“Certain people have missed the mark and have turned to fruitless talk, desiring to become teachers of the Law, neither understanding what they say nor the things that they confidently assert.”

(1 Timothy 1:6-7)

If sincere faith in God is the goal, those who strive toward fruitless talk are those who have missed the goal — they have missed the mark or the standard for which they are to aim. The word that Paul uses here, ἀστοχέω (astocheo), means to go astray from a moral or spiritual standard and is a synonym with the word ἁμαρτία (hamartia), which is commonly translated as “sin.” Whether the straying is intentional or unintentional, it is still straying and is thus a sinful action.

One of the questions that floats around Christian circles is the question of whether it is sinful to have, hold, or teach a false doctrine. The answer to the question is, “Yes, it is.” Why is it sinful to be in error on a doctrine? Simple, it is missing the mark, even if it is unintentional. Unintentional sins still are sins, as testified to by passages such as Leviticus 5:17. Does that mean that someone is going to hell for a false doctrine? If they are born again, no, of course not. Salvation is by God’s grace through the faith that he places in His elect. Then again, there are doctrines that lead to death for they lead to people trusting in their own works or in the work of the church for their salvation. Trusting in anything or anyone apart from Jesus is a false doctrine that will lead you to be amongst those to whom Jesus will say, “Depart from me you workers of lawlessness, I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23; also 1 John 3:4).

Clearly, those in Paul’s view are not committing unintentional sins for they wish to be known as teachers of the Law even though they do not understand what the Law says nor what they fervently assert to their hearers. Teachers must be trained so that they teach well and do not condemn themselves as well as their hearers (James 3:1). The sad thing is that such still takes place today. There are many who build doctrines simply on their own speculations rather than on the Scriptures. There are those who wish the reputation of being a teacher but do not have the skills to teach. And, worse yet, there are those who have received some training in orthodox theology, but desiring to make a name for themselves, they invent novel applications of theology that lead them into heterodoxy and endless, useless speculation. This, Paul condemns in his letter. I wonder, how stern would his letter to the churches in America be, were he to address us.