David
Know the Bible
Many people today think they are safe because they once prayed a prayer, attended church, or claimed to believe in Jesus. Yet the Bible warns that some will “depart from the faith” (1 Timothy 4:1). The Greek word used for “depart” is the root of our word “apostatize.” It describes someone who moves away from an original position, not losing salvation, but revealing they never truly had it. These are people who once appeared to stand with believers, but when they embrace lies and deception, their departure exposes the truth: their hearts were never born again (1 John 2:19).
False teachers are the primary tool Satan uses to pull these people away. They “speak lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:2). Their inner moral compass has been cauterized, burned and deadened, by repeated rejection of truth, until sin no longer bothers them. Ephesians 4:19 says they have “lost all sensitivity” and have “given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”
This is why discernment is not optional for anyone who claims to follow Christ. Jesus said, “Take heed of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15). They will appear harmless, even godly, but their teaching will send you away from the cross and into spiritual death.
This is not merely an academic issue. Lies will not only mislead you, they will damn you. Paul told us that those who refuse to love the truth, will believe “the lie” and be lost (2 Thess. 2:10–12). The only way to be safe is to take God’s Word as your final authority, test every teaching against Scripture (Acts 17: 11), and hold fast to the Christ who said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).
If you ever find yourself beginning to wander away from the plain truth of the gospel into something “new,” “deeper,” or “different,” let these words remind you that not every voice that speaks for God comes from God. Only the Word of God can give us the light we need to see the darkness, and only those who walk in that light will make it to the end.
