Liars and False Teachers

       The biggest problem facing the Word of God today, are false teachers spreading lies or adding their own beliefs to produce mass followers. These evil men and women will say or do anything to get people to come to their services, watch them on T.V., and give huge amounts of money to put in their own pockets. This is by far not a new phenomena, in fact it dates back to the Old Testament and is prominent in the New. I'll give examples of this and the warnings that our Lord gave us to watch for these "wolves in sheep's clothing", but we are also told the best way to know who these false teachers are, and the lies they tell is by knowing the scriptures and proving the Word of God, and if need be, defend it. 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." The truth of the Word, scripture, "is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.", (2 Timothy 3:16). God is telling us that anything other than His doctrine is unrighteous, and it is up to us to know the difference.
       In Paul's second letter to his friend and young preacher Timothy, Paul says to him to preach the Word at all times because a time will come when the people will not listen to sound doctrine, but will change the Word to follow after their own lusts, change the truth and follow false teachers (2 Timothy 4:1-4). This occurs in all churches today, just as it did then. Paul knew that God had given us His Word, and all we need to know to be saved and to save others is in the scriptures, proving that if any allow themselves to worship or teach something other than the Word is wrong. We will be lost if we think it is okay to worship God however we want as long as we worship God. If this were true, the Bible would indeed be very short and simply say, believe in God and you'll be fine. So why did God bother to give us so many commandments, examples and inferences on everything from daily living to the way we should worship? Because He knew that man would very shortly begin perverting the Bible and doing what he wanted to make it more pleasing to him.
       In Paul's second letter to Peter, in chapter 2, Paul describes what a false teacher does and why he/she does it. They do it many times for money, and fame. Think of all the T.V. evangelists. What they say might make you feel good, and might inspire you to go out and help people, or pray, or just do something good for someone else, and that's fine, but is it still fine if it took a lie to get you to do it? In 2 Peter, Paul reminds us that the angels who were tricked and followed Satan were chained in darkness and must suffer punishment. If angels were condemned, what makes us think we are safe if someone tricks us? We must know the truth that someone is teaching us. I have heard there are some churches who's ministers tell the congregation that it is impossible to fully understand the Bible, and that it takes a trained person to help you understand. Think about this, that is the most perfect way Satan might be able to trick a Christian, after all, he was able to trick Eve while she was still perfect. Three to four hundred years ago, the Catholic Church told the people they could not even study the Bible without being in the presence of a priest, and this is of course why Martin Luther broke away and struck out on his own. He understood that the Bible could be understood, and this is why God inspired men to write it. After all, what author ever wrote a book that he didn't intend the reader to know what he was talking about?
       So what are these false teachers teaching us that is not true? Well, where could we possibly start? Paul admonishes the Galatians in chapter 3 for following doctrine other than Christ's. He also tells the Corinthians that he thanked God he was not the one who baptized them for they would follow him and look to him as their leader instead of Christ. So basically anything that is not found in scriptures would be false teaching, and must be avoided at all costs. As I said, this happens in all churches and normally is the reason for churches to split and new doctrines created, so the only way to be sure to get it right is to study scripture and know what God is telling us. More and more people are leaving the churches today and becoming less spiritual than ever before because I believe, and this is just my opinion here, that when they attend a "modern" church, deep down they know this is not what God intended or can be happy with. Multi-million dollar buildings, ministers living in million dollar homes, driving luxury cars and then preaching about how humble they are is just plain wrong! Some issues that are falsely taught are what are to do during worship. Yes, the Bible lays out a plan on what we should do during worship, so we could start there and by using scripture, see if you're church is following what God said to do. Don't forget that He was very specific in the Old Testament, and the Jews were often punished for disobeying, and the same is true today. My next post will be about what the Bible says on the pattern of worship and what He expects from each and every one of us.
       We can understand all that is written in the Bible (Romans 16:25-26), and must do as He commands, which really is not as hard as some make it out to be. And that is ALL that we should do, for adding OR taking away is a sin, (Revelation 22:18, Deut. 4:2, Proverbs 30:5-7) and the one who does so, is a liar according to Him (Proverb 30:7). As always, this was written with the hopes that those who read it might change if what they are doing is different than God, for their soul depends on it.