For many deceivers are entered into the world.
The prevalence and danger of negative error in matters of faith
I. The nature of the error denounced. It did not consist so much in openly impugning the principles of the gospel as in “not confessing them.” It was insinuated rather than avowed.
II. The tendency of the error denounced. In temporal matters, that form of evil which is most injurious is not always that which is most so in appearance. “The pestilence that walketh in darkness” is not less fatal than the “destruction which wasteth at noonday.” In our religious concerns it is the same. The description will apply to those of the present day who, without openly patronising Socinianism, secretly advance it by the systematic omission of the Scriptural doctrines of Christ’s deity and atonement.
1. The relation which the points omitted have to the other facts and doctrines of the Christian system.
(1) The object of Christ’s advent.
(2) The tendency and results of Christ’s advent.
(3) The demerit of sin.
(4) The love of God in our redemption.
(5) The motives of Christian obedience.
2. The tendency which the omission has to subvert the principles omitted. Never hearing any distinct ideas in regard to the person and work of the Redeemer, the people come to regard them as matters of “doubtful disputation,” if not as positively unscriptural.
Lessons--
1. Let this subject furnish a criterion of truth and error.
2. Let us learn the danger of erroneous principles in matters of religion.
3. Let us avoid those connections which would lead to the adoption of erroneous principles. (R. Brodie, M. A.)
Warning against false teachers
1. False teaching is injurious to faith, especially the faith of young Christians. Gnosticism is not actively taught in our day, but other forms of evil teaching abound. As a system of ethics, they say, the gospel is the best which has reached us from ancient times, but its miracles are legendary. We ask--Are not the Incarnation and the Resurrection the two pillars on which the whole fabric rests? How much of the literature of the New Testament will remain after the removal of these pillars? Some would say that it matters not what our sons and daughters believe, so long as their character is good. But does not belief shape character? Character is built on the great principles of the gospel, and our whole energy is required to complete it.
2. The great fact which is fundamental to the gospel, and animates the faith of the believer, is that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” The very mystery which envelops the fact stamps it with Divinity. That one of the gods should descend from heaven, become incarnate, and bear universal sway, was a thought and a desire which haunted the ancients. Their philosophers, thinkers, and poets felt the need of a restorer of purity, prosperity, and joy to the human race. The best of mortals had failed in the attempt to do so, and the gods were too far off, and too unsympathetic, to undertake the task. Some one of heavenly birth must come, and He came, who would unite in Himself power, wisdom, love, goodness, holiness, and method, at once both Divine and human. This regulating thought is also the all-animating thought of faith.
3. To profess this truth is both a duty and a privilege. The verb ὁμολογέω, to speak the same language, suggests a beautiful thought in this connection. The “elect lady” had taught her sons the language of Bethlehem, Bethany, and the Cross. The deceivers did not speak that spiritual language. There was an imminent danger lest the children might pick up their shibboleth. For is it not the case that we are influenced by the words we speak? (T. Davies, M. A.)
The ingratitude of deceivers
The Volucellae have a strong resemblance to the humble bee. Certain kinds make use and abuse of this resemblance to introduce themselves fraudulently into its nests, and to deposit their eggs therein. When these eggs have hatched, the larvae, which have two mandibles, devour the larvae of their hosts the bees. This is the return they make for the hospitality they have received. (Scientific Illustrations.)