Heresy Update

Hello, and thank you for listening to the Testing the Spirits podcast. I wanted to give an update on our local situation. So this really isn't a podcast episode as much as it is just an update. I know many of you were praying, and there's people from our church and other local churches who listen to this podcast.

Prayer, Unity, and the Resolution of the Local Conflict

So the bottom line is, God has answered our prayers. For the sake of confidentiality, I can't give too many details, but the division that has been forming and brewing among local pastors, it has pretty much all been resolved.

Long story short, a meeting happened just a couple days ago. Fourteen different pastors, fourteen churches came together, and the Holy Spirit led us in unity. We unanimously agreed that protecting our flocks was at the utmost importance.

So heretics will not be allowed to attend church services and events. So this idea that some had that we're misguided, well, we just should let them in to show them the love of Christ, no. We all agreed that that is not biblical.

That can't happen. Obviously, if a pastor has never encountered these individuals from this specific group, if they were to show up in his church, he might need to figure out who they are, why they're there.

How False Teachers Are to Be Admonished and Rejected

But as soon as one of these false teachers are recognized coming into the local church, they will immediately be spoken to, admonished, and then told to leave. Now, to a few people, that might sound harsh, but it's completely 100 biblical.

This is the teaching of Christ and his apostles. Jesus warned in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 7, that false teachers are wolves in sheep's clothing. The apostle Paul in Acts chapter 20, he talked about these wolves, how it is their mission.

Why are they coming into the flock, into the Lord's church? To devour the flock. So as pastors, as shepherds, we need to protect the sheep. Titus 3 .10, Romans chapter 16, verses 17 and 18, 2 John verses 9 through 11, make it very clear false teachers are to be marked and avoided.

They are to be admonished once, and then after the second admonition, if they will not listen, they are to be rejected. John says, you should not even greet them. Do not welcome them in. Those who would welcome them in now become a partaker of their evil deeds.

So this is biblical to keep the false teachers, the heretics out of the churches. And again, all the pastors now agree in our local area. And the motivation is love. Not just love for God and His word that we're going to do what God says, not even just love for the flock because we want to protect our church members.

No, this is actually love for the false teachers themselves. You see, they're claiming to be Christians, yet they're teaching contrary to the gospel. They need to know that they are not brothers and sisters in Christ.

So as long as they are allowed to come in and pastors like, Hey, how you doing? As long as it's treated like it's no big deal. It gives them a false sense of security that they are in fact, Christians, brothers in Christ when they are not, if they're teaching heresy, they are not a brother in Christ.

So really it's for their own good that they might wake up and finally repent. So long story short, God has given us a great victory. Unity has been restored. If the heretics all repented, that would be ideal, but that's not within our control.

Whether or not pastors do the right thing and whether there's unity among the churches that is within our control and God was gracious in helping. So two weeks ago, a month ago, I wasn't sure how this was going to play out.

I have to admit, I wasn't all that optimistic. It looked like churches might be split right down the middle. Half would let them in, half would not. And again, there is all this division brewing. And now that, like I said, it has been resolved.

Those of us who were out there, you know, first sounding the alarm, we caught a little flack because we were first, but now everyone seems to agree. And by the way, when I say everyone or all the local churches, obviously there's still a pastor or two or a church or two off here and there that are, you know, just stubbornly sticking with their position and they haven't agreed to this.

But as far as the pastors who have come together, the overwhelming majority of the evangelical Bible-believing churches in Franklin County, this issue has been resolved. So overall, I am very encouraged.

Public Repentance and Full Recantation Required for Return

One last thing regarding the false teachers, and this is true whenever somebody is out there teaching heresy, they will not be allowed to come back into the local churches unless, and I don't know if they want to, but they've been trying to get in.

So here's the thing. If any of them ever watch this, it's been decided, all the pastors agreed, they will not be allowed into the local churches unless they publicly repent and they fully recant all of their false teachings.

So they can't just say to somebody, hey, I repent, I'm sorry. And apparently one pastor spoke to one of them a week or two ago and they said, we're not sorry for anything. Even though the podcast, their heretical podcast was removed from Spotify, they said they're not sorry.

But even if they told someone they were sorry at this point, because it's been so public and they put their teachings out in the public square to be allowed back into the church, they would need to publicly repent and fully recant all of their false teachings.

So this has been a learning experience for the body of Christ. Many of us have never had to deal with this before. So now having gone through it, I think we are now stronger than ever. So those of us pastors who gave our word, obviously we must keep our word in order for this unity to be preserved going forward, understanding that the devil isn't going to take a vacation.

So it's not like all this is going to go away, but this is a good day. So I want to rejoice in it. God is good. We're going to remain vigilant. Titus 3 .10 says a man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition, he is to be rejected.

You know, that's what the Bible says. So in conclusion, I believe it. You know, that's what the Bible says. I believe it. That settles it. And you know what? Even if someone didn't believe it, it's still settled, but we want to be biblical.

Amen. Amen. Okay. So once again, just want to praise and glorify God for this victory and for this answer to prayer. Thanks for listening. And until next time, may the Lord be with you and have a great day.