False Teaching

Do you know what the Secret Services does for our country?

Most of us know that they are in charge of protecting the life of the President of the US and the lives of all former presidents.

However, that is not why the Secret Service was created.

This government agency was originally created with one very specific purpose: to identify counterfeit money.

They were charged with the responsibility of identifying counterfeit dollar bills.

In 2025 most of us are used to paying with our credit / debit cards or even with our phones (Apple Pay).

However, it was not long ago that most of us used cash to pay for goods and services everywhere we went.

Many criminals would buy sophisticated machines in order to print false / counterfeit money.

…so how do you think Secret Service agents were trained to identify fake dollar bills?

One may think that they were given many examples of counterfeit money so they could see what fake money looks like.

Or others may think they were trained in all the different machines and techniques used to print fake dollar bills.

…the reality is that they were trained to become so familiar with real / genuine dollar bills:

To understand the texture of the paper they were printed on.

To be very familiar with the distinctive smell of the ink on the dollar bill.

They were trained to spot all the art on the dollar bill.

…they became so familiar with real / genuine dollar bills that when they came across a fake dollar bill - they could easily spot it.

Well, the apostle Paul gives us a very stern warning regarding false teachings.

Hechos de los Apóstoles 20:30 NIV

30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.

Paul exhorted the Ephesian pastors to be aware that there would be men within the church that would start preaching false teaching - they would distort the truth.

Instead of preaching the true word of God they would preach things that went against the Word of God.

…it could be as simple as saying: Jesus is one way to God…there are many ways to God.

…or it could be somewhat that says - Jesus only cares about what you believe; he does not care about how you live your life.

…or some people go to church and that’s great - at the end of the day everyone will go to heaven because God is love and every single person will one day be saved.

Each of these ideas are false teachings that go against the Word of God.

If we were to teach these things in our church we would be going against the clear teaching of God’s Word.

How will we know whether or not someone is twisting God’s Word?

It’s actually very simple - if we know God’s Word, if we are so familiar with the teaching of the Bible - then we will be able to quickly identify when someone is not teaching the truth.

We need to read the Bible, study the Bible, be very familiar with God’s Word so that we will not be lead astray into false teaching.

This is very important because if we believe in that which is false - we will end up believing in a God that does not exist and will not save us from eternal condemnation.