Toward a Biblical Theology of Division from False Teachers, Theological Errors, and Immoral Persons in the Church

 Introduction

A theology of unity in the Church presupposes a theology of division.  The two are not opposed to one another but inter-dependent.  The current essay follows on from previous essays on a Biblical understanding of unity that stand over against false teaching about unity in our day.

Mainline, Protestant denominations have been in the process of schism over several decades.[1]  Currently, the United Methodist Church is dividing, while the Anglican Communion is solidifying its divisions from liberal, Western provinces, including the Church of England.  Throughout the process, theological concerns over schism itself have been a part of the debates.  Liberals and theological revisionists have argued that the orthodox should not leave the denominations because unity is an essential doctrine for the Church.  In saying this, they have diverted attention away from the issues causing division.  By ‘unity’ they mean loyalty to an institutional community, not theological unity.[2]  In this way, any insistence on Biblical teaching and orthodoxy has been treated as secondary to organizational unity.  (It is, after all, rather rich for a denomination to uphold unity so highly when it is itself separate from other denominations.  It is even richer for such people to insist on 'staying together' when they are the ones revising the teaching on which the denomination was founded.)

Several decades ago, many Evangelicals remained in these mainline denominations because they hoped to be salt and light, bringing revival.  No return to the apostolic faith and orthodox morality has occurred.[3]  Whether remaining might have brought renewal or not in some cases was not tested when too many Evangelicals left and formed other denominations.[4]  Sometimes the number of unorthodox, revisionist ministers and laity was too great for a return to orthodoxy.[5]  In some other cases, however, Evangelicals did remain and have not succeeded in steering these denominations back to orthodoxy.  An excellent example is the United Methodist Church in the United States of America.  With Liberals in tight control of the denomination (e.g., of its seminaries), separation has become necessary.  Also, Evangelicalism itself has been infiltrated by so-called Progressives,[6] lost its role as a ‘movement’, and become increasingly a disunited collection of independent churches.

Some New Testament texts cited below in preparation for developing a 'theology of division' speak of an apostasy in the last days.  They applied this to their own times as the ‘age to come’ had been inaugurated, but the final days of ‘this age’ would see the prediction fulfilled in its fullest sense.  So, for example, Paul says,

1Tim. 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, ² through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared….[7]

Jesus, too, had warned of this:

Matt. 24:9   “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. ¹² And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The argument for unity by people insisting on remaining together in an institution has been very poorly made.  Little thinking seems to have gone into the discussion, let alone proper exegesis of texts calling for unity.  I have addressed this elsewhere.[8]  Nor have texts speaking to the issue of false teachers who promote lawlessness (i.e., disobedience to God's revealed Law), including the sexual immorality of the culture, been addressed by today's false teachers. In this essay, I simply offer texts in the New Testament that, one way or another, call for separation from false teachers and false Christians whose theology and ethics are opposed to Scripture.  There is a consistent ‘theology of division’ in Scripture (including the Old Testament) that, together with a proper understanding of unity, call for separation in our day.[9]

Not only is separation Biblically defensible, it is also mandated.  Separation is the theological foundation for a Biblical view of unity.  The manner of separation, however, can vary.  Interestingly, some of the same issues addressed over which separation should take place in the early Church are issues dividing Christians today.  One of the main issues then and now is the issue of sexual immorality.  False teachers in both cases have introduced the sexuality of the culture into the Church.  Another significant issue was--and is--an inadequate or heretical theology of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The texts that follow and their authors are united in calling for separation.  Some slight differences will be noted, but these are more practical than theological.  The passages cited in this study are amazingly relevant to the situation that the Church faces in our day.  As this theology of separation is examined, one can see that it leads to unity, unity among the faithful over against false teachers and their followers.

Acknowledgement of Authority, Denunciation of Wrongs, and Formation of New Community

The approach to dealing with error within a religious institution acknowledges authorities, but in a highly qualified and temporary manner.  It is really an interim approach, since the formation of a separate community will eventually result in a split, as it did, indeed, for the early Church in its separation from Judaism in the 1^st c. AD.  The acknowledgement of authority is only an acknowledgement of an institution insofar as it delivers established teaching—the teaching of Moses.  In other words, there is no concept of the present occupiers of Moses’ seat having their own authority to develop or change what Moses wrote.  Thus, Jesus warns His disciples not to do what they do, which is contrary to what Moses taught.  Only their teaching faithfully what was written is acceptable teaching.

That is as far as acknowledgement of authority goes.  What is more pronounced is Jesus constant denunciation of the erroneous teaching and actions of the scribes and Pharisees.  The quote, below, from Matthew 23 is only a portion of an entire chapter denouncing them.  The following chapter begins with Jesus’ prediction of God’s judgement on the temple: God Himself would reject the religious authorities of Judaism.  Meantime, as we see throughout Jesus’ ministry, He was establishing a separate people devoted to Himself.  The second quotation leaves no doubt about the source of false teaching, and Jesus' own teaching not only provided an alternative but also formed a separate community united to Him.  (John 17 is about unity with Jesus and God the Father over against unity with the false religion of the establishment.)

Matt. 23:1   Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, ³ so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice…. ⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.   ¹³  “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in…. ¹⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Jesus' parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43) has often been used to speak to the issue of the Church, but this is a misuse of the parable.  The field is the world, not the Church.  The wheat and tares grow together in the world, not the Church, despite the coming of the Kingdom as this age remains until the end, when the tares will be separated from the wheat and burnt up.  The parable does, however, speak to the point of Jesus that the Son of Man has sown the wheat--the sons of the kingdom--in this world.  He was forming a new community of the righteous.  Christians remain in a world alongside the lawless sons of the devil (vv. 38-39).  The Church is in the world, where the lawless are as well, but the lawless are not part of the kingdom in the world.

Contending for the Faith Once for All Delivered to the Saints

The entire, brief letter of Jude addresses the dire problem of persons opposing the faith in the Church.  Still present at the community’s love feasts, they are causing a serious threat.  Jude calls on the community to ‘contend’ for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.  A key aspect of the false members is sexual immorality—‘sensuality’ and ‘ungodly passions.’  Most likely, these persons brought sexual practices of the Graeco-Roman culture into the Church.  Jude says that they are the ones causing division: the group having to bear this charge is the group departing from the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

Jude 3 I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ…. ¹² These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever…. ¹⁷   But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” ¹⁹ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people [psychikoi], devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

Have Nothing to Do with Disobedient, Irreverent, Controversial Persons; Avoid Them and Their Foolish Controversies.  Do Not Become Partners with Deceivers; Do Not Tolerate Persons Practicing Sexual Immorality and Idolatry; Expose Their Works of Darkness

Paul is adamant: Christians should have nothing to do with disobedient, irreverent, and controversial people in the Church.  He repeatedly calls on believers to be separate from persons opposing the truth.  Like John (17.15), he is not talking about separation from unbelievers outside the Church (1 Cor. 5.9-13).  In calling for separation, Paul is repeating what we find consistently in the Old Testament.  God's people were to be a separate, holy nation before God (e.g., Exod. 19.5-6).  

The little letter of 2 John repeats the same message.  John defines the false teaching ethically and Christologically—primarily in terms of breaking the commandments.  In continuity with the Old Testament, keeping the commandments of God is the definition of love (cf. Deuteronomy 6.5-6; 10.12-13).  Having nothing to do with such people does not mean ignoring their errors.  They need to be dealt with, and their works of darkness exposed.  Love is not about welcoming different views and practices but about welcoming God's commandments for holy and loving living together.

Rom. 16:17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

1 Cor. 5:9   I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰ not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹² For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? ¹³ God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

Eph. 5.6-14 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not become partners with them; ⁸ for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰ and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹ Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³ But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

             “Awake, O sleeper,

                        and arise from the dead,

             and Christ will shine on you.”

 

2 Th. 3:14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.

1 Tim. 4:7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness….

2 Tim. 2:23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.  ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant⁵ must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

2 Tim. 3:1   But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. ⁶ For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, ⁷ always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. ⁹ But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

2 John And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. ⁷ For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. ⁸ Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. ⁹ Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, ¹¹ for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

Rev. 2.20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.

Be Separate

Considerable time is wasted in discussing schism as some great wrong.  People struggle over who leaves whom, as though separation is the issue and not separation from sin and false teachers.  Two texts agree on the importance of separation, but the first calls God’s people to separate while the second speaks of false Christians causing the separation.  Who leaves whom is not the issue: standing up for truth and separating from error is. The first text, below, quotes the Old Testament (Isaiah 52.11) as the Jews’ separation from other nations, their practices and beliefs, is exemplary for the Church.  In the second quote, those who ‘went out’ did so because of their departure from the faith, however that played out in reality.

2 Cor. 6:17      Therefore go out from their midst,

                        and be separate from them, says the Lord,

                         and touch no unclean thing; 

                        then I will welcome you….

1 John 2:18   Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

The Old Testament provides the theological narrative of separation.  Abraham was called out of the idolatrous city of Ur, Lot out of the sinful city of Sodom, and Israel out of the idolatrous and enslaving land of Egypt.  Cleansing the land of Canaan from the sinful and idolatrous peoples was essential for Israel's life before God, and failing to do so resulted in their own sin and idolatry that eventually led to their own expulsion from the land.

Ostracism, Withholding Forgiveness, and Handing Over to Satan

False Christians are to be delivered over to Satan.  The purpose of doing so is to separate them from believers and to help them realise their need to return to God.  Such an act assumes that true disciples of Jesus, not some institution, have authority on earth to bring spiritual judgement on false Christians.  This is an authority that Jesus gave to the Church.

Matt. 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

John 20.23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.

1 Cor. 5.5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

1 Tim. 1:18   This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, ¹⁹ holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, ²⁰ among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

2 Tim. 2:14  Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹ But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

Take Care for Your Own Souls

One of the lengthiest passages in the New Testament that addresses false teachers and sinners mingling with Christians is in 2 Peter 2-3.  The text somehow overlaps literarily with the letter of Jude.  Both focus on defining the error, which is mainly sexual immorality, and defining the false teachers who promote it.  The letters promise God’s judgement. 

The issue of separation and judgement in the Church is not addressed, though it seems to be assumed because of the strong words and promise of final judgement.  Nevertheless, the exhortation to believers has to do with holding firm to the faith.  Whatever action a church takes, it should keep itself from such false teachers and their evil deeds.  Another concern is that such people cause ‘the way of truth’ to be ‘blasphemed.’  Some verses from the two chapters are quoted here.

2Pet. 2:1   But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. ² And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³ And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep…. ¹⁸ For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved…. ²¹ For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them…. 3.² that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, ³ knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires…. ¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹² waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth ^gin which righteousness dwells. ¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace…. 17 … take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Conclusion

The Biblical passages quoted in this essay are the key passages for any discussion of division in the Church.  They provide the Biblical basis for a theology of division.  Over against false interpretations of unity that seek to keep believers unequally yoked together with unbelievers in mainline denominations, a theology of division complements a right understanding of unity.  True unity is unity with Christ.  False believers, practicing immorality, and false teachers, misinterpreting Scripture and teaching against the faith, were predicted by Jesus and in the early Church.  The unity of New Testament authors on division needs to be appreciated perhaps in any age but especially at the present time.

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[1] Under the current pope, Roman Catholicism is also experiencing extreme stress.  On certain key issues, the Vatican seems to be orchestrating a departure from orthodoxy.

[2] Cf. Rollin G. Grams, ‘The Theological Unity of the Church and Its Separation from Darkness,’ Bible and Mission (9 July, 2023); online: https://bibleandmission.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-theological-unity-of-church-and-its.html.

[3] Some success in this direction has occurred in the Reformed Church of America.

[4] This is probably true of Presbyterians in the United States of America.

[5] I suspect this was true in the United Church of Christ and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.  (‘Evangelical’ means ‘Protestant’ in this case, not ‘Evangelical’ in the sense of the orthodox, revivalist movement.)

[6] Progressives champion what they call ‘social justice,’ which may or may not be real justice.  The key problem here is that, with their energies focussed on social action, they are, like Liberation Theology, weak on doctrine and personal ethics.  They are less concerned with Scriptural authority.  Theology is no longer based on Biblical interpretation; it is more about application of justice principles.  With the New Perspective on Paul as a related (but not necessary) emphasis for some, a social interpretation of Paul tends to replace a focus on Christ and Him crucified, including the traditional, Protestant theology of the atonement (penal substitution).  Progressive Evangelicalism runs through some of the seminaries, particularly non-denominational seminaries that have little connection to any constituency, desire to find social acceptance, and that take their definition of social justice from the broader society rather than any theological tradition or engagement with Scripture that is more than superficial.

[7] The passage goes on to list teachings in the Ephesian church that Paul opposes.  All quotes are from the English Standard Version.

[8] Cf. footnote 2, above.

[9] Division is a feature of the Old Testament.  God’s calling of Israel was a calling of a people to be righteous and therefore separate from the other nations.  The righteous within Israel were to separate from the unrighteous.  One could develop the ‘separation of the righteous’ as a major theological theme of Old Testament theology.  This theology does not cease in the New Testament, it just becomes a theology of the Church as God’s people.