Jesus said “Watch out for false prophets” (Matthew 7:15). There are
five things that ought to be done concerning false teachers/prophets:
1. Guard against them. These are spiritual enemies who want to lead
you into destruction. They are everywhere in our daily lives. Many
times they don’t come in open. They are deceivers and a deceiver is an
impostor, a person who claims to be a follower of Christ, but he is
not. He does not live like Christ taught us to live. Another thing of
the deceiver is that he does not believe the truth about Christ. To
know them we must know the truth and live a holy life.
A few more things about the deceivers and false teachers;
-They deny the deity of Christ
- The deny that Jesus Christ is the sinless son of God
- They deny the death and resurrection of Christ
- They deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ
- They deny the return of Jesus Christ to earth.
2. Watch yourself: do not lose the things you have already gained-
receive a full reward. As much as we may not lose our salvation, we
can lose our reward for our labor in Christ. If we listen to false
teachers, they can mislead us and the consequent result is the loss of
our reward.
3. Do not go too far: stay in the doctrine of Christ. Prove your
salvation. The person who does not abide in the teachings of Christ
does not have or possess God. It is the teachings of Christ that we
are to follow, not teachings about Christ. The following verses give
us the basic doctrine of Christ.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen
his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the
Father, full of grace and truth”. (John 1:14)
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of
Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal
life in him.” (John 3:14-15)
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom you have sent”. (John 17:3)
4. Do not receive them. During the time John wrote this epistle (2
John), churches met in homes of prominent members. Most likely a
church was meeting in the home of this elect lady and false teachers
had started penetrating the members with false doctrines. John is
charging that these false teachers should not be allowed to enter the
home because when they do so they will discharge their duty; deceive.
Any person who denies Jesus Christ is the most dangerous person, for
he can doom our children and loved ones and even doom us. The
following verse tells us what Jesus and Paul taught about false
teachers.
“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If
you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you
to pieces”. (Matthew 7:6)
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called
you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different
gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are
throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of
Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel
other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!
As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching
to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s
curse!” (Galatians 1:6-9)
5. Exhortation from mature spiritual leader is needed. The spiritual
leader could be the pastor or bishop. In this case John was the
spiritual leader. He planned to visit the elect lady for more detailed
instruction.