False Teachers, Manipulation, and Twisted Truth

The greatest threat to Christianity, it has been opined is not from without—that is, it is not from outside of Christianity but from within. Christianity is its own enemy.

The greatest threat to Christianity in this century is the Christianity of this century. It is a far greater threat than Isalm, which can never destroy the gospel. Christendom, however, can easily destroy the gospel and is destroying the gospel. The church today is the greatest threat to real Christianity in the world.¹

The greatest threat to Christianity is Christianity. Islam is not a threat to Christianity. Other religions are not a threat to Christianity. The real threat to Christianity is Christianity itself. I believe this. Who questions the divinity of Christ? People who identify as Christians and holding bibles. Who questions the doctrine of eternal life? Who questions the Bible as God’s sufficient word? Who questions the doctrine of the Trinity? Christians who are holding Bibles.

All around us, we see and hear things that are not Christian but has entered the church through false teachers.

Satan’s greatest ambassadors are not pimps, politicians, or power-brokers, but pastors. His priests do not peddle a different religion, but a deadly perversion of the true one. His troops do not make a full-out frontal assault, but work as agents, sneaking into the opposing army. Satan’s tactics are studied, clever, predictable, effective.²

Who Is A False Teacher

Paul in his letter to the Galatians addressed the problem of a false teaching which he called a different gospel (Galatians 1:6). This different gospel was propagated by Jewish believers who preached that Gentiles must observe the Mosaic law to be saved. For these Jews then, faith is not enough. The law must be kept as a means of justification. Galatians therefore was written to address this false teaching.

A False teacher then can simply be described as anyone who consistently teaches and holds views contrary to the gospel, the Bible and fundamental Christian doctrines like the person of Christ, the nature of God, the means of justification of sinners, the inspiration of Scripture, eternal Judgement, nature of humanity etc.; I am putting an emphasis on consistently because someone may err in a sermon for example by saying something that is not true or act in a way not consistent with Scripture. We may have to be careful not to quickly call such a one as false teacher.

False teachers must be noted for consistent teaching of opposing views to the gospel and fundamental biblical truth. For example, in this letter, Paul pointed out a deviation of Peter from Gospel truth (Galatians 2:12-14). Will we call Peter a false teacher? I doubt. Also in Acts 18:24-28, we see Apollos corrected by Priscilla and Aquilla (Acts 18:24-28).Will we consider him a false teacher?

In contrast to these however, what Paul addresses in Galatians is a consistent pattern of putting forth the law as a means of justification. In Galatians, a core doctrinal matter was at stake. How are sinners saved? The Jews say by faith plus law observance. The Jews were Legalists who place justification of sinners on law keeping. on keeping of the law. Paul however challenges them and put forward faith as the only means of justification. And that is the only way by which sinners are indeed saved. Faith in the work of Christ for salvation is sufficient to save (Galatians 1:2-3; Ephesians 2:8-9). The Jewish teachers however by their teachings added works to salvation.

Beware of The Twisting of Truth

Today, there are many false teachers out there teaching many abominable things.
If anyone teaches payment of money to earn the blessings of God, that’s a false teacher. If you hear anyone asking you to “sow a seed” for a blessing, they are false teachers promoting works religion and greed. If anyone tells you to bring any item for “directions” in your life, they are a false teacher denying the Sufficiency of Scripture. If anyone sells you anything—water, oil, wristband, sticker— as a means of protection, they are a false teacher denying the ever abiding presence of God and the Sovereignty of God to watch over you. If anyone tells you to do something apart from faith for your salvation, they are a false teacher denying justification by faith alone. If anyone says Jesus is not God, that’s a false teacher denying the divinty of Christ. If anyone says Christians are not to fall sick, that’s a false teacher denying the nature of human beings. If anyone says God is not in control of this world they are denying the Sovereignty of God, they are false teachers.

The Signs of False Teachers

Manipulative
In describing the false teachers in the Galatian church, Paul noted that “They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them (Galatias 4:17). This points us to the manipulative nature of false teachers: “They “make much of you” describes a zeal the false teachers exhibit towards the Galatians.This zeal manifests as love and concern for the Galatians. But Paul says “but for no good purpose”. Do you see that? It’s all fake love and concern. It’s flattery. It’s manipulative.

Selfish Interest
False teachers are not your friend. They don’t have you at heart. Their actions are driven by ulterior motives: “That you may make much of them.” False teachers seek your loyalty. They seek your trust. It’s all about them. It’s not about Christ.

Divisive
False teachers are divisive. They set families, churches and believers at logger heads. The agenda of the false teachers in the Galatian church was to separate the disciples from the apostles to themselves: “They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.” False teachers seek to win people from Christ to themselves. False teachers want your allegianc to shift from the truth to themselves.

The Warning of Scripture Against False Teachers
The Scripture paints a vivid picture of what a false teacher looks like on the outside, describing them as deceitful workmen, ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing, disguised as righteous, smooth talkers, cunning, divisive, sensual, passionate, flattering with their words, having the appearance of godliness, deceived and deceptive, the devil’s puppet, perverters of grace, lovers of ill-gotten gain, exploiters, cunning—and the list goes on (2 Corinthians 11:13, 2 Peter 2:1-3, Matthew 7:15-20, Jude 1:4, Romans 16:17-18).

The only way we can protect ourselves from false teachers is to know and uphold the truth.

Notes

1. Sinclair Ferguson, https://learn.ligonier.org/qas/what-is-the-greatest-threat-to-christianity-in-this-century
2. Tim Challies,  https://www.challies.com/deadly-doctrines/7-false-teachers-in-the-church-today/