Matthew 7:15-20 (False Teaching)

A TREE AND ITS FRUIT - "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."

It has been said that what we feed our minds with will determine our appetite, therefore we are wise to discern what we allow our minds to dwell upon vs. what we should resist. Undoubtedly, we live in a post-modernistic culture where truth is considered "relative" (i.e. there are no absolute truths; truth fluctuates based on personal perception or experience) and the Bible is cast as outdated, irrelevant and judgmental.

For those of us who profess Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, saving faith is grounded in the absolute truth of God's Word contrary to what culture condemns. It is a package deal, yet many self-proclaimed Christians are lukewarm, tepid or even confrontational and apologetic regarding the Bible and some of its teachings.

In other words, it has become "fashionable" for people to profess faith in Jesus but alienate themselves from Scripture either partially or altogether, as well as the community of faith in churches across the world. They simply fail to realize, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1), meaning Jesus and the Bible are one in the same!

Make no mistake, there are mysteries contained in the pages of Scripture that no man can answer because God in His sovereignty chose to reveal what we need to know as opposed to what we may want to know regarding every issue under the sun. That is why faith in Jesus Christ is both the easiest and hardest decision anyone makes in his/her lifetime, because the Gospel seems too good to be true.

It is also true that in His Word, God has explicitly condemned certain behaviors as sinful that our culture boldly contradicts and persecutes Christians for due to its acceptance and prevalence. In this case, God has drawn a line in the sand and we must choose whether we're aligned with His Word or the world's perspective as our moral compass.

Over the course of history, many shepherds have sought to profit from the Gospel for themselves at the expense of the flock. Whether driven by greed, power or acclaim, many false teachers have forced the body of Christ into a defensive posture as their hypocrisy and evil deeds are revealed for all to see at the expense of the church.

Granted, false teachers need to be exposed, held accountable, and removed from any semblance of leadership within the church. However, that does not remove their consequences of action which not only taint or discredit the church's credibility within secular culture, but permeate the body of Christ like cancer and drive a wedge within the fellowship because they have misrepresented God's absolute truth.

It is in these moments we must remember whose authority we submit to when the evil deeds of a few attempt to embitter our hearts and create division within the church.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). At the same time, we must remember to "be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

It is upon this spiritual battleground of the mind where we find ourselves each day, for our culture relentlessly questions the Bible's authority at every turn in order to expose our personal beliefs and reveal where our true allegiance lies.

And if our adversaries reveal any inconsistencies in our theology, they will exhaust all time, energy and resources at their disposal to contradict our beliefs using experiential knowledge and/or post-modernistic thinking as rationale, or simply manipulate Scripture out of context to twist God's Word into a weapon against us for their benefit.

False teaching simply preys upon our insecurities and vulnerabilities to benefit oneself at the expense of God. It robs God of the glory He is due, which is why Jesus passionately rebukes this level of hypocrisy and warns of the dangers attributed to those who would manipulate the Gospel for selfish gain.

The biggest challenge regarding false teaching from our perspective as the body of Christ is knowing how to identify and expose false teaching when we hear it. First, we must realize that Satan will use Scripture itself against us. From the beginning of time, Satan used this strategy in the garden of Eden.

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?" (Genesis 3:1).

By causing Eve to question and doubt God's Word, Satan succeeded in tempting her to eat the fruit God clearly had forbidden. He identified her selfish vulnerabilities and preyed upon those by using God's Word against her. Satan even used the same strategy against Jesus when He was weak from fasting 40 days in the wilderness.

However, Jesus resisted Satan's attack by using "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). "And he (Satan) took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’" And Jesus answered him, "It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’" And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time" (Luke 4:9-13). 

Fast forward to our present day and we can hear similar tempestuous language preached in pulpits all across the world—relative truth intermixed with Scripture in order to cast an illusion of being absolute while conveying a false message contrary to what God's Word truly says.

In other words, pieces of Scripture can be easily taken out of context and used as ammunition for personal gain, all the while sounding perfectly reasonable and loosely supported by Bible verses for those who purpose themselves to lead others astray for their selfish benefit.

To better illustrate tactics false teachers use, we must be willing to identify common themes and strategies within our culture today. Consider universalism as an example. Universalism teaches that all human beings will be saved and spend eternity in heaven regardless of who or what they define as their God or higher power (i.e. all paths lead to heaven). The emotional selling point is that no one will spend eternity in hell. Who wouldn't want that?

To support their claim, false teachers could easily use 2 Peter 3:9 to show that God's desire is that no man would perish as a premise for universalism. Indeed, 2 Peter 3:9 does in fact state that fact. However, when we filter this premise through Scripture in it's entirety, we see that John 3:16 and John 14:6 clearly identify that the only way to inherit eternal life is through saving faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Prosperity gospel would be another common false teaching example, exhorting that God's desire is for us to be healthy and wealthy. In order words, faith is measured by how prosperous we are this side of heaven. This obviously preys upon our fleshly propensities toward privilege, monetary comfort, and success. In this case, John 10:10 could be taken out of context to affirm that God's desire is for us to live life abundantly.

Moreover, James 4:2 is similarly used as a "name it and claim it" strategy to affirm our need to ask God to bring us health and wealth, who in turn will grant our desires if we have enough faith. In both instances, there is absolute truth to what John 10:10 and James 4:2 convey. However, they are falsely taken out of context and do not align with the entirety of Scripture.

The Beatitudes themselves (Matthew 5:2-12) which began Jesus' sermon on the mount exalt the antithesis of health and wealth doctrine (i.e. blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are those who weep and mourn; blessed are the meek; blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; etc.).

Moreover, Matthew 6:19-21, Mark 10:25, Luke 9:23-24 and James 1:9-11 all paint a completely different picture contrary to prosperity doctrine of what is most valuable in the eyes of God, namely humility, servitude and selflessness.

In the end, we cannot identify false teaching throughout the post-modernistic culture we live in if we are not immersing ourselves in the absolute truth of God's Word IN IT'S ENTIRETY. We simply cannot pick and choose what we want to believe in God's Word as it if were a buffet platter, for the world is ready to pick us apart if we cannot articulate and support what we believe from the Bible.

Peter wrote, "Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil" (1 Peter 3:13-17).

The fruit we bear is predetermined by the amount of quality time we spend in communion with God through His Word. There simply is no other alternative if we desire to discern false teaching, bless others and glorify God.

Therefore, we are wise to apply what the Lord God spoke to Joshua when he was commissioned to lead the nation of Israel in Moses' place as a reminder that our Christian faith begins and ends with the absolute truth of God's Word.

"Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:7-9).