Fundamentals of Faith
Understanding The False Doctrines Of The Apostasy
INTRO.
A. In our first lesson, we sought to gain a better understanding of the church by
understanding the name and the nature of the church.
1. We are the “called out” that is the meaning of the word ‘Ekklesia'
2. The church is the body of Christ, and there is only one body- Eph. 4:4.
B. In the second lesson we saw how it was foretold that the early church would fall
into apostasy. In Acts 20:30 Paul wrote that men would rise up and draw
disciples away from the truth.
C. Today, I would like for us to consider some of the false doctrines that began to
be taught by the apostate church.
D. By knowing what these false doctrines are and knowing what the Bible actually
teaches, we can safeguard the church against them.
I. UNSCRIPTURAL USE OF NAMES
A. Father, as a religious title- Mt. 23:9
“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.”
1. As I said, this is referring to its use in a religious sense.
2. Noting wrong with referring to your biological father as your father Eph. 6:4
“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the
training and admonition of the Lord.” [same Greek word used in both verses]
3. To refer to any preacher or minister as “Father” is a clear violation of Jesus‘
command. I am not Father Tim!
4. But this is what happened as the church fell into apostasy, people began to
refer to religious leaders as “Father.”
B. Priest- as a title for a specific group in the church.
1. What about referring to me as “the priest” at North Brandon?
2. This is also a violation of the scriptures because all of us are priests I Pet. 2:5,10
“5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through
Jesus Christ…9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who
called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”
3. Every child of God, every baptized believer is a priest. We are all
priests of God, so it would be wrong to give me and Greg the title of priests
alone. We are all priests in God’s service.
4. However, there are many religious groups today that do just that, only those
who have dedicated their lives to preaching the gospel are called priests.
5. This led to the division of the believers into the priestly class and the laity.
This is why priests in these denominations wear special garments, to
distinguish them from the members. However, the Lord does not want us to
make these kinds of distinctions among ourselves Gal. 3:28
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither
male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We are all one in Christ.
Equal
C. Many religious groups today refer to a separate class of people as “fathers” or
“priests.” This is a digression from the teaching of the N.T.
II. FORBIDDING MARRIAGE
A. I Tim. 4:1-3a
“1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith,
giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy,
having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry…”
As the church fell into apostasy, it was believed by many that if you wanted to be
truly holy, you needed to remain free from all fleshly entanglements. To be truly
holy, you needed to remain celibate- unmarried.
B. However, the New Testament indicates that many of the apostles were married.
1. Mk. 1:29-31
“29 Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house
of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon's wife's mother lay
sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31 So He came and took
her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she
served them.”
2. I Cor. 9:5-6
“5 Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other
apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who
have no right to refrain from working?” This clearly states that many of the
apostles and church leaders were married. There is no indication at all that an
extra layer of holiness was gained by being unmarried.
C. Furthermore, the New Testament indicates that to be a bishop, a man must be
married and have children I Tim. 3:2-4
“1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a
good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate,
sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not
violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who
rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence”
Clearly, to be a bishop or an elder in the Lord’s church, a man had to be married and
have children who had obeyed the gospel. Celibacy actually disqualified a man from
holding this office.
D. It is true that Paul wrote of the benefits of being unmarried I Cor. 7:32-34
“32 But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the
Lord—how he may please the Lord. 33 But he who is married cares about the things
of the world—how he may please his wife.” There can be benefits…
1. Nowhere does he bind this upon us. It is an option for those who can be
happy living that way, it is not a command, because Paul knew that not
everyone could have that kind of self-control 1 Cor. 7:1-2
“1 Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not
to touch a woman. 2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man
have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.”
E. Because of the apostasy, it became the practice of the Heretic church to forbid
marriage to those who would be the spiritual leaders of the church.
F. Here we see another false doctrine, What Paul calls “doctrines of demons.”
III. FORBIDDING THE EATING OF CERTAIN FOOD
A. I Tim. 4:3b-5
“3…and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with
thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is
good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is
sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”
Under the old law, certain foods were forbidden (pork, fish with skin,
scavengers), however under the new covenant, all foods are free to be eaten
and enjoyed, with thanksgiving.
B. It is true that Paul wrote about abstaining from meat in I Cor. 8:4, 7-8, 13
“4 Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is
nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one…7 However, there is not
in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it
as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 But food
does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not
eat are we the worse…13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never
again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”
1. Paul wrote that if you eat or you don’t eat, it doesn’t make any difference to
God. Either way, it doesn’t make you more holy or more pure.
2. What does make a difference is if your eating meat causes A weak brother to
fall back into idolatry. Paul was dealing with a very specific circumstance.
He would not eat meat ever again if it caused someone to stumble. Not just
on Friday.
C. The tradition of not eating meat on Friday, but eating fish Instead came from the
1700s, when the bishop of Rome forbade the eating of meat on Friday to help
stimulate the Italian fish markets. Business was slow and the fishermen were
clamoring for help. This doctrine was devised for purely economic reasons, not
Biblical reasons.
D. Nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to abstain from the eating
of meat. This is a false doctrine of the apostate church.
IV. INFANT BAPTISM
A. Jesus taught that little children are innocent
1 Mt. 18:1-3
“1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the
kingdom of heaven?” 2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the
midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and
become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
2. Mt. 19:13-15
“13 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them
and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the little
children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of
heaven.” 15 And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.”
3. When a person is baptized in obedience to the gospel, they become as little
children, they become innocent.
B. The Bible teaches that baptism, which makes us innocent, is for believers only.
1. Mk. 16:15-16
“15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned.” Before baptism can be administered, >>>
2. Acts 8:36-38
“36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch
said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip
said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”38 So he commanded the chariot to
stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he
baptized him.”
3. Clearly, both of these passages show that a person must believe in order to
be baptized. That is impossible for an infant to do.
C. Early Christians taught the same thing.
1. Tertullian (160-220 AD) An early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman
province of Africa. On infant baptism, he wrote, “Let them learn to ask for
salvation so that you may be seen to have given ‘to him that asks.’” >>> (On
Baptism 18)
2. Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD) wrote, “We have shown that not only are
all of us called children by Scripture, but also that we who have followed Christ
are figuratively spoken of as babes.” >>> (Instructor I. Vii 53.1)
D. However, as the church slipped into apostasy, people began to teach that children
should be baptized. One such man was Origen (184-253ad)>>>. “I take this
occasion to discuss something which our brothers often inquire about. Infants are
baptized for the remission of sins. Of what kinds? Or when did they sin? But since
‘No one is exempt from stain,’ one removes the stain by the mystery of baptism. For
this reason infants also are baptized. For ‘unless one is born of water and the Spirit
he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.’” >>> (Homily on Luke xiv:5)
E. Nowhere in the New Testament are we taught to baptize infants.
V. BAPTISM BY POURING OR SPRINKLING
A. Greek words “Baptizo” and “Bapto”
1. to dip, to immerse, to submerge (vessel sinking into the ocean until gone)
2. The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek
poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making
pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to
make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (bapto) into boiling water and
then 'baptised' (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the
immersing of vegetables in a solution.
B. Rom. 6:3-4
“3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into
death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so
we also should walk in newness of life.”
C. Col. 2:12
“buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in
the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
D. Early church writers confirmed this
1. Tertullian “Baptism itself is a bodily act, because we are immersed in water,
but it has a spiritual effect, because we are set free from sins.” (On Baptism 7)
2. Basil of Caesarea (330-379ad) “How then do we become in the likeness of
his death? We were buried with him through baptism...How then do we
accomplish the descent into Hades? We imitate the burial of Christ through
baptism. For the bodies of those being baptized are as it were buried in
water.” (On the Holy Spirit XV: 35)
E. However, as the apostasy progressed, some were willing to make exceptions.
It started as “sick bed” baptisms where water was poured over the body or
the head. This was often done three times, perhaps because of the Trinity.
Eusebius (263-339 ad) wrote about a man named Novation, “[Novation] fell
seriously ill and was thought to be about to die. In the bed itself on which he
was lying he received grace by water being poured around over him, if it is
proper to say that such a one received it...when he believed, he was counted
worthy of the office of presbyter by the favor of the bishop who laid his hand on
him for this rank. The bishop was opposed by all the clergy and many of the
laymen, since it was not lawful for someone who had received pouring in bed
on account of sickness to become a member of the clergy.”
(Church History VI. Xliii.14, 17, he was quoting a letter from Corneluis, bishop of
Rome, 251-253). Here we see the practice of sprinkling or pouring had begun,
but it was not fully accepted by most people at that time.
F. Many today practice sprinkling and pouring for baptism, but that is not Biblical
baptism.
CONC.
A. In this lesson, we have seen that as the church fell into apostasy, many false
doctrines began to be taught and practiced.
B. We could mention others such as changes regarding the Lord’s supper [trans
substantiation, time], lighting of candles and the burning of incense, the addition
of instrumental music to the worship about 600 ad.
C. But these examples are sufficient to show us that what the apostles said about
the church falling away, actually came to pass.
D. All of these false doctrines that we have discussed today are fully accepted and
practiced by many of the denominational groups today.
E. It is up to each generation to know the truth and defend the church against false
doctrines.
