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Most Christians today have no problem discerning that Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Masons, etc. are teaching false doctrine and leading many astray.  However, there are many so-called “Christians” who are not able to discern truth from error.  As a result, they have placed themselves in the hands of the enemy and are being led down a path of deception and destruction.

The apostle Paul warned that false teachers would attempt to infiltrate the Christian church from both the outside and from within.  (Acts 20:29-30).

2 Peter 2:1 - "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”

The word “privily” in the original Greek not only describes the method by which false doctrine is smuggled into the church, but it also describes its deceptive purpose.

This Greek word “pareisago,” is a three-fold word that begins with the preposition para.  Para means "alongside" and this describes the smuggling operation.  False teaching runs right alongside true doctrine. This creates a deception more difficult to detect, because it is so close to sound doctrine.

Let’s take a moment to compare the genuine dollar bill with the counterfeit dollar bill.  The designer of the counterfeit dollar bill does not make the counterfeit bill to look different from the genuine, but he designs it to look exactly the same as the genuine.  The counterfeit dollar bill must be able to come alongside the genuine dollar bill and appear to be a true dollar bill.      

Those who are trained to work with money must be trained to know the difference between a counterfeit dollar bill and a genuine dollar bill.  Spiritually speaking, we can apply these same truths when it comes to exposing false doctrines or teachings that are being propagated in the body of Christ today.  We must allow the Lord to minister to us and train us according to His holy word and by the power of His Spirit.  We must be careful that we do not allow “another” Jesus or “another” gospel to lead us into error.

The next part of this word is the Greek word eis which means "into."

Usually men or women from within the ranks of Christianity will run these false teachings alongside (para) true doctrine for the purpose of getting their deception into (eis) the church.

The final part of this word is the Greek word ago. This word means "to lead."  The end result of false doctrine is individuals being led astray.

The Greek word “pareisago” reveals that false doctrine runs right alongside true doctrine, to get it into the body of Christ and to lead individuals astray.

The sad fact of the matter is that many times the deception or false teachings are brought into the body of Christ by respected leaders and laymen, those from within.  Therefore, we must learn to eat the meat and spit out the bones or we will find ourselves choking on that which we should never have consumed. 

Hebrews 13:9 – Be not carried away with divers and strange doctrines.  

The church must not be quick to embrace every teaching that comes from the pulpit.  We must learn to sift the teachings that have been given to us through the filter of the Scriptures.   The word of God will expose that which is error and that which is truth.  We must pay attention to what God’s word is saying.  If what we are hearing is not lining up with the word of God, we would save ourselves from deception and heartache if we would just learn how to spit out the bones. 

Matthew 22:29 – Jesus answered the Sadducees and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

I believe this is one of the major problems of the body of Christ today.  We do not know the Scriptures nor do we know the power of God.  We have settled for less than God’s manifest presence in our midst.  We have neglected spending time at the Master’s feet in prayer and adoration of who He really is.  We have accepted the teachings of man instead of the teachings of the word of God.   We have negated the power of God because we do not know Him in the way that we should know Him.  We have embraced everything that has been dished out to us, but we have not yet learned how to embrace the Cross and the Christ who died upon it. 

I believe the body of Christ needs to get back to the basics.  There’s no set formula for salvation, deliverance, healing, miracles etc.  We must be careful that we do not limit the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  The church does not need psychology to cast out devils, heal the sick, open blinded eyes and bring sinners to repentance.  The church needs the power of the Holy Ghost! 

The Early Church tapped into this power as they gathered together in one accord and began to seek the Lord of glory.  They didn’t seek after new techniques or the latest Christian fad; they sought after the power of the Holy Spirit and they received the power needed to evangelize the whole known world at that particular time.  They possessed what many of us do not possess today.  They had spent time with Jesus and as a result of their relationship with Him; they experienced His power to seek and save that which was lost.  They manifested His power to those who needed His supernatural touch.  The people were amazed as the disciples moved and operated in the power of the Holy Ghost.  They knew that these men had been with Jesus!

Can the people that you come in contact with on a daily basis see that you have been with Jesus, or is there an unholy mixture in your life?  Are you seeking after the latest charismatic teaching or are you seeking after Him?

If we want to see the power of God manifested in our midst, we must focus our eyes upon Jesus and allow ourselves to be saturated with His word so that we will be able to discern between that which is truth and that which is error.   May the Lord turn us from that which is counterfeit to that which is genuine.

Copyright 2002 by Donna Kazenske