Jesus warned us that in the last days false prophets will arise and deceive many. Matthew 24:11 – And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. Ever since Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, we have been living in the last days and false teachers abound.

How do we identify a false teacher? Afterall, false teachers don’t go around calling themselves false teachers. Since they are usually leaders within the Church, how can they be identified? What makes one a false teacher?

Another word for false teacher or false prophet in the New Testament is anti-Christ. The word anti-Christ means contrary to Christ. Who do we know Christ to be?  He tells us in John 14:6 that He is the way the Truth and the life. Jesus Christ is the Truth. His teachers and preachers are teachers of the Truth. Anyone who is against Christ is not for the Truth, they are liars and the follow their father, the devil who is the father of lies. (John 8:44).

The Bible is clear on how to identify a false teacher and we will go through some of the scriptures but let me say right from the start that not everyone who says or preaches a wrong doctrine is a false teacher. What do I mean by that? I mean that there are some occasions where faithful and Biblical sound teachers can be wrong in their understanding of a doctrine – they are mistaken about a doctrine or action. Being wrong or mistaken in that sense does not make them false teachers.

In Galatians 2:11-14, we have an example of a Biblical sound teacher not only holding a wrong view of what it means to be part of the body of Christ, but also encouraging others to hold the same wrong view too. Not only was he mistaken in his understanding, but he was also leading others into the same error. In these verses, Peter, due to fear of man, not only shuns and refuses to have fellowship with the gentile believers, but it also seemed he encourage other believers to do the same. He was confronted and corrected by the apostle Paul. Peter’s action would have caused a great division within the body of Christ, had Paul not confronted and corrected him on the issue. Peter was mistaken in his understanding; he was not a false teacher.

What makes one a false teacher? Another word for false teacher or false prophet in the New Testament is anti-Christ. The word anti-Christ means contrary to Christ. Who do we know Christ to be?  He tells us in John 14:6 that He is the way the Truth and the life. Jesus Christ is the Truth. His teachers and preachers are teachers of the Truth. Anyone who is against Christ is not for the Truth, they are liars and the follow their father, the devil who is the father of lies. (John 8:44).

This means that a false teacher is a pretender, a liar, a fake. They claim to belong to Christ and to love Christ and His word, but everything they do says otherwise. They claim to belong to Christ, but they are not. They claim to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, but they are preaching a false and different gospel. Some false teachers maybe very sincere in their beliefs., while others are more sinister. Either way, both groups have been deceived by Satan. Instead of teaching / preaching the Truth, they are preaching and teaching falsehood. They are false teachers.

There are certain characteristics that mark false teachers, characteristics that we will do well to pay attention to. I will explain them in another post.

Soli Deo Glorai!