ON FALSE TEACHERS AND TRUE HEARTS

There is a solemn hush that comes over the soul when we open Peter’s words: “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. In their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (2 Peter 2:1–3)

How dreadful it is when the holy name of Christ becomes a banner under which hearts not yielded to Him take refuge! The apostle’s warning is not written in anger but in tears. The word false here, notice, does not merely modify their doctrine, but their very selves: “false teachers.” Their deceit is not only in the lips, but in the life. Their words are poisoned because the fountain of their heart is corrupt.

Yes, their teachings were false, but their falseness began deeper still. The root of their error lay not in the mind alone, but in the will — the dark will that resists surrender to Christ. They denied the Master who bought them, not merely by argument, but by living for self while wearing His name.

It is a serious thing to charge another with being a “false teacher,” for to do so is not to judge an idea but to judge a soul. There is a vast difference between a mistaken brother and a malicious deceiver; between one who errs from weakness and one who twists truth for gain. A weak sheep and a greedy wolf may both stray, but they are of different nature altogether.

Consider Apollos, mighty in the Scriptures, yet knowing only the baptism of John (Acts 18:24–25). He spoke boldly, and yes — imperfectly. But when Aquila and Priscilla “explained to him the way of God more accurately,” he received correction, not rebuke. His heart was true even when his understanding was small. Likewise, in Corinth some believers were confused about idols and the one God (1 Corinthians 8), but Paul did not call them heretics. They were babes needing milk, not wolves needing chains.

Let us beware of mistaking ignorance for wickedness, or immaturity for apostasy. Not every cracked vessel is discarded by the Potter.

The Fruit of the Heart

Our Lord said, “You shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Not by their opinions, nor by the sharpness of their arguments, but by the fragrance or the foulness that follows in their wake. The tree may be clothed in leaves of orthodoxy, but if the fruit beneath is envy, strife, and self-glory, its root is not in Christ.

Paul described such men: “He is proud, knowing nothing, but obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions…” (1 Timothy 6:4). Where false teachers live, there is constant friction. The air grows heavy with contention. The gentle fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness — withers in their shadow.

Peter paints them in solemn colors: “They indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires…they are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions…having eyes full of adultery and that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed” (2 Peter 2:10–14). These are not mere doctrinal mistakes, but moral diseases. Pride is the root, greed the sap, sensuality the blossom, and ruin the harvest.

And Jude adds, “They turn the grace of our God into license to sin” (Jude 4). They are clouds without rain — promising refreshment, bringing only darkness. They defile the flesh, they feed themselves, they care not for the flock (Jude 12).

What a contrast to the humble shepherd who tends the sheep with tears and tenderness.

The Secret Poison

False teaching often enters not with a trumpet, but a whisper. Peter says they “secretly introduce” their heresies. Falsehood loves disguise; it borrows the garments of truth, as the wolf borrows the fleece of the lamb. The deceit lies not always in the content of their sermons, but in the craving of their souls. Some even “preach Christ out of selfish ambition” (Philippians 1:17). The words may be right, but the music is off-key.

Soundness, in Scripture, means health. “Wholesome words,” Paul calls them — words that heal, not merely words that are correct (1 Timothy 6:3). A man may defend the truth and yet wound it by his spirit. He may preach about love with a sword in his tongue. He may uphold the cross while crucifying his brother.

God, who sees not as man sees, looks first upon the heart.

The Gentle Way of Correction

If you believe a brother to be mistaken, go to him. Sit down with the open Word between you. Speak as one beggar showing another where to find bread. How far this is from the secret meetings, the letters, the whispered warnings — all the dark machinery of fear! Christ does not call us to shadowy tribunals, but to honest communion.

Remember Apollos again. He was not shouted down in public; he was gently guided in private. Oh, that we might recover that spirit — correction in love, reproof in meekness, restoration in hope. “A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition” (2 Timothy 2:24–25).

The truth is never honored by the spirit of hate. The devil loves to fight under the banner of orthodoxy.

The Judgment of the Lord

Let us tremble before the words: “Their destruction is not asleep” (2 Peter 2:3). Judgment walks with patient steps, but it walks surely. “God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

Yet even here, we must not take pleasure in such thoughts. We must mourn that anyone should harden their heart until the day of mercy is past. The tears of Christ over Jerusalem are holier than the laughter of men over Babylon’s fall.

A Word for the Humble

My brother, my sister — do not think yourself above error. “We all stumble in many things” (James 3:2). The only teachers God uses are those who have learned to sit at His feet. “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Growth implies incompleteness; grace implies need.

If your definition of a false teacher is anyone who errs in doctrine, then you have condemned the whole church, including yourself. We know only in part. The purest mind among us still sees through a glass dimly. The most faithful preacher still limps toward heaven.

Therefore, speak truth with tears, not with triumph. Correct with courage, but with compassion. Remember that truth without love is as cold as a star — bright, but lifeless.

Lord, keep me from the pride that teaches without love. Save me from the zeal that wounds Your body in Your name. Let truth and tenderness walk hand in hand within me. Teach me to discern without despising, to warn without wounding, to correct without condemning.

Let my words carry the fragrance of Christ, not the smoke of self. And when I see another stumble, let me remember that I too have feet of clay. For You alone are the Teacher of truth, the Shepherd of souls, the One whose judgment is just, and whose mercy is greater still.

Amen.

Bryan Dewayne Dunaway