But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
2 Peter 2:1-3
False teaching is a constant danger that Christians face in our day. Often times, the false preacher sounds right and orthodox and his message can be very appealing. Nevertheless, once the student of the Bible digs deeper into the teaching of certain “teachers” they find that the doctrine of these false prophets is wrong and filled with error.
How can we know who to trust in times like these? Peter gives two signs to watch for that often mark the teaching of false prophets.
**False teachers deny the divinity and power of Jesus. False teaching often portrays Jesus as merely a prophet or teacher. However, He is the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, the Messiah, and our only Hope and Savior. To teach anything less than the robust proclamation of Jesus found in Scripture is to teach a false Jesus.
**False prophets deny and disbelieve the Bible. They will ignore certain Scriptural teachings or even have the temerity to claim that what the Bible plainly says is not true. False teachers often have their own statements, books, and writings as their authority and not the Holy Bible.
Be careful, dear Christian. Study the Word of God so you will know the truth. Know the Bible so you can refute the error that pervades our society.
Tony French
mrtonyfrench 