Do not regard false teaching lightly. Consider what is at stake and insist on the clear teaching of God’s law and His gospel. Do it for the love of God and people.
In Acts 20:29-30 we see that Paul had called the elders of Ephesus to meet him to warn them about serious problems (twisted, false teaching) that will soon emerge in the church.
Less than five years later, Paul writes his first letter to Timothy, who is serving as the pastor in Ephesus. In it, we see that Paul’s earlier predictions had come to fruition and wolves began to creep in the church and destroy the flock. While this destructive work is not physical it is doctrinal and it is very dangerous and deadly.
The reason that Paul urged Timothy to stay in Ephesus was so that he could “charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine” (1 Tim 1:3). While the text does not tell us who these specific men are we can assume that they were influential in the church at Ephesus, quite possibly leaders and elders within the church.
They proclaimed to be “teachers of the law” even though they themselves did not understand either the law of the gospel (1 Tim 1:7). Paul says the law “is good, if one uses it lawfully” (v. 8). That is, the Law was not given to be a source of speculations or controversies (vv. 4-5). It was also not given so that one could attain a higher level of righteousness for “the just” (v. 9). Rather, the law has been provided to expose and condemn sin in the lawless (v. 9).
God’s law condemns specific sins (v. 9,10) and, as Paul summarizes it, “whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:10). This proper use of the law functions “in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God” (v. 11). God’s law is not an enemy to His gospel. Instead, it is a friend that supports and establishes the need for the salvation that comes only through the grace of God found in the gospel.
So, why does Paul become so worked up over the doctrinal errors of the false teachers? It is because he knows that the gospel is the only way that sinners can be saved. Any teaching that perverts sound doctrine is out of step with that gospel and will lead people away from the Lord. That is why Paul describes his admonition to Timothy to refute false teaching as being an expression of “love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (v. 5). Paul writes as he does because he loves as he does.
He loves people and is concerned about their souls. Paul is not interested in winning an argument. He wants to win people to Christ and to protect them from the spiritual damage that comes from unsound teaching.
More than that, Paul loves God and is concerned for God’s glory. The Divine glory of God is most fully revealed in the beauty of the gospel. Paul describes the gospel in 2 Corinthians 4:4 as, “the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor 4:4).
When Paul describes God as “blessed,” he uses a word that is only twice applied to God (1 Tim 1:11; 6:15). It is the same word used in the Beatitudes (Matt 5:3-12), and it means blissful.
The gospel that saves us comes to us from God, who is eternally contented and full of joy in Himself. The person and work of Jesus is an extension of the divine joy that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit have enjoyed from eternity. The gospel is God’s way of bringing sinful, fallen humans into the very realm of His own eternal joy. Through faith in Christ we are enabled to fulfill our purpose, which is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 1).
False teaching undermines the gospel and as a result detracts from the glory of God that is displayed in it. Not only that, but assaults on the Gospel are assaults on the joy of the Lord. Paul loved the Lord too well to allow such assaults to go unanswered. That is why he instructed Timothy to stay in Ephesus to refute the false teachers there. As a “steward” of the gospel he was obligated to rise to its defense. If we are in Christ, we have the same responsibility as Paul to insist that those teachers who would be teachers in the church handle the Word of God faithfully.
Jesus summarizes God’s law in Matthew 22:36-40 and tells us that it requires supreme love to God and sincere love to people. This law demand that we resist false doctrine. Failure to do so tragically allows His gospel to be missed or perhaps even completely lost.