Do Bad Ethics Qualify as Heresy?
00:00:00.000 | [Music]
00:00:05.500 | There's a question floating around in the blogosphere and it emerges on occasion, and this is it essentially.
00:00:11.500 | We know that it is heretical to deny the precious Orthodox doctrines such as rejecting the virgin birth of Christ,
00:00:19.000 | or denying the Trinity, or denying the divinity of Christ. That is false teaching, period.
00:00:26.500 | But is a false ethical claim, like celebrating homosexual practice, does this also qualify as heresy?
00:00:36.000 | Well, let's use your definition of heresy, at least what I hear you suggesting, and ask the question that way.
00:00:46.000 | A teaching or a conviction that contradicts something so central and precious to the Christian faith that it disqualifies a person
00:00:59.000 | from belonging to the Church, and thus disqualifies the person from being viewed as a person in Christ and in salvation.
00:01:08.000 | That's the definition I'm going to work with. The reason I say disqualifies him from being viewed as is because we humans
00:01:19.500 | don't make the final decision on who is saved and who's not. God does.
00:01:25.000 | But we are called upon to protect the Church and pursue the purity of the Church by making judgments
00:01:34.000 | about whether a person's views disqualify him from being assumed to be a Christian.
00:01:40.500 | And the Church always makes those judgments in the hope that the person will repent and be restored to the Church.
00:01:49.500 | So here's the biblical illustration of this understanding of heresy. Galatians 1, 8 and 9.
00:01:56.000 | "Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
00:02:07.000 | As we have said before, so I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed."
00:02:15.500 | So, it seems there are distortions of the gospel that are so serious they are worthy of cursing rather than blessing,
00:02:26.000 | which would mean that those who spread them are spreading a curse, not a blessing.
00:02:31.500 | And so the naming and the exclusion of such views is an act of protection and love for the flock of God,
00:02:39.000 | protecting the Church from being cursed.
00:02:41.500 | Now your question is, since there is clearly such a thing as heretical departures from Christian doctrine or teaching,
00:02:49.500 | is there also such a thing as heretical departures from Christian practice or ethics?
00:02:56.500 | Or to be more precise, are teachings that endorse or celebrate or encourage behaviors which are evil enough or destructive enough
00:03:06.500 | that these teachings should be called heresies?
00:03:09.500 | And based on the definition we're working with, my answer is surely yes.
00:03:15.500 | The definition says that a teaching which contradicts something so important that it brings a curse rather than a blessing would be heresy.
00:03:25.500 | In other words, heresies bring destruction, not salvation.
00:03:28.500 | And the Apostle Paul is clear that there are sins, behaviors, attitudes, which if they are endorsed and embraced and followed, will bring a curse.
00:03:42.500 | And if they are repented of and fought against in the power of the Spirit through faith in Christ will lead to life.
00:03:50.500 | So here's the example that everybody would, I presume, think of.
00:03:55.500 | And it's not the only one. Galatians 5 says the same thing.
00:03:59.500 | "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?"
00:04:04.500 | In other words, there are behaviors that lead to a curse.
00:04:07.500 | "Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral or idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,
00:04:15.500 | nor thieves, nor greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."
00:04:22.500 | Since all these sins lead to the curse of exclusion from the kingdom, the teachings that endorse them or celebrate them are heretical teachings.
00:04:37.500 | That is, they are teachings that bring a curse rather than a blessing.
00:04:41.500 | So if you teach that a life of greed is good, you're a heretic.
00:04:46.500 | If you teach that a life of adultery is good, you're a heretic.
00:04:51.500 | And so on. The embrace of sin destroys, and the teaching that encourages that embrace destroys. It's heresy.
00:05:03.500 | If we had time, we could do what J.I. Packard did in 2003.
00:05:07.500 | When he left his denomination in Vancouver over the expectation that he would participate in the blessing of homosexual ordination,
00:05:19.500 | you can read this in Christianity Today online, it's called "Why I Walked."
00:05:27.500 | If you just Google that title at Christianity Today, it'll come up.
00:05:31.500 | One of the things he does is go behind the warning of destruction for the celebration of sinful behavior
00:05:40.500 | and show how the teachings that approve homosexual behavior actually distort the doctrines of creation,
00:05:50.500 | distort the doctrine of sin, distort the doctrine of regeneration, distort the doctrine of sanctification.
00:05:56.500 | So here's the point of drawing that in.
00:05:59.500 | Heretical doctrines and heretical ethics are all cut from one fabric.
00:06:07.500 | They are not separate. And for those who, even as we speak, Tony, are contemplating the acceptance and the normalization of homosexual practice,
00:06:21.500 | they would do well to consider with J.I. Packard both the doctrinal and the ethical dimensions of this endorsement and this sin.
00:06:32.500 | It is a kind of double heresy leading to a curse for what is done and for the doctrinal falsehoods behind it.
00:06:44.500 | Wow, that is strong, and the implications are huge.
00:06:47.500 | That article, again, by J.I. Packard is titled "Why I Walked." You can find it online.
00:06:53.500 | If you have a question for John Piper that you want to send to us, or if you want to catch up on recent episodes,
00:06:58.500 | or if you want to find a list of the most popular episodes of all time, you can do all of that at our landing page.
00:07:03.500 | Go to DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn.
00:07:09.500 | We're going to break for the weekend, but Pastor John and I will return on Monday.
00:07:13.500 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke. We'll see you then.
00:07:16.500 | (end)
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