Author Greg Koukl
Published on 06/25/2018
Tactics and Tools

How Can You Spot a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing?

Greg helps Christians understand what characterizes a false teacher.


Transcript

So, how do you spot a wolf in sheep’s clothing when the wolf looks like a sheep? Here’s how.

Jesus warned us that there would be wolves in sheep’s clothing, all right? In other words, there were imposters, theologically, that looked like us, that looked like Christians—sheep’s clothing—but really they’re wolves. They’re there to ravage the flock. Now how do you know the difference? And Jesus said, actually multiple times, “you shall know them by their fruits.” What kind of fruits should we be looking for?

And I think there’s a number of different things to keep in mind. Some of them are doctrinal. If you are disagreeing, of course, with solid, foundational, doctrinal teachings, even if people are nice, the core is being corrupted, and that is a fruit that we need to be aware of. But I think more to the point is that at the end of the passage there, in Matthew, chapter 7, where Jesus is talking about this, He talks about kind of the time of judgment when Jesus addresses them and He says to them, you know, “I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness.”

That’s the key. When there are people that are promoting as good the kinds of things that God says are wrong, they are promoting lawlessness. That’s an indication of a fruit that is evidence of a wolf in your midst.