FALSE DOCTRINE

Garden City church of Christ, Garden City, Michigan

 

False doctrine is very dangerous.  It is designed by Satan to cause people to be lost.  During His personal ministry Jesus warned of false doctrine a number of times.  In Matthew 7:15 He says, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” False prophets have the appearance of being legitimate since they are wearing sheep’s clothing. Their purpose is to destroy our souls.

False doctrine is deceiving.  We are warned in Ephesians 5:6, “Let no man deceive you with vain words...  But how does false doctrine deceive? Romans 16:18 says, “...by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”  Oh, it may sound good and impressive, but it is still false.  The denominational world is filled with false doctrine, which is designed to cause people to be lost.  It even creeps into the Lord’s church.

As long as the world lasts there will always be false doctrine taught. II

Peter 2:1-2 says, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”  Notice that false doctrine is brought in secretly in a way that people are not aware of it.  As this destructive doctrine is taught, the truth of God’s word is evil spoken of and belittled.

But how do we recognize false doctrine so we can protect ourselves against it?  I John 4:1 says “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” we are told to test them just as the Bereans did in Acts 17:11, they “...searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”  If we will only study God’s word daily so “that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14).