Posted at Reformation Scotland:
Truth is so important to Christians. Ours is the living and true God and the God of truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The Spirit sanctifies us through the truth. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth. Yet the Christian church is constantly having to resist erroneous doctrines, false teachings, and heresies. Why does God allow such dangerous untruths and half-truths to continue even within His church and among those who profess to be His people? A large part of the answer is that it provides an opportunity for those who love the truth to make this clearly apparent. Paul explains to the church of Corinth, “There must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you” (1 Corinthians 11:19). In the way same way as the furnace makes it obvious what is precious metal and what is dross, so when heresies crop up, they test the quality of church members as to whether they resist or accept the false teaching. In the following updated extract, George Gillespie offers some reflections on Paul’s explanation.Why must there be heresies?
The point I want to make here that God in His most wise and sovereign providence can and does make a good use of heresies, “so that they which are approved may be made manifest.”
“They which are approved” means those who are true and sincere saints, approved and accepted of God, or (as the Reformed theologian Bullinger puts it) the “truly godly.” The same word is used in this sense in Romans 16:10; 2 Corinthians 10:18; 2 Timothy 2:15, etc. The word is basically means good money, or well-refined silver, and it refers to saints with special reference to their mortification, i.e., their being refined from the dross of their corruptions. The opposite is “reprobate,” something to be rejected or thrown away, like dross (1 Corinthians 9:27; 2 Corinthians 13:5–6).
How is it that by heresies the godly are made manifest? Clearly the authors and followers of heresies are not the godly ones, for the apostle calls heresy a “work of the flesh” (Galatians 5:20) and wants heretics to be rejected, as those who are self-condemned (Titus 3:10). Rather, those who are approved are known by this, as one of their characteristics, that they hate, avoid, and resist heresies, and earnestly contend for the faith. They hold fast the truth of Christ without wavering.
Those who introduce or adhere to heresies are by that very fact known to be un-approved, like reprobate silver. So, anyone who sides with heresies or heretics, or commits themselves to them — anyone who does not stand fast in the faith — ipso facto declares that he is not included in the group Paul regards as godly. This is how contrary the Holy Ghost’s language is to the tone of the sects in our times.