Identifying False Teachers & Teaching: Part 3
We are on to the next 3 items in the list of traits that the Bible teaches us to identify false teachers and false teaching.
4. They Produce Bad Fruit (Division, Destruction, Sensuality, Idolatry) (Matt 7:15-20; Rom 16:17-18; 2 Peter 2:1-2; 17-18)
If a plant produces grapes, you don't say it is a peach tree. If the fruit that grows from a tree is inedible, the fruit itself may not be the problem. It may well be the plant that the fruit comes from. The point Jesus was making is that we will be able to identify false teachers and false teaching by the fruit they produce. Good fruit comes from good trees. Bad fruit comes from bad trees (Matt 7:15-20).
The passages we referenced from Deuteronomy highlight the fruit of a false prophet's works and words. Do they lead people to worship the Lord or idols? (Deut 13:1-5)
Paul later warns of the fruit produced by false teachers and teaching in the letter to the Romans. He warned against people who teach doctrines contrary to his. He doesn't name the doctrines, but he calls out the creation of division or putting obstacles in front of people (Rom 16:17-18). In Peter's second letter, he calls out the destructive nature of their heresies (2 Pet 2:1-2) and how it entices people with sensuality to lead them to sensuality (2 Pet 2:17-18).
So, when a teacher begins to affirm sexual immorality as an act of Christian freedom, you can know that it is a destructive heresy. When a teacher claims you can live in sin without a concern to pursue holiness because grace will abound, you can know their teaching is compromised and untrustworthy. Don't just listen to what a teacher says; pay attention to what their teaching produces.
Even when a teacher is seemingly saying all the right things, but the fruit of their ministry is division and tearing down rather than unifying and building up, it is time to quit listening to what they teach. The truth is they may be something much different than they first appear to be. That was exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 7, false prophets "come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves."
5. They Enslave, Burden and Bind (Gal 2:4-5; 2 Pet 2:19)
Jesus came to redeem us, to free us from the penalty of sin, and to free us to live as citizens of His Kingdom and even members of His household. False teachers strive to undo that work.
Unfortunately, today most of our attention in identifying false teachers is focused on groups like the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) or the Word of Faith movement. To be clear, these groups and the teachers within them are false teachers. But they aren't the only kind of false teachers.
Paul's concern in his letter to the Galatians was not that they had been bewitched by the likes of Joel Osteen, Rob Bell, or some spiritual guru like Deepak Chopra. Instead, these were people using the very same Scriptures he was using. He to free people, the false teachers to bind people again to the covenantal law of Moses. Jesus is good, but to be counted as a descendant of Abraham, you have to be circumcised. To be a good Israelite, you can't eat pork, or you must observe certain sabbath days.
These Judaizers plagued the church in more places than Galatia, but their purpose was always the same. Bind people, enslave them, and make people Jews and descendants of Abraham by their works instead of by faith in Christ.
In Peter's first letter, he encouraged his readers to live free but not to use freedom as a cover-up for sin (1 Pet 2:16). Then, as he addressed the issue of false teachers in his second letter, he comes back to the issue of freedom (2 Pet 2:19-22) and what happens when people listen to false teachers and their teaching. What these false teachers call people to devote themselves to enslaves them rather than frees them.
Can and do leaders of the NAR or Word of Faith movements bind and enslave? Yes, and it is worse for those enslaved by it than before. Can the wisdom and philosophies of the world bind and enslave? They absolutely do, and they bind people to those things Jesus frees His people from. And just as likely to bind and enslave are those teachers who lead others to righteousness by works of the Law instead of faith.
6. They Deny Jesus' Humanity/Divinity and Other Gospel Doctrines (2 Pet 2:2; 1 Jn 4:1-3; 2 Jn 7)
Not every error is heresy, but every heresy is error.
We've previously touched on the different views on baptism. But there are many doctrinal positions within orthodox Christianity on which we can disagree and remain Christian.
Though these are very different from one another and can't all be true, we wouldn't consider someone a non-Christian for holding one of those views. We often refer to these doctrines as "open-handed." The Bible speaks to them, but with enough ambiguity that we hold them humbly and not divisively.
But the Bible is clear. Several doctrinal positions are "closed-handed" or essential and must not be denied. As John notes in his first letter, the identity of Jesus is one of those issues. Other examples of "closed-handed" issues are the Trinity, the inerrancy of Scripture, and the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus.
In a day and time when the word heretic is so quickly applied to someone who teaches a different position on an "open-handed" issue, we must be careful to discern the difference between error and heresy. So, we don't call someone a false teacher just because they teach a different view on a secondary doctrine. But, when a teacher teaches heresy, it is right to confront that teaching, and show them the error. If they repent, like Apollos, they aren't a false teacher. However, if the teacher continues to teach heresy, even after they have been shown their error, we can be reasonably sure they aren't trustworthy.
4. They Produce Bad Fruit (Division, Destruction, Sensuality, Idolatry) (Matt 7:15-20; Rom 16:17-18; 2 Peter 2:1-2; 17-18)
If a plant produces grapes, you don't say it is a peach tree. If the fruit that grows from a tree is inedible, the fruit itself may not be the problem. It may well be the plant that the fruit comes from. The point Jesus was making is that we will be able to identify false teachers and false teaching by the fruit they produce. Good fruit comes from good trees. Bad fruit comes from bad trees (Matt 7:15-20).
The passages we referenced from Deuteronomy highlight the fruit of a false prophet's works and words. Do they lead people to worship the Lord or idols? (Deut 13:1-5)
Paul later warns of the fruit produced by false teachers and teaching in the letter to the Romans. He warned against people who teach doctrines contrary to his. He doesn't name the doctrines, but he calls out the creation of division or putting obstacles in front of people (Rom 16:17-18). In Peter's second letter, he calls out the destructive nature of their heresies (2 Pet 2:1-2) and how it entices people with sensuality to lead them to sensuality (2 Pet 2:17-18).
So, when a teacher begins to affirm sexual immorality as an act of Christian freedom, you can know that it is a destructive heresy. When a teacher claims you can live in sin without a concern to pursue holiness because grace will abound, you can know their teaching is compromised and untrustworthy. Don't just listen to what a teacher says; pay attention to what their teaching produces.
Even when a teacher is seemingly saying all the right things, but the fruit of their ministry is division and tearing down rather than unifying and building up, it is time to quit listening to what they teach. The truth is they may be something much different than they first appear to be. That was exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 7, false prophets "come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves."
5. They Enslave, Burden and Bind (Gal 2:4-5; 2 Pet 2:19)
Jesus came to redeem us, to free us from the penalty of sin, and to free us to live as citizens of His Kingdom and even members of His household. False teachers strive to undo that work.
Unfortunately, today most of our attention in identifying false teachers is focused on groups like the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) or the Word of Faith movement. To be clear, these groups and the teachers within them are false teachers. But they aren't the only kind of false teachers.
Paul's concern in his letter to the Galatians was not that they had been bewitched by the likes of Joel Osteen, Rob Bell, or some spiritual guru like Deepak Chopra. Instead, these were people using the very same Scriptures he was using. He to free people, the false teachers to bind people again to the covenantal law of Moses. Jesus is good, but to be counted as a descendant of Abraham, you have to be circumcised. To be a good Israelite, you can't eat pork, or you must observe certain sabbath days.
These Judaizers plagued the church in more places than Galatia, but their purpose was always the same. Bind people, enslave them, and make people Jews and descendants of Abraham by their works instead of by faith in Christ.
In Peter's first letter, he encouraged his readers to live free but not to use freedom as a cover-up for sin (1 Pet 2:16). Then, as he addressed the issue of false teachers in his second letter, he comes back to the issue of freedom (2 Pet 2:19-22) and what happens when people listen to false teachers and their teaching. What these false teachers call people to devote themselves to enslaves them rather than frees them.
Can and do leaders of the NAR or Word of Faith movements bind and enslave? Yes, and it is worse for those enslaved by it than before. Can the wisdom and philosophies of the world bind and enslave? They absolutely do, and they bind people to those things Jesus frees His people from. And just as likely to bind and enslave are those teachers who lead others to righteousness by works of the Law instead of faith.
6. They Deny Jesus' Humanity/Divinity and Other Gospel Doctrines (2 Pet 2:2; 1 Jn 4:1-3; 2 Jn 7)
Not every error is heresy, but every heresy is error.
We've previously touched on the different views on baptism. But there are many doctrinal positions within orthodox Christianity on which we can disagree and remain Christian.
- Cessationism (the belief that miraculous or revelatory Spiritual gifts have ceased) and Continuationism (the belief that these gifts continue).
- Another example is related to the study of Revelation. There are four primary ways in which theologians interpret the visions, which then also impact views of the millennium (the reign of Christ at the end of Revelation).
Though these are very different from one another and can't all be true, we wouldn't consider someone a non-Christian for holding one of those views. We often refer to these doctrines as "open-handed." The Bible speaks to them, but with enough ambiguity that we hold them humbly and not divisively.
But the Bible is clear. Several doctrinal positions are "closed-handed" or essential and must not be denied. As John notes in his first letter, the identity of Jesus is one of those issues. Other examples of "closed-handed" issues are the Trinity, the inerrancy of Scripture, and the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus.
In a day and time when the word heretic is so quickly applied to someone who teaches a different position on an "open-handed" issue, we must be careful to discern the difference between error and heresy. So, we don't call someone a false teacher just because they teach a different view on a secondary doctrine. But, when a teacher teaches heresy, it is right to confront that teaching, and show them the error. If they repent, like Apollos, they aren't a false teacher. However, if the teacher continues to teach heresy, even after they have been shown their error, we can be reasonably sure they aren't trustworthy.