How to Recognize a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Spotting False Teachers

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-16a) 

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert… (Acts 20:29-31a)

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) 

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11)  

The Bible is full of warnings against false teachers. It is every Christian's duty to be able to discern, at least on a basic level, what is true and what is false. Just because someone claims Jesus as their savior doesn't make them a true, regenerate follower of Christ. Just because a pastor or teacher uses all the Christian terminology and quotes from the Bible, doesn't make them a teacher of Truth. 

Since this is a very new blog on discernment, I thought I would use a post to tackle the question:

"How does one recognize or identify a false teacher,
or a wolf in sheep's clothing?" 

Francis Barlow - public domain

1. Wolves arise from within the visible church – they have been around a long time and are currently in the church, and prevalently so. (Acts 20:29-30 | 2 Peter 2:1)
   
2. Wolves appear to be Christians on the outside. They have all the markers of a Christian: they claim Jesus as their savior, they quote from the Bible, they seem sincere, they use all the Christian lingo and terminology, and they appear religious.  They are in disguise as servants of righteousness and as apostles of Christ, yet whether they know it or not, they are servants of Satan. (Matthew 23:27-28 | 2 Corinthians 11:12-15)
   
3. Wolves teach destructive heresies. Heresy is a deviation from the established Truths in Scripture. Heresy contradicts correct, sound teaching as grounded in the Word of God. Early church father Irenaeus fought hard against the heresies of his day, especially Gnosticism. He described the established teaching from Scripture as ‘orthodox’ which comes from the Greek words orthos “straight” and doxa “belief.” Anything that went against the ‘straight beliefs’ derived from Scripture he called out as heresy. (2 Peter 2:1-2)
   
4. Wolves deny Jesus as Lord. They may claim him as savior and give lip service by calling him Lord, but they will distort the meaning of scripture to remove the sovereign lordship of Jesus over their lives. They want the freedom to live any way they please. (Jude 4 | 2 Peter 2:1)
   
5. Wolves twist scripture. They typically do this to support their own false interpretation of the Bible in order to satisfy their deep, inward desires and appetites and to accumulate many followers. (Acts 20:29-30 | Galatians 1:6-8)
   
6. Wolves teach people what they want to hear. Thus, the people no longer hold an ear to the Truth of Scripture, but instead gravitate to those teachers/preachers who give them what they want. Wolves avoid anything that could be offensive to the proud state of fallen mankind. Thus, they are usually well-liked people, agreeable, and attractive in a sense. (2 Timothy 4:3-4 | Romans 16:18)
   
7. Wolves serve their own appetites, desires, and cravings. This could be greed, wealth, riches, power, fame, lust, etc. They also saturate their teaching with appeals to the desires of the flesh. And they will compromise scripture to make it appeal to the culture. (2 Peter 2:2-3 | Romans 16:18)
   
8. Wolves are usually smooth talkers, they flatter others, and take advantage of the unsuspecting and the naïve (the Biblically illiterate, new in the faith, etc.). They rarely teach the demanding truths of scripture, they’d rather encourage than correct or rebuke, and they will avoid absolutes and anything condemnatory.  (2 Timothy 4:3-4 | Romans 16:18 | Galatians 1:6-8)
   
9. Wolves distort the true Gospel and preach another so-called gospel. They add to the true gospel or they take away from the true gospel, or both. In any case, they seldom teach a narrow gate to eternal life or reveal the depth and utter danger of sin and wickedness. Thus, there is usually no warning of judgment and God’s wrath or a call to true and lasting repentance.  (Galatians 1:6-8 | Jude 4)
   
10. Wolves typically live secret lives through depraved/immoral conduct not seen in the public eye, but when they are exposed, they bring disgrace upon the way of Truth and prompt outsiders to speak evil of, or malign the church. A corrupt understanding of scripture will manifest itself in a corrupt way of life…eventually. (Jude 8 | 2 Peter 2:2 | Matthew 23:27-28 | 2 Peter 3:17)
    
11. Wolves can grow a rather large following, and often validate their so-called ministry and God’s anointing on them by the size of their crowds. Thus, they lead many astray who will be like them: self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-righteous, full of pride, and narcissistic, while maintaining a ‘religious’ appearance. (Matthew 23:27-28 | 2 Peter 2:2 | Acts 20:29-30 | Romans 16:18)
    
12. Wolves are sneaky, crafty, and cunning. The way in which they interpret and twist scripture is subtle, so much so that the destructive heresies they teach creep into the church secretly and unnoticed by most. (Jude 4 | 2 Peter 2:1)
    
13. Wolves do not abide [remain, dwell] solely in the Word of God. They may rely on pagan or mystic practices and teachings, or extra-Biblical writings, or supposed extra-Biblical revelation through visions, dreams, ‘hearing’ God’s voice, etc. (John 8:31-32 | Jude 8)

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As I continue to write articles, I may from time to time point out false teachers. I may reference back to this list or to some of the verses quoted here. I believe if we truly love Christ and we follow His word, we should expose false teaching and false teachers. Many Christians today try to stay away from calling someone a heretic, but if someone is teaching heresy - they are a heretic. As quoted earlier, Ephesians 5:11 commands us:

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 

Acts 20:31 tells us to "be alert." 2 Peter 3:17-18 says: 

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Romans 16:17 tells us to "watch out" and avoid those who teach things contrary to sound doctrine.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, like I've said before, we are in spiritual war between good and evil. We don't have the luxury or the time to tiptoe around these issues, not trying to offend anyone. Souls are at stake - many, MANY people are heading down the path of spending an eternity in hell. Think about that for a moment. It could be someone in your family, in your circle of friends, the people you work with everyday, some of your neighbors, the people sitting next to you in a restaurant, the family in front of you in the checkout line at the grocery store, and so on. Many of these people claim to be Christians, but may have fallen captive to the array of false teaching out there and their souls will be forever damned unless someone, maybe you or I, take the time to expose the error in what they've been taught or read. But the first step is being able to distinguish for ourselves true teaching from false teaching. I pray that this blog will help you in that regard.