Jesus warned us there would be false teachers and prophets. So, maybe it doesn’t come as a surprise when the news is riddled with the fall from grace of one preacher, or head of a ministry, or another. But, these are just the scandals on a grand scale. How do we avoid falling prey to the wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15)? The Bible offers us some wisdom (of course).
What is a false teacher vs a false prophet?
The quick answer is that a false teacher distorts the word of God, the Bible, to fit his narrative. A false teacher erroneously divines scripture. A false prophet, on the other hand, claims new inspiration, or a new message direct from God. They can also distort what is already written to support their “word from the Lord”. Prophets are defined as a person who has a direct message from God for a certain group, in a certain time, with a certain purpose.
If we look to scripture for examples, you can see that the prophet Jonah was given a direct message for the people of Nineveh to repent in order to avoid destruction. We can find the story of a false prophet named Balaam in Numbers 22. Balaam led a king to believe that he could curse Israel in exchange for payment. This message was not from the Lord, and God intervened through Balaam’s donkey!
We need look no further than the Pharisees of Jesus’ time for false teachers. In Matthew 16:11-12 Jesus tells the disciples, “‘But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ Then 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.” These religious leaders didn’t claim to have new inspired messages, but they distorted scripture for their benefit.
How do we identify false teachers or false prophets?
Doctrine Test
We should be students of God’s word, so that we can spot poor doctrine. 1 Timothy 6:3-5 says,
“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing” (ESV). Seems simple, right?
Given the vast number of denominations, and therefore interpretations of scripture, maybe this is not so simple. Some teachers are quite convincing in their falsehoods. They may have even deluded themselves in order to ease their conscience about their choices. Satan himself used
scripture against Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4)! The mixture of truth with error is what makes false teachers dangerous. Thankfully, Jesus knew the scriptures better, and could respond with additional verses that revealed the distortions. The principle here is that sound doctrine is derived from the entire Bible - not just cherry picked verses.
That being said, one of the principal doctrines with regards to discerning false teaching is found in 1 John,
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God (1 John 4:1–3).
This doctrine is often called “Justification By Faith.” Galatians 2:14–16 tells us, "We also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified" (emphasis supplied). Basically, if we have faith, or believe, that Jesus is our Savior then we accept the gracious gift of justification - of forgiveness of sins. The idea here is that if we could work our way to heaven then Jesus would not have had to die for us.
If someone denies that Jesus is Christ, the sinless “lamb that takes away the sins of the world,” (John 1:29) then they are denying the power of God to save us. If someone claims to believe in Jesus as our Savior, but has a “works” mindset vs a grace mindset then they are still denying God’s power. Yes, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26), but the work is from a heart filled with faith and love. Work without faith is meaningless self-righteousness. (See also Ephesians 2:8–9; Romans 5:1–2; Galatians 3:11–14.)
Again, it seems simple. But, is it this simple? Those disgraced preachers I mentioned before would have confessed that Jesus came in the flesh, and that we are under grace! But, do they practice what they preach?
Hypocrisy - The Life Test
In Matthew 23 Jesus told the people, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach” (v2-3). What does Jesus mean? He explains, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” (v23).
Here Jesus isn’t dismissing the command to tithe, but pointing out that while these teachers went through the motions of such laws they failed to uphold the principles that such laws supported! This would be the “spirit of the law” in addition to the “letter of the law.” We can gather from other stories in the gospels that these teachers followed the law very publicly (works) in order to establish their own righteousness and authority. They were able to enrich themselves by this manipulation. But, when it came time to bless others through their status and wealth they failed. Jesus also said to them:
You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.” (Matthew 15:7-9 NIV)
False teachers don’t just distort scripture to match their lifestyle (poor doctrine). Sometimes they just don’t live according to their words or convictions. It can be difficult to know if an online Christian influencer, or the pastor of a large church, is practicing what they preach. We don’t have enough access to assess the “real” person, just the carefully curated version. The Spirit promises to guide us (James 1:5). So, what else can we look for?
Their Fruit
“Watch out for false prophets [and teachers]. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them…Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:15-18.
Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 as love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It would be fair to say that no human being has exhibited all of these traits all of the time (Romans 3:23), so how does this help us? There are two things that I personally look for:
Overall pattern: Does their pattern of behavior reveal a heavenly trajectory? Are they growing in Christ, and changing for the better?
Humility: Do they humbly acknowledge mistakes instead of hiding from them?
In addition to looking for “good fruit” we can also look for “bad fruit.” Paul tells us in Timothy 6:3-5 some of the things to look out for:
puffed up with conceit
craving for controversy
quarrels about words
produces envy
produces dissension
they slander
evil suspicions
uses godliness is a means of gain
So, what might some of this look like in our teachers? Do they think so highly of themselves that they expect to be treated with special honor? Do they get angry when their doctrine is questioned? Do they say purposefully provocative things? Do they tag and aggressively confront other content creators? Do they insist on splitting semantic hairs to ensure they are seen as right? Do they seek to split or unify the body? Do they attack the character of others? Do they jump to negative conclusions about others? Do they assume questions are in bad faith? Are they exploiting their followers for gain? Is there a significant wealth gap between them and their followers?
Practically, this might look like an influencer that always calls others out in order to “stir the pot” for clicks and views. It might sound like someone that can’t let a rude comment go without an angry or sarcastic response. Maybe it's a pastor that responds to a good-faith question with sarcasm. It could be a lack of self-control exhibited in an excessive lifestyle or exploitation of others.
Remember that even false teachers and false prophets are right some of the time, maybe even most of the time. It is the mixture of truth with error that catches us off guard. Sometimes these teachers start off in good faith and “sell out” as they become successful.
Check Your Own Heart
The Bible tells us that false teachers are able to prevail upon us because they say what we want to hear. In 2 Timothy 4:3-5 Paul tells us, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” We are able to be deceived because we desire “the appearance of godliness”. We desire to avoid the conviction that would require change, so we deny the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Do you find yourself drawn to teachers that soothe your conscience? “By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive” (Romans 16:18 ESV). Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that the scripture calls for us to browbeat ourselves! Afterall, Jesus came to give us hope and the Good News of salvation “while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8). But, he came to save us from sin not so we could continue in sin.
Abiding with Jesus will lead to “pruning” and “fruit” (John 15). That means there should be evidence of change in your life! You can’t do that without conviction and the in-dwelling of the Spirit. God will meet you where you are at, but he doesn’t want you to stay there. Your desire should be to grow to be more and more like Christ, not feel better about where he found you. This battle with the “flesh” can only be won through genuine submission to the scripture.
Identifying a prophet or teacher as “false” can be summed up by two principles: The first is the teacher’s message. The second is the teacher’s life. Like the truth they claim to teach, good teachers should be able to stand up to this scrutiny with humility and grace.
On a personal level, we should “be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB). Knowing the scriptures, and seeking to know the God of the scriptures, will help us discern poor doctrine and keep our hearts in check so that we cannot be deceived.
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