the many “antichrists” who are forerunners of the “Antichrist” himself, (1 John 2:18, 22; 2 John 7); (b) of the evil power which already operates anticipatively of the “Antichrist,” (1 John 4:3).
     “What the apostle says of him so closely resembles what he says of the first beast in (Rev. 13), and what the apostle Paul says of the Man of Sin in (2 Thes. 2), that the same person seems to be in view in all these passages, rather than the second beast in (Rev. 13), the false prophet; for the latter supports the former in all his Antichristian assumptions.
     “Note: The term pseudochristos, “a false Christ,” is to be distinguished from the above; it is found in (Matt. 24:24) and (Mark 13:22). The false Christ does not deny the existence of Christ, he trades upon the expectation of His appearance, affirming that he is the Christ. The Antichrist denies the existence of the true God (Trench, Syn. Sec. xxx).”
     In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 the “antichrist” is also called the “man of sin” and the “son of perdition.”
     2 Thessalonians 2:3:
     3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
     In Revelation the beast is referred to as going “into perdition.”
     Revelation 17:8,11:
     8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
     11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
     The “antichrist,” who is the “man of sin,” and the “son of perdition” appears to be the leader or ruler of the symbolic beast system of Revelation 13.
     The “false Christs” and those who come in Jesus’ name are not the “antichrist” who is introduced into the biblical account in Revelation 13.
Click here to read the full article “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Which God Gave Unto Him” from which this was excerpted.
to the doctrine of Jesus Christ, preach a gospel other than that which is taught in the Bible and don’t teach and live the doctrine of Jesus Christ. That includes those who call themselves a brother and manifest unfruitful works of darkness and are a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner and those who have departed from the faith.
        The Bible says they are accursed, and commands them to repent. The Bible also tells us that we are to compassionately pray they repent so they may receive a righteous and holy reward, and to bless them, do good for them and pray for them and for their salvation. We are also to avoid them, not fellowship with them, withdraw from them, deliver them unto satan, rebuke them and reject them and don’t receive them or wish them well.
        We are also told to exhort one another daily to be steadfast in the faith until the end.
        In the article “God, Jesus Christ, His Truth, Bible-true church foundation” I said:
        Did you know that every one of these aberrant teachings [listed in the article] goes beyond the clear teachings of Jesus Christ Himself?
        Do you know that the Bible tells us that any person who goes beyond the teachings of Jesus Christ–who “transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God?” Those who run ahead of what Jesus Christ clearly taught—those who do not have God because they don’t abide in the doctrine of Christ—these persons are to be avoided to the extent that you are not to even take them into your house or welcome them.
        If you welcome and encourage such a person then you are also a partaker of his evil and wicked works and doings.
        When you attend their “church” and encourage them with your money, and with your time and by helping them with your abilities, you are sharing, as a partaker, in their evilness.
        2 John 1:9-11 (Amplified Bible):
        9 Any one who runs on ahead [of God] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ–who is not content with what He taught—does not have God; but he who continues to live in the doctrine (teaching) of Christ—does have God; he has both the Father and the Son.
        10 If any one comes to you and does not bring this doctrine (is disloyal to what Jesus Christ taught), do not receive him—do not accept him, do not welcome or admit him—into [your] house or bid him Godspeed or give him any encouragement.
        11 For he who wishes him success—who encourages him, wishing him Godspeed—is a partaker in his evil doings.
        You will never, ever, find a true apostle gifted by God, or a true prophet gifted by God, or a true evangelist gifted by God, or a true (under-)shepherd gifted by God teaching any of the alleged “doctrines” or theological concepts listed above [in the article].
        Why not? Because they refuse to go beyond the teachings of the doctrine of Christ. Why? Because they are true disciples of Jesus Christ, learners, supporters, followers and imitators of Jesus. Why? Because they have pressed in and pressed on until they have heard and felt the Father’s heartbeat and they know the heart of God from a tremendous amount of prayer and study and personal experience.
        As a matter of fact, you will never, ever find any true disciple of Jesus Christ fostering these false ideas and practices—for the same reason.
        If you have a problem understanding and accepting what I have just said, then you really need to read and study your Bible.
        If the Bible is not the foundation for all of your Christian teachings and practices then you are simply not a Christian, a disciple, follower, learner and imitator of Jesus Christ. To turn to another source of information other than the Bible is to reject what God has revealed of Himself to us. Who do you think you’re kidding when you name the name of Christ and quote some other human source for understanding of God and His Christ? The dumbing of Christianity has come upon us from lack of reading and studying and understanding what God has revealed of Himself to us in the Bible. Biblical illiteracy is responsible for a mess of confused and perverted doctrine, much of which is based upon personal subjective revelations and reading into the Bible things that are not there to justify the traditions of men.

Our Attitude Towards A True Brother Or Sister Who Sins

        But here, in Galatians, Paul the apostle is very clear that we are to treat a brother, a true member of the household of faith of the true Israel, entirely different from the way we are to treat an apostate:
        Galatians 6:1-10:
        1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
        2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
        3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
        4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
        5 For every man shall bear his own burden.
        6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
        7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
        8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
        9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
        10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
        The word “overtaken” in verse 1 of the text, according to Vine’s Dictionary, is “prolambano “to anticipate” (pro, “before,” lambano, “to take”) ... of being “overtaken” in any trespass, (Gal. 6:1), where the meaning is not that of detecting a person in the act, but of his being caught by the trespass, through his being off his guard (see (5:21) and contrast the premeditated practice of evil in (5:26)). The modern Greek version is “even if a man, through lack of circumspection, should fall into any sin.”
        Strong’s Concordance in defining prolambano “... to take in advance, i.e. (literally) eat before others have an opportunity; (figuratively) to anticipate, surprise.”
        Thayer’s Definition of prolambano:
        “1) to take before
        “2) to anticipate, to forestall
        “3) to take one by forestalling him (that is, before he can flee or conceal his crime); to surprise, to detect.”
        Vine’s Dictionary tell us that fault, paraptoma, is “primarily a false step, a blunder” (akin to parapipto, “to fall away.” ...
        “In (Gal. 6:1), RV, “(in any) trespass” (KJV, “fault”), the reference is to “the works of the flesh” (5:19), and the thought is that of the believer’s being found off his guard, the “trespass” taking advantage of him; in (Jas. 5:16), KJV, “faults” (RV, “sins” translates the word hamartias, which is found in the best texts), auricular confession to a priest is not in view here or anywhere else in Scripture; the command is comprehensive, and speaks either of the acknowledgment of sin where one has wronged another, or of the unburdening of a troubled conscience to a godly brother whose prayers will be efficacious, or of open confession before the church.”
        Strong’s Concordance defines “fault,” paraptoma as “a side-slip (lapse or deviation), i.e. (unintentional) error or (wilful) transgression.”
        Thayer’s Definition of “fault,”paraptoma:
        “1) to fall beside or near something
        “2) a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness
        a sin, a misdeed”
        The word “restore,” according to Vine’s Dictionary is katartizo, ““to mend, to furnish completely,” is translated “restore” in (Gal. 6:1), metaphorically, of the “restoration,” by those who are spiritual, of one overtaken in a trespass, such a one being as a dislocated member of the spiritual body. The tense is the continuous present, suggesting the necessity for patience and perseverance in the process.”
        The word “meekness” is prautes, a fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:23. It’s a calm composed evenness of soul and spirit which comes from dependency on God. The exercises of it are first and chiefly toward God, with no fighting, struggling and contending with God. It’s associated with self-control and results in absence of pride, self-assertion and self-interest because of lack of pre-occupation with self. It’s primarily a condition of the mind and the heart rather than simply an expression of actions, such as the word “gentleness” (as some Bible versions have translated it).
        Excerpted from Vine’s Dictionary:
        “It must be clearly understood, therefore, that the meekness manifested by the Lord and commended to the believer is the fruit of power. The common assumption is that when a man is meek it is because he cannot help himself; but the Lord was ‘meek’ because he had the infinite resources of God at His command.” ...
        ““In (2 Cor. 10:1) the apostle appeals to the ‘meekness... of Christ.’ Christians are charged to show ‘all meekness toward all men,’ (Titus 3:2), for meekness becomes ‘God’s elect,’ (Col. 3:12). To this virtue the ‘man of God’ is urged; he is to ‘follow after meekness’ for his own sake, (1 Tim. 6:11) (the best texts have No. 2 here however), and in his service, and more especially in his dealings with the ‘ignorant and erring,’ he is to exhibit ‘a spirit of meekness,’ (1 Cor. 4:21), and (Gal. 6:1); even ‘they that oppose themselves’ are to be corrected in meekness, (2 Tim. 2:25). James exhorts his ‘beloved brethren’ to ‘receive with meekness the implanted word,’ (1:21). Peter enjoins ‘meekness’ in setting forth the grounds of the Christian hope, 3:15.”
        “From Notes on Galatians, by Hogg and Vine pp. 294
        “2. praupathia, “a meek disposition, meekness” (praus, “meek,” pascho, “to suffer”), is found in the best texts in (1 Tim. 6:11).”
        The disciple of Jesus Christ today, i.e., the learner, follower, supporter and imitator of Jesus who has thoroughly acquainted themself with their Lord and Saviour by reading the Bible in its entirety, not once, but many times, will themselves be “meek” as Jesus was meek. Why? Because they have the fruit of the Spirit and the infinite resources of God at their command ... to the fullest extent that they are humanly capable of in spite of their finite ability to manifest the fruit of that power in their individual lives. This will be reflected in their 24-hour a day, seven day a week lifestyle, won’t it?
        Jesus Christ, never, ever sought to bring comfort and consolation to false christs, false apostles, false prophets and false teachers, did He? As a true disciple of Jesus Christ, why would you?
        Excerpted from the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary on verse 10:
        “them who are of the household—Every right-minded man does well to the members of his own family (1Ti 5:8); so believers are to do to those of the household of faith, that is, those whom faith has made members of “the household of God” (Eph 2:19): “the house of God” (1Ti 3:15; 1Pe 4:17).”

The Fake “Church” Of Today Encourages Apostasy By Its Scriptural Ignorance Which Comes From Scriptural Illiteracy

        Be careful lest you attempt to apply the scripture “... restore such an one in the spirit of meekness ...” to those false christs, false apostles, false prophets and false teachers—apostates who have clearly departed from the faith delivered, once for all, to the saints.
        On the other hand, don’t apply the scripture “... do not receive him—do not accept him, do not welcome or admit him—into [your] house or bid him Godspeed or give him any encouragement ...” to the brother overtaken in a fault.
        The practice in today’s institutional church system, however, is the exact opposite of what the Bible says. The false christs, false apostles, false prophets and false teachers who have clearly departed from the faith delivered, once for all, to the saints are not only tolerated, but they are very popular and every attempt to cover up their erroneous doctrine, false teachings, false prophecies and un-Christlike lifestyles is met with the unhealthy mindset of “... restore such an one in the spirit of meekness ...”
        The “brother overtaken in a fault” is met with the left boot of non-fellowship and the institutional church system tells you “... do not receive him—do not accept him, do not welcome or admit him—into [your] house or bid him Godspeed or give him any encouragement ...”
        Not only is this scripturally incorrect and totally opposed to the lifestyle of Jesus Christ Himself and His true disciples, but it’s also wrong in every sense of the word. And it’s a tremendous encouragement to the false christs, false apostles, false prophets and false teachers who have clearly departed from the faith delivered, once for all, to the saints to continue their apostate lifestyle and teachings.
        And so the apostasy grows and grows and grows in the institutional church system ... doesn’t it?

Our Attitude Towards Idle Busybodies Who Don’t Follow Biblical Teachings

        In his letter to Thessalonica, Paul the apostle wrote to the saints and gave them another explicit model of conduct in the instances of idle busybodies who did not follow biblical teachings. Paul said we are not to associate with him, in order to make him feel ashamed. But we are not to regard him as an enemy, but are warn him as a brother to settle down, go to work and earn the food they eat. What Paul is implying and is to be understood, is that they are to spend their time working instead of being an idle busybody and they are to be self-supporting.
        But in the institutional church system, certain humans determine themselves to be your “pastor” (or more), your “covering,” their building a place where you are commanded by them to “assemble yourselves,” every time they open their doors, and to obey their every spoken and unspoken whim.
        They are brothers, idle busybodies, not working in order to support themselves and their families,
        2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 (NIV):
        6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
        7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,
        8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
        9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow.
        10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”
        11 We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
        12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.
        13 And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.
        14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.
        15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

        There is a complete listing of articles written in an attempt to free the individual disciple of Jesus Christ from the bondage of the institutional church mindset on the Site Map page, under Articles Index, Church Articles.

        Related articles:
•“Americans religious faith in self and church, not Christ.” Americans religious faith is in self and church, not Christ, the Bible or God as biblically illiterate people obey flesh strongholds not the Holy Spirit.

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