Jesus taught His Church should keep the commandments of God: “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17), but He knew false teachers would arise rejecting God’s commandments for a distorted gospel of no law, or lawlessness. He warned: “Many will say to Me… ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied [preached] in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” (Matthew 7:22-23).
What Jesus prophesied came to pass and, after His death, a counterfeit Christianity arose with distorted teachings that devastated the early Church. When Paul was farewelling the elders of the church in Ephesus, he warned: “…after my departure savage wolves will come in among you….Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples” (Acts 20:29-30). Paul also told the Colossians not to accept man made traditions in place of the commandments of God: “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men…and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
In spite of Paul’s admonitions the Christians in the Roman province of Galatia turned en masse from his teachings to a counterfeit gospel: “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). These false teachers perverted aspects of the Gospel Paul taught, producing a mixture of truth and error. Paul roundly condemned that “different” gospel: “…if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:9).
Jesus warned His apostles this would happen: “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:11-12). Disregard for God’s law would finally become the foundation of a popular and successful counterfeit, acknowledging Jesus as “Lord” while refusing to obey Him (Luke 6:46).
False teachers began exploiting God’s mercy—the grace of God—to advocate Christians have been liberated from the law and no longer need to obey it. “For certain men have crept in… ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness [shameful behavior] and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4). To them, grace excused sin—the breaking of God’s law. They viewed God’s law as an unnecessary burden, in spite of the fact God says transgressing His law is sin (1 John 3:4). John tells us: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). It is sin, not God’s law, that enslaves us. By obeying God we become free from the enslavement to sin.
Sincere but misguided religious leaders today accept doctrines that permit them to break some of God’s commandments. The Apostle Paul explains the natural mind of man, which is not guided by God’s Spirit, cannot always see the purpose behind God’s laws. “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Most people are not overtly hostile toward many of God’s laws, usually recognizing that deeds such as murder and theft are wrong. However, they are hostile—perhaps without recognizing it —toward laws challenging their own way of thinking. In that sense lawlessness appeals. The carnal, or fleshly, mind resents God’s authority as expressed in His laws: “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). We call this sinful tendency human nature—a combination of human weakness and acquired attitudes resulting from Satan’s influence.
Peter anticipated many Christians would turn aside from truth to follow doctrines that were more appealing to the carnal mind, He said false teachers would arise “among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them….And many will follow their destructive ways [and]… the way of truth will be blasphemed” (2 Peter 2:1-2).
As the teachings of false ministers gained in popularity, their followers gradually grew to be the majority in some congregations. The Apostle John records one such tragic example: “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church” (3 John 1:9-10).
Incredible as it sounds, those who were faithful to the teaching of the Apostles were expelled from this congregation. They had become the minority. The majority had chosen to follow Diotrephes, who, in his own lust for power and influence, falsely accused the Apostle John.
