Among the greatest threats that faced the early church was the infiltration of false teachings. Few things are as destructive to the faith of believers as teachings and claims that deviate from sound doctrine. Therefore, Satan takes advantage of this powerful weapon and makes use of individuals who are puffed up or have given in to their own desires to propagate false teachings. In the pages of the New Testament we see that the apostles repeatedly mentioned and warned believers against teachings that mislead people from the faith.
Satan is the master of disguise and trickery. He is known as the one who deceives the whole world (Rev 12:9). His messengers masquerade themselves as ministers of light and righteousness. As such, Satan’s works are often difficult to discern. Paul warns the believers in Corinth saying about the false apostles, deceitful workers who have transformed themselves into apostles of Christ (2 Cor 11:13). He states, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Cor 11:14–15). Our Lord Jesus, in His teachings on the mount, also warns of the deceptive nature of false prophets: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Mt 7:15). When foretelling the signs of the end time, the Lord also says that many false prophets will come in Jesus’ name and will deceive many (Mt 24:4, 5, 11, 24). Even as early as the days of the apostles, ungodly people had crept into the church unnoticed, perverting the grace of the Lord and denying Him (Jude 3–4). According to Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, the lawless one will come by the working of Satan and deceive those who refuse to love the truth and be saved. God will even send such followers a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false (2 Thess 2:9–12). Writing to Timothy, Paul also foretells that in latter times, some will depart from the faith, “giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim 4:1); “Evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim 3:13). In Revelation, the beast rising out of the earth has the appearance of a lamb and is able to work great signs to deceive those who dwell on the earth (Rev 13:11-14).
From the beginning of history, Satan has worked deception through words. He does not directly contradict the word of God, but takes it out of its context and adds a twist to it in order to create doubt and confusion. Such are the characteristics of false teachings. The crafty serpent deceived Eve through equivocation. He posed the question, “Did God really say?” and made a subtle change to God’s word by promising Eve, “You will not surely die” (Gen 3:1–4). When Satan tempted Jesus, he even quoted Scripture but distorted its application (Mt 4:6). Numerous prophets had risen among the people of Israel to speak lies and false divinations (cf. Jer 28:1-17; Ezek 13:1-23; Mic 2:11; Num 31:16). Likewise in the New Testament church, the work of Satan came in the form of deceptive doctrines. Paul alerted the elders in Ephesus, “Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:30). Peter also predicts the rise of false teachers who will preach heresies that are difficult to detect, “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 Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1). During Paul’s days the church already experienced the influence of misleading messages. So Paul writes Timothy, “But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some” (2 Tim 2:16–18). In His message to the churches in Revelation, the Lord Jesus exposes the teachings of Balaam, the Nicolaitans, and Jezebel with the strongest admonitions and calls the churches to repentance (Rev 2:14-15, 20).
Battling the destructive influence of false teachings that had led some believers astray, Paul reveals the deceptive nature of such teachings. The believers in Galatia had turned away to a different gospel. In other words, these teachings had the appearance of the gospel, the good news of salvation. But to Paul there can only be one gospel and he would not allow for “another gospel”. In reality, those who preached the false teachings wanted to pervert the gospel (Gal 1:6-9). The word for “pervert” means “distort” or “change”. What led the believers astray was not a direct contradiction of the message of salvation but an altered version of it. Once the gospel is thus distorted, it makes its followers fall from the grace of Christ. This is why Paul vehemently pronounces curse upon anyone who preaches any other gospel than what had already been preached to the believers. Similarly, the church in Corinth seemed to have been plagued with heresies that had the appearance of the gospel. The ministers of Satan had come to proclaim “another Jesus”, “another spirit”, and “a different gospel” from what they had accepted before (2 Cor 11:2–4). These new teachings seemed so similar to the true gospel that some believers were easily deceived. Yet in reality, they were fundamentally different and false.
We as believers in the true church must recognize the scheme of the evil one, including deceptive teachings and works that aim at altering the faith that we had been entrusted once for all. Let us be watchful in prayer and take up the full armor of God so we may stand firm (Lk 21:36; Eph 6:10-18; 1 Pet 5:8-10). Let us grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet 3:17–18; cf. Eph 4:11–16). Let us keep ourselves in the love of God, building ourselves up in the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, and waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life (Jude 20–21).