St Peter on false preachers

MATTHEW 16:1314 reads: “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Phillippi, he asked his disciples, “who do people say I am?” And they replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” This communication between Jesus and his disciples clearly illustrates that preachers come up with various understandings, versions and teachings of any particular religious topic. There was a confusion within the disciples. Before the truth was revealed, each of them would have been telling people different versions about who Jesus Christ was, and what he represented. The same scenario exists today, highlighting some confusions within our Christian fraternity on some matters of religion.

There are conflicting teachings on a number of issues in our Christian faith, too numerous to mention. At Caesarea Phillippi, only Simon Peter had the correct knowledge and answer to Jesus Christ real identity. In Mat

thew 16:15-20, Jesus continued to probe his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus spoke, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood had not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in Heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

By telling the disciples not to reveal to the world that he was the Christ, he was in fact perpetuating this confusion so that only a select few would be in possession of the truth. St Peter has the distinction of passing the test of the truth. For this, he was given the “keys” to heaven. This means that his knowledge and teachings were of the truth, and were to form the foundation of our Christian faith, to guide all of us on to the right path to the Kingdom of God. He was thus annointed as the shining beacon for our Christianity, and he would be the torch bearer of our faith. His teachings, combined with those of God our Father and of Christ, should therefore be the basis for the formulation of most of our Christian doctrines.

After Christ’s death, confusion still reigned and new teachings emerged. Just before approaching his own death, St Peter wrote, “First of all, you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit; as the annointed men of God spoke (2 Peter 1 :20-21).” The message here is that only a selected few, those blessed by the Lord, will be able to interpret the meanings of some of the gospels of the scriptures accurately. The majority will preach some falsehoods based on misunderstood versions of the word of God, and those pertaining to His son, Jesus Christ.

In 2 Peter 2:1-2, St Peter wrote words of warning; “False Prophets will arise among the people, just as there would be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their false teachings and evil practices, and because of them, the way of the truth will be scorned.”

False prophets and preachers with untrue interpretations of the scriptures will abide among us till eternity. Just as there were some confusions among the disciples on the true identity of Christ, there will continue to be some variations in interpretation of some meanings of gospels in our scriptures. Falsehoods will continue to preached, with grave consequences. Jesus very often taught in parables, which only a few could properly understand nor interpret as intended. Different meanings to our scriptures have emerged.

St Peter also made a big reference to some of the teachings of St Paul, whom he classified to be a man of wisdom. This wisdom evades many of us Christians, by our failure to grasp crucial elements of some gospels. The truth will only be revealed to a few. In the last paragraph of St Peter’s last letter before he died, he wrote, “So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, teaching gospels as he does in his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and the unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do to the other scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you will be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (2 Pe

ter 3:15-19).” Indeed St Paul was a wise apostle who executed his assigned mission with ingenuity. The ordinary person will perilously misinterpret his teachings, if not aware of his methods and intellect. He adjusted his teachings accordingly, to suit with the religiousness of the intended recipients. There is this saying that goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” St Paul used this principal cunningly, by blending in with his audience, in accordance their religious background, to avoid animosity between him and the different religious cultures in the areas within which he preached. This very wise plan enabled him to co-exist with the Gentiles, who were his assigned target. He explained his style and operating method vividly, in 1 Corithians

9:19-23. He wrote, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win more souls. To the Jews, I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became like one under the law, that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law, that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to men, that I might by all means save many. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share its blessings.”

Followers of the theology of St Paul should thus guide against falling into a pit of misunderstanding, of hell and destruction, should they embrace his tactics, or interpret his gospels at face value. Each of his teachings were earmarked for a particular group of people, in variation, as per his letters. Let’s be guided also by the teachings of Jesus Christ, those of St Peter and of the other important annointed apostles.