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False Teachers: Words and Deeds Disconnected

July 24, 2016 Preacher: Series: For the Life of the Church, For the Life of the World

Scripture: Titus 1:10–16

Key Truth: False teaching is to be confronted with the truth of sound doctrine for the purpose of the repentance and restoration of the false teacher and the protection of the flock.

 

Introduction:

 

Q: What is our best defense against false teaching?

 

 

The Hope for False Teachers to Become Sound in the Faith:

Titus 1:10-14

“The whole phrase (“that they may be sound in the faith”), then, urges a return to healthy belief and possibly restoration for those who have fallen….The goal of the rebuke (stern corrective teaching and chastisement) is thus to restore these opponents to a healthy faith that issues from a commitment to the apostolic gospel.”

Philip H. Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus

Q: What should be the primary goal of rebuking a false teacher?

 

 

The Lack of Faith, Knowledge of the Truth, and Resultant Godliness of the Impure:

Titus 1:15-16

“These three phenomena regarding the false teachers and their disciples provide us with three valid tests to apply to any and every system. We have to ask three questions about it. First, is its origin divine or human, revelation or tradition? Secondly, is its essence inward or outward, spiritual or ritual? Thirdly, is its result a transformed life or merely a formal creed? True religion is divine in its origin, spiritual in its essence and moral in its effect.”

John R.W. Stott, The Message of 1 Timothy and Titus

Q: What ultimately reveals what you truly believe?

 

Titus 1:10-16 teaches us that:

-false teachers are to be rebuked with sound doctrine for the purpose of their repentance and restoration and the protection of the flock

-our works reveal who we truly are regardless of what we confess

 

“How wonderful it is that God’s plan is to call such a wicked people, who are infamous for their vices, to be among the first to share in his Gospel. It is just as marvelous that the kindness of God’s heavenly grace is given to people who are not worthy to live on this earth. So, in that corrupt country, as though at the heart of hell, Christ’s church held on and kept expanding, even though it was infected by the evil habits that prevailed there.”

John Calvin, 1&2 Timothy & Titus

 

Benediction:

1 Timothy 6:20-21

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