”But there were also lying prophets among the people then, just as there will be lying religious teachers among you. They’ll smuggle in destructive divisions, pitting you against each other—biting the hand of the One who gave them a chance to have their lives back! They’ve put themselves on a fast downhill slide to destruction, but not before they recruit a crowd of mixed-up followers who can’t tell right from wrong. They give the way of truth a bad name. They’re only out for themselves. They’ll say anything, anything, that sounds good to exploit you. They won’t, of course, get by with it. They’ll come to a bad end, for God has never just stood by and let that kind of thing go on.”
2 Peter 2:2-3 MSG
Lets consider what the Bible says about spotting a counterfeit according to his method and motive.
Good counterfeiters will lay false teaching alongside good teaching in order to confuse their listeners. Their words are like plastic; they are easy to bend.
You can also spot a counterfeiter by his motive, which is to manipulate his people for his own profit or gain. The desperate need in these last days is authentic biblical teaching; God will not spare the false prophet.
The world is full of counterfeits; make sure you have the real thing. There are some counterfeit Christians, but don’t you let that keep you away from Jesus. Jesus is real, salvation is real, and you can be real if you’ll repent of your sin and trust Him.
• How might you prepare to identify false teaching mixed with or alongside good teaching?
• How does the Holy Spirit work to help us identify false teachers? How might you rely on the Holy Spirit when seeking to discern a teacher’s motive?
To understand what is false, we need to know what is real. Set aside time today to read your Bible, so that you may grow in knowledge of the truth.