"For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." (1 Corinthians 11:19)
We've become accustomed to the word heresy, which is a transliteration (i.e. copied without translation) of the original Greek word hairesis meaning choice. The word heresy has now become to be equated with false doctrine, and indeed it was used to refer to different groups or sects even in the first century A.D. The epistle to the Galatians 5:20Galatians 5:20 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, uses the word in referring to the works of the flesh and 2 Peter 2:1 is even more significant: "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."
Peter calls these 'destructive choices' since they would lead to the destruction of the faith of those who chose to follow false doctrine but also those who allowed false doctrine to persist in the ecclesia. There is no choice in the Truth as to what we believe; we either believe the truth as revealed in Yahweh's Word or we believe a lie. There is no choice in the Truth as to what we believe; we either believe the truth as revealed in Yahweh's Word or we believe a lie. Truth is absolute and any corruption or changing of that truth means that it is no longer truth.Truth is absolute and any corruption or changing of that truth means that it is no longer truth. It is therefore adulterated by man and the believers are then no better than the Israelites who worshipped idols and made their sons to pass through the fire in their worship of Moloch and other gods of the Canaanites.
We have a duty to observe and 'keep' (preserve) the truth in our lives and in the ecclesia. In Psalm 40:10 it is prophesied of Jesus Christ "I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation". The single most effective way to conceal the truth is not to hide it away so that no one can find it, but to conceal it in full view by changing the truth just enough to be acceptable to the majority. This is the way in which the early ecclesia in the first century A.D. drifted away from the truth to become the apostate church, the transformation being complete in the formation of the Mother of Harlots as recorded in the book of Revelation.
So, to answer the obvious question, why must there be heresies amongst us? Well, the answer is in the same verse, so that those which are "approved" may be made manifest. "Approved" is translated from the Greek dokimos of which Strong's concordance says "acceptable (current after assayal), i.e. approved, tried", and Thayer1 states "accepted, particulalry of coins and metals... hence univ. proved, tried: in the N. T. one who is of tried faith and integrity". The way those who will be the approved are revealed is in their standing firm, holding to the truth, despite the pressure from those who "believe a lie" to conform to what is generally, although not necessarily, the majority view. The only way to know the difference is revealed to us by the apostle John "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). In approving their words according to John's epistle we shall also be showing ourselves to be approved, having passed the testing that is required of all the faithful for it is only by testing that our faith is revealed and increased.We are commanded to "try the spirits"; the word try is from the Greek dokimazo and stems from the root word dokimos. In testing the ideas and statements of others against the standard, which is the word of Yahweh himself, we shall of necessity have to study and understand that word ourselves. In approving their words according to John's epistle we shall also be showing ourselves to be approved, having passed the testing that is required of all the faithful for it is only by testing that our faith is revealed and increased.
The ecclesia today requires the same careful nurturing in its growth in the truth as it always has, and it is the responsibility of the elders of each individual ecclesia to feed and nourish it with spiritual food. Unless the elders encourage and strengthen the flock in the truth then there will be stagnation and the introduction of pernicious errors, which the flock not knowing any better will be unable to oppose and resist.
"The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock." (1 Peter 5:1-3).
1 Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. ↩