False Teachers
As time goes on, more and more people drift from the teachings of Christ, and start to follow after false teachers and false doctrine. A more common term than “false teacher” would be cult. These cults promise much, whether it is happiness or eternal life or even vast material possessions. This is not a new problem, it’s been a problem since the beginning of time according to the Bible.
Peter strongly condemns cults and false teachers in 2 Peter 2. He says that these false teachers say and teach things that even the angels would not dare to say. Let’s stop and think about that for a moment. Even the angels would not make blasphemies like what some of the false teachers do. Peter says that these teachers speak on things that they do not understand. Most of the cults make all sorts of wild promises and use pretty insane doctrine, they just string together things so that it looks good, but means nothing.
An interesting thing about these false teachers is that for a short period of time, they get what they think they want. They get all the pleasure they could possibly want out of this life, but when they die, they have their condemnation. Peter says that they have a special darkness for them after they die. I could keep repeating what Peter says, but I think we can just read the chapter individually to get a feel for precisely how depraved these teachers are.
So, what can we do about false teachers? First and foremost, we need to make sure that everything we’re taught lines up with the Bible says. When someone tells you that the Bible says something, look it up for yourself, and check the context of the verse. People can pull some very twisted doctrine out of the Bible if you don’t look at what the context of the verse is. Another thing to do is make sure that the focus of what you’re being taught is God and Jesus. If the focus is more on the preacher or the teacher, and how much they know, be wary.
We also need to be careful of the people we lead to Christ. New believers are especially vulnerable to false doctrine. If we lead them to Christ, we need to stay by them, and help them grow. False teachers and cults go after new believers and the unsaved; the people that aren’t firmly grounded in the faith. The people we lead to Christ are our responsibility. Have we made sure to keep in touch with them? Or have we drifted away from them?
False teachers and cults are a major problem these days. They’re everywhere in the news and in the world around us. Most people don’t fully understand the danger that they represent to us, but we need to be sober and vigilant.
