Most of us are aware of Paul’s warning to Timothy about what will happen in the last days, “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times, some will turn away from the true faith” (I Timothy 4:1). We quote this verse with regularity but fail to realize what is behind this departure from the faith and what it is motivating this false teaching.

Paul told Timothy about these false teachers: “They will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead (vs. 1-2). A false teacher earns that label by following deceptive spirits whose messages have been tailored to invade their specific vulnerabilities. These deceiving spirits work in concert with their demonic masters.

Demonic teachings aren’t coming from people who wear dark robes, have horns, and openly celebrate evil. They come from people within the Church whose conscience has been so seared they no longer feel the corrective touch of God’s Spirit. Their conscience has become deadened to the impact of their teaching and from the threat of any future judgment for their actions.

Perhaps one of the concerns we should have regarding the current state of faith in the American Church is a lack of understanding that evil is actively at work in our world and within the Church, deceiving and leading people to abandon their faith in Christ. We reach that point over time as we continue to listen to and accept false teachings. By doing so, we will experience the same seared conscience as those who teach deception.

False teachings are accepted because the lie sounds reasonable to a natural mind but is in direct conflict with Scripture and the Spirit. When the final act of departure from the faith takes place, it is because a person’s conscience has become just as seared as the teachers they sit under.

Jesus issued a similar warning to His disciples just before He was arrested. After saying that the Lord would send the Spirit and they would not be alone in their faith, He added, “I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith. For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God” (John 16:1-2).

Those who reject the subject of demonically motivated teaching are the most vulnerable to accepting hell’s lies. Eventually, their deception will lead them to abandon the author of truth Himself, Jesus Christ. That is the ultimate goal of an unchallenged demonic influence within the Church.