Christians today must be discerning enough to tell the difference between false teachers, those who are proclaiming a false gospel, and teachers who are teaching the truth but with false motives. Biblically, our response to these two groups should be drastically different.
In Philippians 1:15-18 Paul addressed a group of Christians who were preaching Christ out of selfish ambition or rivalry. These Christians actually meant to cause Paul anxiety in his imprisonment through their preaching. These were people who preached the truth, but they preached the truth with false motives. While Paul does not address exactly how this group was seeking to cause him trouble, Paul does make his response to this group clear. Paul rejoiced that no matter their motives, Christ was being proclaimed.
Paul’s attitude in Philippians stands in stark contrast to his attitude in Galatians. In Galatians, Paul was not dealing with people preaching the truth from false motives, but he was dealing with people preaching a false gospel. So instead of rejoicing, Paul warned the Galatians not to turn to this false gospel no matter who preached it to them. In fact, Paul called for a curse to be on those who proclaimed this false gospel (Galatians 1:6-9).
We see in these books two drastically different attitudes from Paul, and the difference in these attitudes, from rejoicing to cursing, was the content of what was being proclaimed. When the truth was being proclaimed, Paul rejoiced, even when people preached that truth with false motives, and even when their goal was to cause him trouble. Paul rejoiced because he knew of the power of the gospel to save. But when a false gospel was being proclaimed, far from rejoicing, Paul called believers to reject this false teaching and to stand against those who were teaching it.
Christians today need to be able to tell the difference between false teachers and teachers with false motives so that we can respond to each situation biblically. Is a certain teaching, or a certain church, or a certain pastor, to be called out, shunned, and rejected? Or are we called to rejoice that the gospel is being proclaimed, despite false motives and even though these teachers might even cause us grief or trouble? In essence, we must be prepared to discern the difference between false teaching and true teaching with false motives.
How do we know the difference? I think three questions can help us navigate whether someone is teaching a false gospel or the true gospel: what is the problem they present, what is the solution to the problem, and how do they say that the problem is solved?
What is the problem?
The basic plight of humanity is that we are sinful people before a holy God. God is holy, and we are not. As a result, we are worthy of the judgment and just wrath of God because of our sins.
What is the solution?
The solution to the problem of sinful people before a holy God is Jesus Christ. Christ’s death as the sinless sacrifice for sinners and his resurrection to new life are the only hope for sinful people.
How is the problem solved?
Sinful people are made right with a holy God through repentance from sins and faith in the work of Christ on their behalf.
Much more could be said about each of these questions. What is sin? How is sin defined? What is repentance and faith? How do we know this to be true? What is our source of authority for making these claims?
But even this cursory glance shows how some of these questions can be answered wrongly in a very subtle way. To give just one example, some deny the judgment of a holy God. They still talk about sin, but they claim that the real problem with sin is not that it brings people under the judgment of God, but sin just keeps us from living our best life. Sin messes up life in this earth and leads to trouble in this life. So people need to turn from their sin, not because they face the judgment of God, but because it will help them live a better life.
This so distorts the broader picture of the gospel that it calls people to call to God for selfish reasons. Come to God to get a better life, as opposed to come to God for forgiveness and a new life in Christ. Distorting the problem of sin leads to the proclamation of a false gospel that is powerless to save but simply appeals to people’s sinful, selfish desires.
Christians today need to be as discerning as ever. Many preach the true gospel with false motives. And while we should not hold these people up as examples to be followed, we should rejoice that the powerful gospel message is being proclaimed. But many are distorting the gospel and preaching a false message that has no power to save. As Christians, we must be wise enough to discern the difference.
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