Remember Their Nature

2 Peter 2:10b-22

Main Idea: Believers must appreciate the seriousness of false teaching by understanding the depravity and doom of its advocates.

1. Their Depravity Is Extreme (2:10b-16).
   1. Audacious arrogance (2:10b-13a)
   2. Limitless lust (2:13b-14b)
   3. Greedy gain (2:14c-16)
2. Their Doctrine Is Empty (2:17-19).
   1. The presentation of showy speech (2:17-18)
   2. The promise of false freedom (2:19)
3. Their DNA Is Exposed (2:20-22).
   1. The presumption (2:20a)
   2. The principle (2:20b-21)
   3. The proverb (2:22)

In the 1970s “Scared Straight” programs began to be used throughout the United States as a means of deterring juvenile crime. They usually involved taking at-risk young people into adult prisons where they would hear about the harsh realities of prison life from inmates. The programs are built on an in-your-face approach, with inmates often screaming and yelling at the youth in hopes of “scaring” them into changing their ways so they don’t end up in prison as well. While the effectiveness of these tactics has been debated, it’s hard to argue with the premise: awareness inspires reform.

Peter wants to raise awareness in the minds of his readers regarding the deadly influence of the false teachers. So, without using any questionable tactics, he gets up in their faces a little bit in 2:10b-22 and attempts to scare them straight into resisting the heretics. Here he essentially elaborates the first part of 2:10—“those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority”—by detailing the sins of the false teachers in order to further justify their condemnation (see 2:4-10). So our author is far more graphic and descriptive here. He doesn’t want to leave us with any doubt about the evil of false teachers. He wants believers to appreciate the gravity of their work by fully understanding the extent of their depravity and doom.

We need to acknowledge that 2 Peter 2:10a-22 contains some difficult and challenging issues for both interpretation and theology. Whenever we come to texts like this, it’s especially important that we concentrate on the things we know, not the things we don’t know. God isn’t playing games with his people when it comes to his Word, especially as it relates to false teaching. He wants us to hear his voice, and so we can be confident that everything we need is present and understandable. The stuff we don’t know doesn’t keep us from discovering the primary issues in the passage. What we can be sure of is that the depravity of these false teachers is off the charts, their teaching is hollow, and their true nature will be revealed.

Their Depravity Is Extreme

2 Peter 2:10b-16

We live in a culture where the status quo is refusing to settle for the status quo. I’m not talking about a redemptive quality that drives us to new heights of advancing good but something that simply makes us not OK with being “average.” So we buy wide-screen TVs because regular screens aren’t big enough. We go to restaurants that have megabars because the food selection on a single serving isn’t sufficient. We participate in extreme sports because the exhilaration and risk involved in traditional sporting activities are too low. High-definition is no longer good enough; now we have ultra HD. We gravitate toward prefixes like hyper and entertainment that’s “epic.” Bigger is better, and reaching beyond the accepted norm is more enviable.

While this fascination with the extreme may be innocent (and even productive) in some areas, worldliness isn’t one of them. Some professing Christians seem to be driven by unhealthy aspirations to live on the edge of places they should never go. The Reformers used the term total depravity to describe their conviction that sin corrupts the entire human nature. All of us have it, and even the smallest dose would keep us out of heaven if it were not for the redeeming work of Christ. But some so-called disciples of Jesus live to take their depravity beyond the norm. Presuming on grace and revolting against legalism, they’re on a mission to live “off the charts” when it comes to sin. Like the original Star Trek crew, they want to “boldly go where no man has gone before.”

The false teachers of Peter’s day were like this. They had taken depravity to a new level and were doing everything they could to influence others to join them. So Peter elaborates on 2:10a by showing that the degree of these false teachers’ depravity extends beyond even what was normal for their pagan culture. The rhetorical skill the apostle uses in 2:10b-16—word nuances, word plays, puns, and even alliteration—is virtually undiscernible in our English translations. But using these literary devices, Peter circles back to 2:1-3 to show the intemperance of the false teachers regarding the three sinful qualities that most succinctly characterize their lives and ministries: arrogance, sensuality, and greed.

Audacious Arrogance (2:10b-13a)

The first example of their extreme evil is that these false teachers exercise an unrestrained license in how they interact with authority. They “are not afraid” before “the glorious ones,” but instead they “slander” them (v. 10). Bible scholars are uncertain about the precise identity of these “glorious ones” (doxai), debating whether this is a reference to angelic beings (good or bad) or church leaders. While a good biblical case can be made for either, it seems more likely that Peter is referring to evil, or fallen, angels. He appears to be contrasting these glorious ones reviled by the false teachers with the apparent good angels that he commends in 2:11. Jude’s example of Michael (a good angel) not rebuking Satan (an evil angel) also supports this understanding (see Jude 9). Evidently, it’s wrong for the false teachers to malign evil angels because they—even in their fallen state—still bear the image of the glory of their Creator (Moo, 2 Peter, 121).

But to spend too much time on the unknown risks missing Peter’s point, which is the extreme arrogance of these false teachers in verbally usurping the authority of those who at present hold a higher rank. While the Bible is clear that in the future believers will hold a higher position than the angels, that order apparently is reversed until the final judgment. The speech of these false teachers regarding the angelic beings is “bold” and “arrogant” (v. 10), two words that overlap in meaning and are probably best understood dynamically as “boldly arrogant.” These heretics demonstrate audacious arrogance in their blatant disregard for and defamation of those in authority over them.

Peter strengthens his argument in the next verse by comparing this haughtiness with the humility exemplified by “angels” (v. 11). Although they are “greater in might and power,” they exercise holy restraint in passing judgment on the false teachers and, instead, yield that judgment to God. The phrase “before the Lord” is probably best understood this way as supported by Jude’s example. He says that even “when Michael the archangel was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses’s body, he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” (Jude 9). False teachers have an amazing confidence in deriding authority figures, but their confidence unfortunately isn’t tempered with any wisdom or humility (Schreiner, 1 and 2 Peter, 347).

If “the glorious ones” (v. 10) are, in fact, celestial beings, there’s an important lesson here for Christians who like to dabble in the paranormal and take demonic activity too lightly. Because Jesus and the apostles cast out demons and because these adventurous Christians are now in Christ, they feel like they have the same right and authority to talk to demons and put them in their place. So pronouncements like “I rebuke you, Satan!” or “I rebuke that spirit of jealousy!” are commonplace in their vocabulary. This text should serve as a warning to us about flippantly throwing our spiritual weight around. If Michael was careful not to overstep his authoritative bounds, good angels—who are “greater in might and power”—control themselves from passing sentence, and Peter condemned false teachers for rushing in where angels fear to tread, then surely it behooves us to exercise some righteous restraint when it comes to how we talk to demonic forces. Paul seemed to describe our position here as one more of defense than offense (cf. Eph 6:10-20). Let’s not go looking for trouble.

At the same time, the opposite is true as well. The rational, scientific, material world in which we live naturally and subtly suggests the supernatural world is a myth. Demons are something we only read about in the Gospels and view as entertainment in a Hollywood movie. But we don’t really take them seriously as if they had any real bearing on our daily lives. Christians today need to consider seriously the possibility of real demonic influence in things like horoscopes, occult-themed video games, secretive clubs and organizations, and even movies and TV shows that feature the paranormal. The apostle Paul warned the Corinthians—who prided themselves on their “knowledge”—that their participation in idol feasts actually exposed them to demonic influence (see 1 Cor 10:14-22). Why should we think our exposure will do any less? We can’t afford to ignore the real spiritual power that may be at work in some of the things we pass off as trivial entertainment. This issue is tough because so many of us have friends and loved ones who are involved in them. But the stakes are high here!

Reference to the spirit world in such societies and activities may appear to be purely superficial or of simple entertainment value. But we must always reckon with the possibility that below the surface may lurk genuine demonic influence. (Moo, 2 Peter, 134–35)

If “the glorious ones” just happen to be church leaders, as some suggest, the New Testament still isn’t silent in helping us make application. The false teachers certainly were countering the teaching of the prophets and apostles. While they were rejecting the equivalent of biblical authority in our day, they were undermining God’s ordained church leaders in their own day. Such rebellion is clearly contrary to New Testament instruction. The early church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42). Paul exhorted the Thessalonians,

Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires, saying, “Where is his ‘coming’ that he promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.” (3:3-4)

He charged young Timothy,

The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. (1 Tim 5:17)

The author of Hebrews wrote:

Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. . . . Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. (Heb 13:7,17)

It is to the advantage of all believers in Christ to align themselves under the loving leadership and faithful biblical instruction of their local church’s God-ordained leaders.

As we return to the somewhat difficult language in 2 Peter 2, it’s comforting to know that we’re not the only ones in the dark about some of the issues at hand. Apparently, this is “what [false teachers] do not understand” (v. 12) as well. And yet they go on opening their big mouths “like irrational animals—creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed.” Like animals, the false teachers operate on the basis of desires and feelings instead of reason. They follow their flesh, not their minds. Peter’s point is that the false teachers don’t know when to shut up about things they know nothing about. Claiming to be wise, they’re really showing themselves to be fools.

The inability to button their lips ultimately will make these false teachers victims of their own fleshly drives, just like irrational animals. Just as wild animals die by the bow or rifle of a hunter, these guys will fall prey to their own unrestrained passions: “In [the animals’] destruction, they too will be destroyed” (v. 12). This tragedy is intensified with a string of participles at the beginning of the next verse. The clause “paid back with harm for the harm they have done” is merely a colorful way of saying these teachers will reap what they sow (Bauckham, 2 Peter, 265). This is a graphic and accurate picture of a man who chooses to live like a beast! First, he gets captured. Then he’s actually destroyed by his passions. Although he started out in pursuit of pleasure, in the end he even loses that! What he enjoys for a short time ultimately “ruins his health, wrecks his constitution, destroys his mind and character and begins his experience of hell while he is still on earth” (M. Green, 2 Peter, 130). The off-the-charts arrogance of those who peddle heresy will come back to bite them.

Limitless Lust (2:13b-14b)

Peter’s second example of the extreme evil of the false teachers is that their lust has no limits. Four statements flesh out this unbridled sensuality. First, “they consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight.” These guys don’t get enough riotous and lascivious partying at night; they have to keep going in the daytime! Or they can’t wait until the sun goes down, so they crank the party up during the day! Either way, when most people are at work, these guys are rabble-rousing (cf. Eccl 10:16; Isa 5:11; Rom 13:12-13; 1 Thess 5:17). Much like the Corinthians, who were tolerating sin “that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles” (1 Cor 5:1), these false teachers partook of a kind of daylight debauchery that wasn’t even condoned by the degenerate Romans of the day (M. Green, 2 Peter, 132; see also Acts 2:15). Their sensuality has no limits and is simply unquenchable.

Second, the false teachers likely were perverting the communion memorial in the church. The word “deceptions” (v. 13) is actually replaced in some manuscripts with “love feasts.” This term is an obvious reference to the meal that traditionally accompanied the Lord’s Supper and one that appears to have been a favorite target for abusers (see Jude 12; cf. 1 Cor 11:17-22). Even if the preferred word is “deceptions,” it still likely refers to licentious conduct taking place “while they feast with you.” As if it were not enough for these teachers to be partying both day and night, their self-indulgence was being practiced at the common meal of the community that was part of the Lord’s Supper celebration (Davids, Letters, 239)! That’s why Peter refers to the false teachers as “spots and blemishes.” Because they are associated with the community of faith, they stain and defile the body of Christ. Peter will finish his letter by exhorting his readers to be just the opposite—“without spot or blemish” (2 Pet 3:14; cf. Eph 5:27)—as they remember the Lord Jesus. But there’s no sacred ground for these false teachers. They even tarnish the feast that’s intended as a memorial to him!

Peter’s third reference to the limitless lust of these false teachers is the carousel of adultery that constantly plays in their minds. They have “eyes full of adultery” (v. 14), which either refers to their obsession with adulterous women or to their inability to look at any woman without seeing her as a candidate for infidelity. These guys are always sizing up women for their potential sexual performance. Peter is making an insightful observation about the human mind. If lust is dwelt upon and acted upon, eventually it will dominate one’s thinking (M. Green, 2 Peter, 133). It becomes a stronghold, leaving captives who “never stop looking for sin.” They’re in bondage to it! Boundless lust will always leave a man restless and longing for more, always pushing him beyond his own borders to explore new territory of sexual immorality, only to find himself entrapped there. While the word translated “never stop looking” is rare, it’s related to the verb Peter uses in his first letter when he says that whoever has died to sin “is finished with sin” (1 Pet 4:1). He’s talking there about the victorious living of the believer in Christ. The only way out for a person who denies Christ and becomes a prisoner to sin is to repent and be identified with him in his death and resurrection.

Fourth and finally, the severe lust of the false teachers is manifested in their refusal to travel their journey alone. Peter says, “They seduce unstable people” (v. 14). While some interpreters see this as a reference to the object of their lust, it seems more likely that it speaks of their influence. These guys want others to join them on their perverted path, and they know how to get them to do it. Likely they are enticing people to adopt their insatiable sexual appetite by promising them that they could live for sexual pleasure without any worry of punishment. The term “seduce” is a fishing metaphor that means “to catch with bait.” Like skilled fishermen, they lure unsuspecting people who’ve not been firmly established in their faith to take their bait and get hooked on their evil practices. Sin loves company, and these false teachers will do whatever it takes to coax people into their net and join them in their sin.

Our hedonistic culture compels us to worship the God of pleasure, even in Christian homes and churches. And it’s easy for us to become enslaved to limitless lust. But pleasure in this life is a goal that we’ll never attain. It’s bound by the law of diminishing returns. Douglas Moo observes:

The food that used to satisfy no longer does, so we search for ever more exotic and more expensive dishes. What once entertained us now seems blasé; so we demand new media, bigger TVs, more stations. The spousal sex that used to satisfy our natural urges is no longer enough; as a result, we try sex with others and explore various deviant practices to bring the excitement back. Pleasure, in other words, is a goal never reached; it is always somewhere in the distance, urging one on to new and usually more sinful practices, never quite satisfying. (Moo, 2 Peter, 135)

While God created us to find pleasure in things like sex and food and entertainment within his prescribed parameters, he never intended for our pursuit of that pleasure to dominate us. That’s a line that’s easy to blur—and to cross—if we’re not spiritually perceptive.

Greedy Gain (2:14c-16)

The third example Peter gives of the extreme evil of the false teachers is their instinctive greed. He says they “have hearts trained in greed” (v. 14). In other words, they’re experts in it! The word “trained” (gegumnasmenen) is the word from which we get our word “gymnasium” (cf. 1 Tim 4:7; Heb 5:12; 12:11). These men worked out for this, devoting time and energy to developing muscles of greed. They “had trained themselves in the unbridled desire for more and more of the forbidden” (Vaughn and Lea, 1, 2 Peter, 179). While the word “greed” can be used in reference to both money and sex, Peter’s earlier reference in 2:3 as well as his example of Balaam that follows seem to point toward the former. These false teachers have practiced exploitation and swindling to the point that it’s second nature to them. It’s now a habit; it’s the way they think . . . and act.

This impulsive greed—like the other sins of the false teachers—doesn’t fly under the radar of the divine Judge. Peter pronounces them “children under a curse!” (v. 14), an expressive Hebrew idiom that basically means “God’s curse is on them.” Their extreme evil has led them down a path to a place of being under God’s curse. Don’t overlook the fact that the theme of impending judgment just keeps on surfacing in Peter’s letter. This reality was the primary truth these false teachers were denying. Peter wants to wake his readers up so they (and we!) will take it seriously and resist these men (Schreiner, 1 and 2 Peter, 353).

Peter now sets out to illustrate the immoral greed of the false teachers by comparing them with the hireling prophet Balaam in the Old Testament. While some commentators separate 2:15-16 out as a distinct aspect of the heretics’ extreme, it seems more natural that Peter is using it to support his point about greed. The fact that Balaam was greedy is evident from Numbers 22–24, and Peter acknowledges as much by saying that they “have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness” (v. 15). Additionally, Jude associates Balaam with greed in his denunciation of false teachers, saying they “have plunged into Balaam’s error for profit” (Jude 11). So Balaam essentially “becomes the prototype of an unprincipled false teacher seeking gain” (Vaughn and Lea, 1, 2 Peter, 179).

Specifically, Peter associates the false teachers with Balaam because he agreed to prophesy at the bidding of Balak, king of Moab, in return for personal gain (cf. Num 22:15-20). So Peter says of the false teachers, “They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path” (v. 15) in the same way as Balaam. To identify the specific nature of their sin, Peter then summarizes the infamous story of Balaam being rebuked by his donkey (cf. Num 22:21-35). On the way to his spiritual treason, the angel of the Lord blocked his donkey’s path, causing the animal to turn aside and mash Balaam’s foot against a wall. Unable to see the angel, Balaam struck the donkey to get him back on track. Eventually the donkey actually spoke up in protest. Then Balaam’s eyes were opened to see the angel, who rebuked him for “his lawlessness” (v. 16; see Num 22:32).

Here Peter makes the connection and drives his point home: “A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness” (v. 16). There’s a play on words here with “lawlessness” (paranomias) and “madness” (paraphronian). Balaam wasn’t literally insane. But the suggestion is that all who pursue lawlessness are really out of their minds because unrighteousness always leads to punishment (Schreiner, 1 and 2 Peter, 355). And Peter doesn’t want his readers to be deceived by the pretentious arguments being posed by the false teachers. So he points out that God gave a donkey a “human voice” and used it as his mouthpiece. Why? To show the superiority of his voice over “the prophet’s madness.” Imagine that: a donkey—which is most often thought of as being a brute beast—has more prophetic vision than a prophet of God whose moral compass had been disturbed by his greed for personal gain! Bottom line: God’s words must always be heeded over the absurd, deceitful claims of those who speak only for personal gain.

Like the demonic and the sensual, Peter’s rebuke of the false teachers regarding greed also comes with a warning to Christians. How easy it is for us to come to the place where we begin to make family and career decisions based solely on their financial benefit to us. So the decision to take a job in another city is driven by the lure of a bigger paycheck instead of what’s best for our family or even more what’s best for the mission of Christ. And the purchase of a bigger home or nicer car is determined simply on the fact that we can afford it instead of on the potential opportunity to leverage our livelihood for global disciple making. And saving for retirement is based more on providing us with the luxury we think we deserve instead of positioning us for greater ministry involvement and gospel advancement. Beloved, we’ve been left on this planet not to build a nest egg or advance a career but to fulfill the Great Commission. Nothing stands in the way of that for many Christians more than the greedy pursuit of more stuff and more comfort.

Their Doctrine Is Empty

2 Peter 2:17-19

Marriage proposals are much more complex than they used to be. Some young men today hire photographers to hide in the bushes and take pictures of them as they pop the question amid a Hollywood production of events. Others pay big bucks to get down on one knee while a mass of spectators watch on the jumbotron at an athletic event. We weren’t that smart—or resourceful—in my day. I asked my wife to marry me sitting in a ’67 Camaro in the parking lot of the Atlanta airport. She came into town to visit me at one point during our long-distance relationship, and I couldn’t wait any longer. So just to have a little fun, I placed the empty ring box on the console of my sports car. When she got in, she picked it up and excitedly asked, “Is this for me?” I affirmed that it was and told her to open it. Her excitement immediately tanked when she opened the box and discovered it to be empty. As she looked up at me in utter disappointment, I held out the ring and asked her to be my wife. I loved watching her momentary distress be instantaneously transformed into great joy!

A ring box isn’t supposed to be empty, especially at the moment of proposal. Its size, décor, and company logo all indicate there’s something of great value inside. In the hands of an eager young man down on one knee, that box promises great thrill for the girl who’s about to receive what’s in it. What a letdown to find it empty! But an empty ring box (even one used as a lighthearted, harmless trick) is a far cry from hollow religious teaching that can damn people to an eternal hell. That’s what false teachers do. Their speech, presentation, and promises all give the impression that something desirable is inside. But the Word of God says their doctrine is empty. In 2:17-19, Peter identifies two manifestations of the hollow claims of heretical teachers: showy speech and false freedom.

The Presentation of Showy Speech (2:17-18)

The first manifestation of the vain teaching of these heretics has to do with ostentatious orality they employ, showy speech that has no substance. These men are described as “springs without water, mists driven by a storm” (v. 17). The first expression refers to a well, and the second to a cloud. The common denominator, of course, is that both items promise something they actually don’t deliver. The well is dry, and the cloud is driven away by the wind before it has a chance to produce any rain. Both a well and a cloud, by their nature, hold the promise of providing water for weary travelers or dry crops. But neither lives up to its billing. Jude combines the two expressions in referring to the false teachers as “waterless clouds” (Jude 12). Both writers are describing the promise of the heretics to provide new sources of life for people. But there’s no substance to their promises. All they do is leave naïve people thirsting for satisfaction.

Standing in stark contrast to the dearth of satisfaction in false teaching is the eternal refreshment of the water of life, Jesus Christ. He told the Samaritan woman,

Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life. (John 4:13-14)

Only in him can anyone find lasting satisfaction. “The one who believes in me,” Jesus said, “as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him” (John 7:38). Through his death and resurrection, he bought the right to put the life of God back inside those he saves. And that life is a never-ending source of gratification for the otherwise thirsty soul, both now and forever!

Deceivers, on the other hand, have a reservation with “the gloom of darkness” (v. 17; cf. Jude 13). Just as their depravity is extreme, so will be their punishment. They won’t just experience “darkness” in the final judgment but “gloom.” It will be thick, eternal darkness. Peter pulls no punches in announcing the terrifying nature of the punishment of false teachers. He’s obviously talking here about the darkness of hell, the eternal destination of the wicked that’s characterized by both fire (see Matt 13:42; 25:41) and darkness (see Matt 8:12; 22:13).

But how exactly do these false teachers get away with such fraud? Peter says they speak with “boastful, empty words” (v. 18). In other words, they employ showy, arrogant speech that actually is hollow. It’s a shell without anything inside other than foolishness. They try to make their words sound weighty and important, but those words are really nothing more than mere stupidity. Yet their stupidity isn’t without effect. There are always some whom “they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery” (v. 18). Their shameless immoral appeals play tricks on some ignorant and immature souls the same way a fish is tricked into biting the fake, plastic plug cast by a skilled fisherman.

These duped individuals likely are new or at least immature believers. Peter describes them as “people who have barely escaped from those who live in error.” The word “barely” is a rare word used only here in the New Testament. It communicates the idea that it hadn’t been long since these people had escaped the clutches of their pagan counterparts, “those who live in error” as citizens of the wicked Roman culture. So the false teachers were luring some relatively new Christians into their immorality. These new believers were jumping out of the frying pan of paganism and into the fire of heretical religion!

The Promise of False Freedom (2:19)

A second expression of their empty doctrine was giving people a false sense of freedom. On one occasion Jesus told his disciples to let the Pharisees alone because they were blind guides who led people to share in their fate. He said, “And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit” (Matt 15:14). On this point the Pharisees were precursors to the false teachers of Peter’s day. These heretics are slaves leading people into the very pit of slavery. “They promise them freedom,” Peter writes, “but they themselves are slaves of corruption.” They have been overcome by their own evil conduct and, consequently, have become slaves to it. Now they’re compelling others into that same bondage but passing it off as freedom. They “were prisoners talking to others of a freedom that they didn’t have” (Vaughn and Lea, 1, 2 Peter, 182).

A proverbial statement serves to conclude Peter’s argument and solidify his point: “People are enslaved to whatever defeats them.” These false teachers are

so thoroughly dominated and controlled by their sinful nature (John 8:34; Rom 6:16) that their teaching is void of any divine power. Although they offer freedom, they are slaves to sin, utterly unable to bestow true spiritual freedom because they reject Jesus Christ—the only one who can truly liberate the soul (John 8:31-32,36; Rom 8:2; Gal 5:1; Heb 2:14-15; cf. Jas 1:25). (MacArthur, 2 Peter, 105–6)

Not much has changed. Today Christianity often is viewed as a restricted life confined to following a bunch of rules. Believers are seen as being enslaved to someone else’s bidding. The banner cry of modern individualists is, “Live your life the way you want to live it!” But all the time these false freedom fighters are luring people into a life of slavery to sin and bondage to corruption. As people gradually succumb to spiritual and moral decay by their own immoral choices, they ultimately lose even the illusion of freedom and fall into unqualified bondage to their sin. That’s why we need a Savior. Against the tide of false teaching that leads to damnation, we need to hear Jesus pronounce over us, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. . . . So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free” (John 8:32,36). And he has set us free indeed through his life, death, and resurrection. He’s broken the chains of sin and corruption, and he’s put his life back inside of us! If you’re in Christ, beloved, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2; cf. Rom 6:18; 2 Cor 3:17; Gal 5:1).

Every Christian, as well as every Christian church, needs to do some honest self-evaluation at this point as well. We need to ask, What powers have mastered us? We can’t afford to allow our banner cry of “Freedom in Christ!” to actually keep us from experiencing it. Jesus himself suggested it was possible to try to remove a splinter from someone else’s eye, all the while having a plank in your own (cf. Matt 7:1-5). It’s not uncommon for believers to become so busy pointing fingers at the evils of a corrupted culture that they fail to see slavery to sin in our own lives and churches (Davids, Letters, 247–48). It’s easy, for example, to rebuke the world for things like gay marriage and transgender accommodation and yet avoid calling into account Christians who are guilty of things like gluttony and materialism.

Their DNA is Exposed

2 Peter 2:20-22

While I don’t watch a lot of TV, I do enjoy a couple of the crime shows like Criminal Minds and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. I like to watch how smart people figure out things by unraveling a web of complex details. But sometimes it’s easy for the cops to match people with their crimes because of things like DNA. DNA is the abbreviation of deoxyribonucleic acid, which is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Yet the DNA of every person who’s ever lived is different because everybody gets a random mix of the genes from their parents, and that mix is never the same.

However, spiritual DNA is different. Since the fall of mankind, all of us have inherited the same sin-infected genes. Because we all have this sin nature, we all sin, and we all die as a result of our sin (cf. Rom 3:11-12,23; 5:14). For those in Christ, however, our tainted spiritual DNA has been replaced with the righteous DNA of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 15:22,45). Those outside of Christ remain enslaved to their unregenerate DNA. Peter just finished saying as much about the false teachers and their converts: “They themselves are slaves of corruption” (v. 19). Now he proceeds to show how the corrupted spiritual DNA of these people continues to show its ugly head.

Bible scholars have debated whether 2:20-22 is referring specifically to the false teachers or to the converts they were enticing (see vv. 18-19). The fact that the whole chapter is aimed at the false teachers, and that some form of the word translated “defeats” is repeated in verses 19 and 20, implies the false teachers are in view. At the same time, the word “For” at the beginning of verse 20, as well as the repetition of the same word translated “escaped” (vv. 18,20), suggests that Peter may have the converts in mind. But this is likely another one of those places where trying to be too definitive misses the point. Whether it’s the false teachers or those seduced by them,

The fate of those who had apostatized stands as a warning to those wavering under the influence of the teachers. Peter wanted his readers to see that those who commit apostasy are very unlikely to return to the truth. The decision is of great consequence, and those who are wavering must see that heaven and hell are at stake. (Schreiner, 1 and 2 Peter, 360–61)

What the false teachers had done, their converts were in danger of copying! Peter’s warning can be organized around three categories: the presumption, the principle, and the parable.

The Presumption (2:20a)

Peter first talks about a gross presumption these apostates had made at some point in the past. Because they had “escaped the world’s impurity,” or the world’s contaminating moral influence, they had assumed they were truly saved when they really weren’t. How did they make such a damning mistake? The heretics’ escape had come about “through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” but it resulted in that “they are again entangled in these things and defeated.” That’s not much of an escape; in fact, it’s no escape at all! The word “knowledge” is epignosis, that full and complete knowledge of God in Christ. These people had come to the place where they understood the gospel. They actually got it. But the word “entangled”—another fishing metaphor—indicates they once again had been duped by their flesh and by the world.

So whatever “knowledge” of Jesus these folks had, it never took root. It only affected them short term, maybe with some intellectual grasp of Christian truth followed by a superficial change of behavior. But it evidently wasn’t the real deal. If it had been a true knowledge of Christ Jesus, it would have had lasting effect on their intellects and wills. Their imperfect knowledge only caused a brief change. They proved by their defection that they weren’t true Christ followers. Their profession was false. They made a tragic mistake about the genuineness of their spiritual condition.

This text is important for our understanding about the doctrine of the security of the believer. Some have suggested that this passage teaches that Christians can lose their salvation. But Peter isn’t in any way, form, or fashion unclear regarding his convictions about this subject. He opens his first letter by contending that believers “are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet 1:5). And he begins this second letter by claiming that God’s “divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Pet 1:3). Peter unapologetically declares that God calls believers and, therefore, will guard them so they will definitely reach their final salvation and participate in his divine nature. So why would he contradict himself at this point, teaching in one place that believers are secure and in another that they aren’t?

At the same time, Peter is equally firm on his conviction regarding the absolute necessity of the perseverance, endurance, or continuation of the saints. At the heart of the doctrine of eternal security is the relationship between endurance and authenticity. In the parable of the sower, two of the four kinds of soil on which the seed of the gospel fell represent people who initially give visible evidence of truly receiving it. However, that visible manifestation of life fails to endure and, consequently, proves their life to be inauthentic (see Mark 4:5-7). Later in his ministry, Jesus said that “the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt 10:22). Of those who abandoned the community of faith, John says,

They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us. (1 John 2:19)

Other New Testament writers concur that endurance is the clear determinant of the authenticity of one’s salvation (see Rom 2:7; Heb 3:14; Jude 20-21; Rev 2:7,10,17,26; 3:21).

Peter’s words in 2:20 are a needed reminder that things like walking an aisle, making a “profession” of faith, praying a prayer inviting Jesus into your heart, joining a church, or even being baptized don’t guarantee entrance into heaven. Peter has taught throughout the letter that only those who continue to live a life of godliness will get eternal life (see 1:5-11). Perseverance is the mark of whether a person has the real deal (Schreiner, 1 and 2 Peter, 363). If you are truly saved, you will endure. If you endure, you are truly saved. But if—like these apostates—you have “escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” and yet “are again entangled in these things and defeated,” then something is amiss with the genuineness of your professed faith.

The Principle (2:20b-21)

The false presumption made by those who had walked away from the church leads Peter to articulate a simple principle: it’s better never to have known the gospel than to have known it and rejected it. For people who have known about Jesus and rejected him, “the last state is worse for them than the first” (v. 20). Why? Because the human heart is adversely affected by rejecting truth that is fully known and understood. “Cynicism and bitterness multiply in the soul of individuals who turn from God’s grace back to sin. Re-entanglement with evil produces scoffers and skeptics” (Vaughn and Lea, 1, 2 Peter, 183). In short, it’s far more difficult than ever before for such a person’s heart to be softened to the gospel. With knowledge comes responsibility, so that an individual is now more responsible for having known and rejected the truth.

Peter uses a number of proverbial statements in this passage, some of which he seems to draw from Jesus. Our Lord told a parable about an evil spirit that had been cast out of a man and then wanders around looking for a new place to inhabit. Finding no new home, it goes back to its previous dwelling, but this time seven other spirits join it in inhabiting the man (cf. Matt 12:43-45). Jesus concludes, “That person’s last condition is worse than the first” (Matt 12:45). Similarly, in his parable of the faithful and wise manager, Jesus indicates that to know truth and reject it deserves a harsher punishment:

And that servant who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. But the one who did not know and did what deserved punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected. (Luke 12:47-48)

Our Lord’s brother communicates a similar principle when he says, “So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it” (Jas 4:17). The bottom line: with greater knowledge comes greater accountability!

Peter feels the gravity of this principle merits restatement, so he says, “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command delivered to them” (v. 21). The “way of righteousness” simply refers to the pathway of salvation through faith in Christ. And because the verb translated “to have known” is a perfect infinitive, these false teachers evidently had known about this way and had been fully aware of and yet ultimately snubbed it. Peter likely uses “the holy command” as a synonym for the gospel. It’s an allusion to the laws of God delivered to people for their good (cf. Deut 10:13). These apostates had received the gospel and understood it to be for their good, but then they took what was good and rendered it bad. It would have been better for them to still be in the position of never having known the gospel with the prospect of still rendering a right verdict when the opportunity came.

To render as bad what God has rendered good is at the heart of the unpardonable sin (cf. Mark 3:21-30; cf. Heb 6:4-6; 10:26-31; 1 John 5:16). To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is to decree all of God’s goodness to actually be bad. It’s to declare darkness to be light and bondage to be freedom. Such revolt is unforgivable because there’s no longer any basis to acknowledge one’s sinfulness before God. The sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, the gracious gift of repentance, the loving conviction of the Holy Spirit, and the merciful patience of God have all been spurned. Consequently, nothing remains to serve as the backdrop of righteousness by which an individual’s sinfulness can be discerned. The situation is hopeless because the sin is unforgivable—“unforgivable not because God is unwilling to forgive, but because the man who persists in such self-delusion refuses to accept the forgiveness which God patiently proffers to rebels” (M. Green, 2 Peter, 142).

The proverb (2:22)

Peter finishes his weighty condemnation by illustrating this principle with a twofold proverb, one that parallels the lives of those who turn away: “‘A dog returns to its own vomit,’ and, ‘A washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud’” (v. 22). The first part of the proverb is similar to Proverbs 26:11, but the second part doesn’t appear to have a biblical parallel. The Jews considered both dogs and sows—or pigs—to be unclean, so Peter’s use of them here was intended to stir up disgust in his Hebrew readers. Dogs and pigs will always revert to the bent of their natures. The nature of a dog will compel him to eat his own vomit, and the nature of a pig will compel her to return to her mud hole. It doesn’t matter if the dog throws up something that’s made him sick, and it doesn’t matter if you give the pig a bath. Those activities have no lasting effect. These animals will naturally go back to what they were temporarily rid of. Their natures remain unchanged. Their innate DNA is exposed.

Jesus used both dogs and pigs to describe people who are completely out of touch with God (cf. Matt 7:6). Peter’s purpose here isn’t much different. Even though some people temporarily demonstrated some embrace of the gospel, they ultimately renounced Christ and went back to their old way of life. They simply demonstrated their true nature as loving the sickness and filthiness of their sin. This two-faceted proverb clearly exhibits the foolishness, disgrace, and desecration that characterizes a person who willingly goes back to the moral filth of worldliness after having learned about forgiveness and deliverance through the gospel of Christ.

It’s easy to see how the use of phenomenological language in 2:20-22 has caused some to interpret these verses as teaching that true believers can lose their salvation. Peter uses “Christian lingo” to describe those who fall away because they appeared at one time to be genuine Christ followers. They confessed Christ as Lord and Savior, they were baptized, and they joined the church. So Peter describes the false teachers—and some of their converts—in Christian terms simply because they were still participating in the community of faith after demonstrating some evidence of genuine faith. But now they’ve revealed that they weren’t ever part of the people of God because they haven’t remained true to the faith. Peter’s proverbial illustration of the dog and pig clearly indicates that those who fall away never really change their nature (Schreiner, 1 and 2 Peter, 364–65). Their true spiritual DNA is ultimately exposed.

Conclusion

I remember walking into the auditorium one Sunday to preach in one of the churches I used to pastor. A dear senior adult lady met me at the door and paid me what she thought was a compliment: “I listened to my two favorite preachers on television this morning.” And then she told me who they were—me and one of the most popular prosperity gospel preachers of our day! Because our broadcast was on a one-week delay, she could watch both of us before coming to our Sunday gathering. I was tempted to just smile, thank her, and move toward my seat in preparation for the beginning of the service. But it struck me that the stakes were too high. So I gently said to her, “Do you really think that he and I are saying the same thing?” The shocked and bewildered look on her face confirmed my suspicion. She hadn’t been assessing the content of either preacher’s sermons according to God’s Word. She was choosing favorites based on other criteria.

Peter unleashes some heavy artillery here on the false teachers. Why? Because he’s a shepherd—a pastor—who’s tired of his sheep being ravaged by men full of arrogance, lust, and greed who are masquerading in religious clothing. While his words at times seem harsh, they must be judged against the dire consequences of speaking softly or saying nothing at all. Michael Green’s warning is on target:

It does our generation little credit that such passion for truth and holiness strikes an alien note in our minds. Peter’s plain speaking in this chapter has a very practical purpose, just as Jesus’ warnings had: “What I say to you I say to everyone: ‘watch!’” We would be mistaken to assume, “It could never happen to us.” Both Scripture and experience assure us that it could. “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall” (1 Cor 10:12). Covetousness, sophistical arguments, pride in knowledge, gluttony, drunkenness, lust, arrogance against authority of all kinds, and, most of all, the danger of denying the lordship of the Redeemer—are these not all the paramount temptations of money-mad, sex-mad, materialistic, anti-authoritarian, twentieth-century man? (M. Green, 2 Peter, 144)

The contemporary church needs to be scared straight. We need to stop playing “Mr. Nice Guy” when it comes to false teaching. Pastors need to call some names and warn their people to shun the men who bear them. Believers need to take more seriously the detrimental influence false teachers have on ungrounded Christians and the damning effect they have on unsuspecting non-Christians.

Reflect and Discuss

1. In what ways do false teachers actually embody the opposite of a life that’s being sanctified?
2. In a culture that generally despises authority, do Christians sometimes find themselves influenced by this attitude? What is the Christian’s proper understanding of God-ordained authority?
3. If it is possible that Peter’s “glorious ones” may be referencing Christian leaders, how then should we treat our pastors? What is the nature of the pastor’s biblical authority, and how should we respond to it?
4. To what degree should believers in Jesus Christ delve into the demonic spiritual world?
5. What is the proper way to address a friend, family member, or a member of your congregation who consistently listens to false teaching? How much of a person’s teaching should you listen to before drawing a verdict? Where is the line?
6. How does Peter demonstrate the difference between genuine faith versus phony faith? How do we deal with others when it’s unclear? What is our biblical responsibility to others here?
7. Peter says that false teachers’ hearts are “trained in greed.” How can we, as true believers and even teachers of the Word, protect our hearts from greed? Further, how can we detect when we are making decisions based on our own greed, even when we may not realize it?
8. Peter submits that the false teachers “promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.” In other words, these false teachers were making empty promises, which then led to sinful bondage. Who are the specific false teachers that are popular today, and how should we warn our people about them?
9. What is the danger of knowing the gospel yet still walking away from it?
10. Will our culture be held more accountable for rejecting the gospel? How should this motivate us?