What do so-called “False Teachers” teach, and how can we know it is false?

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 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, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2 Timothy 4:1-5

I feel compelled by a biblical mandate, to say something about a huge burden that I have had for several year now, and that has been growing - to warn people about false teaching!

Anytime a doctrine or teaching or movement is presented as biblical truth to the church in general, every individual Christian, and leaders in particular, are to rightly judged such teachings - and where they  (teachers and doctrine) may stray from biblical truth there is a need for public exposure and warning.

This past while, I have been researching and learning so much, especially about the NAR (New Apostolic Reformation - a term coined by C. Peter Wagner, btw, with a massive “unofficial”network - see books by Holly Pivec, a researcher) and WOF (Word of Faith) movements...looking into things myself, listening to “their” sermons, reading through “their” websites, and reading “their” books for myself - to understand what they believe and teach. (Also learning lots about the New Age, JW’s, Mormons, and more).

One thing that is repeated in their writings, is to not read blogs like my mine, not read books or listen to “discernment ministries” who critique them. - that is a dangerous teaching, it is what JW’s and LDS movements teach. When a movement tells you not to listen to criticism of them, and to only read their books, and even have their own Bible translation, we should all be wary. If you call yourself a Christian, then you have a biblical mandate to not take an offence, but to search the scriptures to see if every teaching you hear is true. If you are being told to “not judge”, “not be concerned about Bible study” and to not be stopped by “what is between your ears” (aka your brain and intellect) - those are quotes from NAR books I have read for myself btw), then that should be a red flag for you to do the exact opposite of what those teachers are saying and to check your Bibles and listen to teachings from “all-sides”.

I hope others will do what I did when I heard certain teachers and movements and music groups were false - I didn’t just believe it nor argue against it, I looked into it myself (with an open Bible and notebook), and if you are a PASTOR reading this, part of your job is to protect the flock from wolves! Please, do your homework and protect the sheep under your care!

My motivation is love. Love for fellow believers, love for the truth, and above all love for God. We are called to love and to unity, and we are also called to contend for our faith, called to judge within the church, called to expose and avoid false teaching and teachers, and called to search the scriptures and to test every spirit. 

(This is NOT about style, denomination, or nit-picking, criticizing and looking for error amongst believers, but is about false teaching and the importance of knowing our Bibles. This is about LOVE, the most loving thing to do is to tell someone the truth!)

There are many false teachers today, as there are in every generation. They twist scripture and quote partial or out-of-context verses to create entire doctrines - doctrines that change who Christ is, how we are to be saved, how we are to live our lives as Christians, and even how this world will end. 

They preach a completely different gospel and different Jesus - here are some examples, if you agree with any of the below, search the scriptures for where it teaches this (in context) - it is NOT there!:

• A Jesus who was not always fully God
• That Christians no longer sin
• Being able to call things into existence as God did with “words of Faith” at creation
• that man is not inherently sinful, but good
• That we have to believe that Jesus had to suffer in hell - for our salvation 
• that the gospel includes prosperity and healing in every instance - abundance
• That we can have our “best life now” 
• That the “theology of Jesus” is superior to the God we see in the Old Testament - while the God of the OT sent storms and sickness, etc. Jesus calms storm and heals (always), and those of us who think that the Apostle Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was a physical ailment, WE preach a “different Gospel”, cause Jesus/God’s will is ALWAYS to heal, and He does not ever “send sickness” (this is SO damaging to faith!)
• gnostic beliefs, like that we existed spiritually with God before we become human
• that we are “little gods”
• Mysticism, New Age beliefs and practices 
• a twisting of what it means to be born again and saying the JESUS was born-again?!
• even that Jesus is not the “Only way” or there are many “ways to Jesus” - and we can know Him even without realizing it 
• That the way is WIDE
• Astral projections and that we can visit heaven (without even dying, but as “tourists”, and come back to describe it (and most often don't even see God there) -these “experiences” are very real and are experienced in the occult too - but it isn’t the heaven of the Bible that is being described
• And so many other things that contradict the Jesus of the Bible

I had thought the above were a “fringe movement” and could be ignored- they are actually mainstream and growing, and sneaking into the majority of churches around the world - and I had no idea. It burdens me and fills my heart with grief to know that they are leading people astray. Not that everyone in their movement isn’t saved but that is the danger - and from testimonies, many are being “saved out of” these teachings...

If you read that and it offends you, if you are a Christian IN this movement or following these teachers - this is not my personal teaching, it is in the Bible! We are told to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. If this offends you, examine yourself, and search the scriptures for truth! Even if your attitude is to “prove these things” rather than disprove- search and read the verses they quote in context- search multiple translations to compare. 

I do not intend to write a book here. What I hope to do, is to share with others what I have learnt, and provide the links to several resources, so that you can dig deeper if you need to. Do not take me at my word, nor the word of theologians, nor the word of those that are being named as false teachers. In the body of Christ, we do not have “priests”, and no one should be a priest for us - together we are a priesthood, and Christ of course is our Great High Priest. While we do need pastors and teachers, who are trained in studying, in hermeneutics, and in exegesis, and who are gifted teachers and preachers who practice expository bible teaching; we must study God’s Word for ourselves, and do not depend on teachers and writers to tell us what God’s Word means.

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The Holy Spirit illuminates the scriptures for us, and it’s meaning is generally clear (ie when we are told that God created the heavens and the earth, and there was morning and evening with numerical days, it is clear that He created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th). It is only when we read other things into the Bible or add things to the Bible that it becomes blurry and full of different interpretations (eisegesis or “narcigesis”).

Aside from being clear though, we need to know how to read the Bible as God’s WORD, about Himself. To know for example when we have a historical narrative, like David and Goliath, not to read ourselves into the text and make it about us defeating our giants - that is not what the text says. Historical narrative is descriptive and not prescriptive. And, Jesus after He rose from the dead, was walking to Emmaus - before revealing Himself- showed how the entire scriptures were about Himself. The Old Testament is all about Jesus; full of “types and shadows” to point us to Christ. The New Testament is also all about Jesus, clearly defines who He is, what the Gospel is, and warns us to beware of false gospels and false teachers who rise AMONG us (not to beware of the world, but beware of people and leaders IN the Church who preach a different Jesus/Gospel!!)

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The apostle Paul commended the Bereans in Acts 17, for not just taking him at his word, but for “Searching the scriptures to see if these things are true”.

Again, God has spoken, we have His written and Authoritative Word. Everything that we hear, read, and sing needs to be compared to the written Word of God.

So, without writing an entire book, I will write a few blog posts, and may post updates as I learn more.

I will be posting a few blog posts to begin with, and will add as I have time (it was easier to hit “share” on a YouTube video and put it on facebook, cause i can multitask while listening, and share without even going onto facebook - it was not time consuming at all - which is important, as I am a homeschool momma and missionary wife, involved in Children’s and Women’s ministry.