The following is a partial list of red flags
to look for in false teachers, though not every false teacher
posesses all these characteristics.
SUMMARY OF HALLMARKS:
PREACHING "A DIFFERENT GOSPEL"
PREACHING "ANOTHER JESUS"
ADDING TO SCRIPTURE AND TWISTING SCRIPTURE
OVER-DEPENDENCE ON INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS + NOT ENOUGH DEPENDENCE
ON GOD
DIVISIVE OVER "FOOLISH DISPUTES"
ESOTERIC DOCTRINE & "SELF-IMPOSED RELIGION"
OVEREMPHASIS ON PERFORMANCE INSTEAD OF RELATIONSHIP WITH
GOD
OVEREMPHASIS ON MATERIAL THINGS
1. PREACHING "A DIFFERENT
GOSPEL"
Galatians 1:6-8: "I marvel that you are turning away
so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ,
to a different gospel, which is not another;
but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert
the gospel of Christ." (Galatians
1:6-8)
one version of "a different gospel: salvation
based on our good works... contradicts Scripture:
"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to
those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore
by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified
in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God apart from the
law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and
the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through
faith in Jesus Christ. Where is boasting then?
It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law
of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified
by faith apart from the deeds of the law."
(Romans 3:19-28)
another version of "a different gospel":
salvation based on grace so good works don't matter... contradicts
Scripture: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! ..." (Romans
6:1-2) "For certain men have crept in unnoticed,
who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly
men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness
and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."
(Jude 4)
2.
PREACHING "ANOTHER JESUS":
2 Corinthians 11:2-4: "But
I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his
craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another
Jesus..."
2 Peter 3:16: "...untaught
and unstable people twist [Scripture] to their own
destruction, as they do also the rest of Scriptures."
even Satan twisted Scripture out of context
in order to try and tempt Jesus; Jesus debunked Satan's
lie by saying "It is written..." and properly
quoting Scripture. (Matthew 4:1-11)
we need to follow the example of the Bereans and
"search the Scriptures daily" to make
sure what teachers are teaching lines up with Scripture.
(Acts 17:11)
4.
OVER-DEPENDENCE ON INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS + NOT ENOUGH DEPENDENCE
ON GOD:
the apostle Paul warned, "Also from among yourselves
men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw
away the disciples after themselves. Therefore
watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease
to warn everyone night and day with tears.
(Acts 20:30-31)
1 Corinthians 3:5-8: "Who
then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through
whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted,
Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then
neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but
God who gives the increase."
1 Corinthians 1:11-17: "For
it has been declared to me concerning you... that there
are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of
you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos,
or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ.
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you
baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized
none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should
say that I had baptized in my own name. ... For Christ did
not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel..."
1 Corinthians 2:1-5: "And
I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence
of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of
God. For I determined not to know anything among you except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified.... And my speech and my
preaching were not with persuasive words of human
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and
of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of
men but in the power of God.
5.
DIVISIVE OVER "FOOLISH DISPUTES":
Titus 3:9-11: "But
avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings
about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.
Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition,
knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being
self-condemned."
1 Timothy 6:4: "...obsessed
with disputes and arguments over words..."
2 Timothy 2:22-24: "But
avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate
strife."
6.
ESOTERIC DOCTRINE & "SELF-IMPOSED RELIGION":
Colossians 2:8: "Beware
lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit..."
Colossians 2:18: "Let
no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false
humility and worship of angels, intruding into those
things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly
mind... the commandments and doctrines
of men? These things indeed have an appearance
of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false
humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against
the indulgence of the flesh."
2 Corinthians 11:3: "But
I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his
craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted fromthe simplicity that is in Christ."
7.
OVEREMPHASIS ON PERFORMANCE INSTEAD OF RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD:
Romans 8:15-16: "For
you did not receive the spirit of bondage again
to fear, but you received the Spirit of
adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father."
Galatians 3:3: "Are
you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now
being made perfect by the flesh?"
Romans 8:13: "For if
you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by
the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live."
8.
OVEREMPHASIS ON MATERIAL THINGS :
1 Timothy 6:6-10: "Now
godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought
nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with
these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire
to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many
foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction
and perdition. For the love of money is a root of
all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed
from the faith in their greediness..."
Colossians 3:1-4: "If
then you were raised with Christ, seek those things
which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the
right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on
things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden
with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears,
then you also will appear with Him in glory."
Overemphasis of earthly treasures robs us of enjoying
spiritual treasures!
