What do you think? Do you honestly believe that everyone who claims to be a true prophet of God is a genuine prophet?

How about Mohammed, the founder of Islam? He claimed to be a true prophet of God. He claimed to have received a vision and, as a result, wrote the Koran, the “bible” of Islam. And if ‘success’ is to be our standard of rule, he has millions of followers. Is that proof that he is a true prophet of God?

What about the Rev. Moon, the founder of the Unification Church. He claims to have received a vision at the age of 16 when God called him to be a prophet and today there are “Moonies” on almost every continent. What about Confucius, Buda, or Ellen G. White? Do you believe that all such persons are true prophets of God? Satan has quite successfully tired people of religion by the sheer numbers of false prophets out there and the differences that can be found in their messages.

You and I may not be familiar with all of these men and women but that is beside the point. Can everyone who claims to be a prophet, be a prophet (even though they are followed by many, many people)?

So what is the criteria today for being a prophet, since it must be more than just claiming to be one? When it comes to the Bible, it is not what a person claims about himself, but what he teaches about God that proves he is from God. “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8-9)

God is clear that many false prophets are going to rise up in the last days and deceive many (Matt 24:11, 24). We are seeing just the beginning of that in our life time. The point is not so much that somebody’s favorite prophet is the next guys Antichrist, so much as it is that God meant what He said when he declared, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

And so to teach that you believe in grace and faith but only after you’ve done all you can do or that works have even an ever-so-small-part in salvation is the real problem when it comes to false teaching.

We have been given the Bible in order to be able to identify the true from the false. Based upon that standard and what we have done with it, we will stand and give an account – all by ourselves – before a thrice holy God.