Counterfeit Christianity 2 Peter 2:1-22 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 Practical Tips for Recognizing Counterfeits. 1. Develop an appetite to further deepen your doctrinal discernment. “For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:13-14). 2. Don’t be deceived by “niceness.” Remember, there are lots of nice heretics. 
 3. Avoid being duped by false teachers’ empty promises of moral freedom. Such teachers frequently appeal to our fleshly desires and often have a distorted view of grace.
 4. Realize that false teachers may be hard to detect at first glance. That’s why Jesus called them “wolves in sheep clothing.” 
 5. Refuse to downplay the important role apologetics plays in defending the truth against false teachers by minimizing truth at the expense of grace. 
 6. Be leery of teachers who add or takeaway from God’s sacred Scripture.
 7. Understand false teachers come with an agenda and are often manipulative and power-hungry leaders. 
 8. Distance yourself from teachers who overly obsess on money and are committed to greed at the churches expense. 
 9. Remember, there is a difference between holding false beliefs and being a false teacher. All false teachers hold false beliefs, but genuine believers are willing to adjust such beliefs to Scripture.