Desiring to be teachers of the law - That
is, to have the credit and reputation of being well
versed in the law of Moses, and qualified to explain
it to others. This was a high honor among the Jews,
and these teachers laid claim to the same
distinction. ~Barnes Notes
Teachers of the law -
To be esteemed or celebrated as rabbins; to be
reputed cunning in solving knotty questions and
enigmas, which answered no end to true religion. Of
such the rabbinical teaching was full.
~Adam Clarke
Teachers of the law -
There are none more unlearned, and more impudent in
usurping the name of holiness, than foolish
babblers, who reason fallaciously.
~Geneva Bible Translation
Notes
Desiring to be teachers of the
law - They were very fond of being called
Rabbi, Rabbi, and styled doctors of the law, and of
being thought to have skill in interpreting the law,
and good talents in expounding it, and preaching
upon it; which was now most in vogue, and gained the
greatest applause, when the preaching of the Gospel
was treated with contempt, not only by the
unbelieving Jews, but by judaizing Christians, and
carnal professors, ~John
Gill
Now some examples of this from related scriptures.
Acts 15:1
And certain men which came down from Judaea taught
the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
Galatians 3:1-5
1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that
ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes
Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth,
crucified among you?
2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the
Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith?
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are
ye now made perfect by the flesh?
4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be
yet in vain.
5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit,
and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Galatians 4:21
Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye
not hear the law?
Galatians 5:3-4
3 For I testify again to every man that is
circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole
law.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever
of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from
grace.
Related to Galatians 5:3-4 is Romans 3:20
Romans 3:20
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no
flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is
the knowledge of sin.
Titus 1:10-11
10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and
deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole
houses, teaching things which they ought not, for
filthy lucre's sake.
Now the second part of the verse: "understanding
neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm."
Understanding neither what
they say - That is, they do not understand
the true nature and design of that law which they
attempt to explain to others. This was true of the
Jewish teachers, and equally so of those in the
church at Ephesus, who attempted to explain it. They
appear to have explained the law on the principles
which commonly prevailed among the Jews, and hence
their instructions tended greatly to corrupt the
faith of the gospel. They made affirmations of what
they knew nothing of, and though they made confident
observations, yet they often pertained to things
about which they had no knowledge. One needs only a
slight acquaintance with the manner of teaching
among Jewish rabbies, or with the things found in
their traditions, to see the accuracy of this
statement of the apostle. A sufficient illustration
of this may be found in Allen’s “Modern Judaism.”
~Barnes Notes
Understanding neither what
they say - This is evident from almost all
the Jewish comments which yet remain. Things are
asserted which are either false or dubious; words,
the import of which they did not understand, were
brought to illustrate them: so that it may be said,
They understand not what they say, nor whereof they
affirm. I will give one instance from the Jerusalem
Targum, on Genesis 1:15 : And God made two great
lights, and they were equal in splendor twenty-one
years, the six hundred and seventy-second part of an
hour excepted: and afterwards the moon brought a
false accusation against the sun, and therefore she
was lessened; and God made the sun the greater light
to superintend the day, etc. I could produce a
thousand of a similar complexion.
~Adam Clarke
Understanding neither what
they say, nor whereof they affirm - they did
not understand the law, the nature and end, the
purity and spirituality, and perfection of it, which
they were so fond of teaching, and went into many
foolish and unlearned questions about it; see 2
Timothy 2:23, and which they as foolishly answered:
these are the ignorant and unlearned men, who,
notwithstanding their vain show of learning, and
pretence to skill in interpreting the law, wrested
the Scriptures to their own destruction, and that of
others; they were ignorant of the things they talked
of, and knew not by what arguments to confirm them,
and yet were very bold and confident in their
assertions: and generally speaking so it is, that
those who can prove least assert most, and that with
the greatest assurance.
~John Gill
Now the verses related to this second half of the
verse:
1 Timothy 6:4-5
4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about
questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy,
strife, railings, evil surmisings,
5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and
destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is
godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
Isaiah 29:13-14
13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people
draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips
do honour me, but have removed their heart far from
me, and their fear toward me is taught by the
precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a
marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous
work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men
shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent
men shall be hid.
Jeremiah 8:8-9
8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the
LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it;
the pen of the scribes is in vain.
9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and
taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD;
and what wisdom is in them?
Matthew 15:14
...speaking of the
Pharisees
Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind.
And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall
into the ditch.
Matthew 23:16-24
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say,
Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing;
but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple,
he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the
gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is
nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is
upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the
gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar,
sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by
it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by
the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and
have omitted the weightier matters of the law,
judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have
done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and
swallow a camel.
John 3:9-10
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can
these things be?
10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a
master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
John 9:40-41
40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him
heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind
also?
41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should
have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your
sin remaineth.
Romans 1:22
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
2 Timothy 3:7
Ever learning, and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth.
Summation:
Both then and now will come individuals in the
congregation who will seek power or desire position,
accolades and/or money. To do this, they will
devise their own teachings, doctrines and slick
presentations. Since such work is not of the
Holy Spirit or by its power, they will be seen by
true firstfruits as being false teachers. For
these types to proceed, they must be self-serving,
seeing that nothing will come to them by the hand of
God. I have a short piece on this in the
Minister's Notebook and I want to share this with
you here.
Self-Promotion in
God's Church?
Let’s get to the heart of this immediately. There is
no room in God’s church for self-promotion!
Self-promotion is one person attempting to impress
another and/or to further his own agenda. It is a
quest for preeminence in the congregation. This
ultimately fails on all counts.
Could one gain preeminence with an entire military
army by appealing to its lowest privates and
sergeants? This is what a person is doing by
self-promoting himself among humans in God’s Church.
This is God’s Church, created and administered by
Him through Christ. Self-promotion does not work
with God. Both Christ and the apostle Paul condemn
those that self-promote themselves.
The act of self-promotion is linked directly to the
element of lying in the church
[see Minister’s Notebook on
Lying in the Church].
The Pharisees continually sought the preeminence and
were charged by Jesus as being hypocrites, which is
to say “actors” or liars. In my Bible dictionary,
for the definition of “lie” I read, “…for a life
lived under false pretenses, a hypocritical life.”
One cannot lie about church
related elements, including business, spiritual
teachings, doctrines, or administration. Ananias and
Sapphira did and died, losing their salvation. They
were not just lying before men, but before the Holy
Spirit and, therefore God, the Father.
In the "self-promotion" or "self-serving attitude"
we are talking about the church. Therefore, if such
a thing were to happen, it is being done in the
presence of the Holy Spirit and Christ, the Head of
the Church. Unlike lying, this would not necessarily
put such a person in danger of the lake of fire [losing
one's salvation]. One can offer repentance.
When one engages in self-promotion, it is an
absolute given that this person has a poor
relationship with God and the Word of God, which is
the mind of that same God. He is looking for praise
from MEN. In a recent Bible study I talked about the
difference between the human and a spirit being,
such as God or Christ. I liken the human to a penny.
I liken a spirit being to a Google dollars. That is
the numeral one followed by one hundred zeros. In
fact, I say that, compared to a penny [the
human], a spirit being is likened to a Google
dollars times a Google dollars times a Google
dollars (say that for 3 full
days). THEREFORE, when one engages in
self-promotion, he or she is appealing to the
"penny" in the church and denying the spirit beings
(God and Christ) worth
googles MORE. Such denial denotes gross quenching of
that relationship.
There is no room for self-promotion in God's Church.
The second it is done, the one doing it is
proclaiming he or she lacks relationship with God.
No self-promotion is worth having to face Christ on
this charge, which He would surely bring if not
repented of.
The
Self-Serving Attitude
The self-serving attitude, which is
actually “self promotion” taken a step further, the
individual actually attempts to DISPLACE normal
church activities to do the self-promotion. This
might include one attempting to manipulate events,
such as having the local church change a date or
time for his sermon or other such presentation. It
might be an individual canceling one commitment so
as to be at another location or with people that
might help him further his personal agenda. This
type of person shows a marked lack of interest or
concerns for other people or their needs.
Promotion of Christ
Every time an outstanding sermon, sermonette or
Bible Study is given, who gets the credit? Our
doctrine on the
ministry says God gets the
credit and praise. After all, it was CHRIST in
the speaker that performed the sermon, the
sermonette and the Bible study. When the
congregation has a most positive response to a
sermon, sermonette or Bible study, how did THAT
happen? Who gets the credit there? The best sermon
in the world is MEANINGLESS if there is not someone
with the Holy Spirit to hear and react (2
Cor. 2:14). Therefore, when a congregation
has a positive reaction to a sermon or Bible study
and takes action to have the minister back, they are
REACTING TO CHRIST. They are exhibiting excited
hunger for the Word of God. A minister in close
relationship to God could hardly take credit for
what he did.
In the case of any good sermon or Bible study,
Christ gets the credit for speaking through the
speaker and for inspiring the hearing of the
firstfruits that heard it. Christ must be promoted.
We must feed the flock and we must get real excited
when something most effective happens.
Which
one is the counterfeit?
The reality of life in the Body of Christ is that
for everything good, Satan has a negative
counterfeit? Some counterfeit money has been so good
as to fool long time experts at the Treasury
Department. There is a fine line of discernment
between a self-serving attitude and someone showing
boldness and excitement in and for the Work of God.
The self-promoter is not sensitive to the
congregation. The sincere individual is a servant of
the congregation. The self-promoter puts himself in
the light. The true firstfruit gives all praise to
Christ and God, the Father. One is self-centered,
the other Christ-centered. One speaks to his
importance and position while the other speaks to
the importance of the whole congregation. The
self-promoter relies on his own talent, while the
Christ-promoter puts full reliance in the power of
the Holy Spirit working in and through him. Both
stand before the throne of God. One will produce
real lasting fruit and the other will not. One will
have a
slick presentation and the other will humbly let
Christ speak for him. The deceitful works of the
self-promoter will increase until he is fully
exposed.
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,
deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in
the things which thou hast learned and hast been
assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
And that from a child thou hast known the holy
scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
–2 Tim 3:13-15
Your
attitude
The question now is how are you going to react to
this situation? I had a communication with a humble,
sincere member the other day and he admitted to me
that his knee-jerk reaction tended toward assuming
the negative. That anyone acting in a bold manner
was clearly a person full of himself and a
self-promoter. My encouragement to him was to assume
the best until such time as the self-promoter tips
his or her hand. Negative behavior is always exposed
in time as shown in the above scripture. Your
admonition is to "continue in the things you have
learned and been assured of, knowing of whom thou
hast learned them." Immerse yourself in the Word of
God and you will easily see the self-promoter from
the servant of the Almighty. God has words for those
who attempt to serve both Him and the self…
He
that is faithful in that which is least is faithful
also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is
unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been
faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit
to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not
been faithful in that which is another man's, who
shall give you that which is your own? No servant
can serve two masters: for either he will hate the
one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the
one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous,
heard all these things: and they derided him. And he
said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves
before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that
which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in
the sight of God. – Luke 16:10-15
---end---
Paul is saying in verse 7 that several false
teachers will arise but that there is no room in
God's church or your individual Salvation Process
for any of them.
See, "Era
of Slick Arguments."
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