Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

2 Peter

Beware of False Teachers

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Matthew 7:15-20

Anyone can talk a good game, but what their life produces reveals what is in their hearts. False teachers almost always live lavish lifestyles, consumed with the things of this world, and attempting to keep one foot on earth and the other in Heaven. This, of course, is not possible (Matthew 6:24; 1 John 2:15-17). What a man says is not a good indicator of who he is. It’s what his life produces for the kingdom that is a good indicator.

Beware of false teachers who attempt to drag you into their deception (Colossians 2:8). They are those who think they know Jesus, but He doesn’t know them (Matthew 7:21–23). Their teaching will leave you even worse off than they are (Matthew 23:15), and no closer to eternity in Christ.

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Bad Fruit

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The Bible uses the analogy of good and bad fruit to distinguish between what believers and nonbelievers will produce in their lives (Matthew 7:17-20). Genuine followers of Christ will produce good fruit (John 15:8). Jesus says if we abide in Him, we will produce fruit that is growing and desirable (John 15:4-5), as we cannot produce any other kind.

a crowd with raised hands at an event espousing a false gospel and generating bad fruit showing a lack of discipline and discernment for those in attendance which belies their discipleship

But for those not in Him, Jesus likens them to bad trees that can only produce bad fruit (Matthew 7:18). A bad tree doesn’t produce good fruit every now and again; it produces bad fruit every time. Sure, it might look appealing on the outside, but inside it is rotten and sour. If we consume enough of it, what do you imagine will become of our spiritual health?

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Unstained

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There are many parallels we can draw between the Biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1-29) and our modern culture. The people in those cities were unrepentant in their engagement in sexual sins. That characteristic is prevalent across the globe today. People not only consider sexual sins normal, but they celebrate them, much like they did in those wicked cities of old.

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It would be easy to spend this entire article digging into this point alone, but there is much written about that, and I am certain you’ve heard it all before. What I want to focus on is the lifestyle of Lot. Day after day he lived among the worst kinds of debauchery and perversion, yet kept himself unstained by it (2 Peter 2:4-10). The people of those cities recognized Lot was different, and they despised him for it (Genesis 19:9). He set a great example for us to follow.

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Who is Your Master?

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No matter how independent we might like to think we are, each of us serves one master or another in this life. The only question is, who is your master? Peter teaches we are all slaves to whatever defeats us (2 Peter 2:19). We all have our vices and are subject to them at different points in our lives. Perhaps it would be better to ask, “What is your master?”

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But we can always trace the “what” back to a “who”. We know that all good things come from Christ (James 1:17) and that every lie finds its source in Satan (John 8:44). If we are slaves to certain lusts, desires, and passions, then our master is the devil (1 John 3:8). But if we keep ourselves pure and hold true to the gospel of Jesus, then He is indeed our Lord and Master (John 14:21; Romans 6:22).

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False Teachers

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Each of us bears the responsibility of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone we meet (Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 10:14). Today, there is no shortage of voices claiming to speak the truth of God’s Word. On the surface, that is wonderful news. The more voices, the more the message spreads. The frightening truth is many of those voices are not teaching the gospel we find in scripture.

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For every faithful adherent to God’s Word, it seems there are ten who are twisting, distorting, and abusing the simple truth of the Bible. Given the warnings in scripture against such things (2 Peter 2:1-3; Galatians 1:8-9), it amazes me how many will eschew the commands of God and dare to live in the path of His holy and consuming wrath (Hebrews 10:26-27; Romans 1:18-19). False teachers flaunt their arrogance and will reap their just reward (Jude 12-13; Matthew 7:21-23).

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