FALSE FREEDOM: It Is Based on False Promises (2 Peter 2:17–18)

Faith is only as good as the object. A pagan may have great faith in his idol, but the idol can do nothing for him. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, that faith will accomplish something, because God always keeps His promises.

17 These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. 18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.

I. “Wells without water” (v. 17a).

A. They promised water and clarity to those who were thirsty and confused.

What truly happens to the followers of these false teachers and preachers is they are left parched and confused. The Greek word for “wells without water” actually means “a flowing spring”. A spring without water is not a spring at all! A well is still called a well even if the water is gone, but a spring ceases to exist if the water is not flowing.

These These false teachers give nothing of substance because they have nothing to give. They are like a dry well and a dry spring. They cannot deliver what they promise. Even if they could, it would be only temporary, like a mist or fog that disappears when the wind comes up.

B. There is in mankind a thirst for reality, for God.

Augustine said, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” People attempt to satisfy this thirst in many ways, and they end up living on substitutes. Only Jesus Christ can give inner peace and satisfaction.

“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4: 13-14) What a contrast! You may drink repeatedly at the broken cisterns of the world and never find satisfaction, but you may take one drink of the Living Water through faith in Jesus Christ, and you will be satisfied forever. The false teachers could not make this kind of an offer, because they had nothing to offer. They could promise, but they could not produce.

II. “Clouds that are carried with a tempest” (v. 17b).

A. Clouds ought to announce the possibility of rain.

The picture is that of clouds of fog or mist being driven by a squall over a lake or sea. For Jude the rainless clouds were driven along by the wind, while Peter reflected on “mists driven by a storm.” The “mists” could signify a storm in which vision is obscured.

On this reading the false teachers sowed confusion by their teaching. Clouds ought to announce the possibility of rain, but these clouds only announce that a windstorm is coming.

B. False Teachers do not deliver.

Jude’s description is, “Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds” (Jude 12). Again, there is noise, motion, and something to watch, but nothing profitable happens. The farmer sees the clouds and prays they will empty rain on his parched fields. The false teachers have nothing to give; they are empty.

These false teachers give nothing of substance because they have nothing to give. They are like a dry well. They cannot deliver what they promise. Even if they could, it would be only temporary, like a mist or fog that disappears when the wind comes up.

III. The mist of darkness” (v. 17c–18).

A. These apostates lead themselves to the darkest part of the darkness!

Since these false teachers really have nothing to give, how are they able to attract followers? The teachers are eloquent promoters of their doctrines. They know how to impress people with their vocabulary, “inflated words that say nothing”. Sadly Many people cannot tell the difference between a religious huckster and a sincere servant of Jesus Christ.

The empty, boastful words of these false teachers were enticing enough for some believers to be ensnared by them. This was particularly true of new Christians who were just emerging from the clutches of sexual license practiced in the non-Christian culture. The false teachers, aware of this, twisted the concept of Christian freedom into something it was not.

B. The apostates are so successful is that they appeal to the base appetites of the old nature.

This is part of their bait! We must not think of “the lusts of the flesh” only in terms of sexual sins, for the flesh has other appetites. For example, pride is one of the sins of the flesh, and apostate teachers like to appeal to the human ego. A true servant of God will lovingly tell people that they are lost sinners, under the wrath of a holy God, but the apostate minister will try to avoid “putting people on a guilt trip.”

They are successful is that they appeal to immature people, people who have “very recently escaped” from their old ways. The apostate has no message for the down-and-out sinner, but he does have a message for the new believer. This is why it is important that soul-winners, pastors, and other Christian workers ground new converts in the faith. Like newborn babies, new Christians need to be protected, fed, and established before they can be turned loose in this dangerous world.

The freedom the apostates offer is a false freedom because it is based on false promises.