2 Peter 2:1-3

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

Simply speaking, there are false teachers among us today.  Some hold high positions within the organized church and many are independent “prophets”.  So what do we do?

If we cannot reasonably and peacefully persuade them of the truth in God’s Word we have alternatives.

First, we pray.  Prayer can and does change things.  Before we can confront these false teachings, we must first know the truth ourselves.  That is why it is so important that we always search the scriptures as we listen to Bible teachers.

Acts 17:10-11 – Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

We can then go to our church leaders and express our concerns.

False teaching must never contradict the Word of God.  A false teacher is not someone who has a different or opposing opinion than yourself.  False teachers are those who deny the cardinal beliefs of the Word.  The basic ones are:

• The infallible truth of the Word
• The virgin birth
• The forgiveness of sin by way of repentance as a result of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In any attempt to counteract the false teacher you must not be the one who argues or attempts to bring judgment on them.  God will do that.

A true teacher will live a life of excellent morality, self-control, godliness, brotherly kindness and selfless love.  The life of a teacher must always back up the teaching of the Word.

Many times the false teacher meets his/her doom because they fall into some sort of immortality or greed.

Bottom line, while we should study God’s Word and be aware of the possibility of false teaching, God is in control.  His truth will prevail.

Just remember:  “Beware of half-truths, you may have heard the wrong half”