How to Identify a False Teacher, Part 4

By Robb Brunansky

Published October 2, 2024

As history moves closer to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we should expect a rise in false teachers, false prophets, and false messiahs. Jesus prophesied about the increase of such deceivers in Matthew 24:5, 11, 23, and 24. The Apostle Paul echoed our Lord’s warning in 2 Timothy 3:13, reminding Timothy that imposters will proceed from bad to worse in the last days. Why does the number of false teachers increase as we move closer to the second coming of Christ, and how can believers identify those the New Testament cautions us against following? As we conclude our series on identifying false teachers, I want to consider how one of the final books written in the New Testament helps us understand why false teachers come and how to identify them.

The Apostle John lived longer than any of the Twelve Apostles, with many scholars dating his death near the end of the first century. He composed the letter we call 1 John some time in the 80s. He was writing to a church that had just experienced a significant split, with some in the church departing over the doctrine of Christ. These factious people taught a defective view of the Son of God. While scholars debate the specific nature of their heresy, it seems evident that they did not believe that the Son of God had come in the flesh, which also led them to deny that the Son of God had shed His blood for the forgiveness of the sins of the world. Their false teaching was essentially a denial that Jesus was the Messiah (1 John 2:22). From John’s description of these false teachers and their departure from the church, it seems that some of them wielded significant influence over members of the congregation, so John wrote to equip these believers to mark and avoid such deceptive false brothers. In so doing, John also explained where these false teachers come from.

False teachers, according to 1 John, are a clear sign that we are living in the last hour because false teachers are aligned with the spirit of antichrist. In 1 John 4:3, John says, “And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” John’s point is that false teachers arise because they are motivated by the same spirit that ultimately will motivate and empower the final antichrist at the end of the age. That spirit is the spirit that works in those who belong to this present world (1 John 4:6). In 1 John 5:19, the Apostle makes clear that the world is under the power of the evil one, the devil himself. The spirit of antichrist, therefore, is the evil one who exalts himself as god and opposes God and His truth. During the last hour, the activity of the spirit of antichrist will increase so that many arise who corrupt the truth about Christ and seek to keep the world in its deceptions and under Satan’s power.

False teachers come as a clear signal to Christians that we are living in the last hour and that Satan is making his final attempt to destroy Christ and His blood-bought people. In one sense, then, we can say that false teachers are an encouragement to us that we must continue to press on in our faith because we know the time of our Lord’s return is drawing nearer by the day. The more false teachers that arise, the more activity we see from the evil one who knows his time is short and frenetically seeks to inflict as much damage as he can on this world and on God’s church. I believe John highlighted this aspect of the increase of false teachers for this very purpose, to encourage his readers to unwavering faithfulness to the truth, knowing that Christ’s coming is the next major event we anticipate in history.

John not only explains where false teachers come from and why they increase as the last days progress, but he gives us clear instructions to identify them. The central place where John shows how to identify false teachers is in 1 John 4:1-6. This passage is an exhortation to test the spirits. John recognizes a crucial truth: behind every person who claims to speak for God lies a spirit. Behind those who speak according to the Word of God and who accurately preach Christ is the Holy Spirit; conversely, behind those who corrupt the Word of God and subvert the truth about Christ is the spirit of antichrist, the devil. Therefore, identifying false teachers is not about evaluating someone’s giftedness, personality, or charisma, but about evaluating what spirit/Spirit lies behind their teaching. Does a teacher speak according to the Spirit of truth or the spirit of error (1 John 4:6)?

Those who preach according to the spirit of error have one obvious characteristic: they speak as from the world (1 John 4:5). To understand what John means by speaking as from the world, we have to remember what John told us about the world in 1 John 2:16-17. The world is primarily defined by three lusts: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the lust of man’s approval, called the boastful pride of life. The world constantly chases after what their bodies crave, what their eyes admire, and what will win them the approval of other people. The world is consumed by what is temporal, whether that is the next meal, the next major purchase, or the person next to them approving of them. That’s why John says in v. 17 that the world and its lusts are passing away. Everything the world desires has an expiration date and right now is in process of becoming obsolete.

False teachers speak the world’s language. They promise bodily pleasure and satisfaction. They promise riches, beauty, and material gain. And they promise that by following their teaching you will win the approval of others and increase your status in this world. False teachers are absorbed in what is transitory and they speak to people whose hearts love the world and its lusts rather than God. They are in it for the money, for the status, for the pleasures they crave, and they promise their hearers that they will enjoy the same by following them and their message.

True teachers of the Word of God also have one obvious characteristic: they speak the same message the apostles spoke in the New Testament (1 John 4:6). John asserts that he and the other apostles (the “we” of this verse) are from God. They were the divinely commissioned spokesmen for Christ. They spoke the true Word of God. Those who know God listen to the voice of God heard in His divinely inspired Word. That also implies that those who speak on behalf of God speak according to the true Word of God, which is in opposition to the world and its lusts. The message of the cross never mixes with the desires of the world because the world clamors after status, riches, and bodily comforts, while the message of the cross brings scorn and suffering.

That’s why so many people reject the message of the gospel and follow after those motivated by the spirit of error. They are not interested in what is eternal, what lasts. They want satisfaction now rather than suffering. They want status now rather than scorn. They are willing to trade away their eternity for the momentary and fleeting pleasures of sin. And that’s why so many are willing to preach a false gospel: it is more popular than the truth because it offers people a crown without a cross.

We can identify false teachers by evaluating what spirit motivates their teaching. Do they speak as from the world? Is their teaching marked by an emphasis on the temporal, on earthly riches, status, or pleasure? Do they focus more on what is ephemeral than what is eternal?

We can also identify true teachers of God’s Word by evaluating what Spirit motivates their teaching. The Spirit of truth always speaks according to the inspired words of Scripture, pointing men to a crucified and risen Messiah who forgives sin at the cross and promises eternal life to those who take up their cross and follow Him in faith.