Tag: Word of Faith

Christian

Why Do Christians Listen to False Teachers?

Cindy Dawson

3 minutes

False teaching usually comes from the mouth of a gifted communicator, often someone engaging and entertaining. Their message will make you feel good, so you keep coming back for more. Don’t be surprised if they are selling lots of books and DVDs. They’re making a fortune off of it, and so is the publisher. The Bible warns us.

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 NIV

I look back on the days when I followed the false teaching, Word of Faith. I was sincere. I was devoted. I was on fire for Christ! But, I wasn’t mature. I wish someone would have said, “Before you latch on to this teaching, study your Bible instead of the books written by the Word of Faith teachers.”

Eventually, I was able to discern the errors, because I was a student of the Bible. But my involvement in Word of Faith almost shipwrecked my faith. It’s devastating to realize you have been deceived. I blamed God for allowing it. It caused me to question everything I knew about God.

But God brought me through, and now I speak up against the dangers false teachers pose to the Body of Christ. So ask yourself, “Am I a mature Christian or do I lack discernment?”

How can you know? Ask God with a sincere heart. Love the Truth more than your own opinion. Be disciplined enough to read and study your Bible daily.

A mature Christian is someone who has walked with the Lord over the years, and by knowing and obeying God’s Word, they have learned to discern truth from error. To know God’s Word, we must study God’s Word.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing to be an immature Christian. After all, how could a new Christian be mature? They couldn’t. They have to learn and grow in Christ. Unfortunately, not everyone grows and matures. Evidence of this can be seen by the large numbers of Christians who unknowingly follow false teaching. Consider the following Scripture:

 “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” Ephesians 4:11-14 NIV (emphasis mine)

I know the damage false teaching will eventually bring about in the lives of those who are ensnared in it. It’s not okay.

“But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5: 12-14 NIV (emphasis mine)

Beware of the false teaching from the Word of Faith, New age, and New Apostolic Reformation which is infiltrating the Church today. Your best protection is the Belt of Truth (God’s Word). The following links provide more information.

New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)

New Age

Word of Faith

How Can I Recognize a False Teacher?

With Love, Cindy

Do you want to know more about Jesus? Read my page Who Is Jesus?

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

realchristianwomen.blog  

Christian, women

What Is Faith, Really?

Cindy Dawson

Faith is synonymous with trusting God. Faith is not a power we can use like a magic wand to get anything we want. This is an important distinction. Yet many so-called Bible teachers teach the concept of faith incorrectly.

For many years, I followed the Word of Faith teachers who teach a false concept of faith. Once I began to see the Truth, it was very difficult to erase that false concept from my mind.

The first thing I did was read the New Testament from cover to cover three times in a row. As I read, I paused whenever I saw the word “faith” and interpreted its meaning from the context. I had a lot to learn, and a lot to unlearn. As I read God’s Word, I had to stop thinking of faith as personal power and substitute the definition “trusting God”. It took a lot of work and a lot of time.

“…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word…” Ephesians 5:25-26 NIV

Studying Faith in Context

Jesus Heals a Sick Woman

 “Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.” Matthew 9:20-22 NIV

It was her trust in Jesus, her belief that He was able to heal her, that brought her healing. “If I only touch his cloak”! Make no mistake. She was not depending on herself or any power of her own.

Blind Bartimaeus

 “As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.” Mark 10:46-52 NIV

Just like the woman with the issue of blood, if you read this verse about faith in context, you will clearly discern that it was trusting Jesus that healed him.

In fact, if we study the Bible as a whole we will learn that everything in it points to one thing: Jesus.

Faith is trusting God and His plan, even when we don’t understand it. When my daughter went to Africa to work in a children’s hospital, I learned a lot about faith. It was most definitely about trusting God. It was never about my own power to bring about what I wanted. You can read about my experience here.

To have faith is to trust God and believe His Holy Word, the Bible.

With Love, Cindy

Do you want to know more about Jesus? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?

Photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash

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