A Prayer to Recognize False Teaching
By: Emily Rose Massey
"As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him" - (1 John 2:24-27 NASB).
Charles Spurgeon once said: “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”
Living in the age of information literally at our fingertips as well as the reality of “fake news” means that sometimes it can be overwhelming to wade through what is true and what is not. This is also true for Christians when it comes to what is being proclaimed as truth from the pulpit.
False teaching distorts the Bible and your view about God. Most often, false teaching is a sticky trap for the undiscerning; It is subtle because it is often masked in truth yet mixed with error, so we let our guard down because we recognize the truth in it. Soon that error will begin to distort the truth you may already know. Deception is often progressive.
The only way we can avoid the trap of deception is to abide in God’s Word daily and be serious students of the Bible, for it is a light unto our path and lamp unto our path (Psalms 119:105). Thankfully, we are not left alone in our studying of scripture; We have been given the precious gift of the Holy Spirit, who is our great Teacher. The Apostle John admonishes us in his first letter to abide in the truth and promise of eternal life and the gift of the Holy Spirit:
"As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him"
(1 John 2:24-27 NASB).
At the root, we will find the fruit produced from false teaching will inevitably be bad because bad trees do not produce good fruit. The fruit of false teaching will not nourish one’s soul or renew one’s mind in the long-run because even a little error mixed in with a lot of truth will leave you starving and lead you astray in the end caught up in the thorns and briars of deception.
Jesus gave us direction in John 15 as well that can ensure that we are protected against deception:
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (vs 5, NASB).
May we abide in the Lord and abide in His Word our great Teacher, the Holy Spirit, will teach us and help us discern what is right and almost right.
Lord, we know the enemy is the father of lies and he wants nothing more than to bring confusion by mixing truth with error. He often tries to mask himself as an angel of light so we pray that you would give us eyes to see through his lies that are masquerading as truth.
Father, we thank You that You are a giver of good gifts and so we thank You for sending us the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth and helps us discern all things.
We ask that You would create in us a deep hunger in our hearts to help us be students of scripture. We pray that You would give us the discernment and wisdom to always line up what we are hearing and thinking with Your Holy Word.
We abide in Jesus who is the Vine so that we can produce fruit that lasts and that we can point others to You and Your truth.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
Emily Massey began writing short stories and poetry as a little girl, entered the blogging world in her early 20s, and published her first book in 2015. She enjoys being a stay-at-home momma while still being able to pursue her passion as a writer. Believing she has been forgiven much, she loves much, and desires to point others to Christ and His redemptive and transforming power, especially by sharing truth found in God’s written word. If you would like to connect with Emily, you can visit www.emilyrosemassey.com.
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