Beware of False Religious Teachers!
False teachers abound in our day. Countless deceptive teachers existed in Jesus' time period on earth as well and Jesus and His disciples rebuked and exposed them. The goal of this website ministry is mostly to share the "symptoms" or traits to look for in false teachings/ministries, and then this should help build awareness of what to look for in false teachers.
A few of these red flag traits that we need
to be alert to in false ministries include such traits as:
1. The ministry refusing to teach the fullness of Scripture
2. The ministry focusing on "signs and wonders" more than focusing on the truths of God's Word
3. The ministry teaches that salvation amounts to merely saying a "sinner's prayer", or some other quick method. Jesus did not teach that the way of salvation was easy, but instead, He taught that the way was difficult and that only a few would find it. (Matthew 7:14) The Lord Jesus also taught that He alone was the way of salvation and that we must strive to enter through the narrow gate and continue to walk on the narrow road with Him.
The following video gives 7 characteristics of false teachers. These characteristics are taken from 1 Peter chapter 1 which describes TRUE teacher's traits, and from 2 Peter chapter 2 which describe false teacher's traits. I will share a summary of the 7 traits of true and false teachers as follows -
7 General Traits of False Teachers:
1. The true and false teachers operate with different sources - True teachers teach the Word of God while false teachers do not draw exclusively on the Word of God. False teachers may draw from false sources such as the writings of Darwin, or additional literature such as the book of Mormon etc.
2. We need to ask: What is the substance of the message for the true or false teachers? -True teachers will make Jesus Christ central and give him all the glory while false teachers will not.
3. True teachers share that Christians escape the corruptions of the world while false teachers do not focus on this message - True teachers will explain how true saints will escape corruptions caused by evil desires and prideful rebellion through being born-again creations in Christ, while false teachers remain slaves to evil desires and prideful rebellion.
4. True teachers teach about the new character of believers while the false do not - True teachers will explain the new qualities that exist in the life of a born-again believer.
5. True teachers appeal to Scripture while false teachers try to please "itching ears" - If a teacher is more concerned about sharing stories and jokes more than the truth of God then we have to leave those teachings. Also, if a teacher is pointing his/her listeners to appealing to the sinful desires of lustful human nature and saying things like "we can live the LGBT lifestyle and still be saved" or appealing to anti-biblical heresy and saying things like "we can believe in evolution and still be a Christian" then we need to get away from those type of false teachers quickly!
6. We need to ask - What is this teacher's fruit? - True teachers have fruit that is effective and productive in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. False teachers may appear "holy' but do not produce effective teachings that can help change people's lives.
7. What are the teacher's and listener's ultimate outcome? - True teachers get a rich welcome into God's eternal kingdom but the false teachers are led to swift destruction according to 1 Peter chapters 1 and 2.
To listen to the lesson about the 7 traits of true and false teachers in its entirety then please listen to the video below.
We hope that this video is very helpful in building discernment about seven general characteristics of false teachers. It is shared in humility and love out of concern for all men's souls.
How to Identify False Prophets and Teachers
This is a very wise, humble, and simple message about being able to more easily recognize false teachers and false prophets.
Naming some false religious figures by name who are false teachers in the following video.
This ministry feels that it is also important for people to be aware of specific false teachers. We have found this very helpful ministry video that gives the specific names of many false teachers and gives clear reasons for why these ministries are dangerous and should be avoided. We highly recommend that true Christians become familiar with these dangerous ministries and learn about why they are false religious teachers. This way, all such false religious teachers can be avoided in order that people will not be deceived by their teachings.
The following link gives information about various false teachings such as Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Ecumenical Movement etc. that we should learn about and stay away from
Beware of movies and books like "Heaven Is For Real" which are huge money making movies for profit which are NOT founded on Biblical truths!
Keep fighting for God's truth in a world filled with lies!