The Commands of Christ, Part Twenty

For many of us, we know that false prophets exist. For some, calling out a false prophets equates to calling out anyone whose theology disagrees with your own. That’s not biblical. God speaks to all of us through scripture and He speaks to each of us differently through scripture so we can see how He wants us to apply it to our lives. Just as God’s ways are not our ways, my struggles are not your struggles. The same verse that God uses to convict one person He may use to restore and bring peace to another. Before I get too rambly, let’s make sure we’ve looked at scripture. We’ll start with just the command itself from Matthew 7:15 (NASB20):

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Now, thankfully, Jesus follows this up by teaching us how to spot them, but before we get into that, I want to make sure we’re clear on what a false prophet is NOT.

• Someone you disagree with theologically is not automatically a false prophet
• Someone who is trying to serve God but is still struggling through their own sin is not a false prophet
• Someone who is still learning and sometimes gets something wrong, but accepts correction, is not a false prophet (accepting correction is key here)
• Someone who disagrees with you on whether or not certain things are sin is not a false prophet

Take a moment and think about all the commands we’ve talked about so far, and especially the ones we’ve discussed recently. Jesus always wants us to look inward first. Always. That’s why He says, “…but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” It’s incredibly easy to dismiss someone we disagree with rather than challenging ourselves to seek God’s word for spiritual truth. It’s one of the enemy’s favorite ways to get to us. It’s easy to find flaws in others so we can brand them as a false prophet so we don’t have to listen to someone whose difference of opinion may have been sent to convict us. But what does Jesus say about how to spot them? Let’s verses 16-20:

You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.

For some of us, this makes it pretty clear. If you’re wondering what counts as “good fruit,” however, we find that answer in Galatians 5. You may be familiar with Galatians 5:22-23, and we will get there, but Galatians also gives us the bad fruits to look out for as well in verses 19-21 (NASB20)

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That’s not a small list and I encourage you before you use it on others to use it on yourself. Before you call someone out for one thing on this list because it’s a thing you don’t like or agree with on a personal level, make sure you’re not committing one of these either. You may not struggle with sexual immorality but perhaps you are prone to outbursts of anger or selfish ambition. I imagine that since you’re reading this, you likely don’t practice witchcraft, but are you the type to try to create factions within your church? Remember, we evaluate ourselves first. We get rid of the plank in our own eye before we try to clear the specks in the eyes of others.

Some folks are going to practice these deeds of the fleshly loudly, proudly, and scream at the top of their lungs that we who follow Christ are idiots. As obnoxious and infuriating as that can be, those folks are not the false prophets either. They’re not coming to us in sheep’s clothing. They are wolves, dressed as wolves, acting as wolves. The false prophets always present themselves as sheep.

A false prophet is going to tell you that cheating is okay because maybe God is just calling you to be with the other person. A false prophet is going to tell you that it’s fine to play around with tarot cards as long as you don’t take it seriously. A false prophet is going to tell you that it’s fine to get drunk every night as long as you’re not hurting anyone. A false prophet is going to tell you that it’s not gossip if it’s true. A false prophet is going to tell you that it’s okay to cause strife if the person deserves it. A false prophet wants you to be comfortable practicing deeds of the flesh and is going to try to help you justify why it’s okay to keep doing it.

So, how can we tell the difference between a false prophet and a sibling in Christ who just needs correction? We look at the fruit. That’s where Galatians 5:22-23 come in:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Sanctification is a refining process as God prepares us for what He has set us apart to do for Him. Someone who just got saved may struggle with drunkenness, but you may also see in them that they are going out of their way to show love to those around them. That’s not a false prophet, that’s just a Christian struggling during their refining process. Rather than rebuke, they need help. A long-time Christian might still struggle with outbursts of anger, but you always see them apologize and you see them fight inwardly to control that behavior. Again, that’s not a false prophet, that’s a sibling in Christ who needs help, not rebuke.

It’s human nature to look for the wrong in others. It makes us feel better about our own flaws when we see those flaws or ones we perceive as worse in other people. But that’s the wrong way. Remember, we’re supposed to love others how Jesus loves us. That means seeing through their flaws, seeing the good in them, and helping them let that goodness out. So, I encourage you to look for fruits before you look at deeds.

Remember, Jesus tells us that bad trees can’t produce good fruit. Since they can’t, they try to disguise their bad fruit as good fruit. I gave a list of examples of things a false prophet might try already, but here’s a way you can test things: Does what you’re being told is okay to do go against a fruit of the Spirit? Let me show you how to do that.

• Sexual Immorality goes against self-control and it can go against love, faithfulness, and gentleness depending on the type of sexual immorality it is.
• Impurity and indecent behavior are both practicing things that you know to be wrong, that goes directly against faithfulness and goodness
• Idolatry and witchcraft go against what Jesus said was the first and greatest commandment, which means they go against our faithfulness to God
• Sowing strife, acting in jealousy, creating dissension, acting in envy, all of these go against joy, peace, goodness and kindness. Outbursts of anger go against those fruits as well but outbursts of anger also go against self-control, as does drunkenness.

As you can see, everything Paul describes as a “deed of the flesh” is in direct competition with one or more fruits of the Spirit. When we’re looking for false prophets, we’re not looking for those who are loudly and proudly wrong. We’re looking for those trying to convince others that the bad fruit is good fruit.

Jesus says that every tree that does not bear good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. Someone who claims to be in service to God but is only showing the fruits of the flesh is a false prophet. When you have suspicions someone might be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, first look for fruits of the Spirit. We’re all flawed and we all make mistakes, so those will be easy to find. Even good trees can be out of season. Look for fruits of the Spirit because a bad tree cannot bear them. Someone so comfortable in their deeds of the flesh that they explain them away as good things, however, is a bad tree.