The New Testament is clear that “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” are sure to make their way into our Christian fellowships from time to time. This disheartening truth is affirmed in many NT passages, which include the words of Christ Himself; “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matt. 7:15, NIV). We see this motif of false prophets and infiltrators play out throughout the entirety of the NT. Both Jesus and his forerunner John the Baptist, identified the religious leaders they were at odds with as a, “brood of vipers” (Matt. 3:7; 12:34), and “hypocrites,” who sought to deceive and abuse the people of God (Matt. 23:13-26). In his farewell to the elders at Ephesus, Paul warned, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock” (Ac. 20:29). The book of Jude, was written by one who had seen the infiltration of wolves already taking place within the local congregations he oversaw (Jude 3-16). Needless to say, this a truth/reality that believers need to come to terms with, though doing such may take us out of our comfort zone. There will indeed be times when Satan will use people to infiltrate local congregations of believers to sow discord, and ultimately lead others astray spiritually. It is thus fitting that such men are particularly labeled in the Scriptures as being, “ministers,” of the devil (2 Cor. 11:15).
But how can these “ministers” of Satan be properly spotted and called out? Should we even bother trying to search in our midst for those who are perhaps not who they say they are? Isn’t that God’s territory not ours?
Jesus certainly taught against developing a judgmental attitude, and carrying such with you in all your dealings and interactions with fellow Christians (Matt. 7:1-3). When Christ said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matt. 7:1), He meant it, but the question then should be— what exactly did He mean? Jesus’ words are not meant to forbid all and every form of judging known to our senses. Caution and discernment are indeed shades of judgement that Christians should be strapped with on all occasions. Instead, His instruction here is that we reject a mindset that Carson calls, “censorious,” i.e.- being quick to make strong judgments, and having a hyper critical and faultfinding outlook on most you come in contact with (Carson, 2008, 219). Those who have such a thought process are unknowingly seeking to usurp the place of God, in their hypercritical attitude that stems from an arrogant heart. God indeed makes it a priority to judge people, but only He has the proper authority in this.
We know that Jesus did not restrict every literal form of judging in Matt. 7:1-3, because this passage itself is found within the Sermon On The Mount, where Christ actually mandates in multiple areas of this discourse the need for believers to make strong judgements on things, including certain people. Indeed just a few paragraphs later in Matt. 7, Jesus gives His admonition on false prophets (7:15-20), and pleads for His followers to utilize right judgement in order to properly identify them. And that brings us to the subject of—- HOW do we recognize those whom the Scriptures deem as ravenous wolves. The Scriptures do not paint this as an easy task; for they will come to us in, “sheep’s,” clothing and thus Satan’s ministers first will give off the appearance of being, “ministers of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:15).
I think we have all been in a situation where we met someone who at first seemed to be solid in their behavior, words, and overall demeanor— albeit there may have been something that still appeared slightly off about them. Overtime however— perhaps very quickly— yellow flags begin to appear and reappear with this person’s character and behavior. You are torn though, since in many instances they still seem right on, and upstanding. The type of picture I’m painting, is something that many of us can relate to when it comes to people who might make their way into our social and personal setting. But it is also similar to what happens so often in many church fellowships. It might be someone who has maneuvered their way into becoming a small group leader. It could be a church secretary, a deacon, an elder perhaps, or even a senior pastor. On the one hand this church member appears very trustworthy and respectable on many if not most occasions. Still, there are little details that are irking you and other people who have noticed them. Perhaps it is little side points they make in their sermons or Bible teaching which seem off even if by such a slight margin. Maybe it is the little verbal jabs that you have witnessed them make towards people (or you) in the church during face to face communication. Perhaps it is what you perceive as a lack of confidentiality; they seem to be very liberal about sharing private information about someone with other church members.
These hypotheticals that I have included above, are meant to illustrate how deciphering between sincere believers and wolves in sheep’s clothing is indeed a difficult task. The last place many of us want to find ourselves in, is making an incorrect judgment about a fellow believer, and in turn be guilty of breaking the ninth commandment (Ex. 20:16). Often overlapping with this, is the fear that questioning the motives and heart of a particular church member may be met with ridicule and opposition from other churchgoers who are fond of that particular person. Accordingly, many Christians instead of digging deeper when noticing things that are off, turn their head not even wanting to go down the road of questioning what type of spirit is behind a person who has rose to prominence in the local church. Let us just admit it— the easier more stress free option is the latter one. But easier it may be, it is not God’s will for those of us whom He has girded with His weapons of warfare (2 Cor. 10:4-6; Eph. 6:10-20).
The Scriptures state that it is our duty to identify the type of spirit that is behind a person. 1 John 4:1 reads, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Here John repeats the warning that we see prevalent throughout the NT— the danger of false prophets coming into our midst. What is also provided by the apostle is an instruction in how believers should respond to this ever present danger. The “spirits” that make their way into our church circles must be tested. I Howard Marshall writes, “The reality of demonic spirits was not questioned, as the various stories of exorcisms in the Gospels and Acts indicate. Christians, however, needed to be reminded that demonic activity could penetrate their churches… The word ‘spirit’ here must mean either ‘utterance inspired by a spirit’ or ‘person inspired by a spirit’” (Marshall, 1978). What Marshall articulates here in this brief excerpt of his, is pertinent to our discussion. The need to remind believers of the reality of demonic infiltration is not limited to the 1st and 2nd century church. Indeed, while most believers in our modern day fellowships would affirm their belief in demons, many still fail to view the dynamics of church ministry through the lens of the spiritual realm. “Let’s not look for a demon under every bush,” is a saying that no doubt might evoke some validity— yet overused it can become if we are not careful. The Scriptures affirm over and over the reality of dark spiritual forces, and how Christians have been armed by God to fight against them.
And thus we arrive at the blueprint provided in Scripture, for how Christians can better distinguish the wolves, from the genuine— how we can better identify those being driven by the Spirit of God, from those being guided by the spirit of antichrist (1 Jn. 4:3). How do we effectively test the spirits? The answer is simply this: their words, and conduct must be closely scrutinized by the contents of God’s Word. Two statements spread out from each other, are made by John regarding evaluating a potential wolf in sheep’s clothing. The first is that they must acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (4:2). His second statement builds off of the first, but broadens the scope of it— “whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood” (4:6). Here, John makes clear that those who are truly genuine in their faith, will abide by all that John has laid forth in his epistle— not just a verbal doctrinal acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord. This encompasses all the instruction written in his letter from upright living (1:5-6), to refusal of compromise with the world (2:15-17), to having a loving heart towards fellow believers (2:3-11; 3:11-18). John’s litmus test for determining whether or not someone’s a wolf, is evaluating whether or not they follow all he has presented for right Christian living. That is what is was trying to communicate to his readers in 4:6, and this principle certainly extends to our modern day church life. Is the person you are leary of, one who abides by the principles laid forth in 1 John? Are they showing love towards fellow believers without compromise or hesitancy? Do they affirm the core doctrines of the Christian faith such as the deity of Christ, and His coming in the flesh? Are they living in constant habitual sin without any qualms about it (1 Jn. 2:4; 3:6-10)? And when confronted by other church leaders with such biblical admonitions, do they take it well, or do they get defensive, or try to find a way out of the conversation? All this should be a strong incentive for us to deeply study First John, and memorize its contents.
But the principle extends far beyond just the epistles of John. The entire counsel of God to be sure, is what the believer should have engrained upon his heart and mind, in order to discern a true spirit from a false one. Such is why Paul admonishes believers to equip themselves with truth (Eph. 6:14) as a very real spiritual weapon in order to stand against the evil forces of the spirit realm. So while may not be easy at first to detect wolves in sheep’s clothing, the more one is well versed in God’s truth, the better they will be at making determinations concerning the type of spirit driving a person. Oh how this speaks to the importance of filling church leadership positions with men and women who are educated and well versed in the Scriptures! Not everyone will be led by God to seminary, or Bible school, but all who intend to be in a position of leading a body of believers, should be studying to show themselves, “as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Pastors, elders, and deacons, who have God’s Word firmly written upon their hearts, will naturally have a stronger ability to spot the wolves in the midst of the sheep. The same goes for any layperson and or genuine believer who meditates upon God’s truth day and night.
Bibliography
Carson, D.A. Matthew: Second Edition. Tremper Longmann III and David E. Garland (eds). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2008.
Marshall, I Howard. The Epistles Of John. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1978.
Recent Comments