You are asking the right questions. How do we identify false teaching? Granted, some teachings are obviously false. But what differences are trivial? Certainly not salvation. Faith alone or faith with obedience? Once saved, always saved? How about baptism? Does it wash aweigh our sins, or is it merely a public testimony of our faith? Likewise with the Lord’s supper. Is it merely symbolic, something we only do as a memorial? Or is it the actual substance of the Lords body and blood? How about the personhood of the godhead? Is it necessary to except the teaching of the Trinity even though the word is not actually used in scripture? What are we to believe about contraception, divorce and remarriage, homosexuality? The list goes on and on. And you can find as many differences of opinion as there are preachers. I think you get my point. Shouldn’t we be of one mind on these matters?
Right, all those things. But five hundred years ago, Roman Catholics and Lutherans killed my Anabaptist ancestors for baptizing each other as adults. They saw it as an act of heresy and treason. Today, we recognize it as an ugly injustice. But at the time, the Anabaptists were called false teachers and false prophets. Now, most (if told about it) would say that they were true and that the "Church" empire was false. I use this illustration knowing that it ties into another conversation that we've been having under another video (that i think you're referencing), but i also believe it describes the tension for me. Whenever we allow men or women to identify as God's final say, whether as a prophet or a teacher or a pope or my local church pastor or just a random blogger I connect with, we are susceptible to error. The best prevention of that error is holding up scripture as a standard by which we judge doctrine and conduct. This isn't to say that scripture is the power by which we live it out. The Holy Spirit empowers. But the scriptures are for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Those men and women who teach them with understanding, living by them with integrity, are worthy of honor and should be followed as influences and examples. But people with the influence of charisma or popularity or power must not be allowed to go outside or beyond what is written. And most definitely should not be honored if they are not people of good character and integrity. So, how do we identify false teaching? It doesn't align with scripture. And how do we identify false teachers? They do not live out the teachings of Jesus. But those who teach and live by the scriptures are free to engage in dialog and even speculation about the doctrines, in fellowship with the cloud of witnesses, past and present.
There are many that I'm concerned about. Some have been around a long time and for some reason still have large platforms. But a lot of times it's more yellow flag stuff than red flags. But recently I was looking into one man in particular to see if the yellow flags were reason for legitimate concern, or if I was reacting to something else (which is always possible). When I looked into his teachings, that's when so many red flags went up. Those are the things I mention in the video. I'm really not interested in being someone who "exposes" false teachers and false prophets, so I deliberately didn't include his name in the video. I'd rather teach people to be aware, no matter who claims to speak for God. But I don't mind naming him here. He goes by Prophet Lovy.
You are asking the right questions. How do we identify false teaching? Granted, some teachings are obviously false. But what differences are trivial? Certainly not salvation. Faith alone or faith with obedience? Once saved, always saved? How about baptism? Does it wash aweigh our sins, or is it merely a public testimony of our faith? Likewise with the Lord’s supper. Is it merely symbolic, something we only do as a memorial? Or is it the actual substance of the Lords body and blood? How about the personhood of the godhead? Is it necessary to except the teaching of the Trinity even though the word is not actually used in scripture? What are we to believe about contraception, divorce and remarriage, homosexuality? The list goes on and on. And you can find as many differences of opinion as there are preachers.
I think you get my point. Shouldn’t we be of one mind on these matters?
Right, all those things. But five hundred years ago, Roman Catholics and Lutherans killed my Anabaptist ancestors for baptizing each other as adults. They saw it as an act of heresy and treason. Today, we recognize it as an ugly injustice. But at the time, the Anabaptists were called false teachers and false prophets. Now, most (if told about it) would say that they were true and that the "Church" empire was false.
I use this illustration knowing that it ties into another conversation that we've been having under another video (that i think you're referencing), but i also believe it describes the tension for me. Whenever we allow men or women to identify as God's final say, whether as a prophet or a teacher or a pope or my local church pastor or just a random blogger I connect with, we are susceptible to error. The best prevention of that error is holding up scripture as a standard by which we judge doctrine and conduct. This isn't to say that scripture is the power by which we live it out. The Holy Spirit empowers. But the scriptures are for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Those men and women who teach them with understanding, living by them with integrity, are worthy of honor and should be followed as influences and examples. But people with the influence of charisma or popularity or power must not be allowed to go outside or beyond what is written. And most definitely should not be honored if they are not people of good character and integrity.
So, how do we identify false teaching? It doesn't align with scripture. And how do we identify false teachers? They do not live out the teachings of Jesus.
But those who teach and live by the scriptures are free to engage in dialog and even speculation about the doctrines, in fellowship with the cloud of witnesses, past and present.
Who are you referring to? Ruth Liechty
There are many that I'm concerned about. Some have been around a long time and for some reason still have large platforms. But a lot of times it's more yellow flag stuff than red flags. But recently I was looking into one man in particular to see if the yellow flags were reason for legitimate concern, or if I was reacting to something else (which is always possible). When I looked into his teachings, that's when so many red flags went up. Those are the things I mention in the video. I'm really not interested in being someone who "exposes" false teachers and false prophets, so I deliberately didn't include his name in the video. I'd rather teach people to be aware, no matter who claims to speak for God. But I don't mind naming him here. He goes by Prophet Lovy.