Acts 20: Ministry, False Teaching, and Noahide Laws - Part 2

Opinion and Commentary

by: Alan Smith

I believe every Christian is called into the work of ministry. That calling may be public or behind the scenes, but it isn't limited to pastors or well-known evangelists.

In Acts 20, let's look at Paul's warning about false teaching and why every message must be tested against God's Word.

Apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists are given to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Because of that, I believe every believer has a calling to serve.

Ministry is not only for pastors or well-known Christian leaders. If you see yourself as a spectator Christian, I want to put some pressure on you. The church should recognize that every person in the body has a part in serving the kingdom.

Your ministry doesn't have to look like Billy Graham's. It can be practical service. Some people help with food when there is a need. Others show up for a wedding, support someone in difficulty, or faithfully serve wherever they are needed. Those are ministries.

I have found that when I tell people God tends to give each person a name for their ministry, many begin to recognize what is already in their hearts. One person once told me, "I don't know the name of my ministry except I'm supposed to help everybody." I told him to call it the "Helping Everybody Ministry."

The gift of help is still ministry. A ministry doesn't have to be famous to be useful in the kingdom of God. 

God's Will Comes With God's Grace

Billy Graham said:

"The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us."

I use this statement because the will of God is the goal, while the grace of God is the provider. You can go forward in the will of God because He equips you with grace for what He has called you to do.

Paul's Warning About Wolves in Acts 20

In Acts 20, Paul met with the Ephesian elders and gave them final instruction before leaving. He told them to take heed to themselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit had made them overseers. They were to feed the church of God, purchased with His own blood.

Paul warned that grievous wolves would come after his departure and would not spare the flock. He also warned that men would arise from within the church, speaking perverse things to draw disciples after themselves. Acts 20 records Paul's warning to the Ephesian elders.

I see two kinds of danger in this warning:

• False teaching that comes from outside the church.

• False teaching that rises from within the church.

The internal danger can be worse because it comes from among the people. A false teacher has a goal of capturing the thinking of others and drawing disciples after himself.

One of the first things I look for in determining if it is a false teaching is motive. Is there a servant's heart, or is the message all about that person? If everything centers on the speaker's own importance, I would run from it.

Gnosticism and Secret Spiritual Knowledge

Gnosticism is a collection of ancient religious and philosophical movements that teaches salvation comes through secret spiritual knowledge rather than faith. It can appeal to people who want to know more about God and the spiritual world.

The danger is the idea that someone has found a secret passage, a hidden door, or special information that makes them more spiritual than other believers. Christians need to be careful about claiming that God has shown something only to them.

We don't become more spiritual through secret knowledge. We become more spiritual as the Holy Spirit shows us what we need to repent of and replaces it with the knowledge of Christ.

Jesus is the height of spirituality, not secret knowledge. If Jesus is in us, nobody has a higher spirituality than Jesus. The remaining work is to know the Jesus who is already in us and follow Him in a spiritual walk.

Concerns About the Noahide Laws

Let's return to the Noahide Laws because I believe you will hear more about them in the future. In Jewish tradition, these are seven universal moral laws associated with Adam and Noah, later formalized in rabbinic writings such as the Talmud.

The laws discussed include prohibitions on idolatry, blasphemy, murder, sexual immorality, theft, and cruelty to animals. The seventh calls for courts and a legal system to enforce these rules.

On the surface, some of these ideas sound biblical. However, I believe the definitions and consequences in the Talmud must be examined. Classical Talmudic discussion includes capital punishment by the sword for a non-Jew who deliberately violates one of these laws.

My concern is not with Jewish people. I am pro-Jew and pro-Israel. My concern is false teaching, regardless of where it comes from. A moral code cannot make a Gentile acceptable before God apart from the cross of Christ.

The modern Noahide movement includes organizations, study groups, prayer communities, and the Noahide World Center. The movement invites non-Jews to follow the Noahide code without converting to Judaism. The Noahide principles overlap with moral requirements found in Islamic Sharia, even though Islam does not use the name "Noahide Laws."

Grace and the Blood Atonement of Christ

I love the Old Testament, but without the New Testament we have no hope. The New Testament reveals Jesus as the Messiah, His blood atonement on the cross, and the grace of God.

The gospel of grace says we are accepted because of the blood of Christ, not because we have completed a set of laws. That is why I believe false teaching will work to deconstruct the New Testament, diminish the cross, and oppose the message of grace given through Paul.

Any teaching that removes the blood atonement of Christ also removes the gospel of grace.

Animal sacrifices did not permanently forgive sin. They were acts of obedience until the next year. Christ's blood was the atonement, and the grace of God is the message tied to that atonement.

The Call to Test and Serve

Every believer has a place in ministry, whether that place is visible or quietly helps others in practical ways. The church should recognize these callings, pray for them, and encourage people to serve.

God's truth, the cross of Christ, and the grace of God remain the measure.