“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Matthew 7:15

God warns us to beware of false prophets. In this verse we see that false prophets manifest themselves two ways. They manifest themselves as sheep by appearing outwardly in sheep’s clothing. The point is we cannot tell whether these false prophets are true or false by outward appearance. God warns us repeatedly not to judge others by their outward appearance as to clothing, but here the manifestation goes a little deeper. Their outward actions make them appear to be sheep. 

The second way that they manifest themselves is inwardly. There is no way that we can judge a person’s inward thoughts, motives, faithfulness, or spirituality, so God says that we must judge false prophets by their “fruit.” Their fruit is their message. We are to judge them by the words that they say. We must judge them by their doctrinal message and not by their ministry.

There are things God warns us not to judge according to verses 22-25. First, they will focus on the Lordship of Christ. This is a heresy called “lordship salvation.” There is one word used in the New Testament that is translated for “master” and the same word can refer to deity. ”In the Old Testament these two concepts are clearly taught to be separate and distinct. But in the New Testament these two thoughts must be carefully distinguished by the context. To be saved, you must believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. You must believe that He is God the father that became flesh to die and pay for our sin, but to make Jesus lord and master of your life is a heretical form of works for salvation. This false doctrine denies and belittles the work of Christ making man’s response to follow Christ more important than the work of Jesus.

Other outward works of the false prophets include casting out demons, prophesying in the name of Jesus, and doing many wonderful works. Some will deny the deity of Christ. While others deny the sufficiency of the work of Christ.

So, how can you tell whether a preacher is a false prophet or not? We must listen carefully to what they say about salvation. If they add any form of human effort or response other than faith alone in Christ alone, or if they avoid the plan of salvation altogether, then they are probably a false prophet.