False Teaching
The timeless truth of God’s Word encourages us that there is no new thing under the sun (Eccl 1:9). We learn that Jesus Christ is immutable. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). Jesus Himself claimed to be the truth itself (Jn 14:6). He is the eternal logos, the very Word of God enfleshed (Jn 1:1, 14). He lives forevermore.
The Apostle Paul wrote that God is true, but every man is a liar (Rom 3:4). This is true because every person conceived in the womb has inherited the sin of Adam (original sin), has a sin nature, and practices sin the extent of his or her days. The slave of sin is a child of the devil (Jn 8:44; Rom 6:6; 1 Jn 3:10). Lying is an abomination in the eyes of God (Prv 12:22). It is an act of lawlessness (1 Jn 3:14), in direct violation of God’s command in His moral Law (Ex 20; Dt 5).
The Bible reveals God’s salvation of His chosen people (2 Thess 2:13; 1 Pet 2:9). The Bible is the Word of truth (Ps 119:160; Jn 17:17), brought forth by the Spirit of truth, who guides God’s elect into all truth (Jn 16:13). Those who hear the Word of Christ preached to them and who are granted faith to believe what they hear, are the manifestation of God’s grace unto salvation (Jn 5:24; Rom 10:17; Eph 2:8–9). In other words, the believer in Jesus is the object of God’s grace.
It is the truth that sets the captive free (Jn 8:32). He is free from the lies of the enemy. Man’s adversary is the devil, the father of lies (Jn 8:44). The chief deceiver’s work against humanity dates back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3). The irony of Lucifer’s fatherhood of man is his hatred for those he deceives (1 Pet 5:8; 1 Jn 3:10).
In order to educate the children of the devil, the devil sends for his demons to inspire false teachers to promulgate the doctrine of demons (1 Tim 4:1). Blinded minds are the product of false teachers promoting false teaching (2 Cor 4:4), which is always aligned with the course of this world (Eph 2:2). The world is Satan’s domain of darkness (Col 1:13), and his children love the darkness because their deeds are evil (Jn 3:19).
Keeping people in the dark, regarding the truth, is Satan’s chief work. False teaching is the key strategy for shrouding the truth. Without light and truth, man remains blind and deceived. He lives his best life now in ignorant anticipation of eternal hell. Satan has him confused, mingling lies with the truth.
False teaching is a message of false light and fake truth. It is discerned by its elevation of man. Simply put, it is man-centered. It is designed to puff up a person with pride. It is easily embraced because it subtly makes man into a god (Gen 3:5).
The message of false teaching is everywhere. The mind of man is assaulted even through secular, godless education, psychology, advertising, etc. Wherever there is communication void of Jesus Christ, or with a distorted Christ, the recipient is subject to the wiles of the devil. This is why the true Christian minister preaches Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor 2:2).
The liberation of the soul is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Liberator of the soul is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Christ is the Teacher of God’s Word of truth, which is light and life. The antidote for the disease of deception is the Bible. That sounds like foolishness to the deceived man of the world (1 Cor 1:18), but it is the power of God unto salvation for those who have been granted faith to believe (Rom 1:16; Phil 1:29).
Woe to the preacher who has his place in Christ’s church and who has another gospel than the one found in the Bible. Woe to the preacher who has an open Bible but who twists the Gospel into mingled truth. Woe to the preacher who selects biblical texts to preach that avoid the hard doctrines.
False teaching will remain with us until the last day, when judgment will come upon all those who did not love the truth (2 Thess 2:10). How much worse will be the judgment of those who not only denied the truth but taught lies in place of truth?
False teachers must examine themselves. The woman elder in the church must repent and return to her place. The woman preacher who has men listening to her must recognize her devil-inspired usurpation of God’s order. The homosexual, who is an abomination in the eyes of God (Lev 18:22), and who is in a church pulpit, is only storing up wrath for the day of wrath (Rom 2:5). The disobedient promoters of sin must be told the truth (Eph 5:11).
God is merciful to sinners (Rom 9:15, 18), for sure, but He is also the just Judge of the unrepentant, who lives and preaches lies. Be not deceived, God is not mocked (Gal 6:7). The liar lies, and he is rightly judged by the God of all truth.
May God be gracious to you my dear reader. May He alone be your light in this world of darkness (Jn 8:12; 9:5). May He alone be acknowledged as the truth (Jn 14:6). May Jesus Christ be the sole content of your life and message. False teaching will always lead people astray, but those who hope in Christ will not be disappointed.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
April 5, 2021
