Charisma can entice Christians to believe a new doctrine, even if it does not entirely line up with scripture. We are told that if one does not follow scripture, there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20) A church or a group may be bound to an old pioneer’s singular viewpoint, despite evidence that he or she was fallible and made many errors of judgment. For example, the Baptist farmer William Miller preached that Jesus would return to earth on October 22, 1844, despite the warning of Jesus that no man knows the time of my return (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32).
How false doctrine is perpetuated Miller repented of his error while the early church of the Seventh-day Adventists as devout followers of Miller, added a caveat after Christ did not return, fabricating an erroneous doctrine around the 1844 disappointment that overlooked several clear doctrines of the Word of God:
- of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ,
- the finality of the Atonement at the Cross,
- the glorious entry of Christ to unify with the Father in His presence at the Ascension,
- the Sanctification of the believers via the Holy Spirit indwelling the church— the New Jerusalem— the temple wherein Christ dwells on earth, and
- limiting the understanding of the New Covenant by keeping members within the Old Testament typology of an incomplete atonement and a limited justification as one works harder towards purification from all sin (referred to as The Investigative Judgment)!
The scripture teaches that your sin will find you out. Proclaimed as a prophet to never question, Ellen G. White has made other erroneous statements that do not line up with scripture to support the Investigative Judgement doctrine which is based on he 1844 error. One scripture misinterpretation leads to another. These became more evident in the information age.
This is only an example of how a misbelieving church can lead the followers of Christ down a wrong path away from the beautiful teachings of scripture. Some churches have shameless leaders who claim to have prophetic insight, implying that they are similar to Moses, Jeremiah, or the apostles, yet scripture warns us to beware even of those who claim to be prophet guides to the church:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV)
Most senior leaders within these groups have gained prestige and are highly honoured by the church. They have a looming retirement pension and years of shared fond memories with like-minded friends. Status quo has many psychological and physical rewards that can keep one from biblical honesty. Standing with error when revealed is a sin of unbelief. A heretic never says, “I’m a heretic.” A deceiver never alerts you to his true intentions, and a friend can turn on you at any moment. A family member, or even a spouse, can betray your trust Jesus taught. Authenticity and reliability are hard to find, and so are real friends — even within church groups bound to such erroneous viewpoints. And correctly asserting the truth, without standing in judgment of someone else, is decidedly difficult. Giving each other the benefit of the doubt is difficult where Scripture marks a decided division from the doctrinal norm.
We cannot truly know another person without first knowing ourselves in relation to Christ and His Word. And we cannot overcome our demons without first separating ourselves from the work of Satan’s deceptions and delusions—both inside and outside of the church. To be set free, we have to cut ties with the darkness—and Paul tells us how. To combat the darkness, Paul ultimately shows us a better way. We are not meant to pick up the threads of our old sinful lives in the world. We are also not meant to retain and incorporate false doctrinal threads into our beliefs at all; instead, we’re called to rebuild our lives on the redemption we find alone in Jesus according to the light of scripture which the Holy Spirit will lead us into. (Psalm 25:5; John 16:13) Peter was given the keys to the kingdom to build up the church of Jesus Christ, to discern and only teach scriptural truth led by the Holy Spirit which the Lord has agreed with:
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19 ESV)
It is only in Christ that we can find completion—wholeness—not in doctrine muddied with errors which can delude others and lead them astray eternally—and certainly not in association with those that chip away at or compromise your relationship with Jesus. Anything less than the pure prophetic teaching of scripture and a relationship to our God will just leave us broken, wandering in delusive fractured guidance. False doctrine and people can’t fill the God-sized hole in our hearts.
Paul states that if we cleanse ourselves from defilement, then holiness will be brought to completion. “Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
We need our hearts to be cleansed by the living God—our minds cannot clarify truth when confusing or lying guidance is ranting at us, drawing us into its snare—“the Son of God who bled and died and rose again for me” must lead. Christians have to make many difficult decisions, and many of them are based in our relationships to churches and people. What relationships should we maintain? Which relationships are okay to let go of? And when should we cut ties with someone? Whenever we are being led astray from God, we must make changes, no matter how difficult those changes are. We must never go back to ungodliness, deception, lies, delusional doctrinal errors—anything that defies belief in Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives transforming us into His image as He leads us via His Holy Spirit.