The General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, has urged Christians to constantly seek the true gospel message of Jesus Christ in order to discern false doctrines.
“The best way to spot a counterfeit is to be familiar with the real thing; to identify the lie, we must know the truth,” he said.
Apostle Kumi-Larbi made this passionate appeal when he fellowshipped with members of the Santasi District, Kwadaso Area at the just-ended Area Apostolistation. He spoke on the sub-topic: “Be Ware Of (Shun) Unsound Doctrine“ as part of his series on: “Upholding Sound Doctrine.”
The General Secretary defined false doctrine as a teaching that opposes some fundamental truth or any teaching that refutes any biblical truth that is necessary for salvation.
He noted that teachings that erase the idea of hell and denies the truth about eternal damnation (Revelation 20:15; 2 Thessalonians 1:8), teachings that claim Jesus is not the only way to God but proposes that there are “many paths to God” (Jeremiah 12:17; John 3:15–18), as well as teachings that deny the deity of Jesus Christ, are all false because they directly contradict Jesus’ words.
The true gospel, he explained, is a simple message that underscores the need for every human being to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal saviour in order to be saved and escape eternal damnation.
“The basic gospel message is ‘I am a sinner, and if I die in my sins, I will go to Hell. However, God loves me and sent His Son, the Lord Jesus into the world. Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead. If I place my faith in Him, then I can and will be eternally saved,’” he said.
“When sound doctrine does not form the basis for one’s faith, the door is left wide opened for the pied pipers of false teachings to lure one away to ‘another faith’ and ‘another Jesus,” he said.
The General Secretary said that those who fall victim to such false teachings are believers who have no proper foundation in the Christian doctrine, and are easily swayed away by persuasions of false teachers because they are unable to discern the truth from falsehood.
Apostle Kumi-Larbi, therefore, called on Christians to commit to studying the word of God and to be firmly rooted in the Christian faith so that they do not fall prey to the antics of false teachers. He also advised them to be vigilant so as to distinguish between the truth and false doctrines.