“They prove the truth of this proverb: ‘A dog returns to its vomit.’ And another says, ‘A washed pig returns to the mud'” (2 Peter 2:22 NLT).
We continue with a short list of strategies that can help us recognize and guard against the risks presented by false teachers. For example…
The “Jesus” proclaimed by some religious organizations may vary from the Jesus we find in the Bible.
Some groups that self-identify as “Christian” believe that Jesus was merely “a” God. But Jesus isn’t simply a god; He is the God according to the following Biblical passages…
“Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM'” (John 8:58 [compare with Exodus 3:14]).
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
“looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
“Thomas answered and said to [Jesus], ‘My Lord and my God!'” (John 20:28).
False teachers often have an unbiblical concept of the Deity.
For example, the Scriptures tell us that there is one God (1 Timothy 2:5). This God has always existed and has always been God (Habakkuk 1:12, Isaiah 44:6). God can never make a mistake and never changes (Psalm 18:30, Malachi 3:6). The God of the Scriptures is a God of love (1 John 4:8) who is holy in all His ways. In other words, God is morally perfect and completely separate from anything that may be dirty or impure (Isaiah 5:16).
God is all-knowing and all-powerful (Psalm 147:5, Deuteronomy 32:39). He is good, merciful, and righteous in His judgments (Psalm 100:5, Psalm 103:8, Psalm 96:13). The God of the Scriptures has no equal anywhere (Isaiah 46:9). Teachings or beliefs that do not align with these characteristics are inconsistent with the Biblical definition of God.
Jesus warned us of the need to guard against false and misleading teachers.
Consider the following portion of Jesus’ message from His Olivet Discourse: “Jesus began to say to them, ‘Watch out that no one misleads you. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will mislead many'” (Mark 13:5-6 NET). This brief but powerful message serves to remind us of our need to take responsibility in measuring the ideas and beliefs we encounter against the teachings of the Scriptures to verify their truthfulness and accuracy.
This holds true even if someone assigns the label “Christian” to those beliefs, for “Many will come in [appropriating to themselves] the name [of Messiah] which belongs to Me [basing their claims on the use of My name], saying, I am [He]! And they will mislead many” (AMP).