Ideas about the Kingdom of the Heavens around us and the unity of believers in Christ within it
The essence of heresy is division in the Body of Christ, and a “heretic” is one who stealthily introduces division into that Body in order to increase his or her own reputation, power or wealth. In that way, they seek to replace Christ as Head of the Body for their own profit.
Christ is not divided. But historically Christianity has been divided into groups following human leaders, past or present, ahead of Christ. The solution is an individual one, letting God perfect our unity with our brothers. It cannot be imposed by a human leader or organization.
Divisions in the church have been started not only by leaders who taught license to attract followers, but also by leaders who taught extreme asceticism– that God is only pleased by those who keep the strict rules they prescribe.
The traditional view of the heresy passages in 1 Timothy 6, Titus 3 and 2 Peter 2 actually fosters division by requiring us to shun anyone who disagrees with our denomination’s formal doctrinal statements.
Doctrinal disputes, even over such heavy subjects as our relationship to the Law of Moses, can be settled peacefully within the Church, as shown by the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15.
Korah’s rebellion was to insist on half the truth–that all in the congregation of Israel were holy, set apart to God, because the Lord was among them–but to reject the other half–that only the Lord had the right to assign each their functions. They denied this half of the truth to rebelliously assert their own authority, as false teachers today also do.
Jude’s description of divisive persons in the church points to false believers who try to look like us but have infiltrated the church for their own advantage, to serve their own greed and lusts. They are dead trees, and dead trees bear no fruit. In dealing with them, we need to contend for the truth and resist contending against them personally.
1 Timothy 6 also warns about people who create arguments in order to exploit them for financial gain and to build their own authority. This warning is presented in the context of teaching about respect for human authority and authority in the Church.
Peter’s main points in 2 Peter 2 regarding false teachers teaching heresies is that these teachers act stealthily, are motivated by greed, and use their teachings to create a lucrative following.
Titus 3:10 instructs whenever a divisive person approaches ME and tries to start an argument, I am to warn them twice about their behavior and then excuse myself. Thereafter I should ignore them, until they repent of their argumentativeness. It is a simple instruction by which I can avoid being influenced by divisiveness. It is not an instruction to the Church or the State to burn heretics.