7 Clues You Are Actually Sitting under a False Teacher
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At some point or another, we all have been exposed to someone teaching falsely. However, there is a big difference between a genuine person who might need to grow in his understanding of something versus a leader in a church or organization who is teaching falsehoods about Jesus and the faith of Christianity. Today I want to discuss some ways to know if you are sitting under a false teacher.
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If a pastor or teacher only ever has a topic and takes a verse that applies to that topic, but never teaches the full picture of the author’s intent in writing that Scripture, be aware. I am not saying that someone has to go into a deep history of why the author wrote the passage, but they do need to study and present in such a way that honors it.
Taking Scripture out of context is very easy and tempting to do. We need to watch out for this by those we are sitting under.
Anyone who adds to or subtracts from the Bible is disobeying God’s command in Deuteronomy 4:2: “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.” This can include any of the following: only teaching from the New Testament and subtracting the Old Testament, a pastor who uses a Bible supplement as his Bible, or someone adding teaching that was not in the original 66 books of the Bible.
This might look like a person who is trying to match the culture and tries to deny verses on topics that society does not like, only to please them, but not to be true to the Word of God.
Lastly, if a pastor or a Bible teacher gets the gospel wrong, do not sit under them. The gospel is clear that all people are sinners, that God came down in the form of man through Jesus and lived the perfect life. He then died on behalf of our sins and rose Himself from the dead. All who believe in Jesus will receive His Holy Spirit, be sealed from eternal death and given eternal life with God.
If someone is teaching that we can earn our way, that they are many ways, or that Jesus is not the way, then they are wrong. This is clear in the Bible and that is not the truth from God. John 14:6 says, “Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
We need to be careful who we allow to speak into our lives. The Holy Spirit will guide us, and the Word of God will confirm. We are to test what others says and seek the Lord. There is a joy in being the church body, but the enemy is seeking to destroy and damage the kingdom of God. He knows that he already lost, but we are to be on our guard and stand firm on the truth of Jesus and the Bible.
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