Gal. 1:6 – “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different Gospel”
Our world has watched as a virus spread quickly over the globe. It was transmitted from person to person and then from country to country. Borders, and protections, and barriers could not stem the tide. It simply spread and the hapless peoples of the world were left scrambling to figure out how to deal with it. But physical illnesses are not the only thing that spreads so quickly. Heresy too spreads as if it had wings. It flows seamlessly from person to person, infecting the young and old alike. Heresy knows no borders, but is wantonly carried to every place on the lips of the misinformed. Once heresy is breathed out by a false shepherd, it is breathed in by his undiscerning hearers. They receive it like some tasty morsel, but it is poison to their souls. These hearers then become carriers of this spiritual disease, spreading it at the speed of a rumor.
“Herein lies the greatness of the danger of heresies, they are quickly conceived, and quickly brought forth, quickly born, and quickly thriving.” (Obadiah Sedgwick) It is likely that by the time you become aware of a heresy it has already spread exceedingly. By the time sound men of the faith address it (and seek to refute it) it has already polluted the waters, it has already stricken many souls ill, and it has already contaminated many churches.
O how quickly a lie can take root and spread! If only the truth could spread as easily. A heresy is easily believed, but the truth is looked at skeptically. A perversion raises the curiosity of fallen men, but the truth bores them. A lie attracts the attention of people, while the truth repels them. Fallen man inherently rejects the things of God, but is inwardly disposed to the things of the devil. Truth can be hard to grasp, hard to accept, hard to grow in. A fabrication is easily understood, easy to accept, and it requires nothing more of you. A righteous man must press hard into the truth, he must strive diligently to align himself with it, and he must constantly be alert lest he stray from it. But such toil is not necessary with heresy; it is absorbed easily because it already aligns with our corrupt nature. A healthy garden must be tilled and prepared, and tended too often. There are so many things you have to watch out for: the weather could destroy your crop, pests could ruin your plants, animals could consume them, and your own mishandling could cost you the harvest. But you don’t have to try to grow weeds; they spring up almost as soon as their seed hits the ground. Left to themselves they will rapidly take over your garden and choke the life out of your fruitful plants. And so it is with heresy, the hearts and minds of men readily receive lies, but the truth needs careful application and attentiveness if you would see it grow and bear fruit.
There is but one way to protect your own heart from the spread of spiritual weeds, and there is but one effective vaccine against heresy – the truth of the Word of God. O that God’s people would be rooted and grounded in that Word. O that we would not be so easily swayed! O that we would not “turn away so soon” from the truth.
Comments