BiblicalInsights.net

False interpretations of God’s Word bring a horrendous cost to the spiritual lives of those who teach those doctrines and to those who hear and believe them.  False doctrine cannot save!  However, it does condemn.  Only the truth delivers from the bondage of sin including the lies of Satan (John 8:32).
There are many examples of false interpretations of God’s Word both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.  We will appeal to some of these examples as we consider the spiritual cost to false interpretations of Scripture.

The Cost of Personal Shame
The individual who fails to correctly interpret God’s Word will shrink back in shame in the face of God’s judgment.  Paul declares, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15).  The false teacher bears the shame of failure to acquire the skills necessary to interpret God’s Word correctly.  False interpretations are a personal embarrassment to the one who commits this sin of tampering with truth.
The Cost of Shoddy Workmanship
Have you ever purchased an item that disappointed you in how it looked or functioned?  Shoddy workmanship disappoints no matter where it is found.  False teachers (Matt. 7:15) are guilty of shoddy workmanship.  A workman is someone who claims skill and professes accomplishment.  False teachers often practice to deceive.  Some work for money (II Peter 2:1ff).  They make merchandise of the ignorant and the innocent (weak).
The Cost of Advancing Error
All false doctrine is deceptive and distracts from the truth.  Those who are deceived thereby entertain false hopes. Every false doctrine advances error.  If more and more people believe a lie, the lie grows in its power to deceive.  Consider the following lies.  The life in the womb of a woman is not a human being, but just a blob of cells.  Abortion is premised on a lie (see Luke 1:36-44).  This lie has been integrated into our culture and supported through legislation costing millions of lives of the unborn.  Macroevolution is another lie.  This theory holds that life spontaneously generated and formed a single cell that divided and mutated over time to produce all living things that we encounter today.  This theory contradicts plain passages in the Scriptures including:  Gen. 1 and 2 and Exodus 20:11.  The theory of theistic evolution is also a false theory based on  a misinterpretation of Gen. 1-11 changing historical reality into myths.  Macroevolution is advancing atheism and agnosticism in the world today.
The Cost of Self-Ruin
The false interpreter of Scripture damns his own soul.  False doctrine distorts reality.  It poisons the mind and heart and destroys the soul.  The Sadducees taught that there was no resurrection of the dead (Matt. 22:23-33).  Jesus rebuked them and said that they erred not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God.  Those who do not know God and obey not the gospel will be damned eternally (II Thess. 1:7-9).
The Cost of Ruination of Those Taught
Hymenaeus and Philetus taught error concerning the resurrection and overthrew the faith of some (II Tim. 2:15-18).  Paul said that they made shipwreck of their faith.  Paul had dealt with Hymenaeus before (I Tim. 1:20) delivering him to Satan so that he would learn not to blaspheme.  However, Hymenaeus did not correct his teaching or his ways.  One has to wonder how many people were deceived by these false interpreters of God’s Word.
The Pharisees taught that if someone gave a gift to God that he/she would be free from the obligation to take care of his/her mother or father (Matt. 15:1-9).  This false doctrine led to violating a command of God and vain worship.  The Pharisees also violated the law of God concerning marriage, divorce and remarriage, holding that indiscriminate divorce was commanded by God (Matt. 19:1-9).  This doctrine had a detrimental impact on the sanctity of marriage.
The Cost of Enlargement of Satan’s Kingdom
False teachers always make converts to Satan’s kingdom not God’s kingdom.  As Satan’s kingdom increases, advancing God’s kingdom becomes more difficult.  The way of truth is hindered by false teaching.  When truth is suppressed, iniquity abounds. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18).  To “hold the truth” is to suppress the truth while advancing error.  Evil cannot redeem itself!  Only Christ, the Light of the Word, can dispel the darkness caused by religious error.  Only Christ can redeem us!
No one should think that doctrinal or moral error is innocent.  Error destroys and damns the soul.

Hesed is the Hebrew word commonly translated by the English word lovingkindness in the King James Version.  In 1535, Miles Coverdale “invented” the word lovingkindness to translate the Hebrew word hesed.  The KJV borrowed the term.  The KJV uses fourteen different words to translate hesed.  However, lovingkindness is a favorite among scholars.
Twice Jesus used the word hesed in quotations from Hosea 6:6, “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”  Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 in Matthew 9:13 and 12:7.  Matthew 9 and 12 are separate occasions, but both involve conflict with the Pharisees.  Both occasions give Jesus an opportunity to show men  the heart of God.
Jesus’ First Use of Mercy
In Matt. 9:9-13, Jesus is in Matthew’s house after He called him to become a disciple.  Matthew readily answered the call.  He invited Jesus to his home along with some of his friends and associates.  The Pharisees criticized Jesus for eating with publicans and sinners.  The Pharisees were separatists who would not associate with sinners and kept a safe distance from them.  However, Jesus was on mission.  He came to seek and to save that which was lost.  Jesus’ response to the Pharisees was to quote from Hosea 6:6.  They that are whole have no need of a physician.  Jesus is the physician of men’s souls seeking through compassion to extend mercy and advance spiritual healing.  Sin sickness has a cure and Jesus can provide it.  Jesus’ use of Hoses 6:6 is an attempt to transform the hearts of the Pharisees. The Physician is in the house and He is working on the hearts of men to change them.  Jesus said, “Go and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice.”  One may know what the scriptures say and not understand what they mean.  Understanding transforms the heart which is shaped by the truth embraced by faith and volitionally implemented.  Mercy is compassion or lovingkindness.  The condition of one’s heart is more important than sacrifice.  The status of the heart of man determines the acceptability or unacceptability of the sacrifice (Matt. 5:23-24).
Jesus’ Second Use of Mercy
In Matthew 12:1-8, Jesus and His disciples are walking through a field of grain.  They pick the heads of grain and rub them in their hands and eat the kernels.  They did this on the Sabbath day, but they were well within the bounds of the Law of Moses (Deut. 23:25).  The Pharisees condemn Jesus and His disciples for violating the Sabbath.  Jesus’ response was to quote Hosea 6:6, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.”  Jesus responded to transform the hardheartedness of the Pharisees aiming to improve their hearts with lovingkindness.  Their inability to see brokenness and hunger in people around them is a result of the fact that they did not understand the heart of God.  God revealed His heart to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7 after Moses requested to see God.  “And the LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.  Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”  Behold, both the goodness and severity of God (Rom. 11:22).
Lovingkindness Reshapes the Human Heart
Lovingkindness:  mirrors the heart of God; opens up one’s life to others, is willing to bestow everything to those who are worthy of nothing; and combines two of the greatest virtues of the human heart:  love and mercy.  Go and learn what that meaneth, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.”

Matthew records Jesus’ conversation with a woman of Canaan (Matt. 15:21-28).  Jesus enters the coasts of Tyre and Sidon and is met by a woman with a special request.  The woman is a Gentile.  This is the first time that Matthew reports a woman as addressing Jesus.  The woman’s daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.  She comes to Jesus because she knows and believes that He can heal her daughter.
Faith’s Request
She says, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.”  She knows who Jesus is.  She addresses Him as Lord and as the Son of David (a reference that indicates knowledge that Jesus is the Messiah).  Faith is based upon knowledge.  Knowledge of the truth is a solid foundation for faith.  The request is not for herself, but in behalf of her daughter who is suffering and whom she loves.  Faith in the Lord and love for her daughter motivate her to make this plea for help.
Jesus’ First Response
Jesus answers her not a word.  Jesus’ silence tests the strength of her faith.  Jesus is not indifferent to her request.  Will she persist?  Delay tests the authenticity of her faith in Jesus and the love she has for her daughter.
Faith Rebuffed
Jesus’ disciples desire to have her dismissed.  They tell Jesus to “send her away.”  The disciples seem somewhat annoyed by her constant crying out after Jesus.  She was persistent and undaunted by the move to dismiss her request.  Her faith was resilient.
Jesus’ Second Response
Jesus states His mission:  “I am sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  The focus of Jesus’ ministry was among the Jews at this time.  The gospel went to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles.  However, there are times in Jesus’ public ministry where He opened the door of His mercy to the Gentiles indicating that God’s grace is available to all people.
Faith’s Resurgence
The woman worshipped Jesus and said, “Lord, help me.”  This is the second time she addresses Jesus as Lord.  Her faith is fixed on His position and power.  She manifests great pathos.  Her emotions support her faith.
Jesus’ Third Response
Jesus said to her, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.”  The response of Jesus points out the priority of His mission.  Children are superior to dogs.  The use of the term dogs is not meant to offend her, but to establish the distinction between God’s chosen people and the other nations under the Old Testament.  However, this distinction is about to change under a new dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ (the New Testament).
Faith Unrelenting
The woman replies to Jesus, “Truth Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fell from their master’s table.”  For the third time she refers to Him as Lord.  Her request comes from an acknowledged position of humility.  She does not possess the rights of the children.  She knows she deserves nothing, but still, she comes seeking a special blessing, indeed, a miracle.
Faith Rewarded
Jesus says to her, “O woman, great is thy faith…”  She knows who Jesus is and that He has the power to help her.  Her knowledge is the basis of her faith.  Her faith underlies her plea.  Her plea is relentless because her faith is great.  Her plea is answered/rewarded by mercy–the very mercy she came seeking.  Jesus said, “Be it unto thee even as thou wilt” (Matt. 15:28).  “And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”  Mercy was obtained and God’s heart was revealed.  Great faith can be found in unexpected hearts!