2 Peter 2

CHAPTER 2

 

False Teachers (2:1-22)

1 Even in Old Testament times, there were false prophets (Deuteronomy 13:15; Jeremiah 5:30-31). From that time up until the present there have been false prophets and false teachers in every generation. They secretly introduce destructive heresies. They secretly bring false teachings into the church and deceive many (see 1 Timothy 4:1). Their teaching is destructive, because it destroys not only their own faith but also the faith ofthose who are deceived by it. By their false teaching, these teachers deny the lordship of Christ.

Concerning these false teachers, Peter says that Christ bought them with His own blood; therefore, they belong to Him (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 7:23). Nevertheless, they have rebelled against Him. From this we can understand that these false teachers at one time followed Christ. But now they have wandered from the truth; they oppose the truth. Such false teachers always deny Christ, because Christ Himself is the truth (John 14:6). And when they deny Him, they bring destruction upon themselves (Matthew 10:33).

2 The way of truth—that is, the Gospel of Christ—is brought into disrepute not so much by those outside the church as by those inside the church, by so-called Christians. When believers follow after false teachers and false prophets and imitate their shameful behavior, then Christ is es-peciallydishonored.InPeter’stime,themain teaching of the false teachers was this: No matter how a person behaves, he is saved through grace and through a knowledge of Christ; therefore, one doesn’t need to give any thought to his daily behavior. This false teaching is refuted by many passages in the New Testament (see Romans 6:1-2,15; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; 1 Peter 1:14-15).

In every church in every generation there are always some believers who are ready to listen to some new way or some false teaching (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Let us not boast that false teaching could never pass into our church; rather, let us remain on guard. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12).

3 False teachers are interested not in helping others but in getting their payment. They do not seek the benefit of others; they seek only their own benefit and honor (see 1 Timothy 6:3-5). Such teachers will not escape condemnation; their destruction is near. God’s judgment is especially severe for those who lead others astray (Mark 9:42).

4 In verses 4-8, Peter gives three examples from the Old Testament to show that God saves the righteous and punishes the unrighteous.

The first example concerns ANGELS who sinned by rebelling against God. These angels are mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4, where they are called sons of God. God sent them to hell, where they are now being held for JUDGMENT. On the great day of judgment, God will give them their final punishment (see Jude 6).

5 The second example Peter gives is the example of the flood, which is described in Genesis Chapters 6-8. At that time God destroyed all the unrighteous people of the world, but He saved Noah and his wife, together with their three sons and their wives. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. According to Genesis 6:9, Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God (see Hebrews 11:7).

6-8 Peter’s third example is the destruction of the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which is described in Genesis 19:1-29 (see Matthew 10:15). God utterly destroyed those two cities by fire, together with all their wicked inhabitants (Genesis 19:24-25). But first God rescued one of the inhabitants, Lot, because Lot was righteous in God’s sight.

9 By these three Old Testament examples, Peter shows that God knows how to punish those who are wicked and unrighteous. In the same way, says Peter, God will surely punish the false teachers and those who follow them.

At the same time, God knows how to rescue godly men like Noah and Lot, and He is fully able to do so. In the same way, if a person remains obedient to God and stands firm in the faith, God will rescue him from trials. In Peter’s time, such trials had already begun to come upon Christians, but they will especially come just before Christ’s second coming (Revelation 3:10). … he who stands firm to the end will be saved (Mark 13:13).

10 Here Peter again says that the false teachers will be punished. These teachers follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature; that is, they teach that men can do whatever they want. They despise the authority of Christ and His apostles.

These false teachers are bold and arrogant. They are not afraid to slander celestial beings. When Peter says “celestial beings,” he can be referring to angels, or to church leaders; the Greek text can be translated both ways. In either case, these false teachers refuse to submit to anyone’s authority.

11 Nevertheless, even angels (presumably the “celestial beings” of verse 10) do not slander the false teachers in return (see Jude 9). In this we can see a common truth: evil men slander righteous men, but righteous men keep silent. The righteous do not return evil for evil. The slanderous speech of the false teachers is shameful; no righteous person would dare to speak that way in the presence of the Lord.

Let us remember that whenever we want to accuse someone, we will be making our accusation in the presence of the Lord. We had better be certain, therefore, that our accusation is true and acceptable to God! (see Matthew 7:1-5; 18:15-17; Romans 14:10).

12 These false teachers do not even understand the things they are blaspheming; they don’t understand the people they slander. It is ignorant people such as these who oppose Christ and His followers (1 Peter 2:15). They are ignorant of spiritual things. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, who follow only their own selfish instincts and desires. Brute beasts are born only to be caught and destroyed. In the same way, these false teachers will be “caught” by their own passions and destroyed by them (see Jude 10 and comment). … everyone who sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34). And the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

13 God is always just. He who sows evil will reap evil (Galatians 6:7). The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction (Gal-atians 6:8). Since these false teachers trade in evil, they will be paid in evil.

These teachers are not content to drink liquor only at night, but they drink it in the daytime too. One who gets drunk at night will soon begin to get drunk in the day also. Smaller sins always lead to bigger sins. These false teachers were even getting drunk at church love feasts, at which the Lord’s Supper was customarily celebrated in Peter’s time (see 1 Corinthians 11:2021; Jude 12). Such men are blots andblemishes on the church. They have no place in Christ’s church, which should be without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish (Ephesians 5:27). Jesus was Himself a lamb without blemish or defect (1 Peter 1:19), and those who follow Him should be the same (2 Peter 3:14).

14 The eyes of the false teachers are full of adultery. They look at every woman with lust, desiring to fulfill their evil passions (Matthew 5:28). They cannot stop sinning (see Ephesians 4:19 and comment). Evil passions are like itches; when you scratch them, they itch even more. People who seek to fulfill their evil passions are never satisfied.

These false teachers seduce the unstable (see 2 Timothy 3:6-7). They are experts in greed; that is, they are clever and skillful in making money (see verse 3). Such teachers are truly accursed in God’s sight. Paul called them objects of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). There is only one way they can escape condemnation, and that is to die to their sins and receive new life in Christ (see 1 Peter 4:1-3 and comment).

15 The false teachers are like the Old Testament prophet Balaam, who was tempted to prophesy for money (Numbers 22:1-21). Not only that, Balaam, through his false prophecies, led the Jews away from the Lord (Numbers 31:16; Revelation 2:14).

16 Balaam’s own donkey rebuked him (Numbers 22:22-34). Notice that a dumb animal had more understanding than the prophet Balaam, whose mind had been darkened by wrongdoing (Ephesians 4:18).

17 False teachers are like springs without water. People come to them thirsty, but find nothing to drink. In contrast to these teachers, Jesus gives the water of life; when a person drinks of Jesus’ water, he will never thirst again (John 4:13-14).

False teachers are like mists driven by a storm. They are blown this way and that (Ephesians 4:14). Their teaching will not last; it will be driven away like the mist.

18 False teachers pretend to be religious. They say to new believers: “It’s all right to follow your lustful desires. It’s only a man’s spirit that must remain pure. God does not care what we do with our body.” This same false teaching had spread to the church at Corinth. Paul taught that man’s body was extremely important. He wrote: The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:13). Our bodies are members of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15). Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 and comment).

19 Such false teachers say to new believers: “You are free from the law.” But these teachers are themselves slaves of depravity (see Romans 6:16). Sin is their master.

Christians are indeed free, but they are not free to sin. We are slaves ofChrist. Only in Christ can we obtain true freedom from sin and its punishment (see Galatians 5:13 and comment).

20 The main sin of these false teachers was that they deceived and led astray new Christians (see verse 3 and comment). These new believers had just escaped the corruption of the world, but now through the false teaching of these teachers, they had again become entangled in the world and been overcome. Thus their second state was worse than their first state (see Matthew 12:43-45).

21 It is better for a person to sin in ignorance than to sin knowingly (see Luke 12:4748; John 15:22 and comments). Judgment will be especially severe for those who have once known the way of righteousness but then turn their backs on the sacred command—that is, Christ’s commandments (see Hebrews 3:12-14; 6:4-6; 10:26-29 and comments).

22 The Jews considered dogs and pigs to be unclean (see Matthew 7:6). A dog, when it has vomited something up, will eat it again. Likewise, a person who is entangled in the corruption of the world may momentarily “vomit up” the corruption, but he soon will partake of it again.

In the same way, you can clean a pig momentarily, but it soon will go back into the mud again. Likewise, a man can be cleaned momentarily from his sin; but if he doesn’t receive a new spiritual nature, he will soon go back to his sin.

Those people who taste the grace of God and experience His cleansing, but who then turn from God and return to their old sins, are like dogs and pigs. Their inner nature has not been transformed; they cannot fully free themselves from their old ways.

What terrible things Peter has to say about these false teachers! Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). But Peter has now seen these false teachers feeding poison to Jesus’ sheep—and the sheep don’t even know it! Let us not say that such poisonous and false teachers can never rise up in our church. They certainly can. Jesus said: “What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” (Mark 13:37).

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