Denying God By Their Actions
So Paul is really making a case against the false teachers of his day. He says they're full of meaningless talk and deception, disrupt whole households by their false teachings for the sake of dishonest gain.
And then a few verses down, he starts to really take them on. And he says this: “both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good.”
Corrupted by Deception
Oof, that's heavy! They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. Let that sink in for a moment.
Doesn't it sound like the words of Jesus Himself? In Luke 6:46, He said, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Oh, that also hurts! Those who see Jesus as some soft, carefree guy need to read the Gospels a little deeper. You see Jesus calling people out quite often.
Recognizing False Prophets
This especially is something Jesus took people on about. He seemed to be particularly tough on people who claimed to be close to God but didn't live like it.
I mean, listen to these words in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:15–20).
But as I was reading this, the question came to me: Who then is worthy to be a teacher? I mean, are we to expect our teachers to achieve sinless perfection? Surely not. So then are we to excuse their sin? Surely not. Where is the line?
Fruit of Repentance
And for me, John Bloom explained it so well in an article entitled Pleasures Never Lie. He said, “you know, King Saul produced a lot of bad fruit. Judas did as well. They were bad trees, if you use Jesus' metaphor. But what about King David? He sinned badly. He produced bad fruit. Peter denied Jesus. That's bad fruit. But neither was considered a false teacher or bad tree. Why?” Bloom says this: “Because when they were confronted, they repented, and they bore fruit in keeping with repentance.” Which is exactly what the Bible tells us to do - Matthew 3:8 — “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” We need to repent, and our lives need to show the fruit of true repentance. And so Bloom says “The bad fruit in their lives proved to be an anomaly in a longer-term context of bearing good fruits.”
I find that helpful. Sin can never be excused or covered up. It must be confronted, and when it is, it must be repented of, and we must see good fruit coming from that heart.
Don't expect perfect sinlessness of your teachers, but look for leaders who bear good fruit and stay away from those who are stubborn in their sin and in their rebellion. Look for a leader who, though they are weak, are repentant and out of their repentance live holy and good lives as forgiven children of God.
I mean, the leaders that I look up to, friends, they are not perfect, they are flawed, but they live humble, repentant lives of goodness.
I hope that you also will find teachers like that to inspire you.
