At the end of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), He gave a stern warning against false prophets (7:15–20); a principle which is taught also in Acts and the epistles. Our Lord’s caution has practical application for believers today, for there is evidence that false teachers have presently infiltrated the Church.
Beware!
Our Lord begins by commanding His disciples “to be in a continuous state of readiness:”1 never letting down their guard and always on the alert for deceptive teachers. The Old Testament prophets were all dead at this time, so our Lord is referring to the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees, as the false prophets during His earthly ministry. But this also has practical application of those who will come during the Church Age and in the Tribulation period. The Greek literally stresses the present reality that “the very ones who come to you”2 will disguise themselves in harmless sheep clothing. Not a Hallowe’en costume, but a mannerism that will win you over; by enveloping their false teachings in earnest sincerity, so that the unobservant and unlearned church member will not realize their erroneous doctrines. They will often deviously obscure and hide their false teachings behind clearly recognized fragments of biblical truth that will sound acceptable to the ears of the immature, unstable, and gullible3 believers. (2 Timothy 4:3).
Jesus removes their mask and calls them out for what they are: ravenous wolves. Wolves will tear the flesh off of their prey before they devour them; these false teachers tear away the sound doctrine from their prey and in so doing, they leave believers in spiritual ruin. For this reason, the apostle John advised his readers:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
John stressed that our Lord’s warning had come true, that the false prophets had gone out into the world and are still present among Christians. In fact Paul warned the Ephesian elders about these wolves, 30 years before John:
“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.” (Acts 20:29)
Knowing Who They Are
How will we be able to identify the false teachers among us today? Jesus stated twice that “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16, 20). By fruit our Lord is referring to the content of what is taught. As an example, it is not possible for grapes to come from thorns, nor can figs come from thistles (v.16). Jesus emphasizes His point, stating that “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit” (v.19). Therefore, it follows that false doctrine cannot come from Scripture, the Word of God—the absolute source of truth (John 17:17). Note the following equations:
Good teachings (truth) ≣4 are in alignment with Scripture
Bad teachings (false) ≢5 are not supported by Scripture
We learn from Genesis (3:1–7) that the criteria suitable for us to live and grow spiritually, is not based on fruit that is “a delight to the eyes” or “desirable to make one wise” (v.6). Instead, it is grounded upon “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4; cf. Deut. 8:3). It is essential that we question what we are taught. Just because our favorite Christian author, tele-evangelist or preacher is associated with a preferred denomination or college/seminary this is not a guarantee that they faithfully and accurately teach truth. This was the dilemma of the Jewish people during our Lord’s time, for Jesus made it clear that the Pharisees “were not good for they were leading others astray”6; they were producing bad fruit, which showed that neither they nor their system was righteous.7
Our Lord concludes with a stern warning that there are eternal consequences for those who espouse false teachings: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19)—exactly what John the baptizer had stated (Matthew 3:10). This is the judgement that false teachers will incur as asserted by the apostle Peter:
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. (2 Peter 2:1)
What to Consider Next
How then can a believer determine if what they are being taught is truth or false doctrine? And what are some of the erroneous teachings that we should be aware of?
These questions will be examined in the next post.
[1] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 332.
[2] Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 344.
[3] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1229.
[4] Strictly equivalent to
[5] Not identical to
[6] Louis A. Barbieri Jr., “Matthew,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 34.
[7] J. Dwight Pentecost, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981), 187.
© 2026 David M. Rossi
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