How to Spot a False Teacher – Part 3

Sixth Sign: Heretical

Someone is a false teacher if he teaches false doctrine. This is probably the first thing we think of. I put it last, not because it is insignificant, but because I wanted to emphasize something I said in the first article: The way to discern a false teacher is not just by his theology; it’s also by his life. How someone lives reveals who he really is.

Yet beliefs are not unimportant. The Bible teaches some things so clearly that the church has historically made them tests of authenticity. For example, someone who rejects the orthodox view of the Trinity rejects the whole of Christianity, since belief in the Trinity as three persons in one essence is essential to Christianity. Without it, we have another religion entirely. The church identified these doctrines in some of the early creeds.

In addition, the Bible itself gives an unequivocal warning in connection to certain doctrines. In these cases, it explicitly states that those who deny the doctrine deny Christianity. It says that these people are “not of God,” that their “faith is empty,” and that they are “accursed” and “condemned.”

There is a good deal of discussion about what we should do when professing believers disagree with each other about what they believe the Bible clearly teaches. In this article, I intend to side-step this by focusing only on Scriptures where the Bible specifically indicts anyone who rejects a given doctrine. These are the heart of biblical orthodoxy, the explicitly-defined biblical tests of whether someone’s faith is genuine.

In 1 Timothy 6:3-4 Paul says, “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing” (ESV). The “different doctrine” is that which differs from Jesus’ teaching (“the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ”). It is false because it disagrees with Jesus. Those who try to reinvent the Gospel on their own terms are selfish and stupid. Paul instructs Timothy to “withdraw” from these men.

It must be noted — and emphasized — that the apostles’ doctrine was identical to Christ’s. They were His appointed representatives, endowed with special power by His Spirit to speak in His place. Paul’s doctrine is Christ’s, as is Peter’s, James’, etc.. To know what Jesus taught, we must look not only at the gospels but also at the rest of the New Testament.

The main thing to notice here in 1 Timothy is Paul’s connection between false doctrine and distance. Christians must put space between themselves and those who teach a gospel other than Christ’s. We have no room for negotiation here. Whatever doctrine is “different” than what Jesus taught must be discarded, along with its teachers.

But we must be careful here. Christians have often split over issues where the Bible isn’t entirely clear (though they may think it is). How do we know if we have a Galatians 1 kind of issue (“If anyone preaches any other gospel…let him be accursed.”) or a Romans 14 kind of issue (“Let us not judge one another anymore.”)? While we are commanded to reject false teachers, we are also commanded to forbear those with whom we disagree. How do we discern what is worth dividing over?

I think we start by asking, “Where does the Bible specify that a doctrine is a first-degree issue?” When I asked that, I came up with the following list of Bible passages and doctrines. In each of these it is clear that those who deny the doctrine in question reject God Himself. These doctrines define the perimeters of Christianity, beyond which is no true faith and no salvation from judgment.

As a quick aside, we need to remember that Christianity is a propositional religion. There are truths which must be professed for someone to be saved. Though we are saved through faith — not through our theology — these theological truths are necessary for faith to be real. So-called faith apart from the below propositional truths is not faith in Jesus as He actually exists. Someone who claims to have faith in Jesus, but denies one of the below truths, has created a false religion. He is not worshipping the God who is really there.

The New Testament teaches the following six doctrines as essential to Christianity.

Jesus’ Incarnation

Jesus Christ took on a truly human body in His incarnation.

Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. — 1 John 4:3

Many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. — 2 John 1:7

In both of these verses it’s clear that those who deny that Jesus Christ came “in the flesh” are not true believers. What exactly is in view here? This is focusing on the reality of His humanity. He did not just appear to be human; He truly is one of us. A text like Hebrews 2:14 helps fill this out: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same…”

Jesus has an authentic human body. Those who deny this reject biblical Christianity.

Jesus’ Deity

Jesus Christ is truly God.

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either… — 1 John 2:23

What does it mean to deny the Son? I think John means to refer, in shorthand, to Jesus’ status as God’s Son, an equal member in the eternal Trinity. This is not something He earned or inherited, but always had. To use technical language, the Son is co-eternal with God. He was not created by the Father. Nor did He lose His deity when He became human. He is “the Word” who “was…in the beginning,” was “with God,” and “was God” (John 1:1). He is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), so much so that He could say “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (cf. John 14:9).

Jesus is God Himself in human flesh. Those who deny this doctrine reject biblical Christianity.

Jesus’ Messiahship

Jesus is God’s anointed Redeemer prophesied in the Old Testament.

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? — 1 John 2:22

Again, there’s a lot of theological freight in this short phrase. Jesus is the God-man, incarnated at the beginning of the first century AD. But to call Him the Christ adds another dimension, since “Christ” is the Greek word used to translate the Hebrew word “Messiah.” Calling Jesus “the Christ” brings to bear the entire Old Testament prophetic expectation of one who would come to save God’s people and reign over them. The Messiah is the one who reverses the curse and restores Creation. He is God’s unique Redeemer, His Anointed One.

Jesus is God’s anointed Redeemer who fulfills the Old Testament prophetic expectation. Those who deny this doctrine reject biblical Christianity.

Jesus’ Bodily Resurrection

Jesus was bodily resurrected after being dead for three days.

Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. — 1 Corinthians 15:12-14

Some in the Corinthian church were apparently doubting that their bodies would be raised again after they died. But Paul says that, if they do not rise, then even Christ was not raised. But what are the consequences if He is not risen? Christian preaching is purposeless and Christian faith is futile. If Christ had not proven His victory over death by rising from the dead, the whole gospel unravels. Death exists because of sin, so if sin is conquered on the cross, how can death keep Jesus in the grave? It cannot! Jesus must be raised from the dead to prove that sin is defeated, that death is dead, and that we therefore have hope of restored bodies in a restored Creation under Christ our Redeemer and Lord. So, if Christ is not risen, death remains on the throne and we have no hope. Our hope, if it is real, requires a resurrected Savior.

Jesus was resurrected from the dead, proving His victory over death. Those who deny this doctrine reject biblical Christianity.

Jesus’ Lordship

Jesus reigns as Lord over all men, and especially over those He has redeemed.

There will be false teachers among you, who…deny the Lord who bought them. — 2 Peter 2:1

Ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. — Jude 4

Christ died, not just to save people from sin, but to create a new people who would live with Him as their Lord. He lays absolute claim to their lives, and they live to serve and honor Him. This involves both how His people live and what they profess. Those who truly belong to Him profess their belief that He is Lord over them — and over the whole world.

Jesus reigns over His people as their Lord. Those who deny this doctrine reject biblical Christianity.

Justification by Faith

Jesus saves His people by being a sufficient substitute for them, so they do not need to keep the law to be justified.

Even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. — Galatians 1:8-9

More than anywhere else, Paul stresses here in Galatians that the gospel cannot be altered. Those who claim to change it — who preach another gospel — only bring damnation on themselves. Since this is so important to Paul, we should ask “what is this gospel?” What particular point, or points, is Paul concerned with? What doctrine, if lost, undermines the gospel?

The answer comes in chapter 2. After demonstrating that he received his gospel from Christ Himself (1:11-18), verified it with the other apostles (1:19-24), and tested and proved it in the trenches of church ministry (2:1-10), Paul describes how he confronted Peter for acting out of step with gospel truth. The confrontation climaxes in 2:15-16, when Paul reminds Peter, “We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus. …For by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”

This is the beating heart of Paul’s gospel, the sine qua non, the doctrine which, if denied, accurses the denier. Paul believes that anyone who says a person must keep the law in order to be saved is outside of God’s redeeming grace. He is not saved who says that works are necessary to get justified or stay justified.¹ “By the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” Rather, we are justified by faith in Christ.

This is important because, to say that we need to do good works to get or stay justified implies that Jesus’ substitutionary life and substitutionary death were not sufficient to save us. It implies an imperfection in the offering, a lack in the atoning work. Denying justification by faith is seismic because it is, in fact, denying that Jesus has done everything necessary for us to be saved.

It is difficult to overstate how seriously Paul took this. We often don’t take this issue seriously enough. Justification by faith alone is at the heart of the gospel, and even at the heart of who God is, because it explains how a gracious God accomplishes salvation for His people. He offers us His righteousness through His Son so we can once again be welcomed into a loving relationship with Him. Paul cared deeply about this doctrine because souls go to heaven — or to hell — based on their understanding of this doctrine. We must know that Jesus is able to save us before we can trust Him to save. Justification by faith — and all the doctrines that rise and fall with it — is absolutely essential to Christianity.

Jesus saves all those who trust Him in faith. Those who deny this doctrine reject biblical Christianity.

Conclusion

We started this series by thinking about some perversions present among charismatic leaders. I hope this triplet of articles has helped you develop a well-rounded view of false teaching so you can steer clear of its proponents wherever they crop up.

To be sure, this isn’t just an issue “out there” in the world. We will deal with our own versions of false teaching in our Anabaptist churches, so it’s important that we stay sharp on biblical truth. More important, it’s important that we stay in love with our Savior, and seek to know Him well so we can identify and avoid those who try to distort, blur, or block our view of Him.

1. This is not to say that works are optional or unimportant. We need to make the all-important distinction between works as the grounds of our salvation and works as evidence of our salvation. When I say that works are not necessary to stay saved, I mean that our ongoing obedience does not add to or maintain our merit before God. Christ’s life, death, and resurrection are sufficient, and we can only be accepted by God because of Him. True faith will always produce fruit, but that’s another conversation for another time. ↩︎