Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” – I Timothy 4:1-5. (underline mine)

We are living in strange times, indeed. The Bible predicted that in the “latter times” many people would be seduced and deceived by spirits and doctrines of devils! What does all this mean?

Let me define a couple of words for you. First of all, heresy: In the light of Christianity, “heresy” refers to false doctrine. Down through the centuries, heretics (believers in false doctrine) were thought to have departed from the faith. And, what is “the faith?” That brings us to the second word that needs definition, orthodoxy. Orthodoxy comes from two Greek words that mean, “right” and “honor.” Orthodox beliefs are those that honor God CORRECTLY.

In the early church,  the word heresy came to be used when a separation or a split occurred because of false faith. These early believers began to wonder why God would allow heresy in the Body of Christ. However, examine this scripture, “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” (I Corinthians 11:19). The truth is, it is very difficult to know what the truth is until these heresies arise in our midst pointing us back to the inerrancy of the Living Word. All of you reading this right now have heard heresy in your life. You may not have labeled it as such but you knew something was wrong because a sick feeling began to work its way deep down inside of you!

Now, our scripture above specifically mentions teachings about food that can become heresies but the main areas of false doctrines today have to do with God and Christ. You see, some things in the Bible probably fall into what I would call a “gray” area. For example, if you ladies want to wear your hair on top of your head and throw away all your pants, I don’t really care because those things won’t send you to hell. However, there are some things in the Bible that you must believe and believe CORRECTLY. Let me give you some examples: you must believe in the Virgin Birth which says that Mary never had sex with anyone before Jesus was conceived in her womb by the Holy Ghost. In other words, it was Mary’s egg and the power of the Holy Spirit (not His sperm, He didn’t have sex with her either) that brought about the Incarnation of Christ. You’d be surprised how many groups around the world deny this essential doctrine.

Another thing you must believe is that Jesus was and is Divine. What does that mean? Simply put, it means that Jesus is God! “But,” you say, “I thought He was the Son of God.” Therein lies the mystery that we call the Trinity. The Trinity doctrine says that there is only ONE GOD who manifests Himself in 3 separate and distinct Persons. To be a Christian, you must also believe this doctrine. Without the Trinity, there can be no Christianity. To put it another way: God is the Father; God is the Son; and God is the Holy Spirit. This is the orthodoxy of the church.

With great sadness I must report to you that many groups (we call them “cults”) around the world today simply do not believe in the Deity of Jesus Christ or the Trinity. In fact, that is the one and only thing that all cults have in common; they all, without exception, deny the Trinity.

Another doctrine that is vital for Christians is the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Many books and movies in recent years have tried to claim that Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead; someone came and stole His body out of the tomb to make it look like He had risen. This is heresy in its purest form! Listen to me carefully: if there was no resurrection then we’re all going to hell and we’re all wasting our time with this church stuff. If there was no resurrection then there is no hope whatsoever for an afterlife.

In the last hundred years or so, some groups have tried to add to orthodox belief and insist that all of us must believe what they teach or our souls would be in jeopardy. A good example of this is those who claim that all Christians MUST speak in tongues in order to get into heaven. They base this faulty doctrine on their own frail, human logic by thinking that if you don’t speak in tongues then you don’t have the Holy Spirit and if you don’t have the Holy Spirit then you can’t be saved. The truth is, you MUST have the Holy Spirit FIRST to be able to speak in tongues, not the other way around! Besides that, speaking in tongues is the only 50/50 miracle in the Bible; it is 50 percent God and 50 percent you, “…they spoke in tongues as He gave the utterance…” (Acts 2:1-4).

“But,” you say, “this is all so confusing! What are we to do?” Well, the first thing you must realize is that you are all responsible for your own salvation (Philippians 2:12). However, let me help you. Groups that have gone off into heresy have some trademark behaviors that you will immediately notice. First of all, they encourage their members to separate themselves from the rest of the Body of Christ. They also usually believe that they have somehow been separated by God from the rest of the world; that they are a “remnant.” These people are so indoctrinated that they are not teachable. They become very mechanical (like robots) as they spout forth their message which has, many times, been gleaned from the writings of a man instead of from the Word.

Men, you are responsible for your family. Cover them and watch over them with great care! I love you.

Disclaimer: Many of the articles on the site were written many years ago. While the lessons and teachings are certainly applicable to issues of today, please note that some of the references mentioned in the article may be dated or otherwise proved inaccurate due to the passage of time. We bring you these articles in their original format. Thank you.