It's not uncommon these days to hear crazy preaching. But when someone uses the authority of God's word to endorse their false doctrine, they tread on dangerous ground. Both Paul and Timothy were faithful ministers of the one true Gospel, but how is someone hearing both "versions" able to tell which one is real and which one is not, especially if both speak with assumed authority?

Paul discipled Timothy and was confident of his ability to do the same for others after his own ministry was over. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul encouraged him to strongly defend any attempt by someone to twist the truth of God's word, if even by ignorance. But about those who couldn't discern the truth?

If you want to be accepted as speaking the truth, the first step is to speak with confidence. But should your assumed confidence result in misleading someone who believes your lies, it's you that's got the problem, and not just them.

Maybe you're someone whose heard teaching from sincere teachers who didn't know what lies they were spreading. If so, it's never too late to ask God for discernment and then trust God's Spirit to show you the truth. But if you're one of those bogus teachers who use God's word to peddle false doctrine, you're in a far dangerous position. You see, lies are funny in that the more you tell them, the more you're inclined to believe the manure you're spreading.

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru (Jr. 28:1-29:32 1 Tm. 1:1-20 Ps. 86:1-17 Pr. 25:17 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society

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