The Commands of Christ, Part Twenty-Seven

In Part Twenty of this series, we discussed how to identify a false prophet (we look at the fruit). However, in a modern world where the Bible is readily available and often used out of context, how do we spot a false teaching? In Matthew 16:6-12 (NASB 2020), Jesus warns us about them:

And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet understand nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up? How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Ok, so Jesus said to beware the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees, but didn’t they teach the law? Wasn’t it just their heart posture he had an issue with? Well…sort of. We have to look at a few additional verses to get the full picture of how Christ viewed their teachings. Let’s start in Matthew 15:1-9.

In this passage, Jesus directly accuses the Pharisees of breaking commandments of God in favor of their preferred tradition. Verses 3-9:

And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves also break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ’Honor your father and mother, and, ‘The one who speaks evil of Father or Mother is to be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or mother.’ And by this you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you by saying: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’“

Ok, there’s a lot to unpack here, and it goes beyond Jesus calling the pharisees hypocrites. The p-squad had a practice of claiming they had set things aside for God but still using them for personal gain. This was referred to as the Corban Vow (see Mark 7:11 where Mark explains this). Corban was “technically” dedicated to God but since the pharisees ran the temple, they typically still had access and control of it. Yet, if even their parents asked for help, they could say, without bearing false witness that they had nothing.

So, what’s the lesson here? If a teaching creates a loophole to avoid consequences, it’s a false teaching. If a teaching provides a way out of honoring God’s commandments, it’s a false teaching. A genuine teaching might help you better understand how to follow a commandment, but it won’t get you out of it.

Pretty much all of Matthew chapter 23 is a criticism of the scribes and Pharisees. It opens by calling them out, “for they say things and do not do them,” and gives more examples of bad practices. When we get to the eight woes, Jesus really lets them have it. We’re going to take a closer look ta Matthew 23:23.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

Jesus is saying that we have to focus on the weightier provisions of justice (not vengeance, but justice), mercy, and faithfulness. He’s pointing out that if instead of micromanaging whether or not people were following the minor points of the law, the Pharisees should have been guiding the followers on how to fulfill the weightier matters and, in doing so, the smaller matters would take care of themselves. So, how does this apply to false teachings? A teaching that focuses on condemning failure to follow the minutiae but doesn’t assist in fulfilling the big things Christ asks of us, is most likely a false teaching.

Finally, look at the fruit of the person teaching. Good fruit can only come from a good tree (Matthew 17:17-20). Bad trees can’t produce good fruit. So if you see bad fruit coming from someone trying to teach, be especially careful. Some of their teachings are likely to be legitimate to build trust, but verify everything with scripture. While it’s not a command of Christ, Paul does give us some really great advice in 1Thessalonians 5:19-22

Do not quench the Spirit, do not utterly reject prophecies, but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good, abstain from every form of evil.

Examine the teacher. Examine the teaching. Examine the fruit both produce. Bad fruit means false teachings.