Thought from today’s Bible reading from 2 Peter 1-3; Jude 1.
“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Peter 2:1).
Peter warned that the existence of false teachers would be a certainty among God’s people. He did not say there might be false teachers. He said there will be false teachers, just as there were false prophets in times past.
But what is a false teacher? Brethren sometimes differ on the definition. Some believe that one’s status as a false teacher is dependent upon him having corrupt motives. Yet the context helps us to determine who should be described as a false teacher. In fact, the two preceding verses give us the key, though we may sometimes fail to make the connection because of the man-made chapter divisions. Though there is a chapter break, the context is the same. We can learn what a false teacher is by noting the contrast between a false prophet and a true prophet.
“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20-21).
If this is true about prophets who spoke the truth, we can infer some things about false prophets. These will be true for false teachers as well.
- False prophets/teachers speak their own interpretation – or what seems to make sense to them – rather than relying upon what God has revealed.
- False prophets/teachers speak according to human will – either their own or the will of those they wish to please – rather than speaking according to the will of God.
- False prophets/teachers speak words that are not in harmony with the words revealed by the Holy Spirit.
Being a false teacher has nothing to do with one’s motives. It has everything to do with one’s message. Let us beware of those who teach things that are false, regardless of what their motives are, because we know that such false teachers will always be around.
Tomorrow’s reading: 1 John 1-5
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
