Blog - Acts 20: False Teachers, Freedom, and Noahide Laws - Part 1 

Opinion and Commetary

by: Alan Smith

Jesus said that those who continue in His word are His disciples, and that they will know the truth, and the truth will make them free. Truth brings freedom, while false teaching brings bondage.

That is the standard I use throughout this study of Acts 20. When a teaching produces spiritual control, fear, or a burden that stifles who you are in Christ, it needs to be examined by the Word of God.

Truth in Christ Brings Freedom

Jesus said in John 8:31-32:

"If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

The greatest freedom available to us is freedom from sin. Sin brings bondage, but Jesus Christ is the truth, and He sets us free.

In our pursuit of freedom in Christ, I want to draw a distinction between religion and relationship. There is a relationship between God and me that has nothing to do with religious bondage. Studying religion and understanding what we have been set free from is not wrong. However, false teaching can put people under a burden without them realizing how it is stifling their life in Christ.

The New Birth and the Spirit's Voice

Jesus taught that we must be born again. We are born of the flesh, yet we must also be born of the Spirit. I describe the new birth as the renewal of the soul and spirit through God.

Adam was not born of the flesh. God created him. In that sense, when we are born again, we have been born of God. The Holy Spirit enters our lives through that commitment, and the Spirit helps us understand the Scriptures we study.

The Holy Spirit often speaks as a still small voice. It may come as an inward nudge toward something uncomfortable that we would rather not do. Since Christ is in us, the goal is to become better acquainted with who Jesus is within us. That is why "What would Jesus do?" should remain on the heart of every believer.

Paul's Warning to Guard the Church

Acts 20:28 says:

"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."

Acts gives an honest account of the early church. It does not present a perfect world with no difficulties. We face problems, challenges, false teaching, and conflict. That reality makes Paul's warning to the Ephesian elders especially important.

Paul first told leaders to watch their own lives. Then he told them to guard the flock. The Holy Spirit appoints overseers, and the church belongs to God because Christ "purchased [it] with his own blood."

The blood sacrifice of Jesus is central. Therefore, I believe the enemy's attack will focus on the blood atonement and the sacrifice Christ made. False teaching can be seductive enough to alter the meaning of God's Word.

Paul continued in Acts 20:29-30, warning that grievous wolves would enter among the flock and that men would arise from within, speaking perverse things to draw disciples after themselves.

External attacks can sharpen us through honest debate. Internal damage is different. Self-seeking behavior, negative talk, complaining, speaking against fellow believers, and twisting doctrine can destroy a church from within.

Gnosticism and Claims of Secret Knowledge

Gnosticism takes the belief that God can speak today to an extra-biblical extreme. I believe the Holy Spirit speaks to believers, but Gnosticism claims that God has given someone a secret revelation that nobody else knows. Then that person can build a teaching and a following around it.

Gnosticism is described as ancient religious and philosophical movements that teaches salvation through secret spiritual knowledge, rather than faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ. Scripture does speak of mysteries, including the mystery of grace and Christ's blood atonement in Ephesians 3. Yet those mysteries are revealed in Scripture.

Gnostic teaching often presents a high, distant God and a lesser creator god responsible for the material world. It also teaches that people possess a "divine spark" trapped in the body. That is in contrast with the biblical teaching that we were dead in trespasses and sins until the Holy Spirit gave us life.

Gnostic thought may accept Jesus as a messenger, but it does not place Him first as the sacrifice for sin. That changes the gospel by moving attention away from faith in Christ's atonement and toward secret knowledge.

The Noahide Laws and the Talmud

Now let's look at the Noahide laws as our final focus. According to Jewish tradition, they were given to Adam and Noah before Moses. Their formal legal framework comes from the Talmud, rather than directly from the Bible.

The seven laws are:

1. Do not worship false gods or idols.

2. Do not blaspheme or curse God.

3. Do not murder.

4. Avoid forbidden sexual relationships.

5. Do not steal.

6. Do not eat flesh taken from a living animal.

7. Establish courts and systems of justice.

At first reading, those laws can sound like a moral code Christians would accept. However, my concern is not only the wording of the laws, but also the Talmudic definitions and penalties attached to them.

Jewish rabbinic tradition added 613 laws around the Ten Commandments, with further rules intended to keep people from breaking those laws. The Noahide laws were offered as a path for Gentiles to be considered righteous before God without conversion to Judaism.

Why Definitions Matter

A person cannot apply personal definitions to the Noahide laws while ignoring how the Talmud defines them. For example, "do not worship false gods" may sound familiar. Yet, under the Talmudic definition being discussed, worshiping Jesus would be considered idolatry.

There is also the claim that certain Talmudic legal discussions prescribe severe punishment for non-Jews who deliberately break the Noahide laws. This is a serious warning about what can happen when extra-biblical traditions become equal to, or greater than, the authority of Scripture.

Check the definitions, sources, and consequences attached to any religious system.

The issue returns to John 8. A system that says righteousness comes through keeping laws places people under bondage. The New Testament teaches that only One was righteous, and He died in my place. Through Christ, I am found blameless and righteous before God.

Testing Every Teaching by Scripture

Paul's warnings about wolves are not a reason to ignore truth because it feels negative. Truth may be uncomfortable, but it is necessary because it sets God's people free.

Freedom Comes Through the Truth of Christ

Paul's warning in Acts 20 calls us to guard the Word of God against teachings that distort the gospel.

The lasting test is clear: Jesus Christ and His atoning blood set us free. Every teaching, private revelation, tradition, and religious claim must be examined in the light of Scripture.