I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 2 Corinthians 11:1-4

The history of false teaching goes back 2000 years. It’s not new to our society, and the manner of the teaching changes with each generation. The bottom line, though, is that false teachers are a different spirit.

I was in a meeting to be trained as a prison counselor. As one man spoke, what he was saying almost made sense but there was just something askew with his teaching. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I was new enough in the faith to think that maybe it wasn’t such a bad teaching after all. I waited for someone else to speak up since most were strong, spirit-filled Believers. One man did stand up to question something that was said. And as spoke all attention in the room turned toward him. Then I noticed the main speaker was edging towards the exit. He was leaving because he didn’t want the confrontation! What I had perceived in my spirit was right after all! I may not have been able to identify the error in the teaching, but the spirit behind it was bad.

Praise the Lord that the Spirit of God still guides us into truth.