8 Bible Verses about False Teachers

For some people are saying, "Paul's letters are heavy and severe, but in person he is [physically?] weak and his speaking ability is unimpressive."

Then we will no longer be [spiritual] babies, tossed back and forth [by waves], and blown around by every wind of [false] teaching, [deceived] by the clever trickery of people using deceptive schemes.

For such men are not serving our Lord Christ but their own [unspiritual] appetites. They are deceiving the minds of innocent people by their smooth talk and flattering words.

For such men are false apostles; they are deceitful workers, who disguise themselves as [true] apostles of Christ.

They suffer wrong themselves for doing wrong to other people. They consider it [especially] pleasurable to carry on their drunken revellings, [even] during the daytime. They become blots and blemishes [i.e., like spoiled food] in your fellowship meal, as they revel in their deceitful behavior.

And when they brought them before the city officials, they made this charge [against them]: "These Jewish men are causing too much trouble in our city, and they are teaching people to observe customs which we Romans are not permitted to accept or practice."

We have found this man [i.e., Paul] to be extremely bothersome, and an instigator of strife among the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

But [other] Jews became jealous and, recruiting certain ungodly riffraff, they gathered a mob and brought the city to near-riot conditions. They [even] attacked Jason's house and attempted to bring Paul and Silas before the [assembly of] people. When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials and shouted, "These men have turned the world upside down [i.e., disrupted society by their preaching] and have [now] come here also [i.e., to do the same thing in our community]. Jason has welcomed them and [now] all of them [i.e., Paul, Silas, Jason and the others] are going against the [Roman] laws of Caesar by saying that someone else is [our] king; that Jesus is [king]!"

When Paul appeared, the [Jewish] leaders who had accompanied Festus down from Jerusalem gathered around him and brought many serious charges against him, which they were not able to prove. Paul replied in his defense, "I have not committed any sin against the law of the Jews, nor against the Temple, nor against Caesar."

Now the leading priests and the entire Council [called "the Sanhedrin"] looked for false witnesses [to testify] against Jesus, in order to put Him to death. But they did not find any [i.e., whose stories harmonized. See Mark 14:56], even though many false witnesses came [forward to testify]. Finally, two [false witnesses] came forward and said, "This man [i.e., Jesus] said, 'I can destroy the Temple of God, and [then] rebuild it within three days.'"

But Peter had followed Him from a distance, right into the courtyard of the head priest. He was sitting there with the [Jewish] officers, warming himself by the light of the fire. Now the leading priests and the entire Council [called the "Sanhedrin"] were looking for [false] witnesses to testify against Jesus in order to put Him to death, but did not find any. For many persons gave false testimony against Him, but their stories did not harmonize. read more.
Then two people [See Matt. 26:60] stood up and gave false testimony against Him, saying, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this Temple, which was constructed by hand, and in three days I will build another one, not made by hand.'" And not even [in this attempt did] their testimony harmonize.

Then they enlisted men to say [i.e., to testify falsely against Stephen, verse 13], "We heard him criticizing Moses and [even] God."

They had arranged for the false witnesses to say, "This man will not stop speaking against the Temple and the law of Moses,

[Your] being persuaded [to do this] was not motivated by God, who called you [into His fellowship]. A little bit of yeast permeates the whole batch of dough [i.e., a few people can influence everyone else to do the wrong thing in this matter].

For [certain] false brothers, who were secretly brought in to observe us practicing our liberty in Christ Jesus [i.e., by not having Titus circumcised], attempted to place us [back] under the bondage [of Mosaic law keeping].

[Although] these people promise "liberty," they themselves are slaves to corrupting influences, for people are slaves to whatever controls them.

For certain men have secretly infiltrated [your ranks]; they are men who had been written about long ago that they should be judged [and condemned] for perverting the unearned favor of our God into [a license for] living unrestrained, indecent lives, and who deny [the identity and work of] our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

If anyone teaches a different doctrine [i.e., from what has been urged above], and does not agree to [proclaim the] sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to teaching that is godly [i.e., in harmony with godliness], that person is conceited. He does not understand anything, but has an unhealthy concern for controversy and arguments over words, which produce envy, dissension, abusive language, evil suspicions,

But just as there were false prophets among the people before, there will also be false teachers among you [Christians]. They will privately teach harmful doctrines that destroy people [spiritually], by even denying [that Jesus is] the Master, [and thereby] destroying themselves quickly. And many people will follow their unrestrained, indecent conduct, which will result in the true way [of God] being spoken against. And through greedy desires and deceptive words they will exploit you [for evil purposes]. But the judgment that they have had coming for a long time, will not delay, but will eventually awaken [i.e., arrive] to bring destruction upon them. read more.
For if God did not spare sinning angels, but cast them in chains, into deep, dark dungeons to await judgment; and if He did not spare the ancient world of Noah's day, when He brought a flood on those ungodly people (though Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven other people, were saved from it); and if God also condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by reducing them to ashes, thereby condemning them to catastrophic destruction, and making them an example to other ungodly people in the future; and if He rescued the righteous man Lot, who had become very disturbed by unrestrained wickedness [of the people there in Sodom]. (For, being a righteous man living among them, Lot's righteous spirit was very disturbed every day by the wickedness he heard and saw), then the Lord [surely] knows how to rescue godly people from trying situations, and to keep unrighteous people under [a sentence of] punishment [to be received] on the judgment day. [This fate will come upon] those people especially who corrupt themselves with physical desires and despise being ruled by others. They are daring, self-willed, and are not afraid to speak against glorious beings [i.e., angels], while [those] angels, who are greater in strength and power than they, refuse to speak against such authorities, in condemnation, before the Lord. However, these people are like unreasonable, ignorant creatures of instinct, born as animals which are [to be] caught and destroyed. They speak out against things about which they are ignorant. In [the process of] destroying others, they will certainly be destroyed themselves. They suffer wrong themselves for doing wrong to other people. They consider it [especially] pleasurable to carry on their drunken revellings, [even] during the daytime. They become blots and blemishes [i.e., like spoiled food] in your fellowship meal, as they revel in their deceitful behavior. Their eyes are filled with sexual lust, and they are never satisfied when it comes to sinning. They entice unstable people and have hearts trained to be greedy [i.e., they continually desire the possessions of others]. [In this condition] they are under God's curse. They strayed away [from God] by taking the wrong road like Balaam, the son of Bosor did, who loved the reward for doing wrong. But Balaam was rebuked for his own wrongdoing by a speechless donkey, who spoke out in a man's voice and prevented the prophet from continuing his foolishness. Such people are like springs that give no water and clouds driven by the winds. [Only] the blackest darkness awaits them. [Although] their talk is big, what they say is worthless, and by [offering people] fleshly desires [i.e., sexual gratification], they lead people astray, who are barely escaping from the error of the world. [Although] these people promise "liberty," they themselves are slaves to corrupting influences, for people are slaves to whatever controls them. For if people who have escaped from the defiling practices of the world by coming to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, become tangled up in them again, and are overcome by them, these people are worse off than before they were converted. It would have been better for them if they had not known the right way [to God] than, after knowing it, to turn back from the sacred message that had been presented to them. It has happened to them like the true proverb [says], "The dog [throws up, and then] goes back and eats its own vomit," and "The hog that was all cleaned up [goes back] to wallowing in the mud."