Spiritual Scammers
- Katy Collins
- Dec 8
- 2 min read
How to Detect Spiritual Scammers!
To detect who is spiritually scamming (deceiving) you, you need to know the
truth. In my book, Exposing Deception: Biblical Discernment and the Battle for Truth,
discernment begins with knowing and obeying God’s Word.
In the book of Psalms chapter 1, verses 1 - 2, the author lays down two simple
principles. They are keys to being blessed (happy and at peace in life), and they lay the foundation for discovering truth and instilling discernment. Discernment is being able to see the red flags and having the wisdom to know what to do.
"Blessed is the [person]
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night."
The first thing the psalmist says is that you need to avoid fellowship with those who are wicked, sinners, and scoffers. In the ESV Study Bible footnotes, it says, “These are people, even within Israel, who refuse to live by the covenant; the godly person refuses to follow the
moral orientation of such people’s lifestyle.” Today, this would include people in the
church who refuse to live according to God’s Word. The words wicked, sinners, and
scoffers don’t refer to only those who commit heinous crimes, it also refers to those
who don’t believe in or obey God’s Word in a lived out way.
The second principle is to delight in the law of the Lord (Word of God), and to
meditate on God’s Word, day and night. Those who are God’s children love God’s Word- the Bible- so much that they spend time reading, meditating on, and obeying it. Ps. 119 is the longest Psalm, and the longest chapter in the Bible, and contains 176 verses. In these verses we find 254 references to God’s laws, testimonies, ways, precepts, statues, commandments, rules, word, and truth. The theme of Psalm 119 (and the point of the first two verses of Psalm 1) is to know and love God by knowing and loving His Word above anything else.
If we want to avoid being spiritually scammed by false teachers, false prophets,
and false pastors, we must avoid fellowshipping with and listening to those who believe,
teach, and live contrary to what the Bible, the written Word of God, says.
I would like to conclude by asking you to read 1 John 3:4-10. Read it
meditatively. Let John’s word sink deep into your heart and mind. John concludes this
section in verse 10 by saying, “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who
are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God…” What are your thoughts on what John said? Are you able to discern a Spiritual Scammer? Are you one?
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