After Jesus ascended and His church started to spread, His words proved true and His apostles were warning His people to be on their guard:"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." -- Matt 7:15
"22For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect--if that were possible. 23So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time." -- Mark 13:22-23
" 28Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.[1] Be shepherds of the church of God,[2] which he bought with his own blood. 29I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears." -- Acts 20:28-31
"But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves." -- 2 Peter 2:1
"18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." -- 1 John 2:18-19
The warnings from Jesus and His apostles bring two questions to mind: 1) how will we recognize false teacher? and 2) what are the 'destructive heresies' that will be introduced?
The first way we can recognize false teachers is by their denial of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. They will deny His divinity, His coming in the flesh, or His power to save. We can see examples of this in John's letters: 22Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." -- 1 John 2:22-23 "But there were They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves." -- 2 Peter 2:1 The second way is not by what they do, but rather what they do not do: show love to God's people. God is love. One cannot have God and not have love (1 John 4:7-21). The passage is too long to quote in its entirety so I will only post two parts, but I encourage you to read the entire passage. "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (v8) and " 20If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." (v 20-22)
Later in his first letter, John tells us to 'test the spirits':
" 1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." -- 1 John 4:1-3
Going back to the verse in 2 Peter we can see the same thing:
False Teachers will be recognized by their failure to acknowlegde Jesus, both in what they teach and in how they live. Jesus will not be their focus, they will even try to lure people away from Him. However, if we keep Jesus as our focus and test the spirits, we can see through their facade.
In addition, Jesus tells us:
33"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." -- Mat 12:33-37
A false teacher may pretend to have love (2 Cor 11:15), but he will actually treat God's people with contempt and scorn. It may not be visible at first, but that is why we need to be watchful. Now, no single person is loving every moment of his or her life, but false teachers will not be able to show love. Even if they put up a good facade for a while, eventually their true colors will show (2 Tim 3:9).
Not only do Jesus and His apostles tell us how to recognize false teachers but they tell us what they will do. They tell us what some false doctrines will be. They warn us to beware of certain teachings:
5When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."There are three specific teachings that I would like to focus on, because I believe they are the most blatant, both in the apostles' day and ours. The first is that Godliness is a means to financial gain, the so called Prosperity Preaching. People take parts of the Gospel out of context and claim that godliness is a means to prosperity. However, Paul show's us this is false:
7They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread."
8Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 12Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
" 3If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain .... 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." -- 1 Timothy 6:3-5, 9-10Jesus Himself tells us:
""Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." -- Luke 12:15
Godliness is no means to financial gain. We should not make the strive for wealth our main focus in this world, but rather, "godliness with contentment is great gain." (1 Tim 6:6)
The second example is that of salvation by works. In the first century church, there was a group who claimed you were made righteous by what you did, not by the blood of Jesus. Today many preach the same. Paul comes down hard on the Galatians for accepting this teaching:No, the way of Salvation is clearly through Jesus Christ and no other:" 1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?" -- Galatians 3:1-5
"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" -- Galatians 2:21
The way to be saved is through Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone. Our works cannot, in any way, save us."I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved." -- John 10:9
" 9If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11He is
" 'the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the capstone. 12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." -- Acts 4:9-12
In addition to teaching things you cannot do, false teachers will forbid what God Himself has called Holy and good:
1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.What does God say about these things?
We can see that God created the institution of Marriage, yet some will forbid that which God Himself created. Also, with the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are no longer bound by the law, so "clean" and "unclean" do not apply to us. God has made all things clean." 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
" 10He [Peter] became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."
23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman',
for she was taken out of man."
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." -- Genesis 2:21-24
14"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."
15The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
16This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven." -- Acts 10:10-16