False Teaching, Part 1

Dominic Jackson explores the theme of false teaching, drawing from the biblical text of 1 John 4:1-3. He begins by contextualizing the New Testament's warnings against false teachers, noting that unlike Old Testament warnings about external threats, these were about dangers arising from within the church. Dominic argues that the most dangerous false teachings today are not outright lies but are partial truths, similar to the Gnosticism John was addressing. He analyzes several modern "American gospels," such as the "Doomsday Gospel," the "Evangelical Gospel," and the "Prosperity Gospel," evaluating the truths they contain and the ways they distort or fall short of the complete biblical gospel. Dominic concludes the first part of this two-part sermon by restating the core gospel from the scriptures and encouraging us to reflect on which pseudo-gospels we might be tempted to follow and to re-engage with the biblical accounts of Jesus' life.