Presenting a distorted gospel from the pulpit is a serious offense. That’s what false teachers do. They spread harmful doctrines under the guise of legitimate teaching and are resistant to correction. It is important to distinguish between false teaching and false teachers. While any sincere preacher may make mistakes, a false teacher is defined by an unwillingness to accept correction. Certain core doctrinal truths, such as the Trinity, the deity of Christ, His sinless life, substitutionary death, salvation by grace through faith, and the Gospel, are non-negotiable. Denying these is a clear mark of false teaching.

False teachers have challenged the church since its inception and will continue to do so. While some operate outside the church, those within are the most damaging. The greatest threat comes from teachings that appear biblical but are not. Such deception is subtle and often presents itself as truth, making it especially dangerous to the church.

Peter just reminded his readers that they could trust the prophetic word for their lives in matters of truth and practical living (2 Peter 1:18-21). Now, he reminds them that even as there were true prophets, speaking for God, there were also false prophets, who sought to lead the people astray. Throughout Israel’s history, genuine prophets faced opposition from those spreading false messages. Whenever truth is present, opposition follows. Therefore, vigilance against false teachers is necessary until the Lord returns.

Peter outlines six characteristics to help us identify false teachers: they infiltrate the church, disguise their intentions, deny the Lordship of Christ, seek popularity, engage in shameful conduct, and pursue personal gain driven by greed.

They operate in the church (v1)

Peter gives strategic insight into the enemy’s target. His target is the very sanctuary, the meeting place of the believers. Did Satan not own the pulpits of Israel? (Isaiah 56:9-12, Jeremiah 23, and Ezekiel 34). Does Satan not own the majority of pulpits and media in the church today? The pulpit becomes the center where Satan communicates religious myths, lies, and demonic doctrines. If he can contaminate the pulpit (the one delivering the message), he can poison the entire congregation. Whoever leads in the pulpit will determine what that church becomes. As in Hosea 4, “Like people, like priest”. People are like those who lead them.

They act secretly (v1)

It is not a simple task to identify them. Because they disguised themselves as normal Christians, some dressed as priests, cardinals, Popes, TV evangelists, faith healers, Christian ministers, university professors, or Bible scholars. They have gained positions of power, prominence, and respect in high places. These are agents of Satan in the church, who corrupt and destroy the truth by introducing destructive heresies. There is a difference between error and heresy. Heresy is something that strikes at the very heart of the gospel and the truth. Just because someone quotes from the Bible does not mean that they are proclaiming the message of the Bible. Those words appear in the Bible, but what they were saying was contrary to what the Bible teaches.

They deny the Lordship of Christ (v1)

There are people who call themselves Christians who will talk favourably about Jesus. They declare Jesus was a great teacher, a ‘god’, and that we should listen to what he teaches. Though they don’t deny Christ outright, ignoring Him is the same. Though they may name, claim, serve, preach, and cast out demons in Christ’s name, they refuse His sovereign lordship. They reject any rule over their lives. They reject the established ultimate divine authority, which is Scripture. The Roman Catholic faith, for example, has shown a willingness to raise the pope above Jesus Christ and the Bible by giving him the right to nullify Scripture through papal decrees. They place themselves above Christ; they become the head of the church, not Christ. Their doctrines overrule Scripture. They deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (Jude 1:4). They take the name that only applied to God, and call them “Holy Father”.

They seek popularity (v2)

All false teachers seek popularity. They have set up their banners for signs and miracles. They have stolen the glory of Jesus Christ by bringing undue attention to themselves. It is the spirit of antichrist that elevates itself in place of Jesus Christ. Peter tells us that many will follow the ways of these false prophets. The only way to get a person to believe something that is untrue is to present it in a way that is convincing and desirable to them. False teachers are not concerned about God, about worship, or about pure doctrine. They rarely talk about sin. Greedy, idolatrous, or immoral behavior is not something they tell people about. They don’t offend those people, but entertain them like con-artists. Most people who name the name of Jesus as their Savior do not even know there are foundational doctrines in Christianity. They have never even heard of it. These wolves entertain their prey and feed their lust. Many will follow their immoral, debauched conduct.

They act shamefully (v2)

These false teachers are immoral at heart and in conduct. What false teachers throughout history have shared in common is not the specific nature of their doctrinal error, but the inevitability of moral compromise in one of these three general areas: greed, sensuality, and pride, or money, sex, and power. They are not just false in their teaching, but also in their living. Beneath their doctrinal error, however subtle and deceptive, we will find ethical compromises. They may not be publicly visible because they cover those up, and those rarely come out overnight; they take time. But they will come, and we are not shocked when scandals break out. They claim to be holy but are burning with fleshly lust. These false teachers ruined the reputation of the true Christian message.

They are driven by greed (v3)

The driving force of their effort to be teachers is not the love of the truth or the glory of God. Apart from money, there are other things that can tempt people to greed. Possessions, popularity, power, influence, prestige, respect, and many other things can cause someone to become greedy. These false teachers, who are greedy, will do anything to compromise the truth of Scripture in order to get what they want. They will prosper by exploiting their victims.

False teachers bring the way of truth into dispute and make it difficult for people to accept the genuine message of Christianity. Satan’s goal is to deceive as many as possible. The Bible says that God will judge false teachers harshly because they lead others astray. God has already marked them for destruction (V3). He has no patience whatsoever for having his name profaned by liars. Nor is he tolerant of those who accommodate such work by listening and following their evil advice. The people were told to reject the false teachers, and God promised to pour out evil upon them for allowing such teachings to be promoted (Ref. Jeremiah 14:14-16). In God’s eyes, the audience is equally as guilty as the wolves (Hosea 4:9; 2 John 7-11).

Many Christians are unaware of the ongoing spiritual conflict between truth and deception. The church’s increasing tolerance of error makes it easier for false teachers to mislead. If you cannot identify any voices you hear as false, it’s not because you aren’t being exposed, but because you’re falling for it. To protect ourselves, we must identify, expose, and counteract false teachers.