8 Characteristics of False Teachers And Why Jude's Warning is More Relevant than Ever

(This article was originally published in French at TPSG)

Televangelist Kenneth Copeland claimed he could heal the Coronavirus through the TV. Televangelist Jim Baker sold a treatment for COVID-19 on his program to people desperate for a cure. A pastor in Senegal tells of “prophets” who threaten with curses those who don’t send in their tithes.

False teachers feed off of chaos. This is why Jude’s admonition is more relevant than ever. Jude would have loved nothing more than write to his readers about their common salvation (v. 3). In fact, the word “love” appears more than any other in his one-chapter letter. Love is the motivation behind everything he writes. Yet he found it necessary to “appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (v3). And as much as I derive joy from writing articles about the benefits we share in the Gospel, I feel compelled to warn you about the threat false teachers pose today as well.

But how, you may ask, are we to know who is a false teacher? Jude helps us in this regard. His short but powerful epistle offers us a guide to identifying false teachers. Please carefully read this short chapter, then consider with me Jude’s detailed list of their most common character traits:

1. They creep in unnoticed (v. 4): False teachers don’t broadcast their nefarious intentions. They sneak in without us realizing it. Jesus warned us to beware of false prophets, who wear sheep’s clothing but inside are ferocious wolves (Mt 7:15).
2. They come from among us (v. 4): The biggest threat to the Church of Jesus Christ is not from the outside, but from the inside. False teachers aren’t “unbiblical.” The problem is rather that they twist Scripture to serve their own purposes. I’ve always been sobered by Paul’s warning to the Ephesian elders that from among their ranks would arise “men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” (Ac 20:30).
3. They are ungodly (vv. 4, 15, 18): False teachers are characterized by the works of the flesh. This may not be apparent at first glance. Paul described them as “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” (2 Tm 3:5). Similarly, Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees “whitewashed tombs” precisely because they managed to fool so many by looking pure on the outside while their inside was as rotten as a decomposing cadaver (Mt 23:27-28).
4. They turn God’s grace into license for sin (v. 4): Some false teachers give free reign to their flesh and encourage their followers to do likewise, abusing the grace of God. Others impose rules upon others that they themselves do not follow. Yet, sooner or later, their hypocrisy comes out, as they disregard the very rules they impose upon their followers. They resemble the Pharisees, whom Jesus condemned because “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.” (Mt 23:4)
5. They deny our Lord Jesus (v. 4): Beware of anyone who denies Christ’s deity, his humanity, his equality with the Father, or the Trinity itself. Equally dangerous are those who deny our Lord more subtly by elevating any human being to equal rank with Christ. A leader who claims to speak with Christ’s absolute authority makes himself Lord, to his people’s peril.
6. They reject authority (vv. 6, 8-10): Beware of any teacher who teaches that his church is the only true church and who rejects the Holy Spirit’s witness through his Church universal. We evangelicals may not have a Pope, but we have Scripture, and we have a basic core of doctrine to which Christians have held throughout history: The Trinity, the inerrancy of Scripture, the fallenness of man and the need for a Savior, the exclusivity of Christ, salvation by grace alone through faith alone, etc. Our creeds and confessions are not equal to Scripture, but they provide ballasts for our faith and are worth studying to keep us from theological error.
7. They are sexually immoral (vv. 6, 7, 11, 18): Fallen angels, Sodom, Balaam –all serve as ancient examples of those who follow their own ungodly passions. And we don’t have to look far in our own generation to find examples of false teachers whose sexual misconduct made the headlines.
8. They’re divisive (v. 19): Church splits can happen for a number of reasons, some legitimate. But Jude here warns us of worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who sew division. We should be circumspect whenever we see divisions arising that threaten the unity of Christ’s bride. Ephesians 4.3 exhorts us: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

Keep in mind that not all these elements characterize every false teacher. Nor is this an exhaustive list of what a false teacher looks like. But in both New Testament times and in every era since, men and women have arisen seeking to shipwreck the faith of many. Jude writes, therefore, to warn us to be on our guard from such people.

Yet, the beauty of this little letter is that it begins and ends with hope, not fear. His opens in verse 1 with these reassuring words, “To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.” And he concludes in verses 24-25 with this beautiful doxology, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

Jude’s designed his epistle, yes, to warn of the very real threat false teachers pose to the Church of Jesus Christ. But from beginning to end, the promise of his letter, and of all the Scriptures, is that God is gloriously great, and more than able to keep us from falling. So let us contend for the faith, but let us do so fully assured of his promises in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen!