How to recognize false teachers

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:15-20A way of paraphrasing this can be expressed as: Beware of deceitful religious impostors. You will recognize them for what they truly are by looking closely at the results of their words and actions. Vigilance involves being on guard against all manner of deception to avoid following a false way.The apostle Peter had no shortage of words for the deceivers that were prevalent in his day. What he has laid out in a few verses in his second epistle can provide us an outline of identifiers of false teaching.2 Peter 2:1-3 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.In this passage, the apostle vividly expanded on describing more specifically what some of those fruits of false teachers are that Yeshua mentioned as the method of identifying them.secrecydenying Yeshua as Messiahsensualitygreedexploitation of believersfalse wordsspeaking against the way of truthYeshua declares the end of false teachers or "every tree that does not produce good fruit" as being “cut down and thrown into the fire,” (Matt. 7:19). While they may look good on the surface, they will not survive their worldly aspirations designed only to better themselves. While the context of Yeshua's statement applied to the coming destruction of the corrupt system of his day, in no way does that diminish God's view of those who are promoting falsehood and tradition over the Word of God today.Below are some helpful timestamps of the main points in today's episode:01:30 Biblical admonitions to beware of false teachers and teaching04:48 How to determine falsehood in a teacher06:17 Following the Way of truth10:06 Questions for evaluating teachers today14:27 Confronting false teachers17:07 Loving those who have been led astray19:20 How to interact with falsehood in our culture21:25 SummaryIf you enjoyed this weeks podcast, be sure to visit coreofthebible.org to join the conversation through comments, to see daily blog posts on these topics, and to find free downloadable resources regarding the message of the Bible reduced to its simplest form.Have questions about todays topic, or comments or insights you would like to share? Perhaps you have found this podcast helpful or encouraging. If so, I would love to hear from you and include listener comments in future episodes, so feel free to email me at [email protected] for your interest in listening today! All music in todays episode: Brittle Rille by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rilleLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license MORE INFO:Visit the blog articles and full podcast archive at: coreofthebible.orgEmail questions or comments to Steve at: [email protected] MUSIC:All music in today's episode: "Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rilleLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license