Seven Reasons to Stand Against False Teaching

“Do
your best,” the apostle Paul writes to protégé Timothy, “Do your best to
present yourself to God has one approved, a worker who has no need to be
ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Paul is promoting
a kind of eager, committed persistence for the truth that the flawless Word of
God inspires in us who believe.

According
to 2
Timothy 2:15-19, we can learn to stand in truth and against false teaching
for at least seven reasons:

God is to be pleased.False teaching leads to ungodliness.False teaching quickly spreads.The faith of some believers might be upset by
false teaching.A firm foundation already exists.God differentiates between those who spread
truth versus falsehood.False teaching is sin.

Paul
unfolds his reasons about fervency for the truth on the basis of who God is and
the kind of regard we are to have for Him and those around us.

Because God is Worthy



1.) God is to be pleased.

According to Paul’s teaching, one reason to be firm in the
faith is for God to be pleased. Timothy was to view his work as a preacher/
leader as being directly for the Lord. In our contexts, we can consider our
handling of God’s Word also as labor we present to Him in love.

We stand against false teaching because God is highly worthy to be pleased with our deeds.

2.) False teaching leads to ungodliness.

Paul progresses to instruct Timothy that any talk irreverent
toward Scriptural truth will only produce more and more ungodliness. If believers
present the Word of God as trivial, as means for personal gain or influence, or
as mere material for displays of intelligence, wit, or debate skill, these self-serving
attitudes can be readily replicated by others—far more readily than the devotion
that comes from following God with one’s whole heart.

We stand against false—irreverent—teaching because we follow
a God who deserves our fear and devotion so that our human words might reflect well
upon the worth of divine ones.

Because People Stand to Be Deluded



3.) False teaching quickly spreads.

In 2 Timothy 2:17, Paul reiterates that irreverence can
spread like a deadly condition. If we are dismissive about the importance of
studying, discerning, and conveying the truth of God, others around us stand to
be swayed.

Those who might have been receptive to the authority of the
Scriptures can find their interest in a complete commitment to Christ and His
Word diminished if a less demanding alternative is made to seem viable.

4.) The faith of some believers might be upset by false teaching.

False teaching can also bear an impression upon committed believers.
2 Timothy 2:18 teaches: “[Those who have swerved from the truth] are upsetting
the faith of some.” People who have been born again may entertain doubts about
orthodox truths because falsehood can often sound profound and persuasive, what
was once clear becoming clouded.

We stand against false teaching so that the seeker is not
deterred from having ears that hear and the believer is not deluded into
believing he or she has an unstable foundation.

Because God Has Spoken

At least three more reasons for determined persistence in
truth are conveyed in Timothy 2:19: “But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing
this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the
name of the Lord depart from iniquity.’”

5.) A firm foundation already exists.

As Paul’s ultimate impetus for presenting oneself as a right
handler of God’s Word, he indicates that God’s truth cannot be broken—that its
authority stands regardless of the actions or attitudes of men. So, we stand
against false teaching because God’s Word is exactly that.

6.) God differentiates between those who spread truth and falsehood.

By way of support, Paul outlines two primary inscriptions on
God’s unbreakable foundation. First, God is able to differentiate between those
who speak truth versus those who speak falsehood.

While people might be deluded by false teaching, God’s perception
is piercing. He knows.

We stand against false teaching because we are not judged by
others’ reception to God’s message. Should world, friends, or family reject us
for truth—that God sees us and knows us can be our strength and comfort.

7.) False teaching is sin.

Paul then refers to an activity that ought to characterize
believers—while not being sinless, we are to be those departing from our sins.
We stand against false teaching because teaching God’s truth falsely is
iniquity.

Two Ways I Stand
Against False Teaching



As a church member

In my daily life, one way I stand against false teaching is
through my ongoing commitment to the kind of home church I have selected.

I have confidence that those entering the place our church
worships will receive words from the pulpit that arise from the Scriptures and that
have been presented to and weighed before God prior to being delivered to the
congregation.

And, I have confidence in the eagerness of my church to
attend to the truth of all that is being taught throughout its leadership, from
pastor and elder to small group leader.

As a parent

Another way I stand against false teaching is through
mothering my four-year-old daughter. I engage with her in apologetic and
polemical work as we discuss the world in which we live—its reception to Christ
and its favorite messages to her age group.

As a family, we also seek to find new ways to discuss and
describe the gospel message, teaching nuances and applications. This guards
against misconceptions that further teaching can dispel and against the
fallenness of human memory that can find itself withered where once stoutly
built. All of this I do as a follower of Christ who is ever needful of Him and
His cross.

So, as often as I sin against my daughter, I seek to make
swift apology—to uphold what is right through failure to do it. After
apologizing, I often reaffirm to her the truth of the perfection of God, who
never does her wrong—and we rejoice in Him, and His truthfulness and graciousness,
together.

Being
firm in the faith can be considered a habitual occupation—a layer of good work for
the Lord that rests atop the rest of the labor of our days. We can hear Paul’s
instructions to Timothy like a refreshing call of reminder to be fervent about
what is true, about the faith that has been delivered once for all to us, the
saints (Jude
3).

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