What does First B Jackson teach about false teachers?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First Baptist Jackson, the teaching on false teachers begins with a firm foundation: scripture is completely reliable, it means what it means, and no one gets to bend it to fit their life or their preferences. The warning Peter gives in 2 Peter 2 and the warning Jesus gives in Mark 13 both assume that false teachers are not a distant or theoretical problem. They show up quietly, often from within the community itself, and they traffic in words that sound good while pointing people away from holiness and toward themselves.
Several messages have worked through what false teachers actually look like in practice. Pastor Carl described them as people who go beyond what scripture says, speaking about spiritual things with a boldness that even angels do not model, and Pastor Greg pointed out that the most comfortable heresy in the culture right now is the belief that sincerity is what matters, not content. Peter calls these teachers springs without water: you travel weary and thirsty toward what looks like a source of life, and there is nothing there. The damage they do is not just theological. When someone is being drawn out of a besetting sin and a false teacher convinces them that sin was never a problem, that person ends up worse off than before. The false gospel inoculates against the real one.
For people trying to spot false teaching, Pastor Carl offered a set of practical questions in his Mark 13 message: Have the teacher's predictions actually come true, or do they keep revising them? Does the teaching lean on one isolated passage while ignoring the whole of scripture? Does it contradict what the Bible says about God? Do the practices point to the teacher or to Jesus? The answer the whole series through 2 Peter keeps returning to is that the safeguard is not suspicion but rootedness. Peter's purpose in writing, as Pastor Ray noted more than once, is not to crush believers but to stimulate wholesome thinking in people he loves, keeping them centered on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ as the cornerstone.
Taught from 2 Peter 2:1-3 · 2 Peter 2:10-22 · Mark 13:1-37 · 2 Peter 1:20-21 · 2 Peter 3:1-2
The passage taught · Hebrews 10:23
23 let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- July 4, 2023 Remain Watchful and Prepared for His Return Pastor Carl walks through Mark 13, where Jesus warns His followers about false teachers, persecution, and His return, urging them to stay watchful and prepared.
- June 2, 2019 Y'all or a They Peter warns about false teachers who promise freedom but deliver slavery, while God's patience invites everyone to repentance before judgment comes.
- June 2, 2019 Patient With You Peter warns of false teachers who entice believers away from the gospel, while reminding us that God's patience is not slowness but mercy, calling everyone to repentance.
- May 26, 2019 Springs Without Water Peter warns about false teachers who promise freedom but lead people astray. Pastor explores Balaam's error and what it means to stay grounded in Scripture.
- May 26, 2019 Springs Without Water Pastor Ray works through 2 Peter 2, warning about false teachers who twist Scripture, promise freedom while enslaved to sin, and lead unstable believers astray.
- May 19, 2019 Your Path Is a Reckless One The pastor walks through the story of Balaam in Numbers 22-24, showing how greed and persistence against God's clear "no" led to devastating consequences for God's people.
- May 5, 2019 Light Shining in a Dark Place The pastor walks through 2 Peter 1-2, warning against false teaching and the popular idea that sincerity matters more than what you actually believe.
- May 5, 2019 Light Shining in a Dark Place Peter warns that false teachers distort God's reliable Word for personal gain. A study of 2 Peter 2 on judgment, rescue, and staying grounded in Scripture.
Mentioned along the way
- June 16, 2019 Grow in Grace and Knowledge Peter closes his letter with a call to grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, while watching for false teaching and trusting God's patience as an invitation to salvation.
- June 16, 2019 Grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Christ Pastor Ray closes out 2 Peter with a call to grow in grace, stay grounded in Scripture, and resist false teaching as we await Christ's return.
- February 24, 2019 Preach the Word: In Season and Out of Season Pastor Nathan preaches 2 Timothy 4:1-8, calling the church to proclaim God's Word faithfully in every season, with patience, courage and hope in Christ's return.
- July 1, 2018 Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You Pastor Aaron wraps up 1 Timothy and opens Titus, tracing the real history behind Paul's letters and what it means to guard the gospel entrusted to us.
- May 20, 2018 Seared Consciences and Deceitful Spirits A Wyoming pastor walks through 1 Timothy 4:1-5, warning against false teaching, seared consciences, and the pull of deceitful spirits in the latter days.
- May 20, 2018 A Pure Heart, a Good Conscience, a Sincere Faith A look at 1 Timothy on truth, sincere faith, and how the church is called to behave as the household of God, with an update on local children's and youth ministry.
- March 4, 2018 The Aim of Our Charge Is Love Paul's letter to Timothy warns against false teaching and calls believers to love from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. All sinners welcome.
- March 4, 2018 The Aim of Our Charge Is Love Pastor Ray walks through 1 Timothy 1:3-20, tracing Paul's warning against false teaching and his own testimony as the foremost sinner saved by God's grace.
- February 25, 2018 The Aim of Our Charge Is Love Paul's letter to Timothy opens with a simple charge: love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. A study of 1 Timothy 1:1-7.
- January 3, 2016 One Last Loving Defense Paul closes 2 Corinthians with a parental warning, a call to self-examination, and a benediction grounding Christians in God's faithfulness and restorative love.
- January 3, 2016 One Last Loving Defense Paul closes 2 Corinthians with a loving but firm warning, calling the church to self-examination, repentance, and trust in God's power to restore.
- April 12, 2015 When It Pleased God Paul's autobiography in Galatians shows how God's grace transformed a zealous persecutor into an apostle, and why the gospel needs no additions or subtractions.