Deception of Empty Words

(Ephesians 5:6)

The Apostle Paul was concerned for the Ephesian church that false teachers would come among them speaking many flowery things, but whose words would be empty of any truth.

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 5:6)

Today it is perhaps even more of a warning than in those early days of the church. Over the two millennia since the church began, there have been many men come into the church bringing deceptive and empty words that have no basis in the truth of the New Covenant. The church unfortunately is filled with these things, and it has emptied the truth of the gospel of it’s power.

So today let us consider how to identify these things and what we can do about them.

Examples of Empty Word Teachings

It is unfortunate that there are so many false teachings that have been accepted as part of the Christian teachings today that are just plain false teaching.

Some examples include: Christmas, Easter, infant baptism, indulgences, worship of saints, purgatory, acceptance of homosexuality in the church, tithing in the Christian church, teachings on trinity, idolatry, eating or rejection of certain foods.

And then there are the things that are correct ministry but have been rejected in some parts of the church today such as: full immersion baptism, receiving the holy spirit, speaking in tongues, freedom from sin, freedom from law.

These lists are by no means comprehensive but merely go to show the extent to which the modern church has been fooled by the empty words of false teachers over the past two millennia.

I must also add that these teachings are not accepted or rejected in all churches, but they exist in many of the churches.

Why are they empty word teachings?

These teachings and others like them are empty word teachings and are deceptive because they have no basis in the scripture. They are not discussed or written in the word of God in the bible or they have been incorrectly used and applied. Some are just outright lies and others have twisted the scripture to create a doctrine of lies.

They are deceptive because they replace the truth of the gospel and take people away from the truth such that they cannot even see the truth. People become so enamoured in these false teachings that even when they hear the truth they reject it, not realising they have been deceived by these empty words.

And the words are empty because they do nothing in checking the indulgence of the flesh or teaching the people anything that will help them. Let’s look at a couple of these to make the point.

One of those listed was about the eating of or rejection of certain foods. For example there are some churches that preach or espouse a strict vegetarian diet. But consider these words of Paul’s

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things which all perish as they are used), according to human precepts and doctrines? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigour of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20-23)

All of these regulations, and especially the point about “do not taste” sound like they are a good thing, but as the last verse in this section shows, “…they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh.”

What the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the New Covenant are all about is seeking entry into the kingdom of God. And entry into God’s kingdom is not contingent upon whether we do or don’t eat certain foods, but on the change in our nature through repentance to learn how to walk in God’s love. Entry into the kingdom is based on faith and grace, not on foods. Food based teachings will not help us overcome the evil passions, lusts and desires of the flesh. Such teachings are worthless and they are empty words.

Consider now the teachings of Christmas and Easter. Both of these holiday seasons are considered by many, both believers and non-believers to be high holidays and times of worship in the Christian religion.

But both of these holidays are founded on and based in the rites and rituals of pagan worship.

The bible does not speak of either of these things. It does not insist we celebrate the birth of Christ with Christmas trees, mistletoe, giving of presents, yuletide logs, hogmanay, Santa Claus and all the rest of the lies and the practises that have been taken from pagan rites and deemed to be somehow Christian.

Even the lesser aspects of Christmas are false. For example, Jesus was not born on the 25th of December because at that time of the year it is too cold in Israel for shepherds to be in the fields at night with their sheep. And the nativity scenes that cause such an uproar with the world today are fundamentally false as well. Typically they show Mary, Joseph the baby Jesus surrounded by the shepherds and the three wise kings. But the three wise kings took up to two years before they arrived to see Jesus and He was no longer in the manger but they were in a house when they arrived.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; 11 and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:10-11 my emphasis)

As for Easter, there are so many things wrong with this so-called Christian holiday it is hard to know where to begin.

There is no mention of hot cross buns, eggs Easter Bunnies, Easter hat parades and so on. The date for Easter rarely falls on the same date as the Passover when Jesus actually was put to death because the calculation of when both Easter and the Passover will fall are done differently. There is no mention in the Bible that you must not eat meat on “Good Friday” and I refer you back to the scripture quoted in Colossians above regarding that matter. There is no mention in the Bible of Lent or the fourteen “Stations of the Cross,” several of which are pure fabrication.

The way in which we were instructed to remember the death of Jesus, as He instructed us in the Bible, was through the act of breaking of bread.

19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (Luke 8:19-20)

All of these false teachings are empty words because they do nothing to train us in godliness or to help us find the path of the truth. In fact they take people away from the truth and fill their hearts and minds with a pack of lies that will never help them to grow mature in Jesus Christ. They are deceptive and empty words.

These are just a few examples. The list goes on and on and is too long to cover in this post.

And I am sure that as you look at the list of examples I placed at the start of this section, there may be some that you or others you know hold dear to you and you may feel outraged that I have even suggested they are false teachings, deceitful and empty words.

If you feel strongly about these, don’t just turn away. Send me an email and I will gladly explain why these are false teachings.

How to identify and what to do about empty word teachings

False teachings have no basis in the Bible. So the first place to look is in the scriptures. If the teaching is not contained in the word of God, then it has no right to be taught as part of the Gospel or the New Covenant.

The only way we can learn truth from error is to immerse ourselves in the words of truth, so that when we hear strange and diverse teachings we have a foundation of the truth from which to test the teaching and either accept or reject it.

At the same time as we study or consider these teachings, we need to pray to the Lord for His guidance and to open the way for us. He has promised that if we seek diligently we will find the truth. He will open the truth to us because He wants His children to know the truth and not be bound up in empty words and deceptions.

Another thing we must be prepared to do is to question everything for ourselves. Don’t blindly accept what you are told by anyone, and that includes what I have written here. Instead, ask questions. Whatever they say they should be able to justify from the scriptures, and if they cannot, then you need to seriously question or reject the teaching.

In the end it is your entry into the kingdom of God that is at stake here. You will never enter His kingdom on a foundation of deceptive empty words. It is important that you find the truth if you seek to enter into the kingdom of God. And it is the truth that will enable you to grow into maturity in Jesus Christ.

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