Why spend time thinking about false teachers? Isn’t that a bit negative? Aren’t there more productive topics to consider?
Sometimes we give thought to topics that are not pleasant for our own protection. Schools perform tornado or intruder drills for children. New drivers sit through drivers’ education classes, which talk about accidents and adverse weather. Police take classes in criminology. There are times that call for thinking about dangerous circumstances and dangerous people, so that we are prepared when we encounter these evils.
False teachers are a real danger. They don’t only exist in the minds of suspicious, judgmental, and paranoid Christians. According to Scripture’s testimony, false teachers are a legitimate danger to every follower of Jesus. False teaching is not obvious and rare; it is hard to spot and rampant. It is often carried into churches by people disguised as genuine believers in Jesus and it comes from trusted church leadership.
Throughout the Bible, warnings against false teachers and false prophets abound—false teaching is one of the most common themes we encounter. God the Holy Spirit spent a great portion of Scripture preparing us for the unpleasant experience of encountering phony spiritual leadership and illegitimate “biblical” content. He did this to prepare us and to protect us—so we urge you to pay attention to what God’s Word says about false teachers.
Does the Old Testament Talk About False Teachers?
Early in the history of the Israelites, God gave his people a stern warning about false prophets:
If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, “Let us go after other gods,” which you have not known, “and let us serve them,” you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 13:1-3 ESV)
Interestingly, the presence of a false prophet in this case is seen as a test from God. Will his people continue to believe the clear commands he has already given them in his Word, or will they be lured away by false promises? So serious was this warning about false prophets that God commanded the Israelites to “put to death” false prophets, thus “you shall purge the evil among you” (v. 5). God takes it very seriously when people lie about what he says and misrepresent him to others.
The rest of the Old Testament deals more with specific, named false prophets than it does with general warnings about them. For example, we encounter Balaam (Numbers 22), Zedekiah (1 Kings 22), and Hananiah (Jeremiah 18). But the Old Testament does give us some general descriptions for false prophets. They are called liars (e.g., Jeremiah 14:14), drunkards (Isaiah 28:7), adulterous (e.g., Jeremiah 23:14), treacherous (Zephaniah 3:4), greedy (Jeremiah 6:13), and ungodly (Jeremiah 23:11). From the time that God began speaking to his people, false prophets arose to deceive God’s people.
Does the New Testament Talk About False Teachers?
When we come to the New Testament, the inevitable presence of false teachers in the church is such a grave matter that every writer of the New Testament, except James, has something to say about it.
In 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, and Titus, Paul has some strong warnings concerning false apostles and prophets. John in his first epistle and Peter in his second both warn against the inevitable presence of false teachers, and practically the entire letter of Jude deals with this issue. Jesus as well warned against false christs and false prophets in both the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25).
How to Recognize False Teachers
The Bible clearly warns that we will encounter false teachers and we need to be wary of them.
Whether it be content we consume on the internet or in church, we need discernment as we sift through teaching about God and the Bible. Thankfully God’s Spirit provides us with the gift of discernment through other believers that can help us think through specific situations (1 Corinthians 12:10)! And, God has provided ample discernment for us in the pages of Scripture. The Bible gives us guidelines for how to distinguish between truth and error, true teaching and false teaching, godly leaders and imposters. God has already spoken to us in the Bible—we need only listen and prayerfully navigate the teaching we receive by the light of the lamp of God’s Word.
We hope the resources on Bibles.net help you to do that!
The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3 ESV)
