2Peter2

2 Peter 2:1 – the Danger to growing Christians….

2 Peter 2:1 -3 – 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. ² And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³ 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.

 

Looking at the difference between “heresy” and “difference of opinion”   – LABC

1. The term “heresy” applies to cardinal doctrines whose misinterpretation would be destructive to Christianity.
2. “Differences of opinion” apply to issues that will never be fully solved. We’ve known the cardinal doctrines for fifteen hundred years (such as the deity of Christ, the Trinity, substitutionary atonement) while we will always “agree to disagree” on the others (Calvinism vs. Arminianism, infant baptism, roles of women in the church, etc.).

 

FALSE TEACHERS TODAY
Peter warned against false teachers. Many powerful speakers claim to have important ideas for Christians to hear. These speakers range from political reactionaries to extreme environmentalists. Add to the list those who present special angles on church doctrine coming from big denominations and small— and you have a dazzling array of choices.  How do we separate the good (teaching that leads to Christ), the bad (off-center but benign ideas tacked onto the gospel), and the ugly (false teaching, much to be avoided)?

It’s a complicated problem, but the following safeguards will help along the way:

• Use condemnation sparingly. An off-center idea may be way out but is not necessarily heresy. A sincere but misguided teacher may not be a “false” teacher. None of us understands God perfectly, so we must be generous and helpful long before we condemn and cast someone out.
• Pay attention to the teacher’s ethical and moral behavior. The Bible stresses that false teachers will have immorality in their lives. Watch how they treat people and money. Don’t excuse or cover up bad behavior.
• Choose your church carefully. Is the living Christ at the center of your church’s ministry? Do leaders pray? Is the Bible honored and taught? Is God at work there? “False” churches may be very busy, but their teaching reveals the void when Christ and the Bible are pushed to the side. If that is the case, go somewhere else.

 

Three Things for caution:

1 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15–16 nrsv).

2    “And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray” (Matthew 24:11nrsv).

3    “False messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be alert; I have already told you everything” (Mark 13:22–23 nrsv).^[1]

NASB:  2 Peter 2:1 –   But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers (Pseudodidaskalos G5573 among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

 

NKJC: 2 Peter 2:1 – But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers  (Pseudodidaskalos G5573) among you, who will secretly bring (parelsago G3919) in destructive heresies, even denying (arneomal G720)the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.^[2]

 

(2Pet2v1)

False Teachers  (pseudodidaskalos)  G5572

Secretly Bring   (pareisago)  G3919

Dennying  (arneomai)  G720

 

LABC – BEWARE:

 

All the apostles battled false teaching that infiltrated the new churches and threatened to turn the believers away from the truth. Like the false prophets of old, the false teachers were twisting God’s Word. These teachers were dangerous, for their teachings could cause many to turn away from the truth or never find the truth at all. We must be careful to avoid false teachers today. Believers should evaluate any book, tape series, or TV message according to God’s Word. Look for scriptural undergirding that backs up their points. Beware of special meanings or interpretations that belittle Christ or his work.^[3]

 

What different False Teachers were saying:

Denying Christ’s second coming

Denying Christ’s lordship by disobeying his teaching and practicing immorality

Belittling the significance of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

Some claimed that Jesus could not be God.

Some claimed that he could not have been a real human being.

 

LABC:

Whatever form the false doctrines took, they amounted to these teachers’ denying Christ who bought them. The price Christ paid was his blood—his death on the cross. The word “bought” (agorasanta comes from agorazo, also translated “redeem”) indicates the relationship between Christ and his followers. The word “redeem” is used in the Bible for God redeeming his people when he delivered them out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 6:6; see 2 Samuel 7:23). It implied that since God had brought his people out of slavery, they owed allegiance to him. In the New Testament, to “redeem” a person meant to buy that person out of slavery. The slave could be purchased and then continue to be a slave or be granted freedom. In either case, the new master paid a price. Christ paid the price with his life. Peter pointed out that the false teachers had no allegiance to Christ, their Master. The false teachers failed to understand (or chose to deny) the fact that while faith in Christ brings liberty, it also brings responsibility. In their teachings and by their lifestyles, the false teachers were denying the Lord, who had bought them. By these words, Peter revealed the seriousness of denying such a Master, for turning away from him would bring swift destruction on oneself. This “swift destruction” would not happen immediately—for many false teachers worked and prospered. When that certain destruction came, however, it would be swift and final.

 

The question arises, How could these false teachers, who had been believers and whom the Lord had “bought,” end up in eternal destruction? There are five main views about this question:

1. These false teachers had been believers, but had lost their salvation. The problem with this view is that it contradicts other Scriptures that say a person cannot lose his or her salvation (see John 3:16; 5:24; 10:28–29; Romans 8:28–39).
2. These false teachers had joined the Christian community and seemed to be part of it, but they later denounced Christ and tried to convince others to do the same (see note on 2:20–21).
3. These false teachers were “bought” in the sense of “created,” but not “saved.” The problem here is that a different word would have been used if Peter had meant this.
4. These false teachers only said that they were saved, “bought” by Christ’s blood. But they were lying. Possibly, but who can know?
5. These false teachers had been “bought” by the blood of Christ, as Christ’s blood is sufficient to save everyone who ever lived if everyone chose to believe. However, the false teachers never accepted Christ as their Savior and thus were never saved in the first place. Potentially Christ died for everyone, but only those who believe and follow will be saved.

Of the five views, the second and fifth are the most plausible.^[4]

 

2 Peter 2:2 – Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.

 

² And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³ 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.

 

History repeats – The nation of Israel wondered the wilderness for 40 years to perish because of the heretics (those holding unorthodox opinions) (shameful ways)   in the nation.

 

Peter states that those who followed the false teachers into shameful living would malign the gospel before the world.

Romans 2:24 (ESV)
²⁴  For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

 

2 Peter 2:3 – 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.

 

Greed – the prime motivation of the false teachers as money was what was important to them, not truth.  Popular ideas generated more money as those wanting to hear such would pay them money to continue to tickle their ears.   Stories made up to manipulate people’s emotions and get a good reaction, thus more money.    ! Thessalonians 2:5  –  ⁵ For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness…

 

LABC:  Peter gives three warning signs for identifying false teachers:

1. Immorality—Do their lives contain or condone immoral practices? Does the group listening to the false teachers have a lot of immoral sexual relationships?
2. Greed—Teachers have a right to financial support (1 Corinthians 9:1–14; Galatians 6:6; 1 Timothy 5:17–18), but is money the teacher’s or group’s prime motivation? Before you send money to any cause, evaluate it carefully. Is the teacher or preacher clearly serving God or promoting his/her own interests? Will the person or organization use the money to promote valid ministry, or will it merely finance further promotions?
3. Lying—Is the leader offended when you ask for the scriptural backing behind his or her statements? Does he or she fudge on the facts when asked for evidence?

The false teachers were not dummies. Their “made-up” stories were not so ridiculous that gullible people would dismiss them as jokes. The false teachers were probably experts at stretching the truth … until the final product was no longer the truth. Do office sales reports ever get stretched? Is it acceptable to bend a little when a customer calls for a quote (she won’t see the invoice anyway)? With competition for funding so intense, do missionary leaders stretch the truth when they describe the overseas impact of a gift?

The word of a Christian should be straight up, not bent, stretched, or expanded. Lying is the intention to deceive, not a false report honestly delivered. Don’t give in to the intention. Don’t sacrifice your integrity for a boss, a client, or even a “very good cause.”^[5]

 

God promised quick and certain destruction of false teachers.  However, because it hasn’t yet occurred the False Teachers thought they were safe.  However Peter tells them that God is not asleep and He will destroy false teachers and those who blindly follow them.    V.3 – “…is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”…

 

2 Peter 2:4 – 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;

Peter provides example of how God had judged evil and the result of such.

Ezekiel 28:15  –  The angels who rebelled along with Satan.

You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.

 

Genesis 6:1-4 – the sin the angels did at the beginning of man’s history.

Genesis 6:1-4 – When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

 

These were cast into Tartarus – a place of imprisonment or ‘chains of deepest darkness’  –  Even if we can’t identify the place we know it is totally controlled by God.  These fallen angels will be kept in hell, a place of punishment, until the judgment or their final doom.  False teachers are informed that they will join them.

 

2 Peter 2:5  –⁵ 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;

 

Destruction for all the evil on the earth, but yet He protected seven others.  As God saved those and destroyed all sinful people, He has provided a means of salvation for His people today.  All that deserve punishment will get it, and those who trust in God will receive his grace.

 

LABC: – CHOICES

The choices sound simple—follow God or rebellious humanity— but there was nothing simple about Noah’s decision.

• His faith in God gave him the reputation of an outcast, a fool. No one wants to feel that way today. We rely too readily on the approval of others.
• Noah invested all he had in God’s promise. He placed his entire family fortune, everything he had, inside that ark. Today, we rely on diversified portfolios to protect against uncertain markets. We don’t trust our financial security to God alone.
• Noah’s witness was entirely rejected. He convinced no one. As a preacher, he would have been regarded as a total failure. Today, we smartly pick careers that provide significant incentive and reward. Who would decide to invest his or her life when there are no observable results to be gained?

If the choice between God and the world seems simple and clear, perhaps you have not counted the real cost. Very few counselors today will advise the Noah track. It’s just too risky. But there really is no other choice!^[6]

 

2 Peter 2:6 – ⁶ 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 condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes.  An example of how wicked people doing sin will not be permitted to reign in His world.    Some translations used “were condemned to extinction”  as the ESV does.  The place of these cities are no more.

 

LABC:  WILL GOD JUDGE?

If God did not spare angels, or people who lived before the Flood, or the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, he would not spare these false teachers. These words that promised justice were a great comfort to those who were oppressed. God will punish all evildoers. These words also served as a warning to wanderers to not stray away from the truth. Some people would have us believe that God will save all people because he is so loving. But it is foolish to think that God will cancel the last judgment. Don’t ever minimize the certainty of God’s judgment on those who rebel against him.^[7]

 

 

2 Peter 2:7-8 – ⁷ and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual (G766 – LN88.272) conduct of the wicked ⁸ (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);

NKJV:  ⁷ and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)

 

ESV – V. 7  and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed (kaItaponeo G2669)by the sensual conduct (aselgela G766)  of the wicked  –  V.8- ⁸ (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);   (2Pet2v7)

 

Sensual (en aselgela)  A compound word meaning:  Sinful Abandon

G766 – 766 ἀσέλγεια [aselgeia /as·elg·i·a/] n f. From a compound of 1 (as a negative particle) and a presumed selges (of uncertain derivation, but apparently meaning continent); TDNT 1:490; TDNTA 83; GK 816; Nine occurrences; AV translates as “lasciviousness” six times, “wantonness” twice, and “filthy” once. 1 unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence.

 

LN 88.272 ἀσέλγεια, ας f: behavior completely lacking in moral restraint, usually with the implication of sexual licentiousness—‘licentious behavior, extreme immorality.’ μὴ μετανοησάντων ἐπὶ τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ καὶ πορνείᾳ καὶ ἀσελγείᾳ ᾗ ἔπραξαν ‘they have not repented of the filthy things they have done, their immorality and licentious deeds’ 2 Cor 12:21. In some languages the equivalent of ‘licentious behavior’ would be ‘to live like a dog’ or ‘to act like a goat’ or ‘to be a rooster,’ in each instance pertaining to promiscuous sexual behavior.

 

2 Peter 2:8 ESV

⁸  (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul (G5590) (LN25.280)  over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);

V.8 – (soul) Lot was greatly distressed over the sin in the land.  Due to his righteousness it was tormenting him in his righteous soul.  (SOUL – used to convey what meaning?)  (2Pet2v8)

LN 25.280 ψυχὴν βασανίζω: (an idiom, literally ‘to be tormented in soul’) to experience mental torment involving sorrow mixed with anger—‘to experience anguish, to be tormented in one’s heart.’ .. ‘his righteous heart was tormented by their evil deeds’ (literally ‘he tormented his righteous soul by their evil deeds’) 2 Pe 2:8.^[8]

 

Genesis account does not paint Lot in a good light.  However, even with his flaws he stood out as a righteous man in an extremely evil society.  Point:  God made the choice to spare Lot due to his ‘ righteousness’  –  Meaning God sees what we don’t. see from the outside.    Would/Could be the very reason we are commanded not to judge our fellow man, but leave it to God.

 

LABC:  DO WE CARE?

Lot is described here as tormented in soul over the evil around him. Who gets tormented today about sins in our society? More often, we just get tired

• of crime statistics. The market in illegal drugs is booming, and crime rates climb as addicts struggle for money to feed their habits.
• of abuse reports: women beaten up, wives treated as slaves, kids injured by parents. It’s becoming viciously common.
• of politicians’ dallying, of welfare recipients gambling on lotteries, of sports heroes bummed out over mega salaries when they want even more, of preachers’ dallying, too.

Headlines scream of greed, cruelty, and injustice, but sadly, many Christians today don’t feel much torment. Are we too apathetic or too insulated from real pain?

God’s people know that change begins with a tremor in the soul. God will move you to make a real difference, but you have to be awake to see and hear how far society has removed itself from God’s plan.

 

2Peter 2:9 -10 – ⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

 

Read the above two verses remembering from Verse 8 that it is the completion of an IF statement.

What God has done in the past He will continue and He does know how to rescue the godly from trail.

 

Revelation 3:10 promises, “Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from (ek G1537-LN89.121) the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (nrsv).

 

The word “from” translates ek, which means “out of” (not apo, which means “away from”).

 

Noah was rescued from the Flood, but only after years of building an ark while being derided by his neighbors. Lot was rescued from Sodom, but only after living in silent torment for years over the extreme sinfulness of his surroundings.

 

NABC:

This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.  The certainty of the punishment described in the previous verses is for all evil people, but is especially true of the false teachers. These false teachers were following the corrupt desire of the sinful nature. This wording refers to sexual promiscuity, immorality, and even perverted sexual practices. Apparently, the false teachers taught that Christian freedom placed believers above moral rules (see 2:19). They were promoting sensual indulgence. In addition, they despise authority. This “authority” could refer to church leaders, angelic powers (as in the remainder of this verse, below), or to the false teachers’ denial of “the sovereign Lord who bought them” (2:1). Most likely, the authority despised by the false teachers referred to all three; they didn’t want anyone over them. The false teachers lived as they pleased and laughed at the prospect of a Second Coming and judgment by God. Peter wanted to make it clear that people would not get away with such sin.^[9]

 

 

2 Peter 2:11 (ESV)
¹¹  whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.

While not even the angels would accuse Satan on their own authority, the false teachers arrogantly did so, revealing their ignorance of God and of Satan. Their complete irreverence in the form of immoral living (thus mocking God’s laws) and slander of the evil angels (thus flaunting their self-attested authority) would result in severe punishment.

 

LABC: OVERGROWN EGO

Perhaps the false teachers’ biggest problem was having egos so overgrown that they had no respect for authority—good or evil, lawful or satanic.

• Egos that claimed: “No law condemns me. I am above every law. I am the law.”
• Egos that boasted: “God is my aide, angels my servants. I am the greatest.”
• Egos that promised: “Only my will limits me. Only my boldness guides me. I am the master of my fate.”

If you think this portrait of Peter’s adversaries is too farfetched, remember that in the 1930s even Christian people in Germany were attracted to the Nazi party, a movement full of ego that recognized no authority but its own. Beware of being so independent that you reject all authority.^[10]

 

2 Peter 2:12 – NIV – ¹² But these people (false teachers) blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.

These harsh words reveal the seriousness of the false teachers’ sin.  These false teachers had set aside self-restraint in order to follow their passions.

 

2 Peter 2:13 – NIV:  They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

 

LABC:  PRIME-TIME SIN

Sin seems to prosper at night. Peter accepts that reality and notes how doubly wrong it is to carry one’s revelry into daytime hours. What is it about darkness that tempts us to sin?

• For most people, dark hours signal time to reward oneself for hard work done. At night, they feel that their desires deserve gratification.
• Daytime means putting on one’s best face to achieve success in business, education, whatever. At night, the “best face” becomes the real person.
• Children are awake during the day and early evening. Better to behave for their sakes.
• Much of carousing relates to sexual invitation and seduction.

What’s to be done? First, redirect your system of after-work rewards, choosing healthy recreation over lounging and drinking. Second, work toward integrity in your person, matching the daytime “you” with the nighttime. Third, love your spouse (God’s gift to you) a lot. And not least, be aware that vast advertising campaigns and entertainment industries set you up for nighttime temptation. Don’t let that armada of enticements choke your life. God’s best for you is full and good, not dark or lewd.^[11]

 

2 Peter 2:14 – NIV:  ¹⁴ With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!  LABC identifies these acts as:

They have eyes full of adultery means that they could not look on women without lusting for them. They were turning church meetings into opportunities for sexual encounters.

• They were insatiable for sin because they were bound in sin, acting like brute beasts that follow instinct without any rational faculties (2:12). These men were in bondage to sin and to the power of Satan (2:10).
• They entice unsteady souls means that, like a fisherman baiting fish, the false teachers waited out their catch. They didn’t waste time with the strong believers, but sought out those who were not firmly grounded in the faith, or had doubts, or were “outside” the fellowship for one reason or another. Pretending patience and interest, they could entice these people away from the faith and into their dangerous “net.”
• They have hearts trained in greed means that the false teachers had exercised themselves (the Greek word for “trained” is the word from which we derive “gymnasium”) in being greedy and in getting what they coveted. These men were really good at being greedy because, no matter how much they got, they always wanted more.^[12]

 

2 Peter 2:15  – ¹⁵ Forsaking the right G2117) way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing,  (2Pet2v15esv)

NLT:  ¹⁵ They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong.  (2Pet2V15nlt)

Forsaking – kataleipo – “to Abandon (give up)”  LN85.65 – G2641

G2641…1a to depart from, leave. 1a1 to be left. 1b to bid (one) to remain. 1c to forsake, leave to one’s self a person or thing by ceasing to care for it, to abandon, leave in the lurch. 1c1 to be abandoned, forsaken. 1d to cause to be left over, to reserve, to leave remaining. 1e like our “leave behind”, it is used of one who on being called away cannot take another with him. 1e1 especially of the dying (to leave behind). 1f like our “leave”, leave alone, disregard. 1f1 of those who sail past a place without stopping.^[13]

LN85.65 ἀπολείπω^a; καταλείπω^b: to cause or permit something to remain in a place and to go away (with or without implying purpose)—‘to leave, to leave behind, to abandon.’^[14]

The False Teachers have deliberately left the straight road of obedience and gone astray.  Balaam used as an example of a false teacher…   Balaam loved the wages of doing wrong.

LABC:  –   FALLEN LEADERS

Christian leaders who fall into sexual sin, particularly adultery, should cause us great concern. The Old Testament law said that it is wrong for a person to have sex with someone other than his or her spouse (Exodus 20:14). Jesus said that the desire to have sex with someone other than your spouse is mental adultery—if the act is wrong, then so is the intention (Matthew 5:27–28). To be faithful to your spouse with your body but not your mind is to break the trust so vital to a strong marriage.

Adultery is harmful in several ways: (1) it causes people to excuse sin rather than eliminate it; (2) it destroys marriages; (3) it is deliberate rebellion against God’s Word; and (4) it always hurts others besides those immediately involved.

How do we stop this avalanche of sin? More energy needs to go into premarital counseling to ensure that marriages are good matches. Christian leaders need marriage enrichment and counseling to prevent problems from slipping in. Elders should hold a pastor accountable for his personal life, not just his pulpit ministry.^[15]

2 Peter 2:16 – ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

The donkey sees the Angel and baulks 3 xs. – then speaks back.  The Angel rebukes Balaam for his wrong attitude and wrong motives.   Balaam learns and does Not curse the Israelites.  The false teachers today expect to get away with it as did Balaam.  But God will not allow it w/out punishment.

LABC states that the Bible account and the Jewish tradition differed – note:

Some scholars have noted with concern the differences between Peter’s explanation of the Balaam story and the Old Testament account. For example, Balaam’s father is Beor, not Bosor (Numbers 22:5). Some suggest that Peter’s version of the name reflected his Galilean pronunciation (Matthew 26:73). Others say that Peter was making a play on the name and the Hebrew word for “flesh” (basar). Balaam’s immoral character revealed itself in that he was “son of flesh.”

Another concern is that Balaam was not actually rebuked by the donkey. The donkey merely spoke to ask why Balaam was beating him. The angel actually rebuked Balaam. Peter may have been referring to the story in Jewish tradition, where the donkey did rebuke Balaam. Or Peter may have been citing the story this way in an attempt to make the point that even a dumb donkey was smarter than this supposed prophet, and that even dumb animals were more knowledgeable than the false teachers.^[16]

LABC –  WHO TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS?

It’s hard to imagine anything living for long in total darkness. Some plants and animals do, as we have learned from oceanographers. But humans do not. We need light, and if nature cannot supply it, we find some way to generate it by fire, electricity, or chemicals.

How awful to be without light. You can’t play anything or make anything. You can’t go anywhere for fear of falling. You’re stuck.

How frightening. Is danger close? You can’t prepare. You can’t react.

How lonely. Who’s out there? You don’t know. Friend or foe, what’s it matter? You can’t even see yourself.

God’s Good News is salvation from darkness into light. God welcomes you into the kingdom of light. Don’t wait. Apart from God, it’s dark out there.^[17]

 

2 Peter 2:17 – These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.   Like a spring that gives no water are the false teachers’ messages as they end in disappointment.

1 – False teachers are authoritarian and strongly denounce any who question their authority.
2.  False teachers minister in a man-centered way by speaking what the people want to hear and accept.  They prefer message of their own making, those that appeal to their carnal appetites.
3 – They treat the historic, Scripture-based doctrines with contempt.  They distance themselves from the past and sometime claiming private revelation.
4 – False teachers that are ‘mists driven by a storm’ – thus having to substance and provide no life-changing refreshment.

2 Peter 2:18 – ¹⁸ 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.

v.18 – NIV:       For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. (2Pet2v18)

 

These empty teachers offers then the lifestyles that they themselves followed.  They appeal to the lustful desires of every person’s sinful human nature.

LABC:  –  EMPTY WORDS

The false teachers of Peter’s day were boastful. Bombastic, high-sounding words can be a cover for false religion today. We must beware of teaching that mixes culture and Christianity without drawing clear lines of moral behavior. Anyone who omits teaching self-denial and loyalty to God as more important than personal pleasure may be appealing to the sinful nature. Judge teachers by checking their substance and observing their moral behavior.^[18]

2 Peter 2:19 – They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

The false teachers were promising them that they had the freedom to live as they pleased. 

LABC so aptly states:

The freedom the false teachers promised was freedom to live as one pleased. However, such a promise of freedom was empty, for the false teachers were not free. Instead, they themselves are slaves of corruption. They began to taste the freedom found in Christ, but they perverted it by resisting the rules of love their new Master gave. They tossed these aside, in the name of freedom, only to find themselves enslaved once again. Why? Because people are slaves to whatever masters them. Many believe that freedom means doing anything they want. But no one is ever completely free in that sense. The freedom Christ brings is freedom from sin, not freedom to do whatever we want. Too often freedom from rules, structure, or obedience leads to an addiction or preoccupation with the new pleasures freedom offers. But these actions can quickly enslave a person.

If people refuse to follow God, their only option is to follow their own sinful desires and become enslaved to what their bodies want. Only Christ can promise and deliver true freedom, for only those who submit their lives to Christ are set free from slavery to sin. Jesus had talked about true freedom to the false teachers of his day: “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They [the religious leaders] answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’ Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’” (John 8:31–36 niv). (See also Romans 6:16 and 1 Corinthians 6:12.)^[19]

 

2 Peter 2:20-21 –  ESV:  –   ²⁰  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.
²¹  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.

 

The false teachers had learned about Christ and how to be saved, but then had rejected the truth and returned to their sin. They were also endangering their followers by encouraging them to join their apostasy. These people, Peter wrote, are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning because they rejected the only way out of sin, the only way of salvation. Like a person sinking in quicksand who refuses to grab the rope thrown to him or her, the one who turns away from Christ casts aside his or her only means of escape.^[20]

 

Note V.21 – when Peter goes on further about them being better off to never have known the way of righteousness.

 

Which is worse:  a child that disobeys his parents out of ignorance of the rules or one that deliberately and willfully disobeys?

Matthew 12:43-45:  ⁴³ “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

 

1 John 2:19 – ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.^[21]

 

LABC:  THE WRONG END ZONE

Pity the football player who runs a full sprint into the wrong end zone, scoring against his own team, like USC’s “Wrong-Way” Riegels at the 1929 Rose Bowl. No one ever forgets that kind of mistake. It lives in history books.

Peter pities those who know God, then turn away. To have the truth but follow evil is as low as life gets. If you are discouraged, tempted to quit, or running with the opposition, God wants you back. Find a Christian friend who will hear you out, pray with you, and become your spiritual coach, helping clarify your goals through the confusion and doubt.^[22]

 

 

John MacArthur:  Contemporary Christianity, sadly, contains many people like the ones Peter describes in this passage. They have sought personal improvement and moral reformation in their quests for spiritual and religious experience. Many of them have become teachers, preachers, and self-styled prophets within the professed church. Tragically, like dirty dogs or unclean pigs, they eventually return to their old lifestyles—rejecting the only One who can truly reform them. Those who become spiritual leaders are in reality false teachers, motivated by their own selfish pursuits and sensual desires. In view of their appalling character and damning influence, Peter’s warning is clear: Stay away from false teachers and expose them! Believers are to listen to the true apostles and prophets, not the false ones (3:1–2).^[23]

 

 

2 Peter 2:22  –  But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.

 

To a Jew no creatures were lower than dogs and pigs.

Proverbs 26:11 (ESV)
¹¹  Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. .

 

One that returns to evil after being cleansed are no better than dogs that throw up and then return to their vomit or Pigs that are washed return to the mud pit.  Meaning; that those who make an outward profession without a Spirit-controlled inner transformation will soon return to their old way of life.  As the dogs and pigs return to what is natural, so the natural inclination toward sin drives the one not truly accepted as a “spirit controlled” profession.

NOTE:  The fact that God must confirm whom He accepts is also supported in  Hebrews 6:3 –  John MacArthur states:

Hebrews 6:3 –  “And this we shall do, if God permits.”   The Power needed is God’s Holy Spirit.

Interpreting this verse is difficult, despite its brevity and simplicity. We will look at it from two angles.

Some interpreters believe we is an editorial reference of the writer to himself. He is saying, “I will go on and teach you what you need to know if God permits me.” Others believe the writer is simply offering to identify himself with those to whom he writes, and is saying, “You will go on to maturity if God permits.”

I believe that both interpretations could be correct. They are not mutually exclusive and are consistent with the rest of Hebrews. Both service (the writer’s going on to teach) and salvation (the readers’ going on to spiritual maturity in Christ) must be energized by the Holy Spirit (if God permits) if they are to be effective and fruitful. Everything revolves around the permission of God. Need for divine enablement is the point. “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5; cf. James 4:13). “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). By teacher and seeker alike, God’s sovereignty should be recognized.^[24]

 

 

 

^[1] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (pp. 182–183). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[2] The New King James Version. (1982). (2 Pe 2:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

^[3] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 184). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[4] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (pp. 184–185). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[5] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 187). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[6] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 189). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[7] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 190). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[8] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, pp. 317–318). New York: United Bible Societies.

^[9] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 193). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[10] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 194). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[11] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 196). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[12] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 197). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[13] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

^[14] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 729). New York: United Bible Societies.

^[15] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 198). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[16] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 199). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[17] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 199). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[18] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 200). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[19] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (pp. 200–201). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[20] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (pp. 201–202). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[21] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Jn 2:19). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

^[22] Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude (p. 203). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

^[23] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2005). 2 Peter and Jude (p. 108). Chicago: Moody Publishers.

^[24] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1983). Hebrews (pp. 141–142). Chicago: Moody Press.