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These teachings are different from the New Testament teaching concerning the economy of God for the building up of the Body of Christ—1 Tim. 1:3-4; 6:3:
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Apparently, every wind of teaching is good; however, within the winds of teaching, intrinsically, is something different from the apostles’ teaching and is not good.
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The winds of teaching overthrow the believers’ faith and devastate the church life—2 Tim. 2:18.
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The teachings that become winds, carrying the believers away from the central lane of Christ and the church, are deceptions instigated by Satan in his subtlety, with the sleight of men, in order to frustrate God’s eternal economy, which is to build up the Body of Christ—Eph. 1:10; 3:9-11; 4:14, 16:
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The dividing teachings are organized and systematized by Satan to cause serious error and thus damage the practical oneness of the Body life—v. 3.
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The sleight is of men, but the system of error is of Satan and is related to deceitful teachings that are designed by the evil one to distract the saints from Christ and the church life—v. 14; 5:32.
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The purpose of the winds of teaching—the evil purpose of the enemy Satan—is to frustrate the building up of the organic Body of Christ and to divide the members of the organic Body of Christ, causing endless divisions instead of keeping the oneness of the Body of Christ in love and kindness—1 Cor. 1:10-11; Jude 19.
Morning Nourishment
1 Tim. 1:3-4 Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God’s economy, which is in faith.Eph. 5:32 This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church.
Satan has a system, and if it were possible, he would induce all Christians into it. The goal, the aim, the purpose, of his system is to carry the saints away from the central lane of the divine revelation with the intention of frustrating and even tearing down the building up of the Body of Christ. Some winds of teaching do not appear to be evil. However, the factor of evil is there to induce the saints into the satanic system of error, to frustrate them from building up the Body of Christ, and even to tear down the building up of the Body of Christ. The winds of teaching also cause the little children [Eph. 4:14] to be tossed by waves and thereby to suffer uneasiness in the church life. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Apostles’ Teaching and the New Testament Leadership,” pp. 493-494)
Today’s Reading
There is a good test for discerning the winds of teaching. Certain teachings cause us to be cold and even deadened. After listening to such a teaching, we are deadened within. A certain teaching may also take away our morale for following the Lord, caring for His interest, and loving the church and the Lord’s recovery. If any teaching, regardless of how good or scriptural it may appear to be, has any of these negative effects, this is strong evidence that this teaching is a wind that will blow us away from the central lane of God’s New Testament economy. Many of us have suffered the blowing of the winds of teaching. We may have had the morale to follow the Lord, to love the church, to love the Lord’s recovery, and to love the Bible, but after listening to such a teaching for half an hour, the morale was gone, and we were deadened.Teachings may be compared to seafood, but according to the typology in Leviticus, certain foods from the sea are unclean. Leviticus 11:10-11 tells us that aquatic animals without fins and scales are unclean. The guarantee of cleanness is in the fins and scales. The “fins” and “scales” of the New Testament teaching are the Triune God, the all-inclusive Christ, and the church as the organic Body of Christ. By these we can measure others’ teachings. If a teaching is not related to these three items, it does not have “fins” and “scales.” Regardless of how good such a teaching may appear to be, for safety’s sake we should not take it.
Although… a teaching may seem scriptural, it may not have “fins” and “scales.” We must learn to have discernment in our “eating,” in our receiving of teachings. We must not receive any teaching so easily. Those who bring the winds of teaching often appear to be very loving, apparently showing care and concern for us. However, we should not quickly receive their word. We must consider whether their teaching has “fins” and “scales.”
The apostles’ teaching, the New Testament teaching, is very crucial. Whenever we hear something differing from the apostles’ teaching, we should not be bothered or affected. We should simply come back to the apostles’ teaching. However, if we are not able to properly discern a teaching, we should fellowship with certain saints to receive some help. In God’s New Testament economy there is only one kind of teaching revealed and recognized by God—the teaching of the apostles. We need to continue steadfastly in this teaching (Acts 2:42). (‘CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Apostles’ Teaching and the New Testament Leadership,” pp. 494-495)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 1: The Ministry of the New Testament,” chs. 1, 5; CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “Further Light concerning the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” ch. 2