Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  2024  Day 172

June 20;     2 Peter 2:1;     229/260;      ‘False Teachers’

2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.

This verse should not be a surprise to us.  The eternal destiny of people is on the line and religion, which is a favorite tool of the devil, has always been an effective way for him to deceive many.  Our adversary, satan knows that there is a powerful desire in the spirit of all of us to know God.  If the devil can counterfeit the truth, making the religious lies seem very spiritual, then he has succeeded, even if temporarily, to deceive sincere seekers of the Lord.  The key to any deceptive teaching or cult is Jesus Christ.  If the Lord Jesus is not taught as the Son of God, who died for our sins and sicknesses and that whoever believes on Him has eternal life, then whatever else is taught is heresy and is a tool of the devil to keep someone from the truth.  The false teachers may say that Jesus was a prophet and a miracle worker.  They will say this since people, even if they do not yet know the Bible truth, know that Jesus Christ is somehow involved in their eternal destiny.  The heresy of these false teachers must have a certain element of truth or no one will follow them.  False teachers and their heresies will never acknowledge who the Lord Jesus Christ really is.  This is why the Bible is so incredibly important for all of us to know.  If you know the truth concerning Jesus, which the Bible teaches, you will not be deceived.  Those who work at identifying counterfeit money are trained by knowing exactly what real money is.  This way they can spot what is counterfeit.  If we know the truth, God’s Word, these demonically inspired false teachers will not be able to deceive us.  Truth makes us free.