¹⁷ Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. ¹⁸ For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

Ever the exhorter, Paul includes one last section of instructions to stay alert to divisive teachers, reflecting the same urgency as his challenge to spiritual commitment (Rom 12:1-2) and earnest prayer (Rom 15:30). There will always be those who hover around the edges of sound doctrine, like wolves in sheep’s skin among the sheep. Sometimes they may just be new or unlearned believers. Or they may be committed Christians who inadvertently fall into subtle or misleading terminology. But there will always be those who consciously angle toward injecting false teaching into the fellowship.

In practice, it may be difficult to distinguish between the sheep and the wolves. Jesus warned of the tares among the good produce but taught that it can be more dangerous to try ripping out the tares, lest the good plants also be uprooted (Matt 13:29). In other words, we cannot and should not try to remove everyone who could potentially cause doctrinal dissention. To do so might remove solid Christians whose doctrine is not wrong, but just verbalized differently. Being too strict in its doctrinal range, a church may drive away all Christians but the few who walk in lockstep with an overly narrow perspective of, as one person put it, the Keeper of the Tent-Pegs (a pejorative reference to people whose picky doctrine is like the person who emphasizes a peculiar typological interpretation of the tent pegs used in the tabernacle).

Yet, Paul sternly warned the Ephesian elders,

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:29-30)

The church, particularly the elders, must be ready to deal with those who step over the line, and determining that is consummately the task of the elders.

Paul’s description is plain, their false teaching is driven by their insatiable need for followers. They will stop at nothing and say anything in whatever way possible to gain that following. They are good at making falsehoods sound like the truth. The church needs to be alert and wise, so as not to be fooled.

Lord, help me to be discerning to spot and avoid potential false teaching.