2nd Peter Chapter Two
2
Peter 2:1 ESV (All verses from the English Standard
Version)
But false prophets also arose among
the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive
heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon
themselves swift
destruction.
CHARACTERISTICS OF FALSE TEACHERS
Those who have denied the inspiration and therefore, authority of the scriptures will certainly be fated to become a false teacher. The false teachers will not come from the outside, for we know those who have not been born again have not known the truth. These people were one time brethren, born-again, members of the body of Christ and now operate as renegade, destructive forces within the body of Christ, like gangrene and cancer. They will be dealt with in the way a surgeon deals with dead and decaying tissue. They will be cut off!
Peter points out this has always happened. God's people have always endured opposition from within as well as without.
God had given the Israelites two tests to uncover false prophets:
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 NIV But a prophet who presumes to speak in my
name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the
name of other gods, must be put to death."
21
You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not
been spoken by the LORD ?" 22 If what a prophet proclaims in
the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the
LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid
of him.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NIV If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams,
appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder of which he has
spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known)
"and let us worship them," 3 you must not
listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is
testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all
your soul. 4 It is the LORD your God you must follow, and
him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to
him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he
preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and
redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way
the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.
This second one is also a test for the people, to see if they’re paying attention or if they are willing to trust more in what they see than in the Lord! Key phrase here: you must purge the evil from among you. Obviously we won't put the false teacher to death since we don’t have the authority of the Mosaic Law any more but we will see that their fate is the same by God’s hand.
God's people have also always had a remnant that remains undefiled despite the spiritual cancer and gangrene they have encountered.
Let’s catalog the characteristics of false teachers:
1- Secretly bring in destructive heresies (opinions of destruction) – since these people operate on their own logic, deduction and passions, their theology quickly deteriorates into man-made hypocritical teachings based on their own twisted reasoning. This reasoning will be justified by much soothe-saying, under the guise of truth, but not openly because mature disciples will recognize it! This is why they operate undercover (secretly). When our lives are built on this sand, man-made teachings, our lives will be destroyed! This is what happens when we trust people. This is what happens when we don’t feed our faith. This is what happens when we deny the Master! When Jesus is no longer our earnest desire!
2- Deny the Master – the scriptures speak of those who look godly on the outside but deny the power of Jesus by their disobedience (2 Tim 3:5; Titus 1:16; James 3:14; Jude 1:4). By their disobedience the show Jesus is not their Lord, but their own dark hearts have them enslaved. They were bought by the blood of Jesus, showing they belonged to the way, but have turned their backs! This is in direct contradiction to Calvinism which teaches that enlightened people can never lose their salvation.
Let’s also catalog the fate of these souls:
1- They bring upon themselves swift destruction – the destruction they will experience will be swift, meaning quick and sudden, without warning. They won't get away with what they are doing. Sometimes we may not think it is quick enough, but this is where we don’t want to imitate them in their distrust of God's timing. We need to let God do His work. He says the destruction that will overtake them will be of their own doing. It is a law God has instituted. You build on sand and your house will eventually fall! Swift doesn’t necessarily mean that their punishment will come soon, but that when it comes, it will be so fast and unexpected they won't have time to escape. Just like when a tornado hits someone’s house. Yikes! Peter will detail how this destruction comes about in the lives of the unrighteous.
False teachers:
1- Will twist the truth and teach what they think will bring them popularity.
2- Subtly seduce souls into beliefs that are contrary to truth.
3- Always present themselves as model Christians. They lead other souls away smoothly and slowly into their false beliefs.
4- Many times take strict biblical teachings that are hard to follow and present alternate positions that will seem “more compassionate.”
5- Always claim they love Christ and are serving Him with all their hearts.
6- Delude themselves into believing what they are teaching is the truth.
7- Always lead souls away from Christ rather than to Him.
8- End up denying Jesus who had saved them and entice others to follow their ways.
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World Video
Bible School Commentary
2
Peter 2:2 ESV
And many
will follow their
sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
3- They are lead by sensuality – false teachers are lead by sight, by their senses, not by faith. Their ways are always marked by licentiousness – unrestrained indulgence of the flesh shown in gluttony, sexual indulgences like pornography and other sexual sins, laziness and comforts pampering the flesh as opposed to practicing self-control and disciplining the flesh. The true follower of Jesus is lead and walks by faith (2 Co 5:7).
Many will follow their sensuality…
This is very appealing to many since it is very easy to appeal to the flesh. “And why not?” – they would respond. “We are not hurting anyone?” That’s the justification. They will say – “Jesus wants you to be happy, right?” For them happiness is enabling the flesh and enslaving the spirit. They have no idea what truth is since they are too lazy to study the Bible! Their God is their stomach! The church is blasphemed amongst many because of these spiritual cancers. How so? Because people will deny the truth even more so and will flock to these destructive heresies. Their love for God is tested in this way. People like convenient and comfortable religion. They will speak evil of the truth and embrace a false savior, further driving the nails in our Lord's hands!
Because of these false teachers true disciples will be persecuted and even condemned! True disciples will have to endure much suffering at times because they want to do what is right and their ways are regarded as blasphemous by a society that embraces false religion.
Examples:
1- Homeschooling – often looked down upon in a society that has delegated spiritual and moral instruction to amoral (and sometimes immoral) government and private entities.
2- Child discipline – when loving your child with the rod is interpreted as hate by the up side down establishment. In turn, they “love” their children by drugging them and enabling their foolishness and eventually delegating any real discipline unto the police and correctional establishments! Who is upside down?
3- Faithful marriages are diminishing whilst cohabitation, multiple marriages (partners), homosexuality, bisexuality, bestiality, divorce and remarriage are getting more and more popular. Often good, faithful, strong couples are the brunt of jokes and have turned into “old fashioned” ideas. Meanwhile, who is really suffering? Not the ones who are faithfully keeping the word of God! Whose lives are being destroyed? Not the lives of those who’ve put their trust in Jesus!
Good things are often chided as evil. How did this happen? False teachers who have maligned the way of truth in Jesus. Ignorant people, as opposed to really studying out and placing their faith in Jesus will default to the false teacher’s reasoning and side with them. The blind leading the blind (Matthew 15:14). Destruction will overtake them!
…even now, in our own enlightened age, in many sections of the church the Gospel of Christ in its original beauty and simplicity and purity is still buried and hid from view by the rubbish of forms and doctrines heaped upon the church, through the ages, by the world and the devil. – Halley’s Bible Handbook
2
Peter 2:3 ESV
And in their
greed they will exploit
you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle,
and their destruction is not asleep.
4- They are greedy (covetous) – they want everything for themselves. They are not really interested in truth but use truth to exploit the innocent. They are not interested in goodwill or in anything that will not directly benefit them. By nature this makes them suspicious and hasty. By nature they are impatient and hurry you to make decisions that will benefit their own ideas.
5- They exploit people with lies – literally, they make merchandise of you. The NIV will say: They will exploit you with stories they have made up. By fraud and extortion they try to control you and gain from you, whether it is respect, money or loyalty. They abuse whatever earthly authority they’ve been given to bully you and lie to you to get something out of you for their benefit.
a. This is what all the cults like religions are involved in doing, like the ones I mentioned towards the end of the last chapter.
b. They invent stories, definitions and world vies to accommodate their doctrine and deception.
c. They are fear mongers and alarmists when it comes to getting what they want. Their behavior is extremist.
Fate:
2- Their condemnation is not idle – this makes me think that whatever is happening to them in the present is part and parcel of their condemnation. It is not as if nothing will happen to them until judgment, but the process of their condemnation is already underway.
3- Their destruction is not asleep – twice Peter mentions their destruction is not paused or unconscious. It is wide awake! It is working! I will have more to say on this when Peter describes the process in verses 12-14.
2
Peter 2:4 ESV
For if God
did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy
darkness to be kept until the judgment;
THE CONDEMNATION OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS AND THE PRESERVATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS
God is serious. Sin is serious. Here we are shown a picture of God's righteousness and swift punishment. God is a serious parent and a loving father. His goodness does not enable or encourage sin to continue. We will also see God is merciful and graceful. His grace does not enable or encourage sin. Many confuse grace and mercy with tolerance of sin. Such is not the case. God does not tolerate it and no one who is sinful can enter heaven. What makes us think God tolerates it in the church?
As soon as angels sinned in heaven they were swiftly dispatched to tartaroos, where they await judgment and condemnation. We really need to pause here to consider the word translated as hell.
These verses, along with the ones we
examined before (1 Pe 3:19-20) teach about hell, or more correctly, tartaroos
(the name of the
subterranean region, doleful and dark, regarded by the ancient Greeks as the
abode of the wicked dead, where they suffer punishment for their evil deeds).
This is different from the fire of Gehenna Jesus spoke of during His ministry,
which probably refers to the lake of fire spoken of in Revelation – the result
of the final judgment.
Tartaroos is not the
final judgment itself, but a place of imprisonment as depicted by Peter in his epistle
here and in 1st Peter until the Day of Judgment; it is a temporary
place, much like the pleasure and rest of Paradise is temporary. It is
important to note this temporary place, as the eternal lake of fire itself, was
primarily created for the devil and his angels, who were not spared when they
sinned against God (Matthew 25:41; Rev 20:10). More can be learned about this temporary
state from Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19ff).
For more info on this please visit: http://www.licoc.org/Gospel/StateOfTheMan.htm
2
Peter 2:5 ESV
if he did
not spare the ancient world, but
preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he
brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
In similar fashion the Lord God did not spare those who sinned in the ancient world. He was quick to bring punishment with the flood waters unto them who were ungodly. Remember from 1st Peter 3:18-20 these are the souls who are now in prison since Jesus’ Spirit preached to them through Noah. They now also await judgment in tartaroos along with the angels who sinned.
Noah, however, was preserved because of his obedience to God. His obedience was credited to him and his family as righteousness.
The fact that Peter uses the flood as an illustration of God's judgment shows:
1- The flood was a historical account.
a. It is not just a nice story
b. It was global, not local
2- Men are fully capable of choosing whether to be righteous or not.
a. Men and angels have free will.
b. They are not genetically predispositioned toward any behaviors that may affect their free will as accountable adults
c. Those who suffer developmental disabilities are like children and God knows who they are
3- The majority never has and never will set the standards of morality. God proved this in the ancient world by saving only 8 souls out of the entire world at the time!
4- It is hard to be holy – different. It is hard to find and keep on the narrow path to life
5- It is easy to go down the wide and easy path of conformity to the world
2
Peter 2:6 ESV
if by
turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what
is going to happen to the ungodly;
God is also able to impart local and specific judgment. Sodom and Gomorrah were two wicked cities, boastful of their sin. It surely got God's attention because of a righteous man who lived there! God condemned them to extinction! He turned them to ashes! Talk about a vaporizing verdict, a nuclear annihilation! An atomizer! This was done as an example of what awaits those in the gloomy dungeons of tartaroos.
It is also interesting to note a particular sequence Peter will refer to later in the next chapter. The first destruction he mentions was by water and this second one he mentions was by fire. Jesus himself uses this sequence in Luke 17:26-30. I believe this is to assure us that there is one more judgment that awaits the entire world – one by fire that will consume everything in it! more on that when we get to chapter three.
2
Peter 2:7-8 ESV
and if he
rescued righteous
Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that
righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless
deeds that he saw and heard);
Lot is mentioned as a righteous person here, greatly distressed by the sinful acts done about him. As the only one rescued from this catastrophe we learn:
1- It is hard to be different amongst the sinful and the ungodly people
a. People who are constantly choosing the pleasures of the flesh
b. People who exemplify the sensual
2- God will rescue you from your sinful surroundings if you remain righteous
a. Man can live righteously even if surrounded by ungodliness
b. You can choose to be holy in what you see and hear despite your surroundings
3- God knows intimately what your souls suffers over what you see and hear
a. Trials may not necessarily mean physical harm or discomfort
b. Trials can be emotional distress over the evil you experience without involvement
c. You need to remain sensitive to sin, not harden yourself against it
d. Turn your eyes from evil and your ears from useless and wicked speech
4- God will open the door for you to make a clean break from this type of environment
a. Are you listening to Him? Will you depart from the wicked environment quickly?
b. Lots wife was not eager to depart and suffered judgment.
2
Peter 2:9 ESV
then the Lord knows how to rescue the
godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of
judgment,
The assurance Peter makes here is a boost to our confidence in Jesus! God will rescue you from your trials! It is a promise! Also, since the whole world is in judgment, this may mean that we may live tormented by evil until our rescue comes, by our death or by the coming of the Lord!
In light of this we are encouraged to not veer off the path as the false teachers have and certainly not to join them in their proud ventures of blasphemy. We may think there is no end to evil or no justice to be found when even the church is subject to the evils of the world. But, have no fear! The Lord is near and judgment slumbers not! Those who stick with Jesus will be rescued and certainly those who don’t are kept under punishment (interesting that it is said in the present tense) until judgment day.
Keep the unrighteous under
punishment…
It may be that this phrase simply refers to the unrighteous who have already died and are in tartaroos, suffering torment. I also see it, being that he refers to living godly men (since they are in trials – there are no trials in Paradise), as explaining that the living unrighteous are already experiencing their punishment in their own flesh, which is not at odds with scripture:
Romans 1:24-28 NIV Therefore God gave them over in the sinful
desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies
with one another. 25 They
exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things
rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to
shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural
ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned
natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men
committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due
penalty for their perversion. 28
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the
knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to
be done.
This is the wrath of God that is being revealed (present tense) against all godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness (Romans 1:18):
1- Depraved mind
a. Distorted views
b. Delusional thoughts
2- Slavery to their passions
a. Cycles of addiction that cannot be broken
b. Lusts that continually get them in trouble
3- Disease brought on by shameful practices
a. Homosexuality
b. Drug use and abuse
4- No peace of mind and body
They will be caught in this cycle of destruction and furthermore suffer torture in tartaroos until the Day of Judgment.
2
Peter 2:10 ESV
and especially those who
indulge in the lust
of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful,
they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,
MORE CHARACTERISTICS AND THE FATE OF THE FALSE TEACHERS
Especially those…
Here's a list of characteristics God considers especially nefarious:
1- Those who lust after defiling passions – they seek to satisfy their fleshly passions without regard for their engagement to Jesus. They know they are doing wrong but they don’t care. They want to have their fill of the flesh and dirty themselves beyond some in the world. We can expect this from people in the world, but even some people in the world do not stoop to these characteristics Peter mentions. These are “bottom of the barrel” dregs; scum which even most in world may consider appalling. It is a shame that those who are the bottom once started out as the cream – on the top!
2- Those who despise authority – perhaps it is because they are aware of the powerlessness of human government and the supremacy of Jesus; but in blatant disregard for His power they despise any form of control or authority. This is rebellion. These are mavericks, bucking any system, rocking any boat sometimes just for the fun of it. They are antiestablishment, subversive and dissident; relishing in chaos and disorder to spread their wickedness even further.
3- Those who seem fearless (bold and willful) as they blaspheme the glorious ones – Again I dare to say they are fearless of men perhaps because they know men can do nothing to them. They should, however, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body at judgment (Matthew 10:28)! Their boldness and presumption are based on ignorance and lack of maturity. This is shown in the lack of respect (and healthy fear) for any kind of title, rank or dignitary (glorious ones). They vilify what they do not know (or care to know) without fear and spread lies and evil about them, my thinking is perhaps out of jealousy. Some interpret glorious ones as a reference to celestial beings or angels, but that is a presumption in itself.
Peter has given us the picture of an evil man - 2:4-10:
· He is the desire-dominated man,
· He is the audacious (daring) man,
· He is the self-willed man.
· This bad man insists on living in one world - the physical.
· To him the spiritual world does not exist!
--
World Video Bible School Commentary
2
Peter 2:11 ESV
whereas
angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them
before the Lord.
Not even angels who have greater power and authority dare to blaspheme (speak bad things) or judge the authority God has granted certain men on earth, even the blasphemous railings of false teachers! This is a great illustration of the power of speech and the tongue James warns us about:
James 3:1-11 NIV Not many of you should presume to be
teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is
never at
fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in
check. 3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to
make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they
are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small
rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise the
tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set
on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue
also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person,
sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and
creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil,
full of deadly poison. 9 With the
tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been
made in God's likeness. 10 Out of the
same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
The tongue:
1- Is a small part of the body that steers us right or wrong
2- Is a restless evil full of deadly poison
3- Is a fire, a world of evil
4- Can corrupt you
5- Can set the whole course of your life on fire
6- Can praise God
7- Can curse men
8- Is used by the devil to accomplish his work (set on fire by judgment [gehenna])
9- Should be used sparingly (James 1:19; Prov 17:28)
Where does such evil come from? Jesus gives us a clue here:
Luke 6:43-45 NIV No good tree
bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is
recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or
grapes from briers. 45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart,
and the evil man brings
evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
And of course, the Lord reveals the source through Jeremiah as well:
Jeremiah 17:9 NIV The heart is deceitful above all things and
beyond cure. Who can understand it?
How we control our tongue sets us apart from the angels! A distinction has to be made between blasphemous judgment and just plain judgment. Sometimes we have to confront someone with their hypocrisy and false teachings. That is not blasphemous but scriptural. We judge by the fruit (Mat 7:15-18).
"Fools rush in where angels dare to tread." – Alexander Pope
2
Peter 2:12 ESV
But these, like irrational animals,
creatures of instinct, born
to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are
ignorant, will
also be destroyed in their destruction,
More characteristics of the unrighteous:
4- Irrational creatures – Peter describes the unrighteous as irrational animals, being led only by instinct (the heart) instead of by reason. Ever heard people say “I’ve got a gut feeling”? Well that’s exactly what it is, being “gut led” – led by your stomach (Phil 3:19) instead of by your brain, where faith is born! Faith only comes by hearing and understanding something – a reasonable process, not a subjective one (Romans 10:17). People who refuse to walk by faith inevitably walk by heart, and when you do that you become irrational, like an animal – led by instinct. What do animals do? They use all their energies to feed themselves and to procreate.
a. They cannot learn to avoid traps – they will be caught by something
b. They cannot overcome the intelligence of humans
c. They remain ignorant
d. They will be destroyed with the rest of creation
5- Blaspheme in ignorance – that talk of people who don’t use reason to guide them ends up being foolish and ignorant; commonly full of expletives, insult and blasphemy. This is the language of the tongue that is set on fire by gehenna. Constantly reviling, insulting and putting themselves above anything and everyone, they display their ignorance to all who care to look at them with understanding.
It is sad that so many depend on the Darwinian model to try to explain or justify their instincts. Homosexuality, drunkenness, and other so called “aberrant” behaviors are being explained using a non applicable model that only misleads and scorns the human soul, leaving it hungrier than ever without the fulfillment of Jesus, Who is the Bread of Life and the Living Water.
Fate of false teachers (the unrighteous):
1- Born to be caught and destroyed – like animals that are hunted, these souls are hunted down, trapped and destroyed by their own sin. Like animals who do not have intelligence to avoid traps, these souls cannot see the sin trap and are doomed by walking right into it. If they saw with their enlightened soul they would steer clear away from such traps!
2- Will be destroyed in their destruction – will perish in their own corruption. God saved us to escape the corruption of the world. Corruption is investable without Jesus. They will suffer the fate of those who reject Jesus and fail to obey the Gospel. Destruction is their end!
The characteristic of modern
"liberal" critical teachers which amazes one most is their absolute
confidence in their own conclusions, based upon evidence however trivial, and
involving tremendously important departures from tenets maintained for
centuries by the historic church. – Coffman
1 Timothy 1:6-7 ESV Certain persons, by swerving from these, have
wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to
be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or
the things about which they make confident assertions.
2
Peter 2:13 ESV
suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime.
They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while
they feast with you.
3- Will suffer wrong for their wrongdoing – the Bible has taught us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). It should be no surprise that people who do not seek forgiveness in Jesus will end up suffering for their wrongdoing and eventually receive the full wage of their work, which is death.
Galatians 6:7-8 ESV Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever
one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one
who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who
sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
More characteristics:
6- They enjoy reveling in the daytime – to revel (Gk., truphe) is to live in luxury, to live comfortably, to live delicately (in an effeminate way). Literally it means to enfeeble (weaken) your body and mind by indulgence of the flesh. To show off your luxuriant, delicate (fragile and insubstantial) life, to boast about what you have and what you do. To do this in the daytime is not to care what other people think about your senselessness. These people love to parade their foolishness and luxury before others as if they were better or smarter. I can relate to this in a big way when I was a teen. I counted it a pleasure to display my foolishness in the daytime! At least those who do it at night are sensible enough to recognize their evil and may have a chance to repent.
7- They enjoy reveling in deception – this is a variant of the previous word, revel (Gk., entruphao). These people enjoy and approve of deceiving others by their depravity. They enjoy being given opportunity in the fellowship of the saints to display their reveling, hoping to cause confusion and discomfort. To have and tolerate in our fellowship such people is to parade blots and blemishes, not to mention deceptions that can cause others to stumble and malign the church of Jesus. This is why such people are to be removed from our fellowship, as the word says (Titus 3:10; Rom 16:17; 1 Co 5:4-13; 2 Thes 3:6; 2 Thes 3:14; 2 Tim 3:5; 2 John 1:10).
Romans 16:18 NIV For such people are not serving our Lord
Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the
minds of naive people.
Proverbs 26:25 NIV Though his speech is charming, do not believe
him, for seven abominations fill his heart.
2
Peter 2:14 ESV
They have eyes full of adultery,
insatiable for sin. They entice
unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!
8- They have eyes full of adultery – they are always looking to satisfy their sexual needs in illicit ways. They are always looking for a prey, for someone to lure into their sexual traps. They have no interest for anyone other than to use them for their own satisfaction. Even if they do not commit adultery physically they do so with their eyes (Mat 5:28).
9- They are insatiable for sin – their needs will never be met. They are looking to quench sinful desires that can never be quenched. The more they look to satisfy them the more trapped they are and the more hungry they will be. It is a hole that keeps getting deeper. There is no escape!
10- They entice unsteady souls – only those who are weak and doubtful about their new life in Jesus are enticed by the performance of the unrighteous. The unrighteous don’t call up the leaders of the church if they have doubts, nor do they seek a mature brother when they are weak. They prey upon the weak souls to strengthen their sinful resolve further plunging themselves into destruction.
11- Their hearts are trained in greed – they have been well trained by the world and have graduated suma cum laude with all honors. They are masters of greed and therefore masters of manipulation. You cannot believe a word they say because the fruit of their actions is unmistakable. They have trained themselves to no longer feel guilt, remorse, compassion, conviction or alarm for sin. Their conscience is seared (1 Tim 4:1-3).
Proverbs 27:20 NIV Death and Destruction are never satisfied,
and neither are the eyes of man.
Matthew 5:6 NIV Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Matthew 6:21-23 NIV For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 The eye is the
lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of
light. 23 But if your eyes
are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you
is darkness, how great is that darkness!
John 4:13-14 NIV Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever
drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him
will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Fate:
4- They are accursed children! – They have brought a worse curse on themselves by blatantly ignoring and trashing the gift of life from our precious Savior! Peter will elaborate on this toward the end of this chapter.
2
Peter 2:15-16 ESV
Forsaking
the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the
son of Beor, who loved gain
from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless
donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
Comparison with Balaam
Who was Balaam?
1- Once a faithful prophet – His response to a bribe from Balak – But Balaam answered them, "Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God. – Numbers 22:18
a. His oracles: Numbers 24:15-17
2- He forsook the right way and went astray – Numbers 22
a. He loved riches more than faithfulness
b. Was tempted by Balak’s bribe.
i. Had made up his mind to be enticed
ii. The Lord tried to stop him but he kept going
iii. Ignored the will of God
c. Was ultimately rebuked by his own donkey!
i. Should have taken warning!
ii. His penitence was fake
iii. His heart hardened
3- Later incited sin in the camp of the Lord – Numbers 31:16
a. By pretending to be God's oracle
b. Had people eating food to sacrificed animals
c. Encouraged the weak-willed to be sexually immoral
4- Was ultimately killed in the cleansing of the Israelite camp – Numbers 31:8
His love for riches and power made him lose his sanity. Although he tried to pass as God's oracle, the fruit of his darkness was made evident by his licentiousness.
Balaam was a prominent false teacher who received his due for knowing the Lord and then turning his back on Him. He has been forever immortalized as the archetype of false teachers:
1- Had known God
2- Have gone astray
a. For the love of a reward
b. For the pleasure of self
c. For the boasting of self
3- Encourage sin
a. To the point of downfall
b. By giving false advice
4- Will die
a. By their own sin
b. By the hand of God
2
Peter 2:17 ESV
These are
waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.
Waterless springs…
A spring (well) represents a place where you can be refreshed and satisfied. Peter describes false teachers as mirages – looking promising from a distance but a total disappointment once you’ve uncovered their delusion. They are beyond shallow – they are totally dried up!
Mists (clouds) driven by a
storm (tempest)…
A mist is something that you can barely see. It appears to have some substance but is gone immediately after you perceive it. A mist driven by a storm is almost impossible! If a mist goes out quickly, how much more so if it is driven by a storm! Rain clouds are promising for the crop. A sign of them is a welcome sight for the farmer. Imagine the promise of rain suddenly going because of a windy storm taking the clouds away somewhere else! I believe Peter is pointing out they will fade away as soon as they appeared. Their promises are flighty and their presence does not endure.
Fate:
5- They are reserved for the gloom of utter darkness – quite a scary picture. Not only is their fate gloomy, but utterly dark! What is darker than dark? Jesus refers to it as the outer darkness (Matthew 8:12). Incidentally, Jesus says the sons of the kingdom will end up there. These are the ones who knew Him but went apostate.
2
Peter 2:18 ESV
For,
speaking loud boasts of
folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are
barely escaping from those who live in error.
More characteristics:
12- Speak loud boasts of folly – these apostate teachers boast about themselves, not Jesus. They like to make their boasts loud, since they know it is about people, not Jesus. Jesus sees what’s in secret (Mat 6:1-8).
a. They like to use specialized language and hot or “buzz” words to create meaning out of nothing
b. They like to make lengthy explanations full of circular arguments and absurd premises
c. If you cannot understand something it is probably because no one can understand it!
i. Where there are many words sin is not absent! – Prov 10:19
ii. If it takes you more words to explain than the actual Bible verse you probably don’t understand it and are interpreting it according to your own opinion!
13- Entice by sensual passions – their specialty is what appeals to the flesh
a. Comfort giving things – they like to give you things or advice that you like to hear, always putting you in the right place as opposed to looking out for you (2 Tim 4:3).
b. Flattery – just smooth talk that butters you up for the punch line (Prov 29:5; Rom 16:18).
c. Eventually fall into fornication of some kind with the very people he was trying to “help”.
14- Target those of weak faith and the weak willed; those who are burdened by their own sin – they never try to go to the mature and the upright leaders. The unrighteous themselves could become enticed by other false teachers more powerful than them!
a. Only the foolish get taken in by their empty boasts
b. Some new converts can be impressed by empty sounding words
Psalms 36:1-4 NIV An oracle is within my heart concerning the
sinfulness of the wicked: There is no
fear of God before his eyes. 2 For in his
own eyes he flatters himself too much to
detect or hate his sin. 3 The words of
his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do
good. 4 Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits
himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong.
As opposed to the encouragement we heard before from Peter in 1st Peter chapter 3, which was to do good and to invent ways to do good, resulting in being a blessing from God, the unrighteous plot harm and evil and seek ways to take others down in their sinful course.
2
Peter 2:19 ESV
They promise
them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a
person, to that he is enslaved.
15-
They speak about freedom but they are
slaves of corruption
a. Freedom doesn’t come with rules and regulations
i. Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch! – Col 2:20-22
ii. Don’t eat meat! – say the vegetarians
iii. Don’t wear fur! – says PETA
iv. People like to boss other people around because it makes them feel superior or important.
b. Freedom is not in someone’s opinion
c. Following people makes you end up a slave to them and their whims
d. As soon as you let one sin in your life – many more will follow! They will enslave you! (John 8:34; Rom 6:16)
e. Only by abiding in the words of Jesus are you free! (John 8:31-32)
f. We see this liberal attitude in our world today
g. Liberals say: “We no longer derive our ethical or moral standards from established authority, whether state, church, family, convention, philosophical or religious system.”
h. Such people think they are “free”; but they are really slaves
2
Peter 2:20 ESV
For if,
after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse
for them than the first.
Fate:
6- Entangled in their own deception and defilement – how sad is it to have escaped the corruption of the world, but by failure of growing your faith you become blind and get entangled in its sin again!
a. They were free because they knew Jesus! We are only free through our knowledge of Jesus, not our own opinions! The Greek word here really means “full knowledge”; intimate knowledge not just superficial knowing of.
b. They tasted the goodness of the Lord!
c. They got entangled. Maybe they became desensitized. Maybe they decided that one little sin was not that bad.
d. They liked the sin again more than growing their faith.
7- Overcome by their own corruption and that of the world – this state is worse for once you are overcome there is no going back. You have succumbed. You have thrown in the towel.
a.
You love to satisfy your sinful passions more than being faithful to
Jesus
b.
You don’t consider the Lord worthy of obedience of following
c.
You don’t believe God loves you and saved you
d.
You trust your flesh and the devil more than you do God
e.
They cannot be restored – Heb
6:4-6
f.
They have committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit – Mark 3:29
g. They deliberately sin against the holy commands – their only expectation is of raging fire – Heb 10:26-31
Hebrews 12:1 NIV Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a
great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us
run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
The saddest people on the Day of Judgment will be those who almost made it to heaven!
For it would
have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than
after knowing it to turn
back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
Here's why the last state of the unrighteous, the false teacher, the one who has fallen away and does not intend to repent, is worse than the first: they have turned their back from the holy commandment after acknowledging its holiness! They have turned their backs on God after making a commitment to Him! Jesus sheds some light on this:
Mark 3:28-29 NIV I tell you the
truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will never be forgiven; he
is guilty of an eternal sin.
The error the people were making when Jesus responded with this statement was to attribute his works to the devil. If people think the Gospel of Jesus and His words are anything but God's revealed word for the salvation of mankind they will all be guilty of blaspheming against the Spirit. This cannot be forgiven for it is a rejection of the very person that is able to save them! The Hebrew author explains:
Hebrews 6:4-8 NIV It is impossible for those
who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have
shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have
tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to
repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of
God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on
it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the
blessing of God. 8 But land that produces
thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end
it will be burned.
God does not tolerate the public disgrace brought to His loving Son, Jesus Christ, by those who practice sin and lawlessness in spite of knowing better. There’s a difference between making mistakes because of our imperfection as people, and deliberately sinning. Deliberately sinning, which is transgression (outright disobedience), is what will put you on the road to apostasy. Here's what happens when you knowingly sin:
Hebrews 10:26-31 NIV If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received
the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment
and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died
without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think a man
deserves to be punished who
has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the
blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of
grace? 30 For we know him who said, "It is mine to
avenge; I will repay,"[4] and
again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God.
The scriptures make it clear that the false doctrine of “once saved always saved” is from the devil. This is why James warns those who would like to be teachers:
James 3:1 NIV Not many of you should presume to be
teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more
strictly.
2
Peter 2:22 ESV
What the
true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow,
after washing herself, returns
to wallow in the mire."
The illustration given is that of having enjoyed a pristine condition, clarity and purity; and then tossing it out to give in to your own madness, preconceptions, delusions and insanity. Peter also tosses in a pejorative image of those who want to return to their own vomit or to wallow in the mire: a dog and a pig. Sounds like what Jesus said here:
Matthew 7:6 NIV Do not give dogs
what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample
them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
He said this of the hypocrites, which is what false teachers are. Dogs were considered odious scavengers, not the nice, tame, genetic hodgepodges of today. Pigs were considered revolting, dirty abominations by the Jews and most of the civilized world. Let’s allow these images to get burned into our hearts that we may not give way to our passions but be passionate about Jesus!