Quote:
Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah
Why put fire alarms in buildings? Why put burglar alarms on cars? Why did Reagan say "trust but verify"? Why did Jesus say "be wise as serpents, harmless as doves?" Why do we need prudence and discernment?
So many questions.
The OP was hoping to get responses from those on this forum to "drive home the validity of the survey questions". My response to the OP is very clear, those questions are not valid.
The reason they might seem valid is that a "false Christ" is imitating Christ, therefore they will try to imitate things that are true of Christ. It is like the mineral Pyrite (fool's gold). It is gold color and it does something very interesting which is it forms large cubes as a crystal structure. Usually the crystal structure reveals the molecular structure. Gold's molecular structure is cubic which is very symmetrical, but Pyrite's is not. Therefore it is very strange that it would form cubes when the molecular structure is not cubic. So then the gold color and the cubic crystals are not evidence of fool's gold. It is as though these criteria are telling you to identify fool's gold by those two criteria. Every single criteria in the OP can be applied to Jesus, or Peter, or Apollos, or James, or Paul, etc. So then you would always be accusing genuine men of God of being "false prophets and teachers" if you use this criteria.
No, the way to identify fool's gold is 1. Density 2. fracture -- the mineral will break into pieces if you strike it with a hammer, gold is malleable 3. Rust -- pyrite will show oxidation whereas gold will not and 4. Look carefully at the crystal faces, fools gold has little lines on each face that show that the molecular structure is far less symmetrical than a cube.
The way to identify a false teacher --
1. Ministry is based on a fabricated story
2. Purpose is to make merchandise of you
3. Modus operandi is to make you twofold more a son of Gehenna
4. Outward appearance is "a false Christ".
True ministries are based on the truth:
Paul was less than the least because he persecuted the saints of God
James was caught up with the Judaizers in a personality cult
Peter denied the Lord
They don't make merchandise of the saints -- rather they support themselves as tent makers, or fishing, etc.
Their "fruit" reveals they are not thorns and thistles. Just as Paul said "you are my letter of recommendation"
They are servants of God and don't pretend to be Christ, or super apostles.
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All well and good.
However this one stands out to me as possibly labelling otherwise good ministries as false just because they devote themselves full time to ministry:
"They don't make merchandise of the saints -- rather they support themselves as tent makers, or fishing, etc."