1. They are man-pleasers with ear tickling sermons. They don’t preach against sin with the doctrines of repentance and eternal punishment, but rather tolerate and coddle people in their sins with an antinomian cheap grace theology. And so they are cowardly and ashamed of preaching the true Gospel message. 1 Thessalonians 2:4: “On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4: “The time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” Jude 1:4: “Certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”

2. They try to undermine, rebuke, and refute preachers of Biblical holiness. John 10:20: “Many of them said, ‘He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?'”

3. They teach out of their own imaginations and ideologies instead of divine revelations from the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah 14:14: “Then the Lord said to me, ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.'”

4. They ignore matters of major theological and moral importance and instead focus on minor petty issues. Matthew 23:23: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

5. They use eloquent philosophical speech to hide the fact that they are unbelievers and believe in false doctrines that are contrary to the Bible. 1 Corinthians 2:1: “And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.” 2 Timothy 3:5 (ESV): “Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” 2 Timothy 3:13: “Evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

6. They are motivated more by persuading people to their opinions, and exerting authority over them, than by helping people grow in personal sanctification and communion with God. Matthew 23:15: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.”

7. They take advantage of people’s ignorance, greed, lust, immaturity, etc so they can make use of them for themselves. 2 Peter 2:1-3: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” 1 Timothy 6:3-5: “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” Matthew 7:15: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Romans 16:17-18: “I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.”

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False teachers, they’re concerned with your goods, not with your good. They don’t want to save the lost, they want to serve themselves. These false teachers, they are perfectly content for Satan to have your soul as long as they can have your stuff. False teachers, they’ve always been a plague in the church. They always will be a plague in the church until the day the Lord returns. But we know their methods. Even better, we know the Scripture, which always exposes them, for who they are. Always exposes them for what they are. See, our best defense against false teachers is to know the Word of God so well, that we immediately spot, and we can immediately shut down any deviation from that precious truth, that is the Word of God. –T.C.