53 Bible Verses about False Teachings

But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat food offered to idols, and to practise immorality. So you have also some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

"So whoever breaks one of these least commandments, and teaches others to break them, will be least in the kingdom of heaven. But he who keeps them and teaches them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to meet him, I entreat you, brothers, not to be "quickly shaken out of your wits" and not to be agitated either by a spirit or by a message, or by an epistle purporting to be from me, saying, "The Day of the Lord is at hand."

Now the Spirit distinctly declares that in latter days there will be some who will fall away from the faith, by listening to spirits of error, and to teachings of demons speaking lies in hypocrisy. These are men whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron, who discourage marriage, and enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thankfulness, by those who believe, and have a clear knowledge of the truth.

But I have this against you, that you are tolerating that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she is teaching and leading my slaves astray, leading them to practise immorality, and to eat food which has been sacrificed to idols.

In vain do they worship me, While they teach doctrines that are the commands of men."

But in vain do they worship me, For their teaching is only human precepts.'"

Let no man deceive you with empty arguments, for it is these vices that bring down the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience;

If you died with Christ to the world's rudimentary notions, why, as if you still lived in the world, do you submit yourselves to dogmatisms found on teachings and doctrines of men??21 such as "Do not handle this," "You must not taste that," "Do not touch this"??22 all things which are intended to perish in the using? For these precepts, although they have a show of wisdom with their self-imposed devotions and fastings and bodily austerities, are of no real value against the indulgence of the carnal appetites.

As I begged you when I was setting out for Macedonia, stay where you are at Ephesus, and instruct certain individuals there not to be teaching heterodoxy, nor to be paying attention to myths and interminable genealogies, which tend to promote discussions rather than a stewardship entrusted by God, a stewardship which is in faith. Now the end of the exhortation is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and an undissembled faith.read more.
Some have failed here, and have turned aside to empty argument. Although they desire to be teachers of the law, they understand neither the words they use nor the subjects they talk about.

But there were false prophets, too, among the people, just as among you also there will be false teachers. These will secretly bring in destructive sects, denying even the Master who bought them, and bringing swift ruin upon themselves.

"Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but within they are ravening wolves.

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock; and that from among your own number, men will arise, perverting the truth, to draw away the disciples after them.

For there are many individuals who are unruly, empty talkers and deceivers, particularly those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped; for they upset whole households and, for filthy lucre's sake, teach what they ought not to teach.

and that from among your own number, men will arise, perverting the truth, to draw away the disciples after them.

So we shall no longer be children, tossed up and down, and blown about by every wind of teaching, tricked by the craft of men in the snares of misleading error;

O, Timothy, guard the treasure which is committed to you. Shun the profane babblings and contradictions of the falsely called "knowledge" which some professing have erred from the faith. Grace be with you.

Do not allow yourselves to be swept away by various and strange teachings. For it is a beautiful thing to be established in heart by grace, and not by regulations regarding food, from which those that occupied themselves with them have derived no benefit.

They have eyes full of harlots, eyes that cannot stop sinning. They entice unsteady souls. Their heart is trained in greed. They are an accursed generation. They have forsaken the right way; they have lost their way, and followed the road of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrong-doing.

I have written this to you concerning those who would lead you astray.

Then there will be many who will follow their immorality, because of whom the Way of the Truth will be maligned.

"Take care," Jesus answered, "that no one mislead you; for many will come in my name saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.

So Jesus began to tell them. "Be ye watchful lest any one mislead you. Many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and will mislead many.

For a time will come when they will not listen to wholesome teaching, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will heap up for themselves teachers upon teachers to satisfy their own fancies.

For speaking great swelling words of vanity, they entangle, by their lasciviousness, in the lusts of the flesh, those who are just about to escape from the men that live in misconduct. They promise them liberty, while they themselves are slaves of rottenness! (For indeed a man is the slave of anything which masters him.)

Do not believe every spirit, beloved, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets are gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit which confesses him not, is not from God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist of which you have heard that it is coming, and that now it is already in the world.read more.
My little children, you are of God and have conquered them; because he that is within you is greater than he that is in the world. They are of the world, and for this reason they speak as of the world, and the world listens to them.

For false christs and false prophets will arise, and will work great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if it were possible, the very elect.

for false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders, to lead astray the very chosen, if they can.

even he whose coming is according to the energy of Satan, in every power and sign and lying wonder, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth for their salvation.

And I saw another beast ascending from the land; and he had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon; and he exerts the full authority of the first beast before him, and he makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast whose death-stroke was healed. And he performs great miracles, so that he even causes fire to come down to the earth from the sky, before men's eyes.read more.
And he deceives those who dwell on the earth, because of the miracles, which he is permitted to perform in the sight of the beast. He tells those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the sword-stroke, yet lived. And he was permitted to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast should speak; and so that any one who would not worship the image of the beast should be put to death.

Now the Spirit distinctly declares that in latter days there will be some who will fall away from the faith, by listening to spirits of error, and to teachings of demons speaking lies in hypocrisy. These are men whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron,

But I fear lest, just as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, so your minds should be seduced from your single-mindedness and purity toward Christ. If indeed some one is coming to preach another Jesus, whom I did not preach, or you are receiving a Spirit other than you once received, or another gospel which you did not accept before, you would do well to bear with me.

Do not believe every spirit, beloved, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets are gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit which confesses him not, is not from God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist of which you have heard that it is coming, and that now it is already in the world.

And I saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, coming out of the dragon's mouth, and the beast's mouth, and the false prophet's mouth. For these are the spirits of demons performing miracles, who go forth to the kings of the habitable earth, to gather them together for the battle of the great Day of God, the Almighty.

In their covetousness, with cunning words, they will make merchandise of you; those whose doom has not been idle from of old, and whose destruction has not been slumbering.

Take care lest any man drag you away captive by his philosophy which is a vain deceit, following the traditions of men and the world's crude notions, and not Christ.

By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit which confesses him not, is not from God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist of which you have heard that it is coming, and that now it is already in the world.

Wherefore I want you to understand that no one who speaks in the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except in the Holy Spirit.

Now you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I am not writing to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and know that no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar if not the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, even he who disowns the Father and the Son.read more.
Whoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father; but he who confesses the Son has the Father also. As for you, let what you have heard from the beginning abide in you.

"Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but within they are ravening wolves. "By their fruits you will know them. Are grapes gathered of thorns, or figs of thistles? "No, every good tree bears good fruit, but a worthless tree bears bad fruit.read more.
"A good tree cannot bear bad fruit; neither can a worthless tree bear good fruit. "Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. "Hence it is by their fruit you will know them.

You put up with it, though they make slaves of you, live on you, seize your property, lord it over you, even strike you in the face, in the way of degradation!

My children, let no one deceive you; he who is working righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who is committing sin is of the devil, because from the beginning of the devil is sinning. It was for this cause that the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever is a child of God cannot go on sinning, because his seed is abiding in him; and he cannot go on sinning because he is a child of God.read more.
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; for every one who does not work righteousness is not a child of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

If any one teaches heterodoxy, and refuses to consent to the wholesome words of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to the teachings of religion, he is puffed up with conceit and knows nothing, but is doting about disputations and a strife of words. These give rise to envy, quarrels, railings, evil suspicions, and wrangling between men whose minds are corrupt and destitute of the truth; who suppose that godliness is a source of gain.

As I begged you when I was setting out for Macedonia, stay where you are at Ephesus, and instruct certain individuals there not to be teaching heterodoxy, nor to be paying attention to myths and interminable genealogies, which tend to promote discussions rather than a stewardship entrusted by God, a stewardship which is in faith.

but avoid profane babble; for people will go farther and farther in impiety, and their teaching will spread like a gangrene. Among such are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have gone astray concerning the truth by declaring that the resurrection is already past; and they are undermining the faith of some.

If what you have heard from the beginning is abiding in you, you also will ever abide in the Son and in the Father.

I am amazed that you are so soon shifting your ground, and deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ, for another gospel, which indeed is not another; only there are certain individuals who are troubling you, and desiring to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even though I myself or an angel from heaven were to preach any gospel other than that which I did preach to you, let him be accursed.read more.
I have said it before, and I now repeat it, if any one is preaching a gospel to you other than that which you have received, let him be accursed.

This charge then, I am laying upon you, Timothy, my son, according to the predictions formerly made concerning you. Fight the good fight in the spirit of these predictions, keeping fast hold of faith and a good conscience; which certain individuals have cast aside, and so made shipwreck of their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have given over to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.

Hold fast the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Guard the glorious trust which has been committed to you by the aid of the Holy Spirit who makes his home in us.

I exhort you, brothers, to keep watch of those who are causing the divisions among you, and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the teaching which you have learned. Turn away from them. For men of that stamp are not the slaves of Christ, but are slaves to their own appetites. By their smooth and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent.

But of this be sure. In the last days grievous times will come. For men will be selfish, mercenary, boastful, haughty, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, irreligious, without natural affection, merciless, slanderous, dissolute, and brutal.read more.
They will hate goodness, they will be treacherous, reckless, blinded with pride, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God. For although they keep up the outward form of religion, they deny its power. Turn away from all such. Some of them creep into private houses and lead captive silly women who, laden with sins, and led captive by ever-changing impulses, are always learning but never able to arrive at knowledge of truth. As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so also do these men withstand the truth; being corrupt in mind and worthless in all that concerns the faith. But they will not get on; for their folly will be made as openly manifest to all as was that of Jannes and Jambres.

But avoid foolish questionings and genealogies and dissensions and wranglings about the law; for these are unprofitable and empty. After a first and second admonition, refuse a man who is causing divisions; you may be sure that such a man is perverted and sinning, and is self-condemned.

Whoever is going ahead, and is not abiding in the teachings of Christ, does not possess God; but he who is abiding in the teaching possesses both the Father and the Son. If any one come to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, nor give him any greeting. For the man who greets him shares in his wicked work.