Ideas about the Kingdom of the Heavens around us and the unity of believers in Christ within it
1 Timothy 6 also warns about people who create arguments in order to exploit them for financial gain and to build their own authority. This warning is presented in the context of teaching about respect for human authority and authority in the Church.
Like Balaam, false teachers do their work stealthily motivated by greed. They do not openly deny the Lordship of Christ, but deceptively proclaim teachings that permit us to retain our own independence, greed or lust, to seek first our own pleasure, and still, they say, please God. They teach these things not necessarily because they believe them, but to obtain our following and our money.
In Galatians 5:17-23, “heresies” are one of the works of the flesh–something we do, not something we believe. These works are opposed by the fruit of the Spirit.
Heresy is properly defined as divisiveness, not merely believing a false doctrine. Heretics are divisive people. Those who state doctrines with which I disagree, but do so without insisting on division because of my belief, are not heretics. Thus calls for mutual understanding and patience.
The underlying cause of all of the divisions in the Church is “sin:” our determination to ignore God and the needs of others to have our own way. This leads to greed, anger, envy, jealousy, gossip, slander, strife, unforgiveness, bitterness and even war–all of which perpetuate division.