FALSE FREEDOM: It Is Offered by False Christians (2 Peter 2:19–20)

You cannot set someone free if you are in bondage yourself, and these false teachers were in bondage. Peter made it clear that these men had temporarily disentangled themselves from the pollutions of the world, but then they went right back into bondage again! They professed to be saved but had never really been redeemed (set free) at all!

19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

I. They promise liberty.

A. They claim to be the servants of God.

They are only the servants of sin. It is bad enough to be a slave, but when sin is your master, you are in the worst possible condition a person can experience. They promised freedom, particularly by removing moral restraints—especially, it seems, in the realm of sexuality. Freedom from any moral constraints also fits nicely with the notion that there was no future judgment. Their promise of freedom is highly ironic since the teachers were “slaves of depravity.”

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. They were also enslaved by pride.

They thought nothing of speaking evil of those in places of authority, including the angels and God! They promoted themselves and mock everybody else. Sad to say, there are people who admire this kind of arrogance, who follow these proud men and support them.

It is interesting to compare the three men Peter named in this chapter—Noah, Lot, and Balaam. Noah kept himself completely separated from the apostasy of the world of his day. He boldly preached God’s righteousness and was faithful in his walk and witness, even though no one but his family followed the Lord. Lot knew the truth and kept himself pure, but he did not keep himself separated; he lost his family as a result. Lot hated the wickedness of Sodom, yet he lived in the midst of it and, by doing so, exposed his daughters and wife to godless influences. Balaam not only followed the ways of sin, but he encouraged other people to sin! He told Balak how to seduce the nation Israel and his plan almost succeeded. Balaam lost his life.

II. They promise freedom.

A. Beware of “the deceitfulness of sin”.

Sin always promises freedom but in the end brings bondage. It promises life but instead brings death. Sin has a way of gradually binding a person until there is no way of escape, apart from the gracious intervention of the Lord. Even the bondage that sin creates is deceitful, for the people who are bound actually think they are free!

They taught that freedom is the license to do whatever a person desires. In fact, Christian freedom is the ability to do what is right, based on God’s Word. The false teachers told these new Christians that religious freedom was freedom from all the authority and moral demands of Christianity. The irony of their religious rhetoric is that the entire time these people raised the flag of personal freedom, they were slaves to their sexual habits and addictions.

B. Christ’s meaning of freedom is different from the apostates.

In the Bible, freedom does not mean “doing your own thing” or “having it your way.” That attitude is the very essence of sin. The freedom that Jesus Christ offers means enjoying fulfillment in the will of God. It means achieving your greatest potential to the glory of God. Jesus Christ frees us to become our very best in this life, and then to be like Him in the next.

The The apostates brought their followers into bondage by means of lies, but our Lord brings us into freedom by means of truth. Through the Word of God, we discover the truth about ourselves, our world, and our God. As we face this truth honestly, we experience the liberating power of the Spirit of God. We cease living in a world of fantasy and enter a world of reality, and through the power of God, we are able to fulfill His will, grow in grace, and “reign in life by one, Jesus Christ”.

III. The knowledge of Jesus.

A. Those who live by God’s truth enter into more and more freedom.

Knowing about Jesus Christ and being associated with Christians does not mean that a person has embraced Jesus Christ as their Savior. Since they were worse off at the end than they were at the beginning, these people had never reached full, saving faith. Those who know God have everything they need for a godly life.

Those who live by lies experience more and more bondage, until “the latter end is worse with them than the beginning”. Temporary reformation without true repentance and rebirth only leads to greater sin and judgment. Reformation cleans up the outside, but regeneration changes the inside.

B. Sinful tendencies do not disappear when a person reforms.

These sinful tendencies merely hibernate and get stronger. Holiness is not simply refusing to do evil things, for even unsaved people can practice self-control. True holiness is more than conquering temptation: it is conquering even the desire to disobey God. This is why we need to walk with the Lord daily!

They were worse off because those who give themselves to the pursuit of greed and sexual immorality ultimately become so corrupt that they lose the ability to enjoy themselves. Although these people had escaped the pollutions of the world, they had returned again to its snares. They had been “overcome” by its power and “entangled” again by its delights. The gospel they initially confessed they had now abandoned. The Lord and Savior they had embraced they now rejected. The world they had escaped recaptured them