Is There a False Teacher In Your Church?

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. — 2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV

Here Paul is concluding his letter to the church in Corinth. One of the purposes of this letter was to warn them not to be deceived by false teachers.

This verse clearly states the foundational truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It also shows the triunity of God as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

You think that every Christian church teaches these same principles of our faith — but, unfortunately, some do not. Even in Paul’s days, some claimed to be “apostles of Christ,” deceiving churches to accept their “gospels.”

Paul called them “super apostles” in chapter eleven, verse five. These individuals would use their impressive stature and clever speech to entertain the listeners which led to Paul’s concern over the church being potentially led astray by such individuals –

I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ (11:3). For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So, it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness (11:13–15).

In his letter, Paul described these “super apostles” as deceptive and self-serving who dilute and twist the core message of salvation. They seek only to elevate themselves in pursuit of personal and financial gains. They care not for the well-being of the church but only for themselves.

Paul revealed that a true apostle of Christ would do none of these — in fact, they’d do the opposite. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul stated, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

Jesus instructed His disciples to follow His example in Matthew 20:25–28 which is characterized by a servant leadership style and sacrificial love for others.

Paul was humble, timid, physically persecuted, self-supporting, unskilled, and physically frail while these “super apostles” were the opposite — bold, talented, respected, healthy — and more than willing to take money from the Corinthians.

Today, it is tempting to judge ministers as successful (or not) based on prosperity, popularity, oratory, and their ability to command respect and a following. This may make them “super-ministers” by the standards of the world.

Are all “super-ministers” false teachers?

No, but given the fact as to how divisive the churches are from one another, the number of ministers preaching false gospels must be significantly high.

Then, how does one spot a false teacher from one who’s teaching the true message of salvation?

That’s just it — it’s from the kind of message they’re teaching that you can pick out who is a true follower of Christ from one who isn’t. The problem with this kind of discernment is that far too many Christians are not grounded in the Scripture — which means they are moving away from having a Biblical worldview. This opens them up to being more easily deceived by false teachers.

Here are some statistics that show this shift:

52% no longer believe in absolute moral truth; 75% believe that people are inherently good, disregarding the fundamental Christian belief in human sinfulness; and a substantial number believes that the Holy Spirit is only a symbolic representation of God rather than an actual living entity. (Source: American Worldview Inventory)

Unfortunately, these are only the tip of an ever-growing iceberg. Today, we are witnessing an increasing number of churches moving away from the traditional Biblical worldview, reducing their reliance on the Scripture.

Without God’s Word, how can a church uphold the whole message of salvation without distorting it? Without our reliance on the Bible, how can we discern what is false and what is true?

The stakes are high with false teaching as Jesus said: “If a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matt. 15:14). The problem is recognizing fakes can be difficult at times as A. W. Tozer notes: “So skilled is error at imitating truth that the two are constantly being mistaken for each other. It takes a sharp eye these days to know which brother is Cain and which Abel.”

And so, to make that distinction we need to ground ourselves in Scripture just like the writer of Hebrews says: “But solid food [good doctrine] is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” (Heb. 5:14, my emphasis).

In other words, the only way to spot fakes is to know the real thing. (Source: False Teaching Is Alive and Well In the Church These Days)

To avoid being deceived, we must stay grounded in Scripture.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. — 1 John 4:1

For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. — Romans 16:18

In 1Corinthians 1:10 Paul implored the Corinth church: “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”

One way to remain unified as a church is to preach the same message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. All other forms of teachings like the gospel of prosperity, the gospel of social justice, the legalistic gospel, and the universalistic gospel are false.

The only true gospel is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

(1st published on my substack account, ThIs Broken Clay – Gospeler)