The Ohio Independent Baptist, June/July 1971

ated themselves from the truth of the Word of God, and form– ing their own dishonest factions. HThese are the ones making di– visions, sensual, not having the Spirit" (Jude 19) . In the first section of the second Epistle, Peter has em– phasized true, accurate heart– k.nowledge, all diligence in the Christian life, the absolute cer– tainty of the prophetic Word in an age of darkness, as based up– on the fact of the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. Now, in chapter 2, the purpose of it all appears clearly - believers will have to face the worst of these false teachers, whose character and life are as corrupt and per– nicious as their doctrine. It must be understood by all believers that a heretic (hairetikos) is one who holds and teaches a heresy ( hairesis) or a number of them, which are deliberately– chosen views of his own, con– trary to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. A heresy is not mere– ly a mistaken opinion about some doctrine of the Christian faith , held by an unenlightened brother in the church, and which can be corrected by careful teaching. Rather it is an evil tenet chosen with considered in– tent, in opposition to the doc– trines of the Scriptures, by a religious teacher who does not believe the Scriptures to be the :,M 1'-1A ' UEI.. BAPTIST HURCH o f Vt' c t ho rc Rc, 1 • Wesley Bliss, Pas tor A~1 ovi,1g or 1.. raveli11g throt1gh the Harrisbtt rg, J>a. area? top and 1 i it l.. 1 1n1a1 uel Bapt ist hurch at 1 4 81 E . "J rind le Road , 1ect1ar1ics– burg, Pa ., ju t five 111i11utes off tt1c Pa. JJl . 1=. ict 17. I A gro" ing ct1t1rch, preparir1g to build, v. it l1 a ou l " 'i111ing/ Bil)le le hing 1 11ni tr}' fr all tl1e a rnily. I"" cat d in 1!1e n1iddle of 11arri - burg' ' e t 11 re , i 11 tile ., r adlc o 11 crac ) ,, . J u t 20 Ill i nu t " e t of 11 r 1 e ' n1i11 . north of et t }' l,urg. ho TH O . 0 I D r I A ' .. 1 J A ' I I . ! 71 7 7 7- 11 1 717 7 7- 2 .O I J 8 inspired, authoritative Word of God, and therefore repudiates and disowns them. A heresy ( l1airesis) may appear to be truth until it is carefully scru– tinized and investigated and found to be false, just as false prophets appear beside God's true prophets, and with their pretended prophecies try to turn God's people from the true prophets and the truths they pro– nounce by inspiration. The devil cannot, will not let God's true people alone, but is ceaselessly engaged in sending false teach– ers - heretics - among them, with their anti-scriptural doc– trines aimed at doing the greatest damage to the people of God . 3. Heresy ( hairesis) is false doc– trine which issues in eternal ruin for its advocates: II Pet. 2: 1 reads: "heresies of perdition" ( haireseis apoleias). The charac– terizing genitive construction is far stronger than an adjective "perditious heresies" and should not be converted into an adjec– tive. These heresies are evil doc– trines that belong to the realm of perdition, i.e. eternal damna– tion in hell, and carries its ad– vocates there. Peter uses this word three times in the first three verses of the second chap– ter, to emphasize its significance and solemnity. See II Thess. 2: 3, where apoleias is u sed of the destiny of the antichrist~ Heb. 10: 39, and Rev. 17: 8, where it describes the final des– tination of the man of sin and all the lost dead. All self-chosen views and doctrines that are con– trary to the Scriptures and thus bear the seal of perdition, are evil , satanic, and bring upon their holders swift and utter ruin. This truth cannot be toned do\\ n, cannot be altered to suit the un- aved churchman, notions about heaven and hell, cannot be shrugged off as a " separat1oni t interpretation of an obviou l)' wrong idea about a loving God whose creatures are all brother ." The next statement make very evident the crime and guilt of the heretics: 'den) ing even the ab olute Master \\ho bought them". This i the heart of the issue, and shows beyond all que tion that the fal e doc trine of these lying religioni c; t merit perdition. It sho\\ s that the)' deny and reject much more tha n the fact of God. They repudiate Hi absolute revelation in Je u Christ, and the \\ ords ··\\ ho bought them' mean tha t they re– ject Hi whole redempti\'e \\ ork. They deny the complete doc trine of Chri t. For thi . the) .. bring upon them elve \vift de truc– tion .., The tragedy i hO\\ e\ er that "many hall follov; their perniciou Vv ay .,. Perh ap \\ e may re cue on1e f ron1 the \\ a\ of perdition. FINANCIAL REPORT for the OHIO ASSOCIATION General Fund ~o ,a l C,i ing David Dye, Financial Secretary 1317 Deerlick Drive Columbus,Ohio 43228 MARCH 1971 _,() >7 .00 1i e11 ver Bt1dgct t1111ber o t llttr he • • tl Ing Fair Share Plan ' . "I o t, I 1 1\ ' 1 n g t1 n1ber t t1t1r Ile • • t\' t ng Other Income • d, erta 111g, II n r,r1ll111 • • tJl) r1p11 11 , 01 1\I 1 11 1 I l J l I Ill I I J IVJ l l , r 11 , 197 l 77 l ,9()t .(lO 1 7.00 -, 17.()0 1, l 1.0 ()) PI I I 11