false teachers

discernment, false teachers, God in a box

"God can use it…"

Posted on November 2, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

“I don’t agree with everything [insert false teacher’s name here] but there are some good things he/she says.” In rebutting this notion, author Michelle Lesley phrased it best. She said in her essay titled,

Mayoral Candidate Opal Covey Rebukes Fred and Speaks in Tongues–

Ladies, you want to know why I warn against false teachers? This is why. You start out with “gateway drugs” like Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer, thinking, “It’s OK. It’s only a little unbiblical teaching. I can stop any time I want,” and pretty soon you end up like this lady, strung out and face down in the gutter of blasphemy and false doctrine. This is an embarrassment to the church, an awful witness to the lost, and a black eye for Jesus. Just say no to false teaching.

There is the story of the demon-possessed slave girl in Acts which relates here.

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. (Acts 16:16-18)

Why didn’t Paul say, as so many pastors and teachers and women say today, “She is speaking truth. I don’t agree with everything she says, but God can certainly use her. I’ll let her speak for me”?

Because it isn’t about the words such a person says, it’s the source. Paul taught,

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).

He made four explicit points:

Righteousness v. lawlessness
Light v. darkness
Christ v. Belial (satan)
Believer v. unbeliever

He made four implicit points. The goal among believers is to be in:
partnership
fellowship
harmony
in common

Whatever flavor your favored partly or all-false teacher demonstrates from the second column, God will not use it. The dividing line is clear. Have nothing to do with those who are lawless, or dark, or of satan, or are an unbeliever.

EPrata photo, not EPrata

For people who say, well, ‘Don’t put God in a box, He can use anything’, you’re right, God can use anything. He can turn me into a giraffe. But will He? No, He created animals after their own kind. Just because God CAN turn me into a giraffe doesn’t mean He will.

He can do anything, even use a demon-possessed girl speaking truth – but He won’t. He didn’t. The Holy Spirit inside Paul was tormented hearing the slave girl speak heavenly glories from a satan-polluted mouth! (Acts 16:18). Any false teacher is demon influenced. In Galatians 1 Paul was astonished they were deserting the Gospel so quickly. In 2 Corinthians 11 he chastised them who put up with a different Gospel so easily. In Revelation 2, Jesus threatened the Thyatirans for tolerating a false prophetess. No, God won’t use falsity. His Son is too beautiful to Him and His Gospel is too pure. Why should he?

God chose to speak thru His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2), not through satan. So why would you limit God and put Him in a box by saying He can’t follow through on what He said He will do? Trust Him. If He said He will work through the Gospel given rightly, He will.

And what if…”God can use” a false teacher’s words not to draw women to Christ but to harden them in their sin? Be careful what you say “God can use.” God DOES use sinners, wolves, and false doctrine, but not in the way most people think. God CAN use Beth Moore to harden women in their self-esteem, legalistic, selfish ways.

I’ll end with another best quote from a sister in Christ. When the TV series “The Bible” was released by Roma Downey, Sunny Shell reviewed it. She put in a Q & A to her review. She hypothetically asked,

Q. “Even though there’s a lot of error in this movie, still, don’t you think it’s a great way to show people who God really is, I mean, can’t God use anything to save someone?

A. No, I don’t think this movie is a great way to reveal the truth about God since it’s filled with lies about God. And yes, I realize God can use anything to save someone, but He only chose to use the message of the true Gospel to save all men (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). Nowhere in Scripture does God command or allow His children to use the work of Satan to proclaim His truth. And God is clear, anyone who denies Him and defiles His holy character or word, works for the devil, not for God.

Since the beginning of time, the devil has attempted to minimize and blaspheme God’s holy character by lulling us to disregard His holiness, justice and righteousness. God has never called His children of light to partner with the works of darkness (2 Cor 6:15-16). As God’s children, we are commanded to pursue holiness, rather than try to find a way to compromise the glory of Christ in order to “reach more people”.

Well said, Mrs Shell. As for false teachers, just a little bit of poison kills. We know that satan speaks through these teachers, and satan only speaks lies. He will meld a few lies in with the truth so that the two are nearly indistinguishable, and therefore appear harmless. His lies involve the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, and the lust of the flesh.

If I hear a woman saying “I know [such and such false teacher] doesn’t teach everything according to the bible, but I like some things she teaches” then I know one thing for sure. Something in that false teacher’s doctrine appeals to her flesh and she is unwilling to give that up.

Yet we are called to slay the old man in us. Romans 8:13 says,

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Mortify the flesh, and kill off that part of you that wants to cling to a teacher others have said or shown you with the Word are not giving an authentic Gospel.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

colossians, discernment, false teachers, lloyd-jones, spurgeon

Don’t let anyone disqualify you from the prize!

Posted on July 30, 2015July 14, 2022 by elizabethprata

Puffed up in visions they have seen

Colossians is a tremendous book. Of this verse in Colossians, let’s first focus on the first five words, Paul’s warning, underline mine-

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, (Colossians 2:18 ESV)

Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, (Colossians 2:18, NASB)

“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,” (Colossians 2:18 KJV).

The word disqualify/defraud/beguile here in context refers to an umpire. Strong’s defines it,

“to deprive” refers to discouraging (misleading) believers, diverting them from their full potential for receiving their unique glorification.

Paul uses the same metaphor with the result being the prize in Philippians 3:7-14. In the MacArthur commentary the prize is explained. Now, be assured that no one can deprive you of the ultimate prize, salvation. Of that, Jesus said “and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:28-29).

Spurgeon said in his excellent sermon on the verse titled “A Warning to Believers“,

THERE is an allusion here to the prize which was offered to the runners in the Olympic games, and at the outset it is well for us to remark how very frequently the Apostle Paul conducts us by his metaphors to the racecourse. Over and over again he is telling us so to run that we may obtain, bidding us to strive, and at other times to agonize, and speaking of wrestling and contending. Ought not this to make us feel what an intense thing the Christian life is—not a thing of sleepiness or haphazard, not a thing to be left now and then to a little superficial consideration?

Though you can’t be disqualified for the ultimate prize, an umpire can sideline you. Or, he can make calls that affect the other players in the game around you, diminishing your effectiveness. MacArthur said of the umpire metaphor,

The false teachers claimed a mystical union with God. Paul exhorts the Colossians not to allow those false teachers to keep defrauding them of their prize. It was as if the heretics assumed the role of spiritual referees and disqualified the Colossians for not abiding by their rules. ~MacArthur Commentary on Colossians & Philemon

False doctrine is not only a corruption in the church, it does damage to you individually. One way false teaching and false teachers harm you is that following them even temporarily and certainly for a long period disqualifies you for the prize. That much is clear.

What is inferred is our responsibility to our brethren who are following a false teacher. How will it be when they are judged, when told to give an account of themselves (Romans 14:12, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15). Service to Jesus and our works for him while in the flesh is examined, as well as conscience, words spoken, and how well we overcame the flesh, in addition to other things. We will cringe and cry when we hear Jesus say that a friend has lost some prizes because they followed a false teacher and thus were disobeying Jesus, while we knew all along and never said anything.

Christ’s soldiers are striving for the prize

And will that be counted as sin against us? A sin of omission is just as bad as a sin of comission. James 4:17 says,

“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”

Pursuing evil is sinful (sin of commission) and avoidance of doing good is also bad. (sin of omission) What, then, as we see a sister sliding into the influence of a false teacher and we fail to warn, even as Paul warned the Colossians? We are supposed to build each other up. (1 Thessalonians 5:11, Romans 14:19). What will Jesus say to us regarding a sister we let down?

As for the rest of the verse, I listened to 4 sermons and read 4 different commentaries, just on Colossians 2:18. It’s a powerful verse and has within it portents, warnings, and explanations. It’s dense and difficult. But here is the master of logic, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who made it so clear. I enjoyed his sermon on the verse best. (Although Spurgeon’s was a close second).

In this portion of his sermon, “The Danger of Error“, Lloyd-Jones is talking about the ones who were upsetting the Colossians, the Gnostics. He said they were people who are false, and in that falsity have a striking characteristic which gives them away. It’s not the only characteristic, but it is one you’ll see often. As you read this transcribed part of the sermon, see if this doesn’t bring anyone to mind. Of course, listening to the sermon is preferred because his accent, inflections, and word emphases bring the piece to life.

[Of the cults and false religions]…don’t they always give you an impression they are much more zealous and enthusiastic than you are? Always talking about it, always advocating it, always urging you to go to their meetings. They’re tremendous in enthusiasm, and zeal, and activity. Now the scriptures teach us that it’s always a characteristic of such people. It is one of the great errors of course, that the devil always makes, he always overdoes what he’s trying to do. He produces therefore this carnal excitable zeal. The Apostle doesn’t hesitate to use the term like “delusion.” He says let no man beguile you with enticing words. Yes! It is a beguiling. It is a form of delusion. And the result of such a delusion always is that you get this…excess. This overplus, somehow always overdone.

Let’s be clear about these things. Oftentimes this very enthusiasm is the thing that that attracts innocent Christian people. “Look at their zeal, they can’t be wrong! Look at what they’re prepared to sacrifice, look at the time they give to it! They must be right’, says the innocent Christian. The NT has much to say about this. They have itching ears to start with, then they’re carried away by this false zeal.”

Here is Spurgeon on that excitable zeal the false mystics put forth to beguile you:

A notion is abroad that if you are but earnest and sincere, you will be all right. Permit me to remind you that if you travel never so earnestly to the north, you will never reach the south, and if you earnestly take prussic acid you will die, and if you earnestly cut off a limb you will be wounded. You must not only be earnest, but you must be right in it. Hence is it necessary to say, “Let no man beguile you of your reward.” “I bear them witness,” said the Apostle, “that they had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, but went about to establish their own righteousness,

Don’t let their mystical visions beguile you!

Keep thinking about who teaches falsely with zeal and enthusiasm, so much so that many others are confounded by their energy, as Lloyd-Jones says, believing that so much zeal must stem from a Godly source.

Lloyd-Jones concluded by offering some practical tests to see if someone is false, these mystical ascetics, puffed up with visions-

Here are the tests:

1. Keep Christ and your relationship to him central
2. A way to test any teaching is this: does it make you think better of Christ? Does it magnify Him? Does it exalt Him? You’ll find with these other things, my friends, that they don’t do that. You’ll be praising their teaching.

Keep thinking about those false teachers who inspire impassioned defenders, saying that he or she is great, rather than how he or she pointed them to the Great One.

Keep thinking about them that go on and on about their messages from God, their visions, dreams, personal revelations delivered to them in the bathroom or a cabin in Wyoming or half-asleep in bed, and check your mind and heart to see if you don’t think they are a little bit more mystical and theologically higher up than you are because of it. Or worse, if the false teacher himself or herself thinks they are higher up than you poor saps who don’t get the regular direct deliveries … but they’ll humbly share them with you anyway.

Let’s end where we started. Don’t let anyone defraud you of the prize. The ultimate prize is Jesus, His faith, His comfort. Spurgeon said,

Let no man deprive you of the present comfort which your faith should bring to you. … Let me just for a few minutes have your attention while I speak upon this. Dear brethren, you and I, if we are believers in Christ, are this day completely pardoned. There is no sin in God’s book against us. We are wholly and completely justified. The righteousness of Jesus Christ covers us from head to foot, and we stand before God as if we had never sinned. Now let no man rob you of this reward. Do not be tempted by anything that is said to doubt the completeness of a believer in Christ. Hold this, and, as you hold it, enjoy it. Let no man beguile you of the reward of feeling that you are complete in Christ.

Lars Justinen, Robe of Righteousness

discernment, false teachers, lucre, prosperity, root of all evil, treasure

The lure of the lucre: false religion is big business

Posted on July 17, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Money brings with it the lure of the world and what it has to offer. We are from heaven, sent into the world (John 17:16) but we are not to be conformed to the pattern of it while we are here. (Rom 12:2).

Kudzu enveloping and choking a tree

But we need to live, eat, work, raise families. And for that, we need money. We need to be part of the world’s economic system in some degree.

Being part of an evil world system through employment, or pension, or financial investment, means we have to make decisions at all times to refrain from being drawn in and compromising our biblical principles. Lydia of Acts 16:14 seems to be one of the people who was involved in a business which brought much money (seller of purple, quite expensive) yet retained her fervent love of the Lord. We know she was successful at this because she had a large enough home to host gatherings and hosted a home church. It seems from the few gleanings we can read in scripture, that once Lydia found Jesus, she used her means to further the kingdom instead of having a divided heart or worse, succumbing to the world like Demas did. (2 Timothy 4:10). She was in the world, but not of the world.

The boat is supposed to be in the water, but the water isn’t supposed to be in the boat. ~Alistair Begg

Ananias and Sapphira became entangled in the world system of the love of money, briefly but eternally. In their real estate transaction, they succumbed to the lure of the lucre and kept back some for themselves, even though they had promised God to give it all to Him. God doesn’t require all, but their broken promise meant that they were like Mrs Lot, looking back and not putting Him first. They were hypocrites. (1 Tim 6:10).

The love of money and Christianity do not mix. The love of money and false religion are a perfect match. For the non-Christian, false religion can bring in big bucks, incredible bucks. False religion is a blockbusting money-maker. Let’s look at a few instances of this from the bible.

19But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” Acts 16:16-20).

First, the most literal and obvious part of the verse is that the slave owners were raking in the money by farming out this girl in fortune telling. Just as fortune-telling is lucrative now, it was then. Why does fortune telling make so much money? It plays into the emptiness of the world system and of the individual heart. People have eternity in their hearts, (Ecc 3:11) know God exists, (Romans 1:19), have a conscience (Romans 2:15) and yet suppress all that and go seek temporal to fill the vacuum things anyway. False religion is only too happy to oblige.

“Anyone that has a deep longing for true happiness is unsatisfied with any material thing, things which cannot quiet the heart.” John MacArthur

Secondly, the false religionists do not care about you. I repeat, they do not care about you. They don’t care about your well-being, your spiritual growth, your emotions, your self-esteem, or your happiness. At all. The slave owner knew their girl was possessed. How horrible to be possessed! Yet do the false religionists care about her as a person? No. They wee only angry their money-making enterprise was destroyed.

Third, false religionists are liars. They said among themselves that they were angry their hope of gain was gone. But do they say that when they go to court? No. They lie and they present a false front of caring for “the city” and its laws.

Let’s look at another instance which shows the incredible money-making potential of the false religions.

Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. (Acts 19:18-19)

This occurred in Ephesus.

Acts 19:19, Ephesian Book Burning. Artist unknown

The total of the books burned from just this one segment of the population of the city, not even the whole of the city, toted up to 50,000 pieces of silver! This is a staggering amount of money. Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver. According to Thucydides, a drachma or silver piece was approximately a day’s pay for a skilled laborer. So 30 pieces of silver would be comparable to 120 day’s wages. The people in Ephesus spent roughly 200,000 day’s wages on false religion materials!

Fifty thousand pieces of silver is a monumental amount of money to be investing in false religion materials! People are financially supported by false religion to a degree that not only is seen then, but is seen now. The false religionists deeply care about their money, very deeply. Remember, the love of money is the root of all evil.

One more. Also from Acts 19 verses 24-25,

About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. (Acts 19:24-25)

Once again, we see that their first concern is that they have obtained wealth. In the Greek it’s “Our prosperity depends upon this business.” Their first thought is always money.

Second, notice that the verse mentions with the workmen in similar trades. In Greek it’s ‘of similar kind.’ There are the idol makers like Demetrius, shrine makers, amulet makers, magic arts bookbinders and scribes, potion purveyors…the list goes on. If you walked into any Christian bookstore looking for a bible, think of all the OTHER stuff that goes along with it. Bible covers, bookmarks, highlighters, CDs, etc. In any religion there is always the main stuff to buy and then all the extra stuff to buy. False religion was a huge business in Ephesus.

Third, if you read in the next few verses, Demetrius said that these men from The Way are putting a dent in our pocketbooks, and plus, oh yeah, they are besmirching the name of Artemis. Since their first thought is always gain, the caring about Artemis is secondary and a cover. We know it’s a cover because of the example above. The aggrieved slave girl owners first stated they lost a lot of money but when they went to the court, they put on a show of mourning over the upset city inhabitants and the civil law. The Artemis lovers cared first about their money and secondarily about the goddess- only then as a means to an end. The end being their pocketbook.

Fourth, after Demetrius did his damage, the city was riled up. The rabble eventually made their way to the amphitheater, but get this,

Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. (Acts 19:32).

They didn’t know why they were mad or against who! They didn’t even know why they were there! They were truly a rabid dog, mindless crowd, not caring one bit about Artemis until they were told to. (Acts 19:33-34).

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:10)

One note before I close. There is nothing wrong with being rich. Sometimes God blesses us with means so that we can further His kingdom like He did with Abraham, Job, Solomon, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Lydia.

However, the love of wealth is:

tempting (1 Tim 6:9)
a snare (1 Tim 6:10)
deceitful (Matthew 13:22)
ruinous to households (Proverbs 15:27)
disqualifying men for leadership (1 Timothy 3:3)
unrighteous (Luke 16:22)
A false god (Matthew 6:24- Mammon!)

If money is the root of all kinds of evil, then money and false religion are made for each other because false religion is a high evil and money will be the root of it.

The lesson is, never underestimate the tentacles of money in false religion’s purveyors and how committed to money they are to it, how sneaky they are to maintain it, and the depths they will descend to in order to keep it.

Make your decisions wisely, don’t get caught in a money trap. Heed the many admonitions in the Bible. Loving money too much will cause you to make unrighteous decisions, as it did for Ananias and Sapphira. As for those who purvey a false version of Christianity, they do not love you. They do not care for you. They put on a false front, a big ole Texas smile, sisterly jokes about big hair, intimate confessions of past trauma, but at the root of it, all they want is money.

Smaug the dragon protecting his treasure in The Hobbit movie. LOTR wiki.

But for us,

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; (Matthew 6:19-20)

And where the most precious treasure of all abides: Jesus

discernment, doctrine, false prophets, false teachers, love

Should we love false teachers?

Posted on June 12, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

It’s always nice to talk about love and tolerance. We know that God loved the world. He loves His Son. We are told to love each other, that is how they will know us (John 13:35). But sometimes love is not appropriate or warranted. Do I mean this, really? Well, we know we are supposed to hate sin. We know there are six things, no, seven, that the Lord hates. (Proverbs 6:16-19). We hate sin so much we’re supposed to kill the old man in us. (Colossians 3:5). We don’t endlessly give the Gospel to those who hurl it back, those hurlers are called swine. So when it comes to love, we know we don’t ‘love’ everyone or everything, at least not according to the romantic or secular definition of love. So here is the question: are we supposed to love false teachers?

At The Berean Call, the question is posed:

To the world it might appear that all is well in the Christian realm. Much-beloved speakers hold forth from the pulpits of some of the largest churches in the world. Believers and nonbelievers alike buy their books, avail themselves of their programs, and utilize their methodologies. One might come to the conclusion that Peter must not have been referring to the church in our day regarding false teachers. Tolerance is the word of the day. We hear admonitions on a regular basis to “just get along” with those of opposing faiths. “Love” reigns supreme.

But what is this “love” of which they speak? What about those who identify a false gospel or a false teacher among some of the popular speakers these days? Does this “love” still apply to those who expose the ones who are actually deceivers among the flock?

A dear sister in the faith posed the question to me. To love those who are deluded and cannot understand the Word and care for them and not be critical. I thought about it for a long time, because I love poorly and I’m always appealing to the Lord to teach me love better.

So I began to think hard, should we love false teachers? Are they to be pitied? I decided, no. Though I value the opinions offered and they DO make me think, I don’t necessarily always agree. I’d like to offer an alternate view about how far not to go in pursuing love, and to offer a different perspective of what love actually is.

If we read Jeremiah 14:16, there is not even a hapless non-believer who accidentally can’t understand God’s truth and accidentally follows false prophets because they don’t know better. They DO know better. God said He will pour out their evil upon them because they knew better but followed false prophets anyway. 2 Timothy 4:3 also puts the blame on those who choose to follow false teachers because they wanted their ears tickled, so they went out and accumulated for themselves false teachers who told them what they wanted to hear.

But back to the false teachers themselves. I reserve my highest caring in this situation- for Jesus. We do care for the state of our neighbor’s souls, and we do care for brethren, but in all this let us not forget caring about Jesus.

I care about His name and what people do in His name. The harshest criticism in the Bible from everyone, (Jesus, Paul, Peter, John the Baptist, John, James, Jude, etc) was aimed at those who pervert God’s word. It is not a situation where we say “poor, poor false teachers. Let’s understand them and open our hearts to them and care.” I do hope they are saved someday, but beyond that they get no caring from me. I am highly CRITICAL of them in righteous indignation. Here is why-

The Bible tells us they do it on purpose. They disguise themselves- that isn’t an accident. (2 Cor 1:13). They do it for greed. (1 Timothy 6:5). They do it to put us in bondage again. (Gal 2:4). They do it because they hate Jesus and love themselves. (1 Tim 6:4). They do it because they enjoy lying. (2 Peter 2:1).

These false teachers are already cursed and destined for hell. In the essay “The Pathology of False Teachers” we read,

Unfortunately, their prognosis is not hopeful. Their spiritual condition is terminal. Those who are deprived of the truth are headed for judgment. Hebrews 6:6 solemnly warns of such men that “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame.” Peter says that they bring “swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Peter 2:1). The severest hell will be reserved for those who, having been exposed to the truth, turned away from it (cf. Hebrews 10:26–31).

The goal of the false teacher is not to create an environment of love, but to feed his ego and fill his pockets.
~John MacArthur
You notice they don’t pervert Buddha’s words. They don’t pervert Allah’s words. They don’t pervert Shiva’s words. They choose to pervert Jesus’ swords for gain, for fame, for an audience, and all the other reasons. I am critical of that because I care about Jesus.

The Berean Call again:

Every epistle in the New Testament was written to correct error in the church. Did Paul, Peter, James, John, and Jude not understand that to correct those who were in error was in truth a failure to love them? Did they believe that it was none of their business to bring correction to the false teaching? Do we consider them divisive for confronting error and holding fast to the truth? No! They boldly addressed the error and at times even named the offenders.

No, I do not love false teachers. I do not care about false teachers. I care about Jesus. I love His followers. Tim Challies said in his essay 7 Marks of a False Teacher,

False teachers are concerned with your goods, not your good; they want to serve themselves more than save the lost; they are content for Satan to have your soul as long as they can have your stuff.

Jesus called false teachers broods of vipers and hypocrites. (Mt 23:33)
So did John the Baptist in Mt 3:7
Paul said they were cursed. Twice in 2 sentences. (Gal 1:8,9)
Paul said their talk is gangrenous. (2 Tim 2:17)
Jesus called them ravenous wolves (Mt 7:15)
John called them deceivers (2 John 1:7)
Jude calls them ungodly perverters (Jude 1:4)
Peter called them depraved, disobedient, and destined for hell (1 Peter 2:8, 2 Peter 2:1,2)
John called them antichrists (1 John 2:22)
Never mind the harsh language from God in the OT against false prophets.

So. Were they wrong not to “love” the false teachers?

Indeed, we are told repeatedly we are to mark them, avoid them, not listen to them, close the hospitable door on them, put them out, warn them, keep away from them, give them to satan, but nowhere does it say to love them, care for them, or pity them.

Indeed, John advises the elder lady and her children not to even allow false teachers into their house NOR give them a greeting! If we do, God considers that we are participating in their evil deeds. (2 John 1:10). The John MacArthur Commentary on 2 John 1:10 says this-

Irenaeus relates that the church father Polycarp, when asked by the notorious heretic Marcion, “Do you know me?” replied, “I do know you, the firstborn of satan.” (Against Heresies, 3.3.4)

John himself once encountered Cerinthus (another notorious heretic) in a public bathhouse in Ephesus. Instead of greeting him, however, John turned and fled, exclaiming to those with him, “Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of truth, is within.” (Against Heresies, 3.3.4)

Charein, (greeting) means ‘Rejoice’ It was a common Christian greeting, conveying the joy believers had in one another’s presence. But it is an affirmation of solidarity that is totally inappropriate for false teachers, who have no part in the truth of genuine Christian fellowship.Such emissaries of satan must be exposed and shunned, not affirmed and welcomed.

False teachers like to decry such treatment as harsh, intolerant, or unloving. But love forbids dangerous spiritual deception to gain a foothold among Christians. John’s pastoral admonition is perfectly consistent with Jesus’ denunciation of false teachers as ravenous wolves, thieves and robbers, whose only purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. The church cannot aid or abet such spiritual outlaws by doing anything that would acknowledge them as Christians. The one who does so, even by doing something as seemingly innocuous as greeting them, participates in their evil deeds by helping them to further their deception.

I reserve all my criticism, judgment, and righteous indignation for the false teachers, and all my love for Jesus the Man-God, His people, and His revealed word. During the few times I’ve had opportunity to engage directly with a few of the false teachers I’ve written about, I hope I was lovingly showing them the error of their ways. THAT also is love, though the world doesn’t call it love. Love is to admonish and correct so hopefully they do not persist in their tragic path, or worse, taking others with them.

Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)

Source

Here are two resources on the subject:

How to Treat False Teachers

The Danger Facing the Church
Love also comes out of sincere faith, not the hypocritical faith manifested by false teachers. Faith that has no pretense creates love. A false teacher has a dirty heart because it’s never been cleansed by the true gospel of faith in Christ. A false teacher has a guilty conscience because his impure heart triggers it. But his conscience may have reached the point where it’s so scarred that it’s lost its sensitivity. And a false teacher has hypocritical faith. He’s a phony–he wears a mask. That kind of life will never produce the love of God. The goal of the false teacher is not to create an environment of love, but to feed his ego and fill his pockets.

A Final Warning: Beware of False Teachers

Lesson 107: A Final Warning: Beware of False Teachers! (Romans 16:17-20)
Years ago, a seminary professor told his class at the beginning of the semester that they would work together on one major project during that semester. They would move systematically through the New Testament to categorize every area of truth and determine how many times each area is addressed. Their goal was to find what one thing is emphasized more than any other in the New Testament. When they completed the project, they were amazed to see that warning against false doctrine is emphasized more than any other thing, even more than love, unity, and experience (Renald Showers, in “Israel My Glory,” [April/May, 1995], pp. 24-25). I have not verified their conclusion, but they’re probably right. …

J. C. Ryle was a champion for the truth in the Church of England during the 19th century. I’d recommend that you read him. In Warnings to the Churches ([Banner of Truth], p. 110), he wrote about how difficult yet necessary controversy in the church is. Then he added, “But there is one thing which is even worse than controversy, and that is false doctrine tolerated, allowed, and permitted without protest or molestation.” After acknowledging that many would view what he writes as exceedingly distasteful, he states (p. 111), “Three things there are which men never ought to trifle with—a little poison, a little false doctrine, and a little sin.”

discernment, false teachers, jim jones, wolves

Chewing up the meat and spitting out the bones- is that biblical?

Posted on May 9, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

In the Discernment department, I hear people frequently say they realize that so and so teaches some things that are bad, but some things they teach are good, so they will just take the good and throw out the bad. They call this method of learning the word of God “Chewing up the meat and spitting out the bones.” But is this how teachers should be followed or how scripture should be learned? No.

In Matthew 7:15 we read,

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

It’s a scripture we are familiar with, maybe too overly familiar. Let’s dig down into it again with a fresh eye.

Matthew 7 is the third of three chapters that comprise the Sermon on the Mount, arguably the most important sermon in the entire bible. Jesus is warning, exhorting, and teaching. By Chapter 7, He focuses on judgment/wrath, the broad and narrow road, and judging/discernment. Jesus spends a good deal of time teaching about judging wisely with good discernment. It is here in verse 7 He mentions false prophets.

He opens with the word “Beware.” When a command like this appears, we perk up to an even greater degree than usual. It’s like the word “woe”, indicating the need for special attention to what is being said.

The word “beware” refers to our Lord telling us specifically to be wary of a false prophet. He says they will be numerous and they will be hard to spot. But what is particularly dangerous about false prophets of which we should be aware?

So “Beware” it says – now, that word alone ought to let you know they’re dangerous. “Beware.” Literally, in the Greek it means, hold your mind back from. Don’t ever expose your mind to the influence of a false prophet. Don’t pay attention to, give heed to, follow, notice, devote yourself, don’t even put your mind in his vicinity. They’re dangerous, they pervert the mind, they poison the soul. (source)

People’s Temple cult leader Jim Jones

Beware means warning, danger! It tells us that extreme caution is to be employed. The action we
should be taking is not to give any quarter to any part of a false teacher’s teachings. To “hold your mind back from” … that is an interesting phrase. We know the scriptures transform us by the renewing of our mind. The mind is the first battlefield. Not the heart. See the scripture in Romans, it dovetails nicely with Matthew 7:15

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

It once again illustrates that there is a severe dichotomy. Either/or. You are either being conformed to the world, OR you are being transformed by the renewal of the mind. There is no chewing meat AND bones and then spitting out bones. Your mind will either be conformed or not. It will be transformed or not. False teaching will poison your mind or not.

And secondly, the verse says we should seek that which is good. We should seek that which is acceptable. We should seek that which is perfect.

The Matthew 7:15 warning and the Romans verse say nothing about ingesting poison just so we can get to some nugget we believe is good. It says nothing about allowing poison into our mind just so we can strain out what we deem as bad. We in our pride think we can chew meat and spit bones even though we are told to seek what is good and acceptable and perfect by the One who is Good and Acceptable and Perfect? We are not to seek what is imperfect and full of bones! We are then choosing not to be careful. This is setting ourselves to be smarter than Jesus! WE are too smart for Jesus? Let it not be so!

You see, we see the results of what they [false teachers] do in 2 Peter 2:2, “Many people follow their pernicious ways.” (source)

Many will follow the false prophets. Do we think we are so strong that we will not be one of the many? Do we think we are so strong that we will be able to ingest poison and spit it out before it affects us?
The subtly of that false prophet can even singe your garment. MacArthur

The second reason, after pride, not to follow false prophets altogether and avoid chewing on meat to spit on bones, is destruction.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

If we believe we can withstand all the warnings about false prophets, be able to detect to the smallest degree what is good and acceptable and perfect in their teachings, and to in effect be smarter than Jesus and ignore His warnings, then we are proud. And pride sets us up for falling into destruction.

In Maine where I lived for many years, there are sea urchins in the intertidal zone. These marine animals have spikes. If you step on them, they hurt. Some are poisonous. What people say who claim they can “chew the meat” of a false teacher’s teachings, and “spit out the bones” is that they have confidence in walking on kelp-covered, slick rocks in bare feet with tide and current pushing them off, and be able to perfectly balance and make progress without slipping and stepping on one of the spines. Or swallowing a bone. Pride. No, eventually they will slip in due time and they will step on a spike and they will be destroyed by the poison the urchin holds for them.

A third and most important consideration is this: if a teacher has shown themselves false by their fruit, and by God-given discernment you’ve realized this, then nothing they offer will be meat. It may look like meat, just as their garment may look like a sheep’s. But that “meat” the prideful ones claim they can chew happily will have worms, e coli, and ground glass in it. For nothing a false teacher has to say is healthy. Nothing. It might sound good…you might think it is helpful, but it is not.

A false prophet has neither a divine commission nor a divine message. He neither speaks for God or from God. He stands in his own authority speaking his own message, and it is utterly false. (source)

Utterly. False.

In the above linked source, the example is given about the horrific and tragic events in 1978 in Jonestown Guyana, where 908 people drank cyanide-laced Kool-Aid and died in the jungle. These people had followed Jim Jones into his cult. Jones, that false teacher, brought them in a long slow descent from Christianity to Jones personally claiming to be Jesus, and when he said so, killed themselves.

There was a man named Tim Stoen. As John MacArthur described,

Here was this fellow attending the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley and at People’s Temple at the same time. Raised in a G.A.R.B. background – a Fundamentalist, Bible-believing, Christ-honoring people – but exposing his mind to that instead of holding back his mind.

Jonestown, Guyana, Nov. 1978.
This mass suicide (304 were children) resulted in the greatest single loss of American
civilian life in a deliberate act until the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001

Tim Stoen was married with a son, and the Stoens followed Jones from California to Guyana to the compound Jones had created. Eventually Grace Stoen left the cult and her husband, she defected. She battled for her son from the States. Tim left the cult year later. They battled for their son, hard, but the suicides occurred before they could get him out of the cult. John’s 6-year-old body was discovered in Jones’ cabin when the story broke.

Tim Stoen started out well. He had a large ministry in his church, he was regarded as an elder, was seen as mature and solid. However when Jones came to popularity, Stoen divided his mind. He ingested some bones with his meat. The bones will get you every time.

Stoen sadly discovered the hard way what happens when you do not hold your mind back from false teachers. He lost his marriage, his wife, and his son- all destroyed. He lost many years of valuable time he could have been working for the Lord- destroyed. He’d aided and abetted this cult leader in deceiving many- they were destroyed. Aside from the children, when the adults woke up, they were in hell.

False teaching destroys. Do not be so prideful that you think you can detect meat from bones, or even more foolishly believe that any part of a false teacher’s food is healthy for the body. It isn’t. Beware.

discernment, false teachers

Marks of False Teachers, a discerment lesson

Posted on March 19, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Scripture gives us many warnings about false teachers. False teachers of any era (and they have existed since the beginning) all have the same markers. They can be identified. And, they should be identified.

They bring hate for Christ, destruction of the sheep, pollution of the church, and grieving of the Spirit. They need to be marked and avoided, and warned about. (Romans 16:17).

Tim Challies published a list of 7 Marks of a False Teacher, and the Gospel Coalition published 7 Traits of False Teachers.

I intend to quote various markers from one or the other of the lists, and then quote a false teacher exhibiting that exact marker. I intend to name the false teacher.

The Gospel Coalition’s piece begins this way:

How would you recognize counterfeit Christianity? In 2 Peter 1 we read about genuine believers. And in 2 Peter 2 we read about counterfeit believers. If you put these chapters side by side you will see the difference between authentic and counterfeit believers.

Different Source—Where does the message come from? Peter says, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:16). And then he says the false teachers exploit you “with stories they have made up” (2:3). So the true teacher sources what he says from the Bible. The false teacher relies on his own creativity. He makes up his own message.

Challies says,

“False teachers teach their own wisdom and vision.”

We have a prime example of this trait, or mark. Beth Moore often departs from the bible, she sometimes unfortunately doesn’t even get there at all. In this quote from a video that is now taken down, Moore teaches the entire segment from a vision she claimed “Jesus” gave her. As The Gospel Coalition said, ‘the false teacher relies on her own creativity.’

I see God doing something huge in the body of Christ. I do not know why I have had the privilege to get to travel around and see one church after another, one group of believers after another, interdenominationally all over this country but I have gotten to see something that I think is huge. And I’ll also suggest to you that I am not the only one. And tonight I am gonna do my absolute best to illustrate to you something that God showed me sitting out on the back porch. He put a picture I’ve explained to you before I’m a very visual person. So he speaks to me very often in putting a picture in my head and it was as if I was raised up, looking down on a community as I saw the church in that particular dimension. Certainly not all dimensions, not even many, but in what we will discuss tonight the church as Jesus sees it in a particular dimension.” Beth Moore

False teacher Beth Moore had swapped scripture for a picture from her own mind. Moore then taught from that picture. In the video from which the quote was taken, now taken down, Moore went on to teach that ‘Jesus’ taught her that Catholics are part of the Christian church. She taught that the Catholics were part of Christianity by being just another denomination on a par with Methodist or Baptist. Since the Catholic Church is not a Christian religion nor a denomination, we know for a fact that whoever ‘showed Moore that picture sitting out on the back porch,’ it was NOT God. Worse, by teaching that Catholics are part of Christianity, they therefore need no evangelizing.

In this second trait of false teachers, The Gospel Coalition (TGC) writes,

Different Message—What is the substance of the message?
For the true teacher, Jesus Christ is central. “We have everything we need for life and godliness in Him” (1:3). For the false teacher, Jesus is at the margins: “They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them” (2:1).
Notice the word secretly. It’s rare for someone in church to openly deny Jesus. Movement away from the centrality of Christ is subtle. The false teacher will speak about how other people can help change your life, but if you listen carefully to what he is saying, you will see that Jesus Christ is not essential to his message.

It’s very difficult to notice the absence of something, even the absence of Jesus. False teachers speak flatteringly, smoothly, sincerely, even passionately. But over time, you’ll notice a false teacher’s lessons are absent that very present teaching about Jesus. Joel Osteen rarely speaks of Jesus at all. He exemplifies the trait.

In the quote below, false teacher Billy Graham exemplifies the trait also, by his teaching the following from an interview with Richard Schuller in 1997. Graham has always believed this, having written about it in 1960 in his Decision Magazine. Here, he responds to a question about the future of Christianity and how people come to be saved.

Well, Christianity and being a true believer–you know, I think there’s the Body of Christ. This comes from all the Christian groups around the world, outside the Christian groups. I think everybody that loves Christ, or knows Christ, whether they’re conscious of it or not, they’re members of the Body of Christ. And I don’t think that we’re going to see a great sweeping revival, that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time. I think James answered that, the Apostle James in the first council in Jerusalem, when he said that God’s purpose for this age is to call out a people for His name. And that’s what God is doing today, He’s calling people out of the world for His name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ because they’ve been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don’t have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think that they are saved, and that they’re going to be with us in heaven.

Schuller: What, what I hear you saying that it’s possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts and soul and life, even if they’ve been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you’re saying?

Graham: Yes, it is, because I believe that. I’ve met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations, that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, and never heard of Jesus, but they’ve believed in their hearts that there was a God, and they’ve tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived.

Challies gives us another mark:

False teachers save their harshest criticism for God’s most faithful servants. False teachers criticize those who teach the truth, and save their sharpest criticism for those who hold most steadfastly to what is true.

Beth Moore says that the brethren who challenge her false vision of a phony unity are bullies, mean spirited, scoffers, a threat, and demoralizing. How charming to call the people standing on the same blood-soaked ground as she claims to stand on, are mean and bullies because they differ from her view. This quote from Moore perfectly exemplifies the trait of a false teacher.

Challies’ seventh trait of false teachers is False teachers exploit their followers.

Peter would warn of this danger, saying: “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. … And in their greed they will exploit you with false words” (1 Peter 2:1-3). The false teachers exploit those who follow them because they are greedy and desire the riches of this world.

There are so many examples of this, both subtle and unsubtle. Here is one that is unsubtle but occurred a few days ago.

Televangelist asks his congregation for $65M to buy a jet

Televangelist Creflo Dollar asked his congregation to donate $300 each to raise money for a $65M luxury jet. The website was taken down after online criticism but the World Changers Church International is still accepting donations

In the way that things on the internet may go away but never die, an enterprising person has grabbed the video and uploaded it independently of Dollar’s church website. You can see the video where Dollar is pleading for cash to buy his jet at the link above or below. The enterprising person’s youtube channel is Andy Moore and he says, “## NOTE: I have posted this video to show just how deplorable and exploitative Creflo Dollar and his organization are. This is NOT an endorsement. ##”

I hope you can find the time to go to both the Gospel Coalition’s piece and Challies’ article on false teachers. Also, here is Jeff Grapnell’s piece at Entreating Favor’s site to read Five Marks of a False Convert

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Study Guide: How to Treat False Teachers

When Wolves lead the Flock, part 1 of a series

Speaking out against False Teachers

BibleGateway: Exposing False Teachers

discernment, false teachers, joel osteen

What Joyce Meyer believes & teaches, what Joel Osteen believes & teaches

Posted on February 2, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

On Twitter, A Call for Discernment ‏( @call4discern) posted a few pictorial cheat sheets on what several of the false teachers believes and teaches. I asked permission to post two of them here, What Joyce Meyer believes and teacher,s and what Joel Osteen believes and teaches.

A Call for Discernment’s bio blurb states that it “calls for Believers to stand and contend for the Faith. Our ministry is to expose the wolves that have infiltrated the flock.”

Click to enlarge

A Call 4 Discernment posted; “The teachings of Joel Osteen compared to Scripture. #falseteachers pic.twitter.com/Cp7AHlSzL9”. Click to enlarge

Note: the falseteachers.org website at the bottom of Joyce Meyers photo is a redirect to a church in Orlando FL.

discernment, false doctrine, false teachers, S. Lewis Johnson

How should we treat false teachers? S. Lewis Johnson answers

Posted on January 13, 2015 by elizabethprata

Short answer:

Love them by —

–Rebuking them sharply
–Muzzling them
–Saying “To hell with you and your money”

This is biblical. Listen to this 13 minute exposition by the wonderful S. Lewis Johnson.

discernment, false doctrine, false teachers

"But you can’t know that [false teacher’s] heart! You can’t ascribe motivations!" Yes. Yes we can.

Posted on January 11, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

One of the common accusations from defenders of false teachers lodged against Christians who make the claim, is that no one can know their heart. That no one can know their motives. They say therefore it is not fair to make such claims. Only God can judge.

Once you know how to spot them, the fakes are easy to see.

That’s a synopsis of their argument, an increasingly frequent one. But is it true? Let’s look at the Bible.

First, in order to make a determination whether a teacher is teaching according to the bible or is straying from Christ’s doctrines, we test them. (1 John 4:1). We test what they teach against the bible- no matter who they are! (Acts 17:11). If they preach a different Jesus, (1 Timothy 1:3-4; 2 Corinthians 11:4) fail to affirm His word, deny what the bible says (or that God said it), bear no fruit, or has a life that is below reproach, among other identifiers, they are false. They must accurately teach the full counsel of God through a life that stands up to scrutiny.

Once you’ve tested a teacher and they have fallen short, you know that they’re false. Now we can look at bible verses about false teachers to learn more about what motivates them and how they operate.

Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— Galatians 2:4 (cf. 2 Peter 2:1).

Their motivation is jealousy.
Their purpose is destruction of the true brethren.
Their method is by adding works.

[The above in context were the Judaizers preaching works, circumcision].

And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:3)

Their motivation is greed.
Their purpose is exploitation.
Their method is oratory.

Trivia: the Greek word for the term “false” above is from a root of plastós – which is the root of the English term, “plastic”

Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. (Romans 16:17-18)

Their motivation is their own appetites.
Their purpose is personal satisfaction.
Their method is flattery.

Conclusion:

Once a person has been deemed a false teacher, we DO know their heart. We DO know their motivations. The bible states them, not just in those three verses, but in many others too. A false teacher’s motivations and heart are evil and at enmity against God. They do not seek to glorify God and worship Jesus in His authority (they hate authority) but they seek to–

Blight Jesus’ name
Destroy you
Satisfy themselves
Get money

FMI on false teachers, these New Testament books were written to educate us as to the false teachers’ methods: Please read Galatians, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, and Jude

False teachers and their plastic words … one after another. Beware.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

People who believe false teachers will be judged, too.

Posted on December 26, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Jeremiah is told by God to prophesy against the false prophets. God said He did not send them in His name nor did He give them any message. They are prophesying deceit from their own mind, God said. (Jeremiah 14:14).

However, God also told Jeremiah to prophesy against the people to whom the false prophets were preaching.

And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them. (Jeremiah 14:16)

Why would God be so hard on the people? Aren’t they just helpless victims of lying religious preachers? No. According to that verse, listeners to and followers of false teachers are doing evil.

TWISTED SCRIPTURE. Jeremiah 14:14

Throughout the ages, self-proclaimed prophets such as Joseph Smith, Jeanne Dixon, and Edgar Cayce have claimed to speak for God. Jeremiah, an authorized ambassador of God, identified false prophets as “prophesying … a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit of their own minds” which is “spoken … presumptuously” (Dt 18:22).

The people were to be punished because they listened to the false prophets. It was their responsibility to test the prophets (Dt 18:21–22), not just to accept whatever they said without question, but they failed to do so. They may have known that what the prophets said was not in line with God’s will, but because they liked what they heard, they condoned it (Jer 5:31; 23:16; 29:8; 2 Co 11:4; 2 Tim 4:3). We are also obligated to test the messages we hear and reject those who preach a false message in God’s name (Acts 17:11; Gl 1:6–9; 1 Jn 4:1). See notes on Lam 1:5; 2:14.

Cabal, T., Brand, C. O., Clendenen, E. R., Copan, P., Moreland, J. P., & Powell, D. (2007). The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith (p. 1110). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Sisters, be aware of who you allow into your home, heart, and mind. Reading that certain book, or listening a certain teacher, or attending so-and-so conference, can be deadly to you.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)