Where truth is found, the false often sneaks in. The devil will try to sow “tares among the wheat” (Matt 13:25).

Jesus said: 

“Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.”

Matt 24:11

Jude says that “certain men have crept in unnoticed” (Jude 1:4). This refers to false teachers with a liberal view on God's commandments and the Bible's teachings on crucial points. 

A false prophet is one who preaches a message that leads to perdition (Gal 1:6–9). In my book “Soon Jesus Will Come” I have a list of 35 signs of the end times. One of them is deception. A false prophet preaches false theology about salvation (salvation by good works and not by grace alone), the person of Jesus, and the work of salvation (denying that Jesus is the Son of God and the work of salvation). 

False prophets also sometimes deny ethical commandments from God's word (such as acceptance of homosexuality and radical gender theory). This is part of the spirit of antichrist (“anti” – against Christ and His teachings, 1 John 4:3). The Bible also speaks of the Antichrist in the singular and antichrists in plural. (See also 1 John 2:18; 2 John 1:7) Antichrists in plural are political and religious leaders who oppose Christian faith and mission. The spirit of the Antichrist is now infiltrating society and wants to remove everything that tastes of Christian.

In these days, we need to be alert to what is happening around us in society, as well as within God's congregation. Satan is a master at sneaking in false doctrines masked with beautiful words about love and not judging people. But Paul writes that we should love people but not compromise with the truth. We should be “speaking the truth in love” (Eph 4:15). 

“Test all things; hold fast what is good.”

1 Thess 5:21 

Paul writes that one of the gifts of the Spirit is “discerning of spirits” (1 Cor 12:10).

John warns against false teachers: 

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

1 John 4:1

Some important tips for determining if someone is a false teacher: What do they teach about God's word? What do they teach about the person of Christ and His work of salvation? What do they teach about salvation? How is their life?