The Trouble with the Perfect Church

False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.

2 Peter 2:1

There are no ifs, ands, or buts here. It’s a clear and definite statement. There were false prophets among the people (of Israel in the Old Testament). That’s a matter of history.

False prophets were a constant problem in the Old Testament, and those who falsely claimed to be prophets of God were to be stoned. The people rarely had the will to deal with them, and so they multiplied, causing disaster to the spiritual life of God’s people.

In the same way Peter says, “There will be false teachers among you” (2:1). Notice the words “among you.” Peter is writing to the church and he says, “There will be false prophets among you.” So, he is not talking about new-age people on television. He is talking about people in the local church, members of a local congregation.

This is telling us that there is no such thing as a pure church this side of heaven. You will never find one. The wheat and the tares grow together. Warren Wiersbe writes in his book, Be Alert: “Satan is the great counterfeiter…[He] has a false gospel (Gal. 1:6-9), preached by false ministers (2 Cor. 11:13-15), producing false Christians (2 Cor. 11:26)…Satan plants his counterfeits wherever God plants true believers” (Mat. 13:38).

What difference could knowing this make to your life?