Final Authority?

I've heard it said all my life that we are to take our life and conform it to the Bible versus taking the Bible and conforming it to our life. We've all at some point in our life made our wants and desires the final authority instead of the Word of God. We however are supposed to take our life and transform it to what the Word of God says. When we make our feelings, wants, and desires the final authority over the Bible we start to tread on very dangerous ground.

We must take the Bible as a whole, and not just one scripture here and there out of context. When you start picking and choosing what you want to believe out of the Bible you can form all kinds of evil unrestrained beliefs. Let's think for a minute, How did the devil start tempting Jesus? He started using the Word of God out of context. I think the enemy knows the Bible better than we do, and he can use it to twist, distort, and decieve many.

In Galatians Ch.1:6-8, Paul puts it perfectly. "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

We have to be aware of false teachers of the Word, but how to we know if a teacher is false or not!

2 Peter 2:1-3 helps us to recognize false teachers that would decieve His people. "But there were also false teachers among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow there destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgement has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber."

"For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption." 2 Peter 2:18-19

"Therefore beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation...You therfore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led astray with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter:3:14,17-18

The false teacher or false prophet is led by the flesh, seeking to obtain power or gain for himself from the ministry. Initially, his message may not be false, but his motivation in ministry is fleshly, so he appeals to the fleshly in others, offering them some carnal or soulish satisfaction. He will ultimately introduce some doctrine contrary to the Bible. Each of us must use the Word of God to measure the words any preacher speaks, and any variation or imbalance in what is taught must be questioned. We also need to be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit in this judgement. We are to judge ONLY the teaching. God will judge the teacher!

Reject any teaching that denies the Lordship of Jesus. Know that the false teacher brings about distrust in true ministers of God. Judge the words of every teaching. Let God judge the teacher!