Destructive Heresies

Destructive Heresies

So, the doctrine of the week for this Sunday is heresy. The Bible says in 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 1, but there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them and bring on themselves swift destruction.

So when you see the word heresy or heretic in the Bible, it refers to either someone who is causing division. These are the schismatics, or it's referring to a false doctrine that causes division. And in that verse, 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 1, we see the phrase destructive heresy.

So there are heresies, and then there are destructive heresies, or as the King James Version puts it, damnable heresies. So what is that? What is a damnable heresy? Well, it's something that puts a person outside of the Christian faith.

Peter mentions denying the Lord. So while any false doctrine could be, in a loose sense, considered a heresy in that it causes division, a destructive or a damnable heresy would be something like denying the divinity of Christ, denying the virgin birth, denying the bodily resurrection of Christ.

Such beliefs, and certainly to teach such things, the Apostle says, people who do this bring on themselves swift destruction.