“Doctrines of Demons”
Doctrines of demons are not
necessarily teachings that orally promote Satan or demons. Doctrines of demons can be any subject that
overshadows the Gospel of Christ. There
are some teachings that may be acceptable to teach or learn. But if they become dominant teachings and
remove the focus from Christ, they become doctrines of demons.
One such example of a potentially
damaging doctrine is the promotion of social justice among God’s people. While the Bible compels us to live at peace
with all men (Rom. 12:18) and to seek justice (Isaiah 1:17), social justice, as
it is communicated in many instances, is not a biblical solution. Social justice, according to the Oxford
Reference is defined as “The objective of creating a fair and equal society in
which each individual matters, their rights are recognized and protected, and
decisions are made in ways that are fair and honest.” However, social justice, in many cases, is
promoted to push for the redistribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges.
Acts chapter 6 gives us an example of the unfair treatment of one group of individuals and how it was resolved by the
Apostles of Christ. The Hellenistic Jews
were Jews who spoke Greek and did not previously live in Judea. As Jews were being converted to Christ, many relocated
to Jerusalem to live. Unfortunately, the
Hellenistic widows found themselves being discriminated against by the native
Hebrews. When this matter was brought to
the attention of the twelve, they resolved the conflict by having the
congregation to select qualified men to take over the responsibility of
distributing the daily allotment of food.
The qualifications that these men needed to possess were, they had to be full
of the Spirit and wisdom and they had to have a good reputation.
The subject of discrimination was properly
addressed and corrected without supplanting the gospel of Christ.
1 Timothy 4:1-5
But the Spirit
explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the
faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy
of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 who forbid
marriage and advocate abstaining
from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those
who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and
nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; 5 for it is sanctified by
means of the word of God and prayer.
