Blake Long

“There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (2 Peter 2:1)

False teachers are never spoken of in a positive way in Scripture, and rightfully so. Jesus reserves His harshest words for false teachers, that is, the Pharisees and Sadducees and other religious leaders of that day.

But have we given much thought to false teachers? Perhaps we know of the prosperity teachings of Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, and Creflo Dollar and are familiar with the overt heresy of Bill Johnson and Bethel Church, but have we taken a broader survey of what false teachers do according to the Bible?

There are many professing Christians who may already be offended that I “named names” in the above paragraph. However, there is biblical precedent for that, so we don’t need to be up in arms about being specific. The Apostle Paul named names (1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2 Tim. 2:17). When we are vague about our criticism, that results in Christians who lack needed biblical discernment. We must be clear and to the point when exposing false teachers.

In this post, however, my goal is not to give a list of names to avoid (although that is important). My goal is to show you what the Bible says about false teachers, and why we must be vigilant against them. False teachers will either be overt in their heresy, or crafty and subtle, just like their father, the devil.

So what are false teachers known for? What do they do?

Unbiblical Doctrine

The most common way to biblically identify false teachers—including the most popular ones like Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer—is to understand they teach unbiblical doctrine. To be sure, false teachers like Osteen and Meyer, for example, do say things that are biblical, but it’s few and far between.

Take this tweet not too long ago from Osteen:

Christians we’re reacting hilariously to this because Osteen, on most days, tweets prosperity gospel, self-help guru nonsense. So, his tweet above affirms the notion that a broken clock is right twice a day.

But nonsense is commonplace for false teachers. They don’t teach sound doctrine. They either teach something completely foreign to the Bible — “name it, claim it” — or they drop a little bit of heresy into otherwise biblical doctrine. Which leads to the next point.

Prey on People

Scripture affirms that false teachers will prey on people. The Bible speaks about people being “led astray” (2 Cor. 11:3) and not being “tossed to and fro” (Eph. 4:13-14) by every type of doctrine. Most false teachers, if not all, know exactly what they are doing: preying on immature Christians.

This is why it’s important to exercise discernment, because you never know when you need to have it. Early on in my walk with Jesus, I remember telling my wife I’d love to attend a Joel Osteen church service. She looked at me and said, “Really…?”

Of course, I was spiritually mature then. I didn’t have a problem with Osteen because I didn’t know what he taught—I just knew he was popular. But Osteen and others preying in vulnerable people is a fact. They know what they’re doing. They’ve been criticized enough not just for their unsound teaching, but their incessant need to target vulnerable and immature Christians.

Read these words from Costi Hinn:

False teachers are banking on biblical illiteracy to exploit you with their greed (2 Peter 2:3), establish abusive power, and do Satan’s bidding. A Christian with a growing knowledge of the Word of God is able to discern when that Word is being twisted.

What’s the best way to not fall victim to false teachers? Know your Bible.

Stuff Their Pockets

What do well-known false teachers have in common? They’re filthy rich. We’re talking own-their-own-jets rich.

Is there something inherently sinful about being wealthy? Of course not. There are many faithful ministers who are wealthy. To be sure, with much money comes much responsibility. But it comes down to the motive of the heart.

But false teachers are in it for one thing and one thing only: money. This is evident by the false doctrine of “name it, claim it” and the “sowing of seeds.” They care more about how much money pads their pockets than the spiritual condition of their congregants. At the end of the day, what they care about most is not that their character is faithful to Scripture but the size of their bank account. They only care about themselves and how much money they’re making.

Shai Linne said:

You know what all false teachers have in common? It’s called “selfism”—the fastest growing religion. They just trash it up and call it “Christian.”

Distort the Gospel

The biggest thing false teachers are known for—and the worst—is their complete and utter distortion of the gospel of grace. False teachers, in one way, shape, or form, preach a different gospel. And, as the Apostle Paul says bluntly in Galatians 1:9, if anyone preaches a gospel contract to the gospel of God, let him be accursed—damned to Hell.

When you mess with the gospel, you mess with God. It’s important to understand that false teachers aren’t simply preaching opposing views on secondary matters of our faith. They are preaching a different gospel—a gospel that doesn’t save. False teachers are headed for Hell if they don’t repent of their false teachings and believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

No matter what method they use, in the end, false teachers are proclaiming a different gospel—whether it is the prosperity gospel, self-help gospel, or any distortion of the true gospel.

Let us pray for God to give us discerning minds and prayerful hearts to keep us from false teachers. Don’t be afraid to let others know about the dangers of false teachers, for they could be led astray. On the flip side, however, we must be care in labeling people false teachers.