“Watch out for false prophets”

1 John 4: 1-6


Today’s reading deals with false prophets and the false teachings that they profess.  Specifically, 1 John deals with an early form of Gnosticism that was threatening the church.  According to my study bible the central teaching of Gnosticism was that spirit is entirely good and matter is entirely evil.  One of several errors that flowed from this teaching was the denial of Christ’s true humanity.  One branch of Gnosticism (called Cerinthianism) claimed that “Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism and left him before he died”.  Thus, John writes in 1 John 4:2:  “ ² This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.”


The church has battled false teaching since its earliest times and the current age is no exception.  We are encouraged to arm ourselves against false teaching by knowing what we believe.  This involves reading/studying God’s word and being taught by those we can trust to be true to the faith.  It is why we take our children to Sunday School and have them go through the confirmation process.  It is why our pastors encourage us to read the bible daily and be involved in some type of bible study in addition to Sunday worship. 


Jesus knew that the church would face threats from false teachers.  He addresses this in Matthew 7:15 (Sermon on the Mount) where he states:  “Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”  In Matthew 7:24 (Sermon on the Mount) Jesus talks about the importance of knowing his teaching, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”  


In 2 Timothy 4 Paul issues a warning to his younger partner regarding false teachers and false doctrine.  He writes:   “ ³ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. ⁵ But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”  Pretty good advice --- for Christians in 2019!