Year of the Bible: Part Twelve of TwelveSample

Recognizing False Teachers

Humans have always been susceptible to false teaching. It began in the Garden of Eden during the first temptation of Adam and Eve. The false teaching from the serpent was his reply to Eve: "surely you won't die." He distorted what God had meant when He commanded Adam not to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil: "for in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die." Following this false teaching resulted in a life separated from God's presence. All false teaching from this point forward brings about the same result: separation from God.

False teachers may be discerned by the fruits of their lives. Today's reading shows that false teachers display similar attitudes and actions:

• They rely on dreams to lead people astray (e.g., Joseph Smith).
• They defile the flesh by requiring abstinence from certain foods, encouraging extreme fasting to gain approval, or approving non-biblical sexual activity (e.g., Sodom and Gomorrah and modern secular culture).
• They reject accountability to authority (they are their own authority while requiring their followers to obey them without questioning).
• They blaspheme—railing against the God of the scriptures and encouraging others to do the same.
• They announce revelation from God with a special understanding of how to interpret the scriptures.
• False teachers prosper because they make it easier for others to "follow the truth."
• They set up rules which relieve each of us the responsibility to dig in and test their teachings against the whole counsel of the Bible.

Therefore, let each of us be on guard. While we listen to spiritual teachers, let's ask the Holy Spirit to grant us discernment to discern human wisdom from the true Gospel. Let us examine the fruits of teachers' lives and see if they walk in the fruits of the Spirit or the fruits of the flesh. If a teacher demonstrates love (defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8), pay attention to their teaching and receive from the Lord the life-giving hope it sows.

Question: What makes false teaching temporarily attractive? What aspects of biblical truth will encourage people to abandon false teaching and follow Jesus?

Prayer: Father, thank you for giving me solid, Spirit-filled teachers of Your Word to help me on my journey with You. Grant me the discernment of Your Holy Spirit to recognize life-giving teaching versus self-centered, imprisoning teaching. Thank You for the biblical teachers You have given me in my church. Protect them from false teaching and protect my family and me from false teachers. Amen.