False Teachers

Warnings

1. The Bible is full of warnings to be on guard against false teachers, explaining that they will rise up in the Church (Matthew 7:15, Acts 20:29-31, 2 Peter 2:1)
2. Untaught Christians will twist the scripture and lead others astray (2 Peter 3:16-17)
3. A "little bit" of bad teaching should not be tolerated, as previously described here.
4. False teachings can prevent salvation (Matthew 15:9)
5. Christians will sinfully want false teachers and try to convince others of their false teachings (Colossians 2:8, 2 Timothy 4:3-4)
1. J.W. Baier: “[T]he unity of the Church is disturbed by syncretism, or the religious union of dissenting parties in a brotherly and ecclesiastical fellowship in spite of dissension, so that either the errors in doctrine on the part of the dissentients or at least the erring persons themselves are tolerated within the communion of the Church and the latter are regarded as brethren in Christ and coheirs of eternal life. Either class of tolerance, however, is sinful.”

How do we be on guard against false teachers?

1. You will know them by their fruit (Matthew 7:15-16)
2. Test everything that is taught from all teachers (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)
3. Test or weigh against scripture to see whether it is compatible with Gods word (Acts 17:11) 
4. Test what they confess about Jesus (1 John 4:1-3)
5. Weight things with he help of other Christians when it gets hard (1 Cor. 14:29)
   

In Galatians 5:7-12, Paul gives six identifying marks that can guide us identify false teachers.

1. They distract Christians from obeying the truth of the gospel (v. 7). 
2. They replace the call of God with their own deceptive persuasiveness (v. 8). 
3. They gain control over the whole church (v. 9). 
4. They cause confusion and discouragement (v. 10).
5. They spread false reports about spiritual leaders. (v.11)
6. They emphasize works that you have to do, such as circumcision (v.12)
1. This sounds harsh, but Paul is saying that if they really want to rely on rituals, they might as well go the whole way and emasculate themselves! Here he is referring to a ritual that actually took place in his day in Galatian pagan temples.

In 2 Peter 2:1-3, Peter gives a great treatise on False teachers.

1. False teachers will arise both outside and inside the church
2. The false teachers bring themselves and their followers to destruction
3. False teachers bring reproach against the true saints
4. False teachers are not always easily spotted, they are very deceptive
5. They can be recognized by their morals and motives
6. They can be recognized by their methods
7. They can be recognized by their message
8. In these latter days, anyone who claims to be a "prophet" is a false teacher.
1. Peters language switches from prophets in early days to teachers in verse 1. The witnesses of Christ (the apostles) were the last to prophecy and when their work was complete, the inspired Bible was complete, so there are no more words from God needed and no more prophets.
2. Anyone claiming to be a prophet should be judged as one, as explained in Deuteronomy 13:1-5 and 18:20-22:

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you....

But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.

Also in the Smalcald Articles we read:

“Therefore, we must constantly maintain this point: God does not want to deal with us in any other way than through the spoken Word and the Sacraments. Whatever is praised as from the Spirit—without the Word and Sacraments—is the devil himself.”

Lastly,