Question:
Dear Greg,
I
have been studying into Jesus Christ’s prophecy in Matthew 24.
The Lord states that many will come in his name, claiming that he is the
Christ and will deceive the many. What
is the deception that the Lord is talking about here?
Are Christians generally in the most part deceived? Please expound on these questions. Thanks.
Fred
Answer: Dear Fred,
There
is much evidence in the New Testament that false prophets were a part of the
early church (see 2 Peter 2:1-3, 1 John 4:1, 2 Corinthians 11:13, 2 Timothy
2:16-17, Acts 20:29-30, 1 Timothy 4:1, among many others).
Many false teachings abounded, none of which were part of the “faith
that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3).
As
Solomon said, “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The
modern cultic teachings and errors that exist today are the “same old, same
old” stuff that Christianity has been battling from the beginning, the kind of
things Jesus had reference to--unbiblical teaching about the nature of God, the
nature of Jesus, salvation—what it is and how it is given and kept, etc.
Unfortunately,
there are many Christians who do not study the scriptures to determine what is
biblically true, but gladly turn over that role to someone they trust.
Sometimes they are led astray, as the Old Testament often speaks of
pastors (shepherds) who do not care for the sheep of God’s flock.
As Christians we need to be careful to search the scriptures as the
Bereans did (Acts 17:11). There are
many things, in and out of Christianity, that do not pass muster according to
the Bible. Some are out-and-out
heresies, while others are simply a matter of placing emphasis on speculations
that the Bible does not make clear.
One
of our missions is to make the truth plain—for an old saying goes, “the
plain things of the Bible are the main things, and the main things are the plain
things.”
Thanks
for letting us serve you. We hope
you will be a frequent visitor to our web site and other services we offer.
In
Christ,
Greg Albrecht