"Protecting the sheep involves sling shots at wolves. We call that apologetics." Third hand Paraphrase of John MacArthur
We've forgotten that biblically, false teachers are not merely wrong on theology, a thought in their head.
They are also wrong on life also.
Go look at what Jesus and the epistles say about false teachers. The NT teaches false teachers have false humanistic teachings, gnostic ideas, that take peoples gaze away from Christ, and redirect it to something else. Then, AT THE SAME TIME, ALSO, characterized as also being people given over to fleshly passions and appetites, often sexually immoral, power seeking, love destruction and strife, want to win followings (not save people), and love money and recognition.
Notice their lies, depraved conduct...
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. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping." 2 Peter 2:1-3
This is always what was meant by "False Teacher".
It was never just her/his false doctrine, the false thoughts in his head, it was what comes out of their mouth and it included their evil, immoral, divisive, selfish, and unholy life that false teaching "always" resulted in, and which they wanted their "christians" to feel the freedom to indulge in this sensual "freedom" also.
They have a profound despising for Christ as traditionally understood, for his church, and for you into the word ones, if you don't entertain them. Try to correct them with the word, and watch the teeth come out. You will find out. They are ready for a fight, a dirty one too. They are not playing by holinesses rules. You'll see.
This is why we do not host false teachers in our home, as 2 John said, they will try to lead people in your community, your own children, your husband or wife, your church,.or a section of it into not just a false teaching, but unholiness, unholy practices. John made it clear, we don't want to be helping these perverse ones along.
Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home, and do not greet him; for the one who greets him shares in his evil works." 2 John 1:9-11
False teachers, are not a silly little disagreement, so shake hands, laugh it off, and go have coffee.
They ruin people's ability to see and know Christ, they destroy churches, and they are immoral, giggling in delight to influence you into the same weakend position.
A christian person can have a wrong belief.... she/he is mistaken, or deceived, or simply has never been taught, so they are unaware (though every belief will affect our behavior). They are not false teachers. They may be young, or simply still immature Christ followers, new converts who have not had many years reading or studying the word of God with good teachers. hey are still learners and listening.
However, the False Christian teachers are not listening and learning, they are speaking it out loud with her/his voice, in the hopes of converting others away from Christ or his Gospel, to a pervision, or distortion of it. This has intent to convert away, and to something else.
Encouraging people to consider anything else other than Christ and his revealed word, and to live a much different life than Christ exemplified. There is a desire to speak, lead, speak, and speak, and speak, win you over, and away from something, to another idea, an unholy evil way of living that follows the selfish human passions of the mind and flesh, human perversions. They applauded perversions, That is a False Teacher.
They "approve" or "applaud" perversion, Romans 1:32 (Greek word used below is applauded, approve, celebrate, enter in with, affirm, take up cause with) perversion. This passage is not specifically about false teachers but describing what living following our passions, not Christ, looks like.
And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die —they not only do them, but even APPLAUD (other translations have approve) others who practice them. Romans 1:28-32
Progressive false teachers are applauding a lot these days, even Romans 1:21-27 sins, go read them, and many are joining in with them. "It's wonderful, this stuff, we celebrate and pride in it."
Jesus said, "by their fruit you shall know them."
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? - Jesus - Matthew 7:15-16
False Teacher are quasi "christians" and they are among the sheep. They usually rise up from within a congregation as someone thinks they got "enlightened with some new mystical insight, and needs to help the rest of us "see" or they come into congregations from elsewhere, and they want to be heard, they demand to speak. They don't just sit silent, they speak a lot, want to lead others.
If one church doesn't, listen they move to another, and another until they do gain a hearing.... then they corrupt that whole congregation. Or it divides as they resist one another. No, not all church splits are over trivial matters, though most are over personalities, but I know many that have suffered from a false teacher who wants a fight to keep power, to keep their influence. They are willing to destroy a church to keep it, or to try an gain it. And they were as immoral in their personal lives (though many in the congregation didn't or don't know that) as they were in their false teaching. I'll spare you the real stories.
They are also spoken of as "unconverted", as never knowing or confessing their sin, and need for Christ's atonement. They seem to feel they have liberated themselves, and can lead others to donso for themselves also.
The message of Christ becomes secondary.
False teachers are an in family problem, people in the Church, hovering around churches, looking for opportunities to be heard, influence, take over, or gain a faction in a church.
"These are the things you are to teach and insist on. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain." 1 Tim 6:2-5
Let me add one final thing.
There are false teachers today. Always was, always will be.
But there is such a long history of shallow level of teaching today (few read any amounts of scripture. Few preachers exeget the text, and more alarming don't even know how) that most people wouldn't know a false teacher or false teaching when they hear it. So they assume anyone who challenges a new modern idea, or something said at church, is just being a Pharisee, or overly opinionated....
While the liberal Sadducee who questions cardinal teachings of scripture like the Sadducees did, are ruling the church of today.
We've gone from one evil to another.
It is so good that we have steered away from manmade rules and human invented traditions, to teach the word of God only as binding, not our cultural baggage.
But, it is not any better that we now deny revelation of scriptures, life after death, angels and real spiritual relms and evil powers and principalities, physical bodily resurrection, etc, as Sadducees did. Sadducees own many congregations.
Both are false teachers.
The cure? Read God's Word, a lot.
You will begin to see who's contradicting what. The Holy Spirit revealed the word, he works on the word to illuminate its truth to us, and he convicts of its truth, then he empowers us to follow it.
The Bible is not ink and paper, it's the Holy Spirits work of God. He is active and alive in the whole process of the word. That is why its different than reading other books that are just ink and paper.
There's never been a biblically illiterate Christian able to spot a false teacher. But more, they caint grasp the gravity of the situation caused in our community or church if she/he continues to speak it.
People are just kind, or not. Kind today means never contradicting, even with the word, even if it contradicts Christ.
Because decades.of compromise and not knowing the word, has lead us to think it just doesnt matter that much.
It's not about truth, is it?
I heard a false teacher in our churches once. He was a part-time minister. He spoke at a men's retreat and I knew where he got the teaching from. He was parroting it from a celebrity leader he though all us hick maritimer wouldn't know anything about, Rob Bell, an he was he was passing his sermon off as his own sermon.and study, without any acknowledging its real source. Ethically. not right. You ways acknowledge when you draw heavily off anothers material.
A bible college professor was there to hear it, and I was as horrified as I was.
I asked the professor what he thought and was discusted
I was later asked to speak at a Bible College chapel, and I used the teaching that preacher man gave as an illustration. Not by name, I addressed the idea, not the person. Though anyone to the former event would know.
It was the only time I confronted the teaching of another minister in My life. He was wrong, very wrong.
And a lot of the men heard my sermon, and my illustration, and were there to hear the preachet (didn't hear it actually) and said, "I didn't see it!", as if I was too critical. Many of those men asked the Bible professors to weigh in and they affirmed that that is exactly what was taught, and it was wrong. But they missed it, went right over their head.
Both that preacher, and Rob Bell are universalists today almost fifteen years later.
It surprise many church leaders, but no me, or the college professors.
It was the logical outcome.
A False Gospel, leads to a failed Christian faith.
