Curse preachers of false gospel?

[prisonchaplain]

Today, in my Sunday School class, we came upon the following scripture from Galations 1:

8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

I suggested that the passage refers not to those outside OUR church, but to those within. In other words, we do not shout to the church down the road, "You are acursed!" Instead, should someone WITHIN our church teach/preach a false gospel, we would deal with such very directly--most likely by expulsion (excommunication).

It dawns on me that LDS practice may be the same. When protestors come to your conferences with offensive signs, most simply ignore, and offer no engagement at all. However, if someone within an LDS setting were teaching material deemed to be not of the Spirit, and against LDS standards and teachings, church discipline might ultimately be required.

Thoughts?

[skalenfehl]

I take this passage ("any other gospel") to mean repentance unto baptism. The gospel of Jesus Christ according to our doctrine is that Jesus Christ came to earth to atone for our sins that we might come unto Him, repent and be baptized.

3 Nephi 27

9 Verily I say unto you, that ye are built upon my gospel; therefore ye shall call whatsoever things ye do call, in my name; therefore if ye call upon the Father, for the church, if it be in my name the Father will hear you;

10 And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it.

11 But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return.

12 For their works do follow them, for it is because of their works that they are hewn down; therefore remember the things that I have told you.

13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—

15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.

16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.

17 And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father.

18 And this is the word which he hath given unto the children of men. And for this cause he fulfilleth the words which he hath given, and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words.

19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.

20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;

22 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

[Traveler]

Today, in my Sunday School class, we came upon the following scripture from Galations 1:

I suggested that the passage refers not to those outside OUR church, but to those within. In other words, we do not shout to the church down the road, "You are acursed!" Instead, should someone WITHIN our church teach/preach a false gospel, we would deal with such very directly--most likely by expulsion (excommunication).

It dawns on me that LDS practice may be the same. When protestors come to your conferences with offensive signs, most simply ignore, and offer no engagement at all. However, if someone within an LDS setting were teaching material deemed to be not of the Spirit, and against LDS standards and teachings, church discipline might ultimately be required.

Thoughts?

I agree with your assessment. I think it is also interesting to note that neither Jesus nor his Apostles or for that matter any of the New Testament writers addressed any other religion and their teachings. The one possible exception may be when Paul addressed doctrines that seemed to come from other religions and creep into what Christians of his time. In particular the Hellenists corruptions creeping into early Christianity of his day.

I have also thought that this particular scripture taught that we should not even try to teach what we think others believe. For example, I do not think that LDS should teach and publish what we ought to not like or believe about the Jehovah Witnesses or Evangelicals or anyone else. In essence LDS and those that believe in Jesus and the Bible scriptures (other scriptures for us LDS) should teach what we understand and believe from our scriptures and leave it to others to teach their beliefs.

Jesus said we should treat others as we expect to be treated - so if we (LDS) do not want the Catholics or anyone else publishing and teaching our doctrine with their bias claiming to state the truth of what we believe - we should not teach of them in such a manner - even if they do such things to us.

The Traveler

[prisonchaplain]

Traveler, you certainly give good reason to be very cautious about a practice that is somewhat common amongst Evangelicals. The best defense I come come up with is that Paul did warn about the Judaizers. John warned about the Nicalaitan in Revelation too. However, once again, there were heresies festering WITHIN the churches--not in other religions. So...good food for thought.

Ironically, many of my bretheren use the passage I quoted as justification for going after other religions. I certainly agree with you that simply lifting up Jesus is generally more effective.

[AnthonyB]

PC,

How do we distinguish between a heresy within a belief, and a seperate belief system? Most groups started off as a break away from another group, that some point seperated out. I think people teach about other groups mainly to discourage their own people joining the other group. In some ways the easiest way to teach your own groups distinctives is to compare with other groups. When Jesus said..."You have heard it said but I say to you" he was contrasting belief systems.

Edited May 27, 2013 by AnthonyB

[AnthonyB]

I take this passage ("any other gospel") to mean repentance unto baptism. The gospel of Jesus Christ according to our doctrine is that Jesus Christ came to earth to atone for our sins that we might come unto Him, repent and be baptized.

3 Nephi 27

9 Verily I say unto you, that ye are built upon my gospel; therefore ye shall call whatsoever things ye do call, in my name; therefore if ye call upon the Father, for the church, if it be in my name the Father will hear you;

10 And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it.

11 But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return.

12 For their works do follow them, for it is because of their works that they are hewn down; therefore remember the things that I have told you.

13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—

15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.

16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.

17 And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father.

18 And this is the word which he hath given unto the children of men. And for this cause he fulfilleth the words which he hath given, and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words.

19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.

20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;

22 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

Skalenfehl,

That's my gospel to.....Nothing in that passage I couldn't give a hearty amen to.

[prisonchaplain]

PC,

How do we distinguish between a heresy within a belief, and a seperate belief system? Most groups started off as a break away from another group, that some point seperated out. I think people teach about other groups mainly to discourage their own people joining the other group. In some ways the easiest way to teach your own groups distinctives is to compare with other groups. When Jesus said..."You have heard it said but I say to you" he was contrasting belief systems.

I did give myself some wiggle room. Yet, I see that today most churches avoid the cult seminars that used to be popular. Instead, I like what even one counter-cult guy once said--teach people what the real truth is, and they will know a counterfeit when they encounter it. You get so familiar with the authentic that the imitation just doesn't feel right.

One time I spent two hours listening to a Muslim fellow tell me how his religion was an extension of mine. I listened politely and with interest. Afterwards, I simply said, "I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God--God himself. Do you have peace with that?"

He indicated that he did not. I then asked him to put himself in my head for a moment. I asked, "Knowing that I believe that Jesus is God the Son, do you think I have peace with your notion that Jesus is a human prophet, peace be upon him?" He smiled and said, "No, you would not."

Mission accomplished.

[Traveler]

PC,

How do we distinguish between a heresy within a belief, and a seperate belief system? Most groups started off as a break away from another group, that some point seperated out. I think people teach about other groups mainly to discourage their own people joining the other group. In some ways the easiest way to teach your own groups distinctives is to compare with other groups. When Jesus said..."You have heard it said but I say to you" he was contrasting belief systems.

I disagree - I think that most people teach about the flaws in others to draw attention away from their own flaws and insecurities in their own beliefs. This is a most common practice in politics and bullish or rude children. Jesus taught a gospel of love and compassion - even for our enemies. Gossip is a deadly sin for two reasons. One it encourages hate for those that listen as well as those the spread the bad news (note that gospel means good news not bad news) and two; it discourages love. Religious gossip is no different.

There is a saying about gossip (including religious gossip) - If you can no say nothing good about no body - more better you on say nothing! I personally believe that Jesus taught that his followers draw others to Christ by love, a gospel of love and acts of love. The teaching of going the extra mile was not about helping those within your friendly social group but towards those that oppose your religion and ideology. Specifically Jesus was talking about the oppressive Romans - not the Jews or early Christians.

The Traveler

Edited May 27, 2013 by Traveler

[rameumptom]

I was taught that the the angel referenced by Paul was the Angel Moroni, and so the Mormons were accursed....at least that's what some of the evangelical friends tell me. ;-)

I agree that we need to work within our own churches to keep the doctrine correct, and be careful not to allow those inside the circle to detract from faith.

[prisonchaplain]

I was taught that the the angel referenced by Paul was the Angel Moroni, and so the Mormons were accursed....at least that's what some of the evangelical friends tell me. ;-)

Yeah...Muslims too. Sometimes comparisons come up because we are discussing a particular doctrine. "Hey, don't the _____ believe differently?" The key is to focus on the doctrine, not get parked on how right we are and how wrong they are. Knowledge should improve our walk with God, not feed our spiritual pride and self-righteousness.

[Blackmarch]

Today, in my Sunday School class, we came upon the following scripture from Galations 1:

I suggested that the passage refers not to those outside OUR church, but to those within. In other words, we do not shout to the church down the road, "You are acursed!" Instead, should someone WITHIN our church teach/preach a false gospel, we would deal with such very directly--most likely by expulsion (excommunication).

It dawns on me that LDS practice may be the same. When protestors come to your conferences with offensive signs, most simply ignore, and offer no engagement at all. However, if someone within an LDS setting were teaching material deemed to be not of the Spirit, and against LDS standards and teachings, church discipline might ultimately be required.

Thoughts?

in sunday school we are taught that when God curses he seperates. From tese passages I would take it to mean that you are to be seperate from twrongful teachings..

And i agree the message is directed to within the church, the very grand majority of the new testament teachings are directed to within the church (including many of the signs) or what would be come of the church, and is still applicable to today's church.

Yes if someone is teaching things that are directly against the gospel and teachings of the church, they are reproved, and if they don't repent they will be removed.