A Profile of False Teachers

The Profile of False Teachers

A Profile of False Teachers

A great challenge of writing about false teachers is giving them too much attention at the expense of focusing on Jesus. The second challenge is too much focus on identifying them at the expense of the patterns. The false teachers come and go, but their pattern and mode of behaviour remain the same.

I have encountered a couple of false teachers. From those, I discerned three types of profiles, namely the charlatan, the backslider, and the antichrists.

The Charlatan.

A conman and the easiest to spot. Loud, obnoxious, and loves the limelight. They favour the theatrical – A place of worship for them is the venue for stand-up comedy. Their scam is so obvious to many that one gets shocked they still have followers.

I want to imagine the devil can easily disown them because he may see like they misrepresent his brand. Think how the demon whopped the seven sons of Sceva. But he entertains them because they entertain, lie, distract, and marinate for the advanced attacks.

Biblical examples:

False prophet Hananiah – Jeremiah 28:10-17

Sons of Sceva – Acts 19:16

The Backslider

There are two variants here. One who is totally backslidden and relies on past glories and testimonies, and the other, is an agent of both kingdoms. For instance, mixing the Bible with divination. They can be hard to spot. The sad thing is some of them are very senior in churches and others own churches.

Biblical examples:

“Some began in sound doctrine…” -1 Timothy 4:1-5

Balaam – Numbers 22; Numbers 31:6; 2 Peter 2:15-16, and Jude 1:11

The old prophet who lied to the young prophet – 1 Kings 13: 1 – 30

Nicolas: Spirit-filled in Acts 6:5. The leader of a cult – Revelation 2:6 and Revelation 2:15

Antichrists.

Not many people are comfortable talking about the Antichrist or antichrist. The Bible talks of one Antichrist who will come, and also mentions many antichrists who are already here. They are here and they have been. 1 John chapter 2 refers to many antichrists present at the time while warning of one Antichrist that is coming.

Antichrist is announced as one “who denies the Father and the Son.” I have met two. At the mention of Jesus and the cross, they would puff up and hiss. “Why are you talking about Jesus and not us? We are as powerful as Jesus and we are doing exploits too.” I imagine that is what angered them and they couldn’t put it into words. They are jealous of Jesus Christ. Their mission is to recruit as many antichrists (followers) as possible. They believe the Bible is not enough, and that they have the extra revelation and knowledge. They have read the Bible, and they know it. Some have pursued higher education in theology and other related studies.

Final Thoughts

Although Jesus did not commission us to go hunting and identifying false teachers, we are bound to encounter them. Sometimes we bring them on ourselves as a result of general human weakness; other times they are brought our way as we are being taught discernment and how to test the spirits.

No matter the profile of a false teacher, we already have the victory in Jesus’ name.

To lead a successful and victorious life, we just need to focus on Jesus and believe that the Bible has all the answers.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life,” (2 Peter 1:3 NLT).

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world,” (1 John 4:4 NIV).

Have a joyful and victorious day!

Photo by Erwan Grey on Pexels

Martin Mburu

Judge Dogood © is a fictional character created by Martin Mburu

One thought on “A Profile of False Teachers

AngiePosted on  12:34 pm - Oct 5, 2024

Excellent!! So important – thank you.

Daisy NetiaPosted on  7:10 pm - Oct 7, 2024

Powerful read

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