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The apostle Paul declares, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Rom. 16:17-18).  David Lipscomb remarked concerning this passage that ,”No greater evil, according to the Scriptures, could befall the churches than the divisions arising from the introduction of teachings and practices not required by God.  The fundamental truth of the Bible is that God alone has the right to direct and guide the faith and service of his children” (Commentary on Romans, pp. 275-276).
False Doctrine Produces Division
False doctrine challenges individuals to either defend the truth or else to abandon the truth for a lie.  Lovers of truth will defend it against false teachers.  I Thess. 2:13; Jude 3; I Pet. 3:15.
False doctrine will lead to the damnation of the souls of men.  II Thess. 2:11-12. False doctrine seriously undermines the spiritual well-being of men and women.
False doctrine fundamentally changes the gospel of Jesus Christ.  But, there is only one gospel (Gal. 1:8-9).
False doctrine undermines the credibility of the Bible.    False doctrine discredits what God said.  The Bible is called into question and doubted as a result.  “…let God be true, but every man a liar…” (Rom. 3:4).
False doctrine undermines the faith of those who are weak and ignorant.  As Paul said, it beguiles the hearts of the innocent (Rom. 16:18).  The hearts of the innocent are beguiled by the smooth and fair speech of the false teacher.  He charms.  He uses his reputation to deceive.  He lies to cover up his lies.
False doctrine does not originate with God, but with Satan.  Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44).  The false teacher is not aligned with God, but with the god of this world.
False doctrine does not unite the church, but divides it.  False doctrine will  produce a spiritual struggle within the body of Christ forcing those who love the truth to take a stand against the false teacher and his/her doctrine.  This violates the law of love and the imperative to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace (Matt. 7:12; Eph. 4:1-3).  Who is the troubler of the church?  The false teacher is, of course.
False doctrine (the substance of what is taught) is what defines a false teacher.  False teachers should be warned and marked (Rom. 16:17-18).  In marking a false teacher, Paul says that we should not fellowship him/her.  The false teacher is disqualified from receiving help/support from those who love the truth.  The warning of the false teacher is an effort to call them to repentance and recover them from the error of their ways.
False teachers give the appearance that they are serving Christ when, in fact, they are serving themselves.  “These makers of divisions and offenses, however fair and fine their pretensions and speeches might be, were not sincerely serving Christ, but rather serving their own sensual and selfish ends, and the aim of all their kind and plausible words is only to deceive those innocent ones who are slow to suspect it in others” (David Lipscomb, Ibid., p. 277).
False doctrine abounds and appears in many forms.  “…the only sure way of spotting counterfeit money is not by spending time studying counterfeit money, but carefully studying the real thing.  If you know the real thing, the counterfeit is obvious” (John Otis, Theistic Evolution, p. 4).  By studying God’s Word carefully, you will be able to spot a fake when you see or hear one.  Studying the creation account in God’s Word will help expose the fallacies of every form of evolution.