The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
Years ago bank tellers were trained to recognize counterfeit money by the exclusive handling of real currency. By only knowing the feel of cash that is truly minted by the government, the counterfeit would be readily recognized because of the foreign feel of it – subtle differentiations in fabric, ink, and texture. In the same way, Christians need to know the real currency of the Word of God in order to recognize religious counterfeits and falsehood.
The writers of the Bible describe it in terms of eternal spiritual nourishment: “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away. But the Word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you. Wherefore lay aside all malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. As newborn babies, desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby in salvation, if you have indeed tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Pet. 1:24-2:3).
In 2 Timothy 2:15-17a we are called to study the Bible thoroughly in order to know the Truth of Scripture and avoid ungodliness, a synonym in this case for counterfeited spiritual concepts: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings for they will increase unto more ungodliness and their talk will spread like gangrene.”
God has promised He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5) and that our Salvation is eternal (1 John 5:13). But He also gave us numerous passages in Scripture that warn of false prophets and teachers whose intent is to deceive and seduce God’s people away from their spiritual birthright of hope in Salvation:
- Matthew 7:15-16a – “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16. Ye shall know them by their fruits.”
- Matthew 24:11 – “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”
- Matthew 24:23-24 and Mark 13:21-22 – “Then if any man shall say unto you, ‘Lo, here is Christ, or there,’ believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, who shall show great signs and wonders insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
- Luke 6:26 – “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets.”
Besides the test of spiritual fruit in Matthew 7:16, the Bible also gives us the message test in 1 John 4:1-3a: “Beloved, believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.” The test of a spirit, or of a false prophet, is in their message. But how will you know the message does not line up entirely with Scripture if you do not know Scripture or the Gospel? There are many religious groups that include the man named Jesus in their doctrine, but it may not be the same Jesus or the same gospel as the Bible teaches. Outside of Evangelical Christianity, few religions teach Jesus as the Savior who was resurrected from the dead.
Among the gifts of the Holy Spirit is that of discerning of spirits. Although misunderstood and discounted by many, it is an important gift for the protection of the Church. 1 Corinthians 12:10 includes this gift in the list of “…the manifestation of the Spirit [that] is given to every man to profit withal” (1 Corinthians 12:7). All of the gifts listed in Scripture encompass activities that all Christians are exhorted to exercise in some way so that Jesus’ admonition to be watchful for false prophesy and teaching is for all Christians. However, just as those who demonstrate particular giftedness in any gift of the Holy Spirit, those with the gift of discerning of spirits are uniquely gifted to both recognize and act in powerful ways with spiritual warfare issues, including false prophets and teachers, particularly within the Church.
What we know of God is written in the Bible. When we first accepted Jesus as Savior, we began a lifelong journey of learning to understand what that means in our lives. Human experience and experiment is changeable, unpredictable, and untrustworthy at best, and cannot tell us about God. Only God can reveal who He is, and He does that primarily through Scripture. Know Scripture well and you are on your way to know God well and to recognize counterfeits.
