10 TELLS OF FALSE TEACHERS: #2
- Cortney Donelson
- Mar 24
- 4 min read
Every book in the New Testament addresses false teachings or false teachers but one (Philemon). This series of blog posts will outline ten biblically sourced "tells," shared to help you discern truth from error and to determine if you are dealing with someone spreading deceptive doctrine.
Note: These posts are designed to share Truth, complete with scriptural references. While examples of modern-day false teachings are provided in general terms, know that in any given season, false doctrine will change. It transforms with the culture. Therefore, it's most beneficial to understand Truth rather than spend energy debating specific false doctrine or calling out specific false teachers. New false teachings and generations of false teachers will rise and fall, like fads. So stay focused on Jesus, contend for the faith, and read the Bible for yourself to be grounded in Truth.
Tell #2:
False teachers are motivated by selfish gain, whether that gain comes as acceptance, affirmation, power, fame, wealth, or influence. Often, the fruit of their selfish ambition shows up in their lifestyles, which highlight their misplaced and ungodly priorities. These teachers are typically motivated by greed and pride and often talk about freedom, the abundant life, or blessings while ignoring the Lord's sacrifice on the cross and that salvation comes through grace alone, by faith alone.
Example: "If you'll just have enough faith and sow a generous seed into this ministry, God guarantees that you'll reap a hundredfold harvest financially … so speak it into existence now."
These ideas, while inspiring to some, exploit vulnerable audiences by implying God's love is transactional. These false teachers maintain that they align with Scripture's promises for the abundant life (John 10:10). But that is not the life John was referring to. Ironically, Jesus is really saying, "Satan and his followers (including false teachers) want to ruin you. I came to save you, protect you, and give you a full, overflowing, eternal kind of life—one that only I can provide" (paraphrasing John 10:10). It's about freedom from sin and bondage, not freedom born from some measure of generosity we offer back to God. The prosperity gospel is a works-based gospel, which is a false gospel.
If it's not financial gain that is the false teacher's target, it's notoriety. False teachers spread easy-to-follow, feel-good doctrine. This attracts people, which elevates the false teacher's standing or position in society. They offer crafty messages that resonate with people's emotions, vulnerabilities, and aspirations, often under the guise of biblical Truth. Ultimately, however, notoriety comes at the expense of Truth, leading to spiritual harm.
To guard against this, test teachings against full Scripture, prioritize Christ-centered doctrine, remind yourself of Christ's substitution on the cross (atonement) and that salvation is through grace alone, and seek communities that embrace suffering for His sake.
As Philippians 3:8-11 says:
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
The most direct description of false teachers focused on selfish gain comes in 1 Timothy 6:3–5 (emphasis mine).
If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
Other passages echo this:
2 Peter 2:1–3: False teachers will secretly bring in destructive heresies ... and in their greed they will exploit you with false words.
Titus 1:10–11: They must be silenced because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
Jude 4 and 11–12: They pervert the grace of God into sensuality and rush for profit into Balaam’s error (Balaam sold prophecy for money).
These descriptions match the core of today's prosperity gospel teaching: the idea that strong faith + giving (especially to the teacher or ministry itself) guarantees health, wealth, and success in this life.
The Bible directs us to run from these teachers. Do not support them financially (2 John 10–11; 1 Timothy 6:10). Supporting them makes you share in their guilt. And do not follow them and enlarge their influence. Remember, the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil.
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*** Images created with the help of Grok to avoid identifying real people and create symbolic illustrations.
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