From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 3 of a series. Read part 2.

Why are we witnessing an epidemic of spiritual counterfeits within the church in our time? What must Christians do about it?

In recent times a long-standing phenomenon has received a new name: "fake news". The term describes websites that publish sensationalized hoaxes, false or misleading propaganda, and disinformation, and use social media to publicize themselves in order to increase their readership.

The teachings of all false religions and cults are a spiritual form of "fake news."  As we have seen, their teachings are founded upon counterfeit revelation. These alleged revelations come from the minds of men and women who are, as the Holy Spirit describes them in Colossians chapter 2, intruding into those things which they have not seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of sinful flesh, totally disconnected from the authority and revelation that is found in and through the Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, their problem at its core is not an issue of facts and evidences. Their problem is simply that they refuse to submit to the Word of God. It is not an intellectual problem. It is a spiritual problem.

Spiritual "Fake News" Takes Many Forms

The "fake news" of counterfeit revelation can take many forms. Some take the form of alleged visions. Others may be set down in some popular book. Others are put forward in the form of a scientific, economic, or social theory. Some come in the form of a pronouncement or declaration from a religious or philosophical group. Others come from the mouth of some man or woman standing behind a pulpit.

But in every case, these people and groups put forth counterfeit revelation instead of Scripture, or in addition to Scripture, or to supposedly "explain" Scripture in a way that no one else has ever understood Scripture before. They refuse to bow the knee to the unique and absolute authority of God and His Word.

Why Do We Have Today's Epidemic of Counterfeits?

Why do we have this epidemic of counterfeit revelation in the present day - not only out in the world, but also especially within Evangelical and Reformed churches? It is because people who identify themselves as Evangelical Christians have lost their grasp of this central fact: That the Bible alone is the Word of God, and that God's Word alone is our source of authority.

Sola Scriptura - Scripture Alone! That was the great rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation in the face of the "fake news" of Romanism. And so it must become the church's rallying cry once again if we are to stand against the tide of counterfeit revelation that Satan is trying to bring into the church today. It is a great irony that in supposedly "defending the faith" today, much of the church and even many of today's apologetics ministries have put Scripture over in the corner, and have instead trotted out an ever-broadening range of man-centered philosophies and methodologies, as though the Word of God were not enough.

Moving Targets vs. Immovable Truth

None of this criticism is to deny the fact that it is helpful to be able to answer people's objections to the truth. It is helpful to be able to answer specific points of counterfeit revelations. But you are only going to be able to do that if you answer with the truth - and you are only going to find the truth in one place, and that is the Word of God.

Christians must understand this: Merely answering people's objections to the truth, answering the "fake news" of counterfeit revelations, is not going to bring people to salvation. In fact, one thing we need to recognize is that counterfeit revelations are always moving targets, constantly changing. There will always be new elements to their false teachings. We can become consumed in dealing with moving targets instead of concentrating upon the immovable Word of God. It is the Word of God that we must declare, without hesitation or apology, to a lost and dying world. We must stand upon that firm foundation and no other.

Charles Spurgeon well said that the only thing that is new in theology is heresy. "The old truth" of Scripture alone, he said, "is the truth that I must preach today, or else be a liar to my conscience and to God. I cannot shape the truth." This has never been so evident as it is in our time, when the "fake news" of a new counterfeit revelation can begin in one local church today, and by next week or next month it can spread around the world via the Internet, radio, and television.

Next: The Nature of True Biblical Apologetics

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