2 Peter 2:1-22

2 Peter 2:1-22

Nigeria: 3,462 Christians killed, 3,000 abducted, 300 churches attacked so far this year

Skip Heitzig tells about going on a tour of some of the places the Apostle Paul traveled on his missionary journeys. In order to get to Ephesus, you must first travel through the city of Kusadasi. Skip says that walking though Kusadasi he saw a sign that read, “Fake Watches.” The tour guide assured him that they were the best fake watches he would ever see. How do you pass up on that?

A guy that was with Skip had the very expensive real version of one of the watches. After examining the watch with a magnifying glass and comparing the weight of the watch with his own watch, the guy couldn’t tell the two apart. So, Skip bought one. Three years later the watch was still working great.

Sometime later, another friend who really knows watches recognized Skip’s watch. When Skip told him it was a fake he couldn’t believe it. But then he said if they pried the back off and looked inside then you’d be able to tell it was a fake.

Turn with me to the second chapter of 2 Peter. Peter is going to talk about fakes, not fake watches but fake teachers. If you don’t know the real thing it’s easy to get fooled by the fake. Peter spends this entire chapter addressing false teachers. That’s because he wants his readers to be able to recognize false teachers and to understand how they work. Peter also wants his readers to understand that God knows who the false teachers are and that they will be punished for the harm they inflict. Additionally, God knows who are the true believers and true teachers and knows how to deliver them.

Let’s read the chapter and then go back and take a deeper.

2 Peter 2:1-22 1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;” 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. 12 But these people 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.”

13 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. 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.”

17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

Peter begins by describing the false teachers.

He explains that false prophets and false teachers have been around for a long time. There have always been false prophets and teachers and sadly, Peter says we will always have them. We are warned about them from Moses to the Book of Revelation. That means we should not be surprised when we see or hear about them today. Jesus warned:

Matthew 7:15-17 15 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

Jesus says the false teachers will look harmless, but that ye will be able to recognize them by their fruit. What are the results of their teaching? We recognize the fruit of the Spirit:

Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

These are the qualities a life guided by the Holy Spirit will produce. Likewise, a good teacher will produce good fruit, but a bad teacher will produce bad fruit. If something is wrong with the fruit in the life of the teacher or the teacher’s students, something is wrong.

The difficult part is that the false teachers often originate from within a congregation, rather than from without. In verse 13 Peter talks about how the false teacher take delight in deceiving you even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals. Paul warned the elders from Ephesus to be on the watch for false teachers even from their own members.

Acts 20:28-31 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

Peter notes that false teachers often begin in secrecy so that no one will notice.

Alisa Childers, who has a regular podcast on issues of defending the faith, talks about, have a profound period of doubt when she was in the mid-thirties. She says that she and her husband were invited to join a small group led by the preacher. He told them how in this small group they would be able to discuss some deeper issues of faith that were difficult to cover in large group settings. It would be like attending a college Bible class. However, once they started attending the preacher freely admitted his own doubts about the Bible. He started with that small group. After cultivating a solid core, he began sharing his teachings openly with the congregation, eventually leading the church away from traditional Christian beliefs. Alisa says that she is thankful she had other teachers good teachers, in her life that helped keep her grounded in her faith.

That’s the way false teacher will start, subtly and behind the scenes. Not wanting anyone to notice their activity, they usually aren’t very open or obvious about their doctrine. They will attempt to make their teachings look a lot like the true teachings so that no one notices the subtle difference. That’s why they will often target new Christians who may not know any better.

The most destructive of all their false teaching is when they deny the truth about Jesus. Amazingly, Peter points out that they are “even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them.” In other words, they are denying that Jesus died for their sins. The arguments were a little different when Peter wrote, but the logic today is that just as a loving father would not require his child to die for someone else, God the Father would never require Jesus to die on the cross for us. They will admit the possibility that Jesus was crucified, but that it wasn’t because it was the Father’s plan in order to bring forgiveness. Instead, God’s love is big enough to forgive our sins without the death of his son. They thereby nullify the crucifixion of Jesus.

Others deny that we need God’s grace. They teach that certain behaviors, especially sexual ones, are not sinful. Therefore, there is nothing to repent of. You wouldn’t be too surprised to hear that taught in secular movies or secular colleges, but you don’t expect it to be taught from pulpits.

I’m sure you’re familiar with this scene. After a couple of months without rain, you wake up one morning and the skies are overcast. Finally, you think, some rain, and then nothing. The clouds help make it a little cooler, but it never rains. What good were all those clouds if there’s no rain? Peter says that’s what these false teachers are like.

The false teachers sound a lot like the serpent promising Eve that eating from the tree of knowledge will have only benefits with no drawbacks. They promise freedom, freedom from the antiquated morals of a past generation, and freedom to live as you please but they deliver only slavery. Everything they teach sounds great, but Peter says that they are as useful as a dried up spring.

Peter’s analogy makes sense when we remember how Jesus described himself. To the woman at the well, Jesus said concerning Jacob’s well:

John 4:13-14 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Later, he told those gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles:

John 7:37-38 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

Jesus is a spring that wells up to eternal life and from those who believe in him flow streams of living water. But the false teachers give nothing because they have nothing to give. They are like junk food that tastes great but has no nutritional value.

Peter points out their motive. He says that greed is a major motive of false teachers.

In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. (v. 3)

. . . they are experts in greed. . . . (v. 14)

The example Peter gives is that of Balaam which is found in Numbers 22-24. Balaam advertised himself as a prophet. When Balak, the king of Moab, saw how the Israelites had defeated the Amorites, he was afraid of what they would do to him. So, he offered to pay Balaam to curse the Israelites so his army could defeat them. When Balaam said he couldn’t because God told him not to go, Balak offered him more money. That was too much to turn down so Balaam went anyway. God still tried to stop him. You’ll remember the story of how God used his donkey to speak to him to get his attention. Because God would not allow Balaam to curse the Israelites, Balaam came up with another idea. He encouraged Balak to send prostitutes to the Israelites to tempt them to worship their idols. Because of their sin God punished them. Twenty-four thousand Israelite men died in the plague God sent. The story tells us that Balaam loved money and was willing to pursue it instead of obeying God. It also tells us that false teaching and greed are closely linked to lust and sexual impurity. Sadly, many false teachers use their position of trust to prey upon people to satisfy their lust.

Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. (v. 13)

With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable. . . .(v. 14)

One final description Peter makes of false teachers is they are proud.

[They] despise authority. (v. 10)

But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. (v. 12)

They aren’t willing to listen to the truth because of their arrogance. Humility is a sign of godliness and spirituality, pride and arrogance are not.

After describing the false teachers, he described their judgment

Sometimes companies work up ad campaigns that just don’t go as planned. When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa they figured they’d sell the jars like they do here with the picture of a cute baby on the label. What they didn’t realize was many of their intended buyers couldn’t read. As a result, most companies put a picture of their product on the label so you could see that you were buying. You can imagine seeing a picture of a baby didn’t motivate too many people to buy the Gerber baby food. Who wants to eat a baby? That was not the message they were intending to present.

When Pepsi began marketing in China they wanted to use the slogan, “Come alive with the Pepsi generation.” However, it didn’t translate very well into Chinese. In Chinese it read: “Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the grave.” That’s probably not a great selling point.

Coors wanted to use their very successful: “Turn it loose,” but when translated for one Spanish-speaking country it actually read: “Suffer from diarrhea.”

Now, these are innocent mistakes. Babies aren’t actually in the jars, and your ancestors won’t come back from the grave, and I don’t think that what Coors meant to turn loose. Anyone who claims to speak for God must represent God correctly or they will be labeled as a false teacher. The words of false teachers are like false labels on the front of jars, they send the wrong message and the wrong information. The difference is a false teacher does it intentionally and the consequences are eternal.

Imagine a blind man walking down a path that ended at cliff. As he’s walking down that path toward the cliff he asks you for directions. “Which way should I step?” Would it be appropriate for you to say, “It doesn’t really matter which way you step, as long as you’re sincere”? No. That wouldn’t work in this situation, would it? When you’re giving people eternal directions, you better be careful.

Peter saw no hope for these false teachers; their doom was sealed. The sentiment today is that we shouldn’t be so harsh and that we should be more tolerant. They may not agree with us, but do we really need to talk this way? After all, they’re sincere in their teaching. Peter thought they needed to be shut down. The reason is because the message they are presenting is so important.

Concerning their coming judgment, Peter says these false teachers are:

. . . bringing swift destruction on themselves. (v. 1)

Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. (v. 3)

. . . born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. (v. 12)

They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. (v. 13)

Blackest darkness is reserved for them. (v. 17)

Peter gives three examples that illustrate the certainty of God’s judgment on them.

The first has to do with angels. Peter says that if angels who disobeyed God and sinned were thrown into hell, why would false teachers think they would be exempt from God’s judgment? We assume Peter is talking about the fall of Lucifer, the highest of the angels. Many feel that story is described in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. Isaiah wrote:

Isaiah 14:12 12 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!

The name Lucifer means “morning star.”

Isaiah 14:12-15 12 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” 15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

If this and Ezekiel are referring to the devil, then what we learn is that God judges rebellion, even the rebellion of angels. If God does not spare his angels from his judgment, why would he spare false teachers?

The second example Peter gives is of the flood in Genesis 6. Every living person and everything living thing upon the earth died in the flood. The only ones that escaped were those in the ark. If God didn’t spare anyone then, why would he spare false teachers?

And the third example has to do with Sodom and Gomorrah where again everyone living in those cities was destroyed. Only Lot and his daughters were saved. Boyfriends of the two daughters could have been saved, but they didn’t believe the destruction was coming. They were offered an opportunity to leave the city and save themselves, but they turned it down. Lot’s wife also made it out of the city, but she died when she looked back.

These three examples are given to drive home the point that God means business. God didn’t spare the angels. He didn’t spare the world during Noah’s time. And God didn’t spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Similarly, God will not spare the false teachers.

Amid all this talk about judgment and destruction, Peter does include a positive note. He wants his readers to know that this same God who knows how to punish the false teachers also knows how to preserve the faithful.

True believers will be delivered.

Years ago a columnist for the Chicago Tribune named Bob Greene wrote a little article about what he believed was wrong with our world. He blamed the problems in our culture to a very interesting thing that he called “The Death of the Permanent Record.” He said:

When I was a kid in school, my teachers used to warn me about the “Permanent Record.” “Now this is going to be on your permanent record.” “Don’t do that, because that’ll be on your permanent record.” I heard those words all the time. I don’t hear them at all anymore. It’s as if people don’t think there a permanent record.

If there is no permanent record then why worry about what you do? However, the truth is there is a permanent record and God keeps good books. But the good news is God is ready to overwrite our permanent records when we place our faith in Jesus. God is able to forgive and save.

The last two examples of judgment also include examples of how God delivered those who trusted in him. God didn’t spare the ancient world, but God protected Noah and seven others. God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but he rescued Lot and his family. Peter concludes his point saying:

2 Peter 2:9 If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

We can be certain that God knows what he is doing. God knows who are faithful and true to his will, his ways, and his Word. God also knows who have gone astray, is outside of his will, and are teaching what is contrary to his word.

Each one of us is responsible for what we believe. We must hold on to and love the truth. As Paul wrote to Timothy, each one of us must:

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

There will always be false teachers and teaching, but we can know the truth and stand firm in it. Let’s be sure we stay with the Lord on the right way. Let’s be sure we understand the truth about false teachers. May the Lord protect us from wolves in sheep’s clothing.