The Issue
False teachings have plagued the Church since its establishment. The writings of the New Testament include many efforts by false teachers coming into the church and attempting to introduce new teachings or distort established teachings in order to alter Scripture to fit their own beliefs and desires. The teachings of Christ offended the religious establishment of the time, and they also offended those who were unrepentant of their sin. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil,” (John 3:19). Here lies the motivation for many of the false teachings–people are offended by the Gospel of Christ because they enjoy engaging in their deeds of evil and will not submit to God’s commands for repentance. The hearts of mankind have not changed since Jesus gave this teaching to His disciples as people today are still offended by the Gospel and they continue to oppose it with false teachings.
The Church has always been in a battle against false teachers and will to continue to do so in the future. We are warned by God’s Word that this battle will escalate in future times as apostasy in the Church will increase, “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.,” (1Tim. 4:1-2)). The apostles and the early church fathers reported their own battles with false teachers, and they warned about the danger that they pose to the Church:
“I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them,” (Acts 20:29-30).
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world,” (1John 4:1).
Along with these warnings we are given the responsibility to protect the flock from these savage wolves who wish to destroy Christ’s church by attacking and distorting God’s true gospel. This duty and responsibility is given to all Christians, Church leaders, and ministries in order to protect the Church of God.
False teachings are like a cancer that spreads and infects large portions of the Church. The false teachers must be confronted, and their teachings must be refuted by knowledgeable leaders and teachers. The Apostle Paul teaches that elders, pastors, and leaders of the Church must be trained in the knowledge of the Word and must be able to defend the teachings of the faith against false teachers, “He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it,” (Titus 1:9).
The Surge in False Teachings
The Church’s struggle against false teachings is a never-ending battle as new ones are continually rising up to oppose the true teachings of the faith. It’s like the game of whack-a-mole, as soon one is smacked down, another one pops-up. Just when it seems that the Church is making progress in the war against deception, the enemy responds with new deceptions causing the Church to lose ground. What is being witnessed now is a growing number of false pastors giving sermons from their pulpits to their church members that are outright heresies that contradict the essential doctrines of the faith. They present a unique problem because these enemies of the Church are not attacking from outside the Church but are already inside the Church. The most visible and immediate damage by the false teachers are the divisions in the Church that is the result of their distortions of the truth; “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit,” (Jude 18-19). The evidence of these destructive heresies is clearly evident in the number of church denominations and parishes that have split into separate factions. Additional harm suffered by the Church are the many people who listen to these false teachers and are led astray from the truth because they lack proper teaching and biblical discernment. They will be misled to follow these unregenerate false teachers in embracing sin, immorality, and rebellion against God’s law. And most devastating is that these wolves impersonating pastors will lead scores of people on the road that leads to eternal damnation, because they are following a false gospel of deceptive spirits, (1Tim. 4:1-2).
False Teachers
The inspiration for this teaching is a recent sermon by a bishop of the United Church of Christ that is so heretical that it raises false teaching to a new level of deception. Bishop Yvette Flunder declared that certain parts of the Bible are problematic and that certain pages of God’s Word need to be torn out and a new Third Testament needs to be created. In effect, what she is saying is that the Old and New Testaments are wrong and they contain errors that need to be corrected by the creation of an entirely new addition of books to the Scriptures. Here are her own words;
“This is a very dangerous thing that I’m about so say now–a bit dangerous. I’m of the opinion that we need a Third Testament because the Bible has become problematic. I am completely frustrated with the ways in which the text speaks to the kind of vitriolic(cruel) God that makes those kinds of things. And people will say, ‘Well it’s in the book.’ And I said, then we need to pull that page out. And they said ‘Well you can’t do it. It’s the Word of God. I said, ‘No, it’s words about God.’ Come on now! But is it the Word of God? No, it is not the Word of God.”
Her words acknowledge her awareness of the danger of her view because it is outright heresy. She contradicts the essential teaching of the faith concerning the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture. She goes further by declaring that Scripture is problematic, indicating that its teachings are erroneous and insufficient. She then attacks the nature of God by referring to Him as cruel. In these few words she destroys the authority of God’s Word and the holy nature of God Himself. For reference, this pastor has a history of liberal theology from which her false teachings flow. Her church caters to members of marginal communities who are not accepted in traditional churches because their lifestyles are in opposition to God’s commandments. So, she created a church for people who have a “deep desire to have a worship space that resembled the churches of their youth but contained none of the toxic theology that was so often present in those spaces.“ In other words, she believes that the Church’s traditional teachings result in a toxic theology. Reaction to her blasphemous words was swift with rebukes from several pastors and church leaders who condemned her statements.
Another example of the growth of false teachers is the Rev. Lura Gruen. She is a pastor for the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Her false teaching rejects the Church’s foundational teaching that salvation is secured only through faith in Jesus Christ as declared in these Scripture verses, “Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved,” (Acts 4:12); and, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” (John 14:6).
Her attack on the Church’s established Doctrine of Salvation begins with her assertion that Jesus was not speaking literally when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” (John 14:6). She bases this claim on her view that Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and even atheists have relationships with God that are just as valid as Christian’s. This is part of a movement by the liberal church in being inclusive and diverse by not excluding anyone regardless of their beliefs. In this view God is loving and would not exclude anyone from heaven. However, this view invalidates the death and sacrifice of Christ on the cross by making it unnecessary for salvation. Since belief and faith in Christ is unnecessary and anyone can be saved–Jesus’ death was pointless. The danger of this view is that it creates a system of belief where mankind is not accountable to God and does not have to conform to His will and design for His creation. Submission to the authority of the Creator is not necessary because mankind is the ultimate authority. This is a common false teaching that is growing in popularity after it was promoted by Oprah Winfrey. Oprah proclaimed that believing in Christ alone for salvation is bigoted and intolerant. Her view is that there are many ways and paths to God, just as there are many paths up a mountain and they all lead to the top. God would not have created just one way to salvation because He wants all to be saved. This is the heresy of the rejection of Christ as the savior and redeemer which is rapidly growing in this age of inclusion and liberal humanism. The irony is that this church of inclusion is not very welcoming toward biblical Christianity. These false teachings have infiltrated the Church and are infecting it like a cancer which is spreading and destroying the faith of some Christians. The Apostle Paul warned of the danger of false teaching in the 2nd Book of Timothy, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some,” (2Tim. 2:16-18).
The Battle
The recent rise of apostate pastors and their false teachings are definitely a danger to all people. They present a danger to believers who are led astray by their false teachings to embrace heresy; and they are also a danger to unbelievers who accept their false teachings as biblical truth, and as a result place their faith in a false gospel that does not lead to salvation. The battle against false teachers is part of the larger conflict of spiritual warfare waged by the forces of darkness against the Kingdom of God. These demonic spirits oppose the Word of God and use deception to distort God’s truth. Their clever scheme involves manipulating human agents who are already in rebellion against God to deceive their way into positions of authority in the Church where they can then promote false teachings. These false teachings concentrate on certain doctrines of the faith; salvation in Christ alone, the authority of Scripture, and the sovereignty of God. The false teachers who are motivated by their own wicked and immoral lifestyles bring in their false teachings in an effort to validate their sin. The warnings of Christ and His apostles inform us that these false teachers operate from corrupt and depraved minds which have been given over by God due to the impurity of their hearts, (Rom. 1:18-32). The results are the rejection of Christ as savior, the rejection of the authority of Scripture, and rebellion against God and His commands. The cancer of these false teachings spread and rot the foundations of the faith.
The remedy for falsehoods is truth, and only God’s truth operates through the power of the Holy Spirit making it the only power for salvation, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,” (Rom. 1:16). Therefore, believers who are weak in the knowledge of the faith should grow in their knowledge and mature in the faith so that they can properly discern the truth. They should also learn to identify false teachers who have made their way into the church through false means. To assist in this task the following definition of a false teacher is provided.
False Teacher– They are individuals who claim to represent the truth of the Christian faith but instead promote doctrines and teachings that contradict the essential beliefs of biblical Christianity. They introduce destructive heresies into the church which encourages sin, disobedience, and causes some to abandon the faith.
Listed below is a list of issues used to identify false teachers.
Identifying false teachers requires evaluating their alignment with core tenets of the Christian faith. Five common warning signs highlighted by theologians include:
- Contradicting Creeds: Denying the Trinity, the literal resurrection, or the inerrancy of Scripture.
- Financial Exploitation: Placing an emphasis on financial tithing to enrich the ministry leader rather than supporting the Church and the poor.
- Special Revelation: Claiming private, secret knowledge that is separate from or supersedes the Bible.
- Moral Compromise: Teaching that God’s grace gives permission to live in unrepentant sin.
Note– The classification of “false teacher” includes the species known as the Prosperity Gospel preachers. These grifters are scam artists disguised as preachers who manipulate Scripture and use the name of God to fleece their congregations of their money in order to enrich themselves. This group of swindlers are especially vile and therefore deserve an article totally devoted to their deceptions. Here is a link to that teaching- https://teachhosea46.com/2025/04/28/false-teachers-teaching-a-false-gospel-to-false-converts/
Stand Fast for the Truth
In the above verse, the Apostle Paul instructs Timothy to fight the good fight for the faith because as a leader in the Church he must defend the Gospel truth which he has been taught against the false teachers who are savage wolves. This instruction applies to the leaders of the Church today because false teachers are still plentiful and the good fight continues. Christ, and His apostles passed on their warnings about false teachers and the destruction that they cause to the Church. The battle in this age where the belief that real truth no longer exists is even more important. God’s truth must be defended, and the Gospel of Christ must continue to be preached. The enemy has fortified his army with human agents and given them new weapons of deception. The battlegrounds have multiplied; therefore, we must gather our forces and defend Christ’s Church against the coming assaults on the true teachings of the faith.
In summary, there exists a growing movement of false teachers who have infiltrated the Church and are causing great damage. People are being led astray from the truth and divisions within the Church are increasing. As faithful followers of Christ we are mobilized in this fight for the faith, and we must bear in mind that this fight consists of spiritual warfare because the powers that control the war are the dark demonic spirits of the Kingdom of Satan. The warrior of Christ must then engage with the spiritual weapons of faith and the whole armor of God, (Eph. 6). The human agents of these dark forces have been employed as false teachers because they have rejected the true gospel in favor of a false gospel that supports their lives of rebellion and disobedience. It is important to remember that some of the followers of these false teachers are victims of the deception of false teachings and redemption is possible through the gospel of truth. However, many of the followers of these false teachers possess the same darkened minds of their teachers and are therefore blinded to the truth. The evidence of who is the power behind the false teachers can be seen in the comments of Bishop Flunder with her statement, “But is it the Word of God? No, it is not the Word of God.” These words may sound familiar because we have seen them before as they dripped from the mouth of the Serpent in the “Garden of Eden.” He deceived Eve into falling into disobedience against the commands of God with these words, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’? (Gen. 3:1).
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