Tag: false teachers

Beware of False Prophets

This week I was in a large corporate “Christian” book store and I was shocked at the number of books of “false teachers and heretics” that are stocked on the shelves and sold. As I stood in the isle, I must have been muttering to myself. as one of the store’s employees approached me with a smile and asked, “May I help you?” I knew that they were not the store’s manager, and a deep discussion concerning their agreements and contracts with the publishing houses would come to no avail. So, I simply said, “I was surprised that you were carrying this author.” They replied, with a smile on their face, “Oh, we sell a lot of these books from this author.” I was going no-where, so I thanked them and simply said I was just “killing some time until I meet my wife for lunch.” They smiled and as they walked away, he said, “Let me know if there is anything else I could help you with.”

I wanted to shout, “Well, you could remove all the books of this heretic and burn them on a bonfire in the back” so unsuspecting readers would not be harmed by these false teachers. However, I understand where the problem really lays. It is not the reseller or the publisher, and to some degree not even the author. The fault lays clearly on the demand by the readers. If no one purchased their books, they would not be ordered, stocked and sold. They would make their way to the “deep discount” area and the publishers would stop going into contracts with those authors. The problem could be solved in just a couple of years. However, there is so much demand for these authors that until Christians “wake up and heed Jesus’ warning”, the authors will write, the publishers will publish, the stores will order, stock and sell, and the public will continue to be under the spell of “ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

Jesus Taught

Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, warned His disciples concerning false prophets and teachers.

Matthew 7:1520 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” (ESV)

I believe the reason so many people follow these false teachers is because they are lazy. “Lazy” you may ask? Yes, an emphatic “Lazy.” Instead of reading and studying their bible for themselves, they take the easy way of simply reading and following teachers that scratch their itch, instead of spending the time in prayer and study of the Bible.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Understand this. You will be held accountable for allowing these false teachers into your mind. Jesus says that you can identify them because they bring forth thorns and thistles instead of good fruit. Translation: these false teachers bring disease that can only bring evil fruit and destruction.

The Apostle Paul Taught

Don’t take the easy way out. the Apostle Paul understood this and in writing to his protégé Timothy;

“2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

The Apostle John quoted Jesus;

“John 5:37 -43 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
41 I do not receive glory from people.
42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.
43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

What Are We To Do?

  1. Get a good “word for word” translation of the Bible, without commentary and without references and study the Bible after prayer asking for the Holy Spirit to lead and teach you.
  2. Journal – write your questions, thoughts and impressions so that you can return to them later.
  3. Be methodical in your approach to study. Learn how to study the bible by “Observing what the Scripture says; search out God’s interpretation of the verse, paragraph, text or book and then apply what you have learned to your own life.
  4. Observation, Interpretation, Application – in that order. Don’t jump to interpretation until you fully understand what the “text within the context” is saying. Don’t leap to applying the Scripture until you have completed the hard work of Observing and then finding out what God is saying and what He means.
  5. It takes time and is an investment in your spiritual health.

As Christians, we are to study the Word of God. We are to receive sound doctrine and oppose false teachers, even if they are the #1 best seller in your local “Christin” book store.

What is the Major Purpose for the Book of Galatians?

The Apostle Paul wrote at least 13 books of the New Testament (many theologians believe he also wrote the book of Hebrews). Some of his epistles (letters) were written to individuals (Timothy and Titus), and the rest to churches.

The epistle of Galatians was written to the churches scattered throughout Galatia (a portion of modern Turkey). It is one of the most important writings of Paul in establishing the importance of Grace compared to the Law.

The main purpose of the Book of Galatians is to vindicate Paul’s call by God and the Gospel of Grace. “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-7)

Paul and salvation by grace alone were under attack by those in the churches of Galatia. Galatian churches were a mix of Jews and Gentiles. Some of the Jewish believers still held to the Jewish Law and traditions, called Judaizers. The term Judaizer, comes from the Greek word meaning “to live according to Jewish customs.” Their teaching states that God’s grace and human effort were required for salvation. Paul considered this theology heresy and those that teach it as false teachers, even though they professed to be followers of Christ. The problem hinged on two points: 1) If they were going to continue to keep the Law as part of their salvation, then they adhered to a belief that a person was partly saved by faith and partly by works. 2) To continue following the traditions and practices of Jewish custom, they taught that the spiritual growth of the person was partly by faith and partly by their own effort. For the Judaizers, a belief in Christ also meant following the main ritual of religion, specifically around circumcision, while adding works, such as, observing all the ceremonies, traditions and rituals of Judaism. This was a heavy burden for the Gentile converts.

Their teaching was in contradiction to the Apostle Paul’s teaching. Paul writes that salvation is by Christ and Christ alone. Paul taught that the message of God’s grace, of pure grace is salvation by Christ alone. A person cannot win, earn or deserve salvation, it is a gift of God and not of works. (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Therefore, the Judaizers charged that the Gospel that Paul was teaching was deceitful and that his apostleship was a false claim of his own making. They reasoned that he could not be a true minister or Apostle of the Lord as he claimed, by his own statement of his beliefs. They reasoned that by cutting out or minimizing the Law that he could not be a true, God called, minister of the Law.

Paul’s defense of the Gospel and his calling is the main focus of the epistle to the churches in Galatia.