Abide in the Doctrine of Christ

John the Beloved warned that there would be many people who would enter into the world and deceive others.  Their deception stems from a misunderstanding of the nature of God.  At that time many believed in the notion that matter was inherently evil and therefore anything involving matter was evil; the truth that God has a body of flesh and bones would then be blasphemous in their eyes.  In addition, the idea of Christ coming to the earth in a physical body made up of “evil matter” would then make Christ evil.  This could not be, so therefore they concluded that Christ only appeared to have a body of flesh and bone and that his suffering was all in appearance instead of reality.  This is of course false.   If true, it would make Christ a liar which is just as counterproductive as Christ not having a body.

If believed, such a doctrine would destroy men’s faith.  The purpose of Peter and the Apostles was to stand as witnesses that Christ lives in the flesh and that we need to exercise faith in that fact.  If that does not exist, what then do we have faith in?  If Christ had no body, how could he suffer?  If Christ could not suffer, how could he pay the price for our sins?  If Christ could not pay the price for our sins, how could we overcome sin and death?  If we could not overcome sin and death, what is our reason for living?  Ultimately, such a belief would destroy all hope in gaining eternal life, and there would be very little to live for.

To avoid believing such doctrines, John taught us to “[abide] in the Doctrine of Christ.”  In other words, we need to check those things that we hear with the established doctrines set forth by Christ himself and his ordained apostles.  He also said, “look to yourselves” or determine your beliefs based on how it makes you feel and what it inspires you to do.  President Hinckley stated, “Does it persuade one to do good, to rise, to stand tall, to do the right thing, to be kind, to be generous? Then it is of the spirit of God…”  If we follow that counsel, we will not be deceived.