The essence of heresy is division in the Body of Christ, and a "heretic" is one who stealthily introduces division into that Body in order to increase his or her own reputation, power or wealth. In that way, they seek to replace Christ as Head of the Body for their own profit.
Here is the key to the matter of heresy. The divisive people against whom we are warned are trying to bring us into bondage. Jesus’ own warnings about the false prophets who would come emphasized that they would lead followers after themselves, making others become bound to them. For instance, in Matthew 24:11, he said that many false prophets would arise, and “shall lead many astray.” (ASV) The result of this will be increasing lawlessness in the world causing the love of most to grow cold.1 He then warned that, if anyone comes who claims to be Christ, we are not to believe or follow him, because many false Christs and false prophets will arise, “so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” 2 They will do this in order to build their own following, their own organization, for their own profit. But to do this, they must make us their servants. Paul states this quite pointedly in Galatians 2:4-5 — false brethren come in to spy out our liberty in Christ in order that they may bring us into bondage.
Their desire is that we may be in subjection to them. When such people take control of a church organization, their tendency is to cast out of it anyone who will not submit to them and to forbid their followers from receiving them as brothers.3 That is, when true heretics take leadership in a church or denomination, they tend to label everyone in that organization who will not submit to them (i.e., everyone who was not deceived by them) as a “heretic,” a person to be shunned. They do this to keep their own followers in bondage.
The essence of heresy is not disagreement about doctrinal positions or about allegiances to church organizations. Neither is the essence of heresy the holding of an objectively incorrect doctrine. Rather, the essence of heresy is division in the Body of Christ, and a “heretic” is one who stealthily introduces division into that Body in order to increase his or her own reputation, power or wealth. In the process of creating division for his or her own profit, a heretic introduces false doctrines designed to bring their own followers into bondage, and simultaneously attempts to destroy or remove from the church organization those who are not deceived by them, but the real focus of a heretic’s activity is not doctrinal but selfish. Much division and strife, at the individual level, would be avoided if Christians generally recognized this
