Right Division of the Word (9)
By Pastor Raphael Adegoke
“15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15).
It is another glorious day. May we receive the grace to always dwell in the presence of God . Amen! The last time on this series, we considered “ Emotion and State of the Mind”, but today we shall be focusing on “Motive”.
It is explicitly stated in the Bible that one of the features of the end time is people raising for themselves teachers that will teach them what their itchy ears want to hear, but it is still most unfortunate and disheartening that many believers are not discerning and still fall prey.
- For time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itchy ears.” (2 Timothy 4:3). “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible even the elect.(Matthew 24:24).
It is so unfortunate that many believers still think false teachers are teachers that will rise, boldly renounce Christ and boldly confess Satan. Believers often feel these false teachers will clearly teach people to disobey God and obey Satan. No! When the scripture talks about false teachers, One of the basic things that should be known is that false teachers mostly make use the Bible as their basis. The difference, oftentimes between the false and the genuine is always in the aspect of biblical interpretation and application. In fact, false teachers will often sound right, but with subtle introduction of damnable heresies.
In addition, many teachers teach to build doctrines to reinforce or defend their lives. This can sometimes be their weaknesses or strengths, but thank God for His Word. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). Nonetheless, many believers still don’t see beyond the surface to knowing, through the lens of God’s Word, the motive behind many teachings, interpretations and applications.
There is hardly any topic a teacher wants to teach about today, around which he will not get scriptures to help him build a doctrine. That means, the motive of a preacher may determine how he handles and interprets the scripture. So, for there to be holistic division of the Word, the motive must be right, that is, must align with that of Christ. Anything short of this, even if it is started well, will not end well. If it sounds like starting with Christ, it will not end in Christ.
Pastor Raphael Adegoke is a Pastor in Christ Apostolic Church (Nigeria & Overseas) and a Lecturer in Christ Apostolic Church Theological Seminary.
