How are we to deal with false teachers?

We continue our doctrine rethink by considering the issue of false teachers. We shall review what "discernment ministers" do, then we shall consider what Bible has to say about false teachers and what our response to them should be.

Discernment Ministers 

We find the Doctrinal Police are consumed with the latest thing about this false teacher or that false teacher. "Discernment ministers" consider it their duty to point out their flaws and error. Their analyses are usually expressed in hyperbolic terms with breathless urgency. We have posted numerous critiques of these self-styled "discernment ministers." We examine their fallacious arguments, but we also address their insulting language and egregious name calling.

One of their most pointed claims is that false teachers are, well, false. That is, through and through they are false. Not saved, not entitled to grace, respectful correction, or the restoration prescribed in the Bible. Not even entitled to our prayers!

That is, false teachers are despicable wolves, liars and deceivers, deemed beyond redemption.

Thus we note that the ire of the "Doctrinal Police" exceeds the level of mere disagreement. Merely setting the biblical record straight is not sufficient, though ironically they rarely even do that. No, for them, false teachers deserve only mocking, derision, and attack.

Our complaint is not that the "Doctrinal Police" are defending the truth, it's that they tend to view even the smallest doctrinal difference as false teaching. Perfect doctrine is the highest goal for them, and any deviation is false teaching, and by inference, a matter of salvation.

The doctrinal hairsplitting gets to ridiculous levels, which means for them that the category of false teachers is extremely large. This has the effect of branding every sort of doctrinal deviation as "them," which means they are not "us."

This is cultic thinking.

False Doctrine vs. Doctrinal Variety

Contrary to what some of the "Doctrinal Police" profess, not every doctrinal difference is a critical error or false teaching. In Romans chapter 14, Paul explains that people believe different things, and some of those things are "disputable matters."

Ro. 14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.

The whole chapter is devoted to people with different ideas of things, including what food can be eaten and what days are regarded sacred. Paul concludes that its a matter of personal conviction:

Ro. 14:5 Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Paul also touches on this with the Colossian church:

Col. 2:16-17 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

There are things we just don't divide over or dispute about. They just aren't important enough.

The problem is, everyone has an idea of what constitutes an important doctrine. As mentioned, if perfect doctrine is your goal, any deviation from that is considered heresy. But of course, the Bible doesn't support such a notion.

Perfect doctrine will not save anyone. There is no Scripture that tells us that God will judge us or commend us regarding our doctrinal excellence. We are to hold to the truth, but that is only a part of a persevering faith:

1Jn. 2:24 See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

1Th. 5:21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 

He. 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

There are central doctrines we must believe if we are saved, but salvation isn't dependent on doctrines. When we get saved we are doctrinally ignorant, but through God's sanctifying work in us by His Holy Spirit, by the ministry of the brethren, and by our own study of the Scriptures, we are brought to maturity of faith. That's how we learn important truths, like how we got saved, who God is, and what our response to Him should be as we live holy lives.

These truths form the basis of our doctrines. Doctrines come from truths found in the Bible. Doctrines are developed from what the Bible says. The Bible is not interpreted through doctrines, the Bible is interpreted to yield doctrines.

Doctrines are the product of Bible scholars, cultural influences, understanding what Greek and Hebrew words mean, denominational preferences, and historic streams of thought. We would hope that the Holy Spirit enlightens our minds to understand the truths of the Bible and thus produce accurate doctrines.

Nevertheless, there are a variety of interpretations. Over the centuries honest and faithful people have studied the Scriptures and came to different conclusions. These varieties are not necessarily heresy.

 Jared Wilson provides a useful framework for dealing with doctrinal issues:

“First-order” doctrines, things that every genuine Christian ought to affirm to be a Christian. This includes things like the Trinity, the Incarnation, justification by faith, etc.

“Second-order” doctrines would include things that provide boundaries for Christian fellowship—meaning, we would have to agree on these teachings to be able to covenant together in a local church. This would include things like views on baptism, church governance, roles of women in the church, and in some cases perhaps views on the charismatic gifts. Thus, I can’t share church membership with my Presbyterian or Anglican friends, mainly because we differ on who is an appropriate recipient of baptism, but I can still cheerfully affirm their Christianity, just as I hope they can mine.

“Third-order” doctrines would be teachings you and I could disagree on but still be in fellowship in the same church.

We would expand and conflate second and third order doctrines to some degree, partly because Jesus calls the Church to the unity:

Jn. 17:23 May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

This is not the product of ecumenicism, it is the product of the Holy Spirit working in His people to bring about a love for each other that isn't possible for the natural man. Thus we should be a able to worship and serve together as brothers despite having what might be substantial doctrinal differences.

Our personal list of "first order" doctrines (that is, doctrines crucial to be a Christian) would include:

• God is the Creator, He is holy, merciful, all-powerful, and all-knowing. 
• Every person has sinned, and sin leads to death.
• Jesus, the only son of God, fully God, became a man. He led a sinless life and died on the cross, all according to God's purpose.
• Salvation from sin is necessary and cannot be achieved by good works. Only God can save, and this is accomplished only by faith in Jesus, whose death washes away all sin.
• When we repent and believe we receive forgiveness from our sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit, fully God. 
• The Holy Spirit makes us alive and empowers us to live a holy life.

Though there are many other doctrines, these are the ones we consider crucial. Everything else is not a salvation issue in our view.

What is a False Teacher?

A false teacher would be someone who teaches things in opposition to the above list. But more than just bad doctrine is needed in order for someone to be a false teacher.

It is notable that there is only one mention of false teachers, (ψευδοδιδάσκαλος, ου, ὁ pseudodidaskalos). It is found here:

2Pe. 2:1-2 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. 2 Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

We see there are some particular characteristics that mark false teachers, including

• secretly introducing heresy
• denying the Lord
• bringing the truth into disrepute
• exploiting people with false stories

As we continue reading the chapter we find there is much more, with the bulk of the second chapter describing them. False teachers also

• follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority (vs. 10)
• are bold, arrogant, and slanderous (vs.10)
• blaspheme (vs. 12)
• carouse in broad daylight (vs.13)
• are adulterous, always sinning, greedy (vs. 14)
• are boastful and entice people to sin (vs. 18)
• are slaves to depravity (vs. 19)
• escaped the corruption of the world only to return to it (vs 20-21)

A false teacher started out true to the faith, but didn't stay there. He returns to wallowing in sin day and night, publicly and brazenly. There is no mistaking a false teacher by the lifestyle he lives, the excess that characterizes his life, the dissipation he engages in (1Pe. 4:4), and the continual and public sin.

These criteria constitute a high bar. And it certainly should be. A false teacher is not a person with different doctrines than you. This is not a person who speaks in tongues or believes in prophecy. This is not a person who believes in preterism, healing, modalism, Armenianism, or home churches.

No, a false teacher is way beyond this, false not only by what they teach but false by the way they lead their lives. They are the "whole package," false in every way. God-denying doctrines and lascivious lifestyles.

Therefore, we should be a bit more circumspect before we consign someone to this category.

That being said, doctrine is very important. It is the truth we stand for. Paul tells Timothy,

1Ti. 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Doctrines regarding salvation is the issue presented here (you will save both yourself and your hearers), coupled with living a life of good repute (life as well as doctrine). That is, the opposite of a false teacher.

Paul mentions these two together on purpose, we think. Both doctrine and lifestyle are important. Having good doctrines regarding salvation but a sinful lifestyle doesn't work. Having a good life but bad doctrines regarding salvation also fails.

We think this is a critical understanding in evaluating whether or not someone is a false teacher.

What Do We Do About Those who are in Error?

Apart from the matter of false teachers is the matter of a person who holds false doctrines. How should we treat such a person?

Often the situation is one of behavior that affects another Christian. Perhaps one of the more famous prescriptions is

Mt. 18:15 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

This is the global "brother," ἀδελφός, οῦ, ὁ (adelphos): a brother, member of the same religious community, especially a fellow-Christian... having the same national ancestor, belonging to the same people, countryman. That is, those in the local church especially, but also extending to those in the Kingdom. This is a personal offense perpetrated against you. Any brother who sins against you is entitled to this process.

Some have exempted themselves from this requirement by claiming this passage is solely about church discipline and thus does not apply to someone outside the congregation. If this is true, then they should have nothing to say to a person outside their own congregation. A person outside their congregation with whom they have had no contact cannot sin against them.

Another famous prescription is

Ga. 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

"Someone" is anthrópos, that is, a person. We mention this as a tangent because there are some "discernment ministers" who think that a false teacher is not a brother, therefore there is no obligation to approach, correct, or work through the offense.

Here we see it is a "someone." "Someone" has been caught in sin. Again we see that this is the local body, in personal relationships, charged with actively restoring a person.

"Restore" is καταρτίζω (katartizó), which means to make one what he ought to be. "Caught" is prolambanó, to be overtaken by surprise. 

So, a person caught by surprise by sin that has overtaken him is to be brought back to what he ought to be.

The following references all deal with what to do within the local body. None of these necessarily involve a sin perpetrated against a specific person, or a false teacher, but rather, bad behavior in the church:

Tit. 3:10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.

2Th. 3:14-15 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

1Ti. 5:20 Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.

1Co. 5:3-5 ...I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. 

Jude tells us:

Jude 22-23 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear — hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

There are three things here, and none of them involve blasting or mocking people. Our attitude is one of mercy mixed with fear. We think that fear, at least partly, has something to do with not trampling on God's love for the person.

What Do We Do About False Teachers?

We have found what to do about sinful brothers. Nearly every reference to the way errant believers should be treated is as a personal correction in the local congregation of believers.

We have found that they are not enemies, they are brothers who we warn twice, perhaps rebuking them publicly, then we avoid them. At the worst, we might have to hand them over to satan, that is, to remove them from the spiritual protection of the church, but even then that is with an eye towards restoration.

However, as we survey the NT we make a surprising discovery regarding false teachers who are in other churches. There is no instruction that we are to brand them as false teachers. We previously discussed 2 Peter chapter 2, where we find no instruction at all regarding what to do about them.

We must say this again: There is nothing in the NT that tells us to correct a false teacher who is in another church.

Ro. 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls.

Tit. 1:9-11, 13 gives us some additional information. Paul is writing to Titus to tell him what elders must be like:

He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. 10 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach — and that for the sake of dishonest gain... 13 Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith...

Apparently in this church there were people teaching unsound doctrine, in particular, Judaizers. They were in the local church. They were not people in other churches. Paul instructs Titus that the elders must be able to refute these people. In fact, they may need to be refuted, rebuked, and silenced.

Again we discover that they are brothers, that is, the objective of these actions is so that they will be sound in the faith... 

Here are a couple of blasphemers, but not described as false teachers. They have rejected faith and a good conscience. Paul handed them over to satan:

1Ti. 1:18-20 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

So twice (1Co. 5:3-5, 1Ti. 1:18-20) we have seen people handed over to satan, both times a corrective measure, one for sexual immorality, and the other for blasphemy.

Paul writes to the Roman church about people who are divisive and teaching contrary things:

Ro. 16:17 I urge you, brothers, 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.

Paul tells them to avoid them.

In Ephesians Paul tells us that they are to be exposed, yet notice this is still an expression of the local church:

Ep. 5:3,11 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people... 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

Are You an Apostle?

Paul frequently brings correction in his letters. That is often the purpose for him writing. He tells the Corinthian church

1Co. 9:2 Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you!

This apostolic position comes to bear as he engages the corrective process. He is in authority in these churches, and appeals to this authority as justification for his actions. This is why he wrote

1Co. 5:3-5 ...I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.

Peter writes:

2Pe. 3:2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

These churches had their own apostles, who brought the Word of the Lord to them. They had crucial characteristics

• Position
• Authority
• Contact with the local church
• A right to speak

This particular form of correction is apostolic in nature. It requires an apostle. We suspect "discernment ministers" are not claiming apostolic authority, so they do not have the right to issue correction.

Conclusion

First, false teachers and people engaged in sinful activities are corrected, rebuked, silenced, or even handed over to satan. But every one of them is in a local church experiencing the local church discipline.

Second, we would suggest that there is no such thing as "discernment ministers" as they are presently constituted. They are operating outside of biblical boundaries by upbraiding and mocking people who are outside their local church.

Our conclusion is, all church discipline is local.