How To Avoid Spiritual Deception

by Marvin R. Knight

Before we can really understand and embrace the importance of sound doctrine, we must know what sound doctrine is. So let’s define it up front. Sound doctrine is the well-defined standard of truth set down in the Gospel by our Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles (1 Tim.1:11; 6:3ff; 2 Tim.1:13). Sound doctrine constitutes what Paul and Jude called “the faith,”which Jude adds “was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3; 1 Tim.1:2, 11, 19, 3:9, 13, 4:6, 6:21).Sound doctrine (literally, healthy) is said to be healthy because it alone has the intrinsic power to restore genuine spiritual and moral health to those who accept it into their lives.

Biblical Doctrine has an inner oneness that the teachings of men do not possess. Jesus said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (John 7:16). Notice that Jesus did not say,“My doctrines are not mine” but rather“My doctrine…” Biblical doctrines may be many, but they are only a part of one whole body of truth. When speaking of the doctrines of men or demons, they are always plural (Heb.13:9; Col.2:22; 1 Tim.4:1) because there is no unity or harmony in them. They are always diverse and conflicting. But not so with the Word of God. God’s truth is indivisible and harmonious. The doctrine, which means teaching, of the truth of God is one correlated and complete whole (Cf. 1 Tim.4:6; 2 Tim.3:16). This is why the men of old called it, “the body of divinity.”

Why is doctrine important?

  • First, it shows that all religions can be classified in only two groups or systems of belief: those who look for acceptance with God on the basis of their own personal lives and character, and those who say that our acceptance with God is not by any moral or religious efforts of our own; it is due solely to the righteousness provided by God in Jesus Christ. This is the righteousness that comes on the basis of faith (Phil.3:9).
  • Salvation rests on matters of belief. The testimony of Scripture is, where there is no faith in Christ and His righteousness, there is no salvation (Rom.10:2; John 14:6).
  • It is the chief instrument in cultivating godliness among God’s people (1 Tim.6:3). Sound doctrine promotes faith in Christ and godly living.
  • It helps a community of believers to guard itself from false teaching, which brings discord and division (1 Tim.1:18-20, 6:4-7).
  • It is the only thing that establishes believers’ souls in the faith and fastens them to Christ (Col.1:23; Eph.4:14).
  • Without it, we can neither worship God acceptably nor offer reasonable service (Rom.12:2).
  • It equips God’s people for every good work, furnishes them with wisdom concerning both the way of salvation, and weapons to fight against the adversary (2 Tim.3:15ff; Eph.6:10ff).
  • It fortifies believers against seducers who would rob them of the sanctifying truth (1John 2:26).
  • It washes and enriches the mind and cleanses the conscience, making us useful again (2 Tim.3:16ff; Col.3:16).
  • It adorns the Christian with the virtues that exemplify the glory of Christ (Titus 2:1-5).
  • It is believer’s flashlight and roadmap to direct him for travel in this world (Prov.6:23; Ps.119:9,11, 105).
  • It quickens the cold heart of the believer (Ps.119:50).
  • It is the heavenly seed by which new creatures in Christ are formed (James 1:18).

What are the dangers of false teaching?

False teaching is dangerous for many reasons. Paul identifies several serious dangers:

  • It promotes and provokes controversy rather than faith in Christ (1 Tim.1:3-4).
  • It leads to spiritual shipwreck and moral catastrophe like that of King Saul, Judas, and Demas (1 Tim.1:19ff).
  • It leads to apostasy and falling victim to demonic activity (1 Tim.4:1-4).
  • It engenders greed and discontentment, ultimately resulting in ruin and destruction (1 Tim.6:6-10).
  • It results in shallowness of character, emptiness, and false knowledge (1 Tim.6:20-21).
  • It possesses a gangrene-like effect that multiplies and spreads throughout the whole body, destroying vital tissue, and leading to division, decline, and finally death in a church (2 Tim.2:17ff).
  • It corrupts the mind and defiles the conscience, so that one’s decisions and attitudes are no longer a reliable guide to faith and purity(Titus 1:13-16).

How do we arrive at and grow in sound doctrine?

  1. To Luther, Scripture was the voice of God. Therefore, man must hear and heed this voice and should never act without being authorized by it.
  2. Base everything you believe on Scripture alone. Rely on clear and plain passages of Scripture for your convictions. Men may confirm truth, but only Scripture establishes it.
  3. Refuse to be selective about Scripture. Be loyal to the whole body of truth, even when it brings disdain from those who reject it.
  4. Be tolerant of people, but not of error. There is a difference between those who are taught wrong (misbelieve) and those who advocate false doctrine (disbelieve). 
  5. Attack false doctrine first, not false living. At the back of sinful living is always wrong thinking or belief.
  6. Because of the interrelation between doctrine and life, pray for a purity of doctrine because where doctrine is right, everything else can be right—faith, life, works, and suffering.
  7. Drill yourself in the fundamentals regularly.
  8. Let salvation by faith in Christ be the center and the most studied doctrine you possess.