LAST time we considered verses 10-11 and the doctrine contained in them of the total depravity of human nature. These last verses which close this teaching concerning traditions highlights two things which are worth our serious consideration. The first thing is how blind humanity is to this truth concerning the corruption within each of us, and this is illustrated by the blindness seen in the disciples and expressed by Peter in verse 15. The other is what Jesus says about false teachers as illustrated in the Pharisees.

Peter asks Jesus to explain the parable to him and to the other disciples - that is the words of Jesus in verse 11. Jesus explains what we considered last time, and names some of the evil that is within all of us. We may not be as bad as we could be naturally, but there is no doubt about the corruption within us. What is so amazing is where this corruption comes from, that is if the historicity of Adam and his disobedience is denied. Also it is amazing that people will not admit that this corruption exists. All will say that none of us are perfect, but few, very few, will admit that they are bad at heart.

The fact of this corruption is evident everywhere. We see it specially expressed in the media. What we find in newspapers and on TV is what people like and crave. People who are good are considered dull. Good news also is generally felt to be dull. What sells newspapers is evil of one sort or another. Reporters search for 'skeletons in cupboards' and scandal. Newspapers see scandal and corruption as that which sells newspapers. Then on TV we have only to look at the 'soaps' to see that to maintain viewing ratings all sorts of evil in people has to be included in the story. Unless people are treating each other badly in some way, the programme is boring.

If mindless evolution is the source of life, and that the progress of evolution is that we are improving all the time, then how can we explain the evil we see in the thoughts and behaviour of human beings. This deception is compounded because in every way, except in things moral and spiritual, human beings are improving by leaps and bounds. Why can't people see this darkness in humanity, and why will people not admit it. There is no answer outside the Bible and the Bible truth which tells us that sin entered the world through Adam's disobedience, and ever since then the world is in moral and spiritual darkness, and serving the evil one, Satan, who the Bible describes as the God of this world - that is the God which people serve and follow. The rise of the occult is evidence of this, and because this is in the heart of human beings they do not want to see or admit it and love darkness rather than light.

This darkness and blindness concerning the terrible condition of the human soul keeps people in the state of death which not only separates them from God, but also keeps them under the wrath of God. In this condition people find nothing attractive or desirable in Christ, his death and the forgiveness he won by it. If anything is needed desperately in our world it is for God to be merciful and bring about, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, a deep conviction of sin and this corruption within us. Unless this happens people will not turn to Christ, and will die and go to a lost eternity.

Addressing the other point mentioned in the first paragraph of this meditation we have to face the fact that the church of God was riddled in Jesus day with false teachers, and this has always been so and is very evident today. These false teachers endanger the eternal souls of people. The difficulty is that false teachers claim, and seem to be, true teachers and stand in the church as emblems of truth, which they are not. The Pharisees in Jesus day were the moral and spiritual leaders, and outwardly they seemed to be all that they should have been. This is a fact about false teachers. They do not appear to be false but rather to have the right teaching.

The Pharisees were seen to be false teachers because they were offended at the teaching and words of Jesus. Here is the test. It is not that the false teachers claims to follow Jesus, or approve of much of what he said, but whether they approve and hold fast all that he said. We must go further. A teacher is false unless the teaching he gives, which may be claimed to be the teaching of Jesus, is the true meaning of what Jesus taught.

Jesus tells his disciples two things about false teachers which can help us to deal with the problem of false teaching. These may be found in verses 13 & 14. The first is that false teachers are not planted by the Lord, and so will be rooted out in God's good time. Just because a person is ordained or is a credited teacher in the church, it does not mean that they are necessarily appointed and called by God. Even if we can't distinguish between false and true teachers, God can, and he will root out the false. The only true test of a teacher is not whether they are clever or approved by the church, but whether they teach and follow the true word of God.