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"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the
doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them" (Rom. 16:17).
From the very beginning of the church, false teachers were active. In spite of the protecting power of the Holy Spirit to keep the church pure and united, the seeds of discord and division were sown everywhere. Hardly a church mentioned in the New Testament escaped the quick maturing harvest of evil sowing. More often than not, divine warning was addressed to preachers, but here, the church is most solemnly warned to be watchful for, and when found to deal with, teachers of error by "marking" and "avoiding them." Churches are the chief sufferers from divisions and offenses. Locating and exposing false teachers is not so difficult and, when done in time, they usually move on before much harm is done. But once divisions and offenses take root, it becomes extremely difficult to eradicate them. Hence, the great need for quick and positive action by the church. Someone has said that, "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." This is true of the church of our Lord. The over confident and over indulgent church are the more inviting fields for evil sowing than is the "sleeping" church. But the warning should be heeded by all churches. Let it be observed that the "marking" and "avoiding" here demanded are not to be done when all the churches have agreed to do so — a concerted action — but the church at Rome was to so act when such teachers were discovered in it. This, of course, becomes the duty of every church of Christ, and when all the churches awaken to the responsibility here enjoined, the sower of discord among brethren will find rougher sailing, to say the least. Whether Paul's warning was given in advance of, or in the midst of, the dangers he warns against, we have no means of knowing. But whatever the facts of the case were, it's certain that just such conditions did exist a very few years later (Phil. 1). The overshadowing issue of the apostolic age was the Gentile status issue, which was first launched in a Gentile church (Acts 15) and was forced into all Gentile churches by Jews. Thus, the lengthy discussion of this question by Paul in the Roman letter would indicate that the issue had already been raised there which necessitated the vigorous action urged by Paul. Of these promoters of division, Paul says, "They that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 16:18). Their teaching serves not to a good end for the cause of Christ, but just the opposite. But the careful reader will ask, "Why say that?" He had already said enough to make what he says in this clause apparent. Why, in effect, repeat it? Paul's statement can only be a direct denial of what these troublemaking teachers were avowing as an excuse for the disastrous effects of their teaching — that what they taught was true, and because of their love for the truth they must so teach. Then, if their teaching caused trouble it was only because their "oppressors" were causing it by forbidding them to teach all the truth. To meet and silence this claim, Paul declares that instead of furthering the cause of Christ they were hindering it. This placed the responsibility for division squarely on their shoulders where it rightfully belonged. It is always characteristic of troublemakers in the church to pose as martyrs. "Cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned." Here, again, responsibility is placed at the door of those teachers of error, rather than upon those who oppose error. These teachers were condemned for teaching things not found in "the doctrine which ye have learned." Division caused by teaching the truth is not condemned here or elsewhere. The "doctrine" which these people had "learned" was the gospel of Christ, and when it is faithfully preached it will bring division in the world and peace in the church. According to Paul, he who reverses this arrangement serves his own lust, regardless of his piously expressed intentions. A major reason for the easy injection into and rapid growth of divisive teaching in the church in any age is sympathy of some in the church with those who teach error. In Paul's day there were Jews in almost all of the Gentile churches and they often busied themselves in teaching a "Judaized" gospel. Finding sympathy in Jewish members of the church, they had easy access into it. Sympathy for the false teacher covers "a multitude" of errors in his teaching. In fact, this is the false teachers' most effective weapon. Regardless of the issue, or the age in which it is found, sympathy has converted more people to error than logic. It is also undeniably true that the sympathizer with the false teacher is equally guilty with the teacher. In his Commentary on Romans, p. 463, Moses Lard wrote, "Where the gospel, correctly presented, produces divisions, as it always will, the divisions are right. We are not responsible for the legitimate effects of truth. But when we, by our own errors of teaching or conduct, produce divisions among children of God, we sin against Christ. Nor is it a less offense to countenance and defend divisions than it is to cause them. They must be utterly disfavored by the Christian. He is not at liberty even to feel indifferent toward them. He must actively oppose them where they exist, and actively endeavor to prevent them where they do not exist."May the Lord help His children everywhere to heed Paul's timely warning in all generations. |