“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 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 produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce 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.” (Matthew 7:15-20 NASB1995)

Who is a prophet? What does a prophet do? A prophet of God is a messenger of God who speaks God’s messages to the people. So, to prophesy is to preach, to proclaim the word of God in practical and biblical ways which can be applied to our daily lives. So this isn’t all about future telling, but this is about proclaiming the truths taught us in the Scriptures to the people of the world, and to the church, the body of believers in Christ, for our salvation from sin, our sanctification, and our eternal life with God.

Therefore, what is a false prophet? Well, a false prophet is not a true messenger of God, but a fake who does not speak truth to the people, but lies, and in order to lead them to what is false and to what is not of God, while pretending that what they are saying is of God. They are imposters who make an appearance of being followers of Jesus Christ but whose goal is to deceive the masses into believing their lies. So they specialize in the art of misimpressions, deliberately blending truth and lies together to deceive.

So, false prophets are not always going to be obvious to most people. For they will appear that they are one of us, and that they are followers of Christ, and they will be charming and persuasive and very convincing and believable. Most of them will be smooth talkers who know how to twist the truth in order to teach lies, but to make it look like what they are teaching is the truth. And many people will follow after them, because they will like what they are teaching, for it will appease and appeal to human flesh.

And, if truth be told, many who call themselves “ministers of the gospel” are false prophets who are preaching lies to the people, and people are being drawn to them because what they tell them makes them feel good, and so they think it is good. But just because it feels good it doesn’t mean it is good, and usually it means the opposite of good. For many are teaching that we can just “claim who you are in Christ” and that covers all premeditated, deliberate, and habitual sin. But does it? No! For what did Jesus teach?

Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

And what did the apostle Paul teach?

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

So, one of the main ways in which we know if someone is teaching the truth or not is by us being serious students of the Scriptures who study them in their correct biblical context and who test what we are hearing against the Scriptures taught in the appropriate biblical context. But this doesn’t mean that everyone who does not teach the truth is a false prophet. Many just learned the gospel wrong, and so they are passing on what they learned. So we must be careful to not misjudge and to not miscategorize people, either.

But in the same respect, we should not be too quick to give people a pass if these are people of notoriety, power, influence, and control who have an enormous influence over the people. We should definitely be testing what they are teaching against the Scriptures (in context), and we should also be listening and watching for indications of what kind of lifestyles they are living, and if that contradicts the Scriptures. And then we should pray much for spiritual discernment and the guidance of the Spirit into all truth.

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

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Beware of the False Prophets
An Original Work / January 19, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love