DECEIVING AND BEING DECEIVED

The balance—in use from ancient times—is mentioned several times in Scripture. “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight” (Proverbs 11:1; Leviticus 19.36, etc.). “You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27). His evil had outweighed the good.

The principle of balance may be seen in the word reasonableness, defined as: “agreeable to reason or sound judgment; logical; not exceeding the limit prescribed by reason; not excessive”. The Bible says: “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone” (Philippians 4:5).

Another passage says: “If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it” (Proverbs 25:16). This statement illustrates how something can be overdone.

And, there are the words of the Lord Himself—the classic quote about extremes—how some were “straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel” (Matthew 23:24).

The wisdom of balance may also be seen in many practical, commonsense examples:

A person walking a tightrope must not lean too far one way or the other. Even riding a bicycle requires a proper balance.

Equilibrium, a sense of balance, allows one to stand without falling over (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:12).

If a string of an instrument is twisted too tight, it will not be the proper pitch and may even break. If a string is too loose, it will be out of tone.

An experienced navigator knows how to properly steer his ship, so that it does not veer off course because of wind or waves. As we become Christians, we must learn not to be “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Ephesians 4:14).

If a Christian’s life is out of balance, spiritually or doctrinally, it can bring loss and confusion.

You get the picture.

We believe TGD is an unbalanced book written by a Christian extremist—one who resorts to immoderate, excessive and even fanatical arguments to make his point. Let’s remember Paul’s words about the Jews of his time: “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). One can be zealous for God and even so be mistaken—spiritually and doctrinally! We believe this is the case here.

In the first epistle of Paul to Timothy there are eight passages about apostasy. Think about it! Eight stirring passages in one epistle about apostasy (1 Timothy 1:3-6; 1:18-20; 3:6; 4:1; 4:16; 5:14,15; 6:9-11; 6:20, 21)! We do not need a book full of personal anecdotes and pontifications to inform us about the great and final apostasy of Christendom. Please be assured, we are not making light of this writer, but Peter wrote long ago “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:16)—and neither should we today. Biblical truth stands on its own merits—it does not need the support of reckless rumors!

The basic premise of TGD is correct—as we said before, there must be some bait on the hook or no one would bite—, but from this point on the author is “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine”, and the reader with him.

TGD flawed information outweighed the good. Even Biblical information, if mixed, cannot provide a clear picture of truth. The story is told of a zealous, though uneducated, preacher who covered a lot of ground in his preaching, but he mixed things up:

“Once upon a time, a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves.  And the thorns grew up and choked that man.  And he went on and met the Queen of Sheba and she gave that man a thousand talents of gold and silver and a hundred changes of raiment. 

“And he got on his chariot and drove furiously, and as he was driving under a big tree his hair got caught in a limb and left him hanging there. “And he hung there many days and many nights and ravens brought him food to eat.  And one night while he was hanging there asleep, his wife, Delilah, came along and cut off his hair.  And he dropped and fell on stony ground.  And it began to rain, and it rained forty days and forty nights.   He would have drowned, but the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow him.

“And he went on and met a man who said, 'Come and take supper with me in my cave.'  But the man answered, 'I cannot for I have married a wife.'  And the man went out into the highways and byways and compelled people to come in.

“And he went on and come to Jerusalem and he saw Queen Jezebel sitting high up in a window and when she saw him she laughed.  And he said, 'Throw her down.'  And they threw her down. And He said, 'Throw her down again.'  And they threw her down seventy times seven. And of the fragments they picked up twelve baskets.  And now what I want to know if, whose wife will she be on the day of resurrection?”  (Source unknown)

The point we would make is simple this: mixing Biblical stories cannot provide a valid basis for doctrine—and mixing Pentecostal/Charismatic experiences with descontextualized Bible passages cannot provide a valid theology either.

Willful ignorance and stubbornness can beget heretics. A man who had lived a roving lifestyle before he was saved—hitchhiking, using drugs, without knowing anything about the Bible—, not long after he came to Christ he went to Bible College, and one day soon after arriving he saw a book with the title “Is Jesus God?” He thought to himself, “No, God is God”. He wasn't a heretic; he was simply ignorant; and after he was taught what the Bible says about Christ's divinity he accepted it readily and defended it for the rest of his life.

A heretic, on the other hand, is someone who is self-willed and has rejected sound doctrine in favor of his own opinions and perversions of the truth. The terms “heretic” and “heresy” refer to the willful choice of false doctrine, a willful alignment with error. This is the immediate context of Titus 3:9-10:

“But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him…”

The heretic is not content with the plain teaching of Scripture but pursues his own agenda. A heretic is not a person who is merely ignorant of sound doctrine. A true believer can be ignorant of sound doctrine, but the evidence that he is not a heretic will be seen when he responds to sound doctrine and rejects the error. 

The mouths of heretics are to be stopped by refuting their arguments and by having “nothing more to do with him” (Titus 3:10-11).

It is impossible to keep the truth without separating from false doctrine. False teachers must be dealt with and not ignored, and the scriptural way to deal with them is to have nothing more to do with them and to separate the believers from them.

The heretic is to be admonished two times (Titus 3:10). An effort is to be made to reclaim the heretic from his error. It is possible that he is not truly a heretic but that he is only teaching out of ignorance, but the effort is not to be long and drawn out. The heretic is to be admonished only two times (Titus 3:10). When it is obvious that he is set in his false ways, he must be rejected and put out of the assembly (to have nothing more to do with him). Otherwise, he will corrupt others. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9).

The heretic condemns himself by his self-willed commitment to error. “Knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned” (Titus 3:11). There is something wrong in the heretic's heart. “Subverted” is from the Greek word ekstrepho, which means to be twisted or turned inside out. Something has perverted that person's heart so that he loves heresy rather than the truth. “Such a one is subverted or perverted—a metaphor from a building so ruined as to render it difficult if not impossible to repair and raise it up again. Real heretics have seldom been recovered to the true faith: not so much defect of judgment, as perverseness of the will, being in the case, through pride, or ambition, or self-willedness, or covetousness, or such like corruption, which therefore must be taken heed of” (Matthew Henry).

We would like to exhort JAC at the behest of the Holy Spirit to realize his error and change his ways and his ideas. A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake. He goofed up by presenting poor exegesis, and many have followed his goof for many years. But, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). We would like to hear that JAC and all those who have embraced these ideas sponsored by demons are reconsidering their position. A bad book can be re-written.   

Unfortunately, so far all we have gotten from JAC is “What I have written I have written” (John 19:22). He continues spreading his errors as “key to the Scriptures”. He keeps saying of his book that it’s “exhaustive”, “comprehensive”, “fully documented” when the exact opposite is true. No truth is too hurtful, and no lie is harmless.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

“See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many” (Matthew 24:4b-5).

“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:6).