2 John 7 KJV
[7] “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”
John uses the word “deceivers” twice in this verse. The word is planos, and it is a word suggesting “imposters”. These were men who denied the incarnation of Jesus Christ. John even goes so far as to call them “antichrist.” As deceivers they became the enemy of men, and as antichrist they became the enemy of God.
We know that these imposters still exist today. There are false teachers, and preachers, that deny that Jesus was God in the flesh. They reject the fact that Jesus is more than a man. They refuse to believe that he is the God man. These imposters are easy for us to spot today, and are not a temptation to follow for most readers.
However, there are many imposters today in our ranks that we must be cautious about. What we need to be reminded of is not to allow the charisma and personality of imposters to persuade us from the truth. We see many fall prey to heretical teachings and doctrines today, because they look good or sound good. We should view what others say in light of what the scripture teaches.
Do not make the mistake of thinking you are past the point of being deceived. I once had a dear friend who preached the truth of God’s Word, with power and authority. He stood in my pulpit and preached sermons that helped our church, and greatly influenced my Christian life. I do not believe he was a false prophet, or a false teacher. However, he was deceived, and no longer believes many of the things he once preached and stood for. What happened? Perhaps he reached the point of thinking he could not be deceived. We must always be clinging to the truth of God’s Word. “Buy the truth and sell it not”, is what the Book says. Watch out for imposters!