Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
So how sure are we concerning the actual spiritual condition of everyone around you? Are we really sure that the person that seems to just attend church and go home is really not engaged in the true spiritual living? How do we tell?
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Hi OBW, I appreciate your insight and you had a good point about us getting sidetracked.
But to clarify my intentions, I think we should never have a spirit of scrutiny or judgment over the spiritual condition of our brothers and sisters. I do however think scriptures teaches us to be as wise as serpents but as gentle as doves. Why do we need to be wise? It's because savage wolves comes in with sheep's clothing to destroy the sheep. The bible relates these wolves as false teachers and false prophets, so I believe scripture admonishes us in numerous places to beware of these folks and exercise our discernment.
So I believe the bible teaches that the same level of scrutiny that we'd be withholding from our brothers and sisters in Christ should not be withheld from teachers and prophets who are unrepentantly sinning against the flock and teaching things that can lead people astray. These are folks who by exercising spiritual authority over others, have influence on their souls, so they are held to a higher standard in judgment (James 3:1). Jesus practiced scrutinizing teachers when he openly rebuked the scribes and pharisees, but he never spoke a word of condemnation to lay people. Both Paul and Peter gave similar warnings against false teachers. Apostle John went further than that and told us not to even greet such a person! (2 John 1:10)
Jesus also wants to have nothing to do with these people in eternity in Matthew 7, even telling them that they were deceived in thinking they knew him when they didn't. These people are calling him "Lord, Lord", but Jesus called them workers of lawlessness! Implying that they were confessing him as Lord all along with their mouth but not with their actions and therefore deceiving themselves into thinking they had a relationship with Christ when they didn't.
Apostle James tells us that if we just hear the word but not do it, we're deceiving ourselves. For those that do not accept James' teaching (a concept Lee held which I'm baffled by because all scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, correction), the Apostle Paul said the same things in Romans 2:13, it's not the hearers that are justified but the doers.
So Witness Lee by teaching that we just had to be "hearers" who are awaiting the divine dispensing but not "doers" was really encouraging both himself and the saints to live in deception! By this definition he was clearly a false teacher people should avoid not even counting the iniquity he shamelessly and unrepentantly practiced.
Why is this important? A lot of people here including myself felt shame from having been deceived so long and we left the LCs full of mistrust. If we don't learn from our past we're bound to repeat the same mistakes. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
My theory here is that if we learn how to identify false teachers and prophets according to scripture, it will help a lot of us heal because we'll be able to trust again after building up our own discernment in the word and by the Spirit of God.