Skip to main content

"Who Is Telling The Truth" - 2 Peter 2:1-3

Hello readers. I hope you are enjoying this devotional study of 2 Peter. It is my pleasure to bring you a small bit of God's word with some application and encouragement. There is power in the truth that we read in scripture. So, with a combination of Romans 1:16 boldness and 1 Peter 5:5 humility, let's continue our study of 2 Peter.

2 Peter 2:1-3 NLT
1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.

The preservation of the truth was a huge priority for all the apostles. As I read and study the bible, I have discovered that this subject (preserving truth and warning about error) is one of the most important subjects in the New Testament. Entire books of the bible are written on this one subject (including this one). It has also become one of my passions as well. I have found myself getting quite angry with the false teachers of our time. Unfortunately, these false teachers are usually the ones with the most money and so they tend to be found on television. I'm going to resist dropping names, but my advise to you: Do not rely on the preachers on TV to supply you with biblical truth. Not all TV preachers are false, but the MAJORITY are delivering a false gospel.

How can we tell which ones are speaking truth?

It's not easy, but very possible. Become so familiar with the scriptures yourself, by personal reading and study, that you can spot a counterfeit just by listening to the things they say and watching the things they do. You will know the scriptures and the false teachers will reveal themselves because what they say and do will contradict the clear teachings of the bible. It's difficult at first, because they will seem so sincere and will speak with such authority and cleverness, but when our trust is placed in the truth of God's word instead of the word of man, then we will be safe. Another way to spot false teachers is to observe how often they ask for money. All ministries need money, so this isn't always a reliable indicator.

Here is a short list of the three major errors that are being pushed by today's false teachers:

  1. That it's God's will that all Christians be healthy and wealthy (this is facilitated by giving a "faith seed",which is a large donation to their ministry).
  2. The bible can't really be completely understood, so we should be open-minded about what the bible teaches, especially in regard to sin and traditional doctrines. Reaching the culture by reinventing the church to imitate and accept modern cultural trends without questioning their dangers.
  3. You have the "power-within" you to achieve success and/or personal achievement goals. Secular practices of "visualization" and "positive thinking" are encouraged. The bible is only used to supply illustrations to support these goals. Sin is simply not mentioned.

This is just a brief listing of things to watch out for. Peter, in verses above, is showing us that "nothing is new under the sun". False teachers today are doing the same thing they did in Peter's day. Namely, they want your money, and they are VERY clever at getting it from you! To get your money they have to create false beliefs in you mind.

Don't misunderstand; Faithful, biblical, ministries, like bible-believing local churches and other ministries do require money to operate, so giving there is necessary and biblical. The point is to be informed so as not to be deceived by false teachers.

Lots more to come. Stay tuned...


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards In Plain English. (#1-10)

Jonathan Edwards is known as one of the greatest and most profound of American theologians. His writings have benefited many Christians throughout the years. I was impressed with these resolutions and so I have attempted to translate them into the language of the day. I understand that I may have missed Edward’s full meaning at some level, but I made every attempt to capture the essence of the original author and summarize in such a way as to benefit the modern reader. There are 70 resolutions in all. I have summarized the first ten here. I hope you enjoy these. ________________________________ 1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I mee...

My Chiropractic Dilemma

So, I've had this back/neck/shoulder pain for two weeks now. It was getting so bad that I was really at the point of doing anything to get rid of the pain. Everybody kept telling me to go to the Chiropractor. I've actually only spoken to one person who has ever told me anything negative about their experience with Chiropractic treatment. Most people are convinced that it is helpful. A little history. About a year ago, I went to a Chiropractor here in town who was recommended by a friend. She told me that I could get a free exam and x-rays with a referral. Well, I figured if it was free how bad could it be. I was skeptical at that point. I do not like to be deceived, and from the things I was reading, Chiropractic treatment was pseudo-science and mostly "smoke and mirrors." I was in pretty severe lower-back pain at that time and figured I'd go ahead and give 'em a try and see what it was all about. I won't go into the whole story, but to sum it up, I was ...

The Bible on Entertainment - PART 7 The Philippians 4:8 Filter

As we began this look at the subject of entertainment, I said that the key verse for this study would be: 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” The articles that I have written up to this point have been concentrating on the last part of that verse, ( Avoid…evil ). The reason for this is because I believe we are surrounded and bombarded with worldly entertainment that is numbing us to immorality. You may have noticed that there are more and more “reality” type shows that encourage us to become addicted. Video games are designed to be addictive and music, by its very nature is addictive. I’ve already said that I don’t believe that all entertainment is sin, but I do believe that it’s time Christians took a fresh look at the entertainment we consume and put all of it to the test of scripture. This final “filter” that we will look at today is, I believe, the best way to evaluate entertainment. It’s almost as if this was put in the bible ...