I received an email today from someone I do not know and of whom I have never heard.  To put it nicely, the email was hard to follow and almost unintelligible.  To be more precise, it rambled, made little sense, and in some cases was untrue. I had to discern if it was indeed a word from God.

The subject of the email is what troubles me most.  This individual proceeded to throw misinterpreted and misapplied scripture at me trying to make his case. The author claimed to have had a recent “Esperance” [sic] that “brought God” to Him.  Supposedly, God showed him some passages of Scripture and he felt the need to share it with churches. He was probably sincere, but in his application of Scripture, he was sincerely wrong.

Yet, so many people receive emails like that full of misapplied Bible verses and assume they are reading truth. Not only emails, but TV airwaves, radio frequencies, and the internet provide anybody an opportunity to purvey their religious thoughts.  And immature believers give credence to anyone claiming to be speaking on God’s behalf.

How are we to know the difference?  What are we to do when we encounter such teaching?

Discern the Reality of False Teachers

The first thing we need to realize is that not everyone claiming to speak for God is.  

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.  – 1 John 4:1

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Matthew 7:15-16

False prophets do not always preach against Biblical truth.  More often, they preach a message that sounds like Biblical truth but is distorted or misapplied. 

We need to be leery of someone else’s subjective “experience” through which God seemingly imparts some secret knowledge.  That practice is not new; it existed in early church times too.  They called it Gnosticism.Gnostics believe they possessed knowledge unavailable to others and, therefore, they were superior to the average person.

Discern the Need for Biblical Knowledge

As believers in Jesus, the Author of the Bible – the Holy Spirit – lives in us and will work to lead us into all truth. (John 14:26, John 16:13) God did not deliver His Word to a few specially enlightened individuals.  His Word, and a proper understanding of it, is available to all who believe in Him.

No greater defense against false teaching exists than a personal knowledge of God’s Word.  As believers, it is both our responsibility and our privilege to study the Bible.

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. – Acts 17:11

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15

Those verses and the one above from 1 John challenge us to exercise discernment when we hear Biblical teaching.  Don’t necessarily accept everything you hear as truth. Measure it against what you already know about the Bible.

At the end of this article, I will include links to some helps for beginning and establishing personal Bible study.

The Benefit of a Second Opinion, and Third, and Fourth

When a doctor gives you a diagnosis, he or she will often encourage you to get a second opinion.  Only an insecure doctor not confident in his diagnosis would discourage getting a second opinion.

Similarly, we do well to have a cadre of trusted Bible teachers to whom we can go with our questions. All of us benefit from friends, pastors, and teachers off of whom we can bounce ideas and teachings we have heard. None of us in infallible, so as Solomon encourages us, there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. (Proverbs 11:14)

My encouragement to you is that you would learn to discern when it comes to Biblical teaching.  Over the course of time, develop a list of teachers whom you trust.  Be careful about accepting every teaching claiming to be “from God.”

Bible Study Helps

Resource – Top Ten Resources for Bible Study
Video Tutorial – How to Do A Verse Analysis
Past Article – Getting Started With Personal Bible Study
Past Article – Fresh Bible Study Ideas
Past Article – How to Begin Investigating the Bible for Yourself
Past Article – Some Practical Ideas for Bible Study
Past Article – Helpful Tools for Bible Study