Beware of the pinnacles of human teaching.
Or, Jesus said it better:
Then Jesus said unto them,
Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Matthew 16:6
Jesus did not elevate those who taught the doctrine of men:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men,
but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Matthew 23:27-28
These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
This is a repeated admonition from Isaiah.
These religious-types who exalt themselves have been around a while.
They miss it.
They appear to be holy and to want to serve the Lord.
Their focus? Themselves and their righteousness. They love to be honored.
A true teacher, who walks with Jesus and understands the heart of God,
leads others to their own relationship with Jesus
and helps strengthen their walk and their knowledge of Him and His word.
These people who lead others to themselves and their knowledge
are fakes and phonies. False christs and false prophets.
The Christian church is filled with them. They are detestable to God.
This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth,
and honoureth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. Matthew 15:8
Man’s doctrine is not truly following the Lord. It is following man’s doctrine.
How do you know the difference?
What is the teacher teaching?
What does he or she circle back to?
Is it the word?
You must know the word to know whether or not it is the word.
And even then, Satan can twist the word by his religious spirits.
Jesus explained what the leaven means.
How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
Then understood they how that he bade them not
beware of the leaven of bread,
but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matthew 16:12-13
Immediately following these scriptures,
Jesus asked Peter who he thought He was.
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matthew 16:14-16
This is a further explanation of what the Lord was trying to teach His disciples.
He wanted them to know Him:
That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being made conformable unto His death; Philippians 3:10
No man can teach any of us that. The Holy Spirit has to open our eyes.
While men can quote the scripture, each of us has to hear from the Lord
and be shown who He is, otherwise,
we will not understand that He is the risen Savior who died to take away our sins. The Savior who stands between us and God and mediates on our behalf.
Some people will never understand.
Man’s doctrine is not going to teach you that.
His word, combined with the revelation of the Holy Spirit will teach you that.
Those who walk about deciding what is holy and unholy,
who tell that the precepts of men are the way to the Father. That is hypocrisy.
The goodness of God leads to repentance,
not the heavy shackles of those who think they have figured out the law
and its meaning contrary to grace.
Grace triumphs over Judgment.
For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy;
and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. James 2:13