FALSE FREEDOM: It Involves a False Experience (2 Peter 2:21–22)

It is very important that we understand that the pronoun they in this entire paragraph (2 Peter 2:17–22) refers to the false teachers and not to their converts. It is also important that we remember that these teachers are not truly born-again people. Jude described these same people in his letter and stated clearly that they were “sensual, having not the Spirit”. It is not profession of spirituality that marks a true believer but possession of the Spirit of God within.

21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

I. Religious experience

A. Apostates claim that their experience brought them into fellowship with the Lord.

They would be able to explain “the way of righteousness,” and would use the Word of God to support their teachings. If they had not experienced some kind of “religious conversion,” they would never have been able to get into the fellowship of the local assemblies.

But their experience, like their promises, was false. There is no indication that the false teachers had ever experienced the new birth. They had knowledge of salvation and could use the language of the church, but they lacked that true saving experience with the Lord.

B. At one time they had even received the Word of God.

They didn’t follow the Word they turned away from it. They never trusted Christ and became His sheep.

Instead of being sheep, they were pigs and dogs—and keep in mind that the dogs in that day were not pampered pets! A dog was nothing but a filthy scavenger who lived on garbage! It was hardly a title of respect and endearment!

II. A false experience.

A. Satan is the counterfeiter.

We have already seen that Satan has a false gospel, preached by false ministers, producing false Christians. In His Parable of the Tares, our Lord taught that Satan plants his counterfeits wherever God plants true believers.

What kind of “experience” did these false teachers have? To use Peter’s vivid images, the pig was washed on the outside, but remained a pig; the dog was “cleaned up” on the inside, but remained a dog. The pig looked better and the dog felt better, but neither one had been changed. They each had the same old nature, not a new one.

B. They return to the old life.

A pig can stay clean only a short time and then must head for the nearest mud hole. We do not condemn a pig for acting like a pig because it has a pig’s nature. If we saw a sheep heading for the mire, we would be concerned! Certainly the dog feels better after emptying his stomach, but it is still a dog.

Having an experience” did not change the nature of the apostate. It only gave further evidence of his “dog nature,” because he came back and (just like a dog) lapped up his own vomit. It is a disgusting picture, but that is exactly the response Peter wanted to produce.

III. Pollution's of the world.

A. Pollution is defilement on the outside.

True believers have “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Corruption is much deeper than defilement on the outside: it is decay on the inside. True believers have received a new nature, a divine nature, and they have new and different appetites and desires. They have been transformed from pigs and dogs into sheep!

Imagine the disappointment of the person who thinks they have been delivered, only to discover that, in the end, they are in worse shape than when they started! The apostates promise freedom, but all they can give is bondage. There are some who believe that these apostate teachers were true believers but these teachers never had a true experience of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

B. Freedom offered by false teachers is a false freedom.

False freedom is a freedom that only leads to bondage. It is based on false promises, empty words that sound exciting but that have no divine authority behind them. It is offered by false Christians who were involved in a false experience. From start to finish, this “freedom” is the product of our adversary, the devil!

“Has your spiritual experience been genuine?” It is a startling fact that there are many people in our churches who have never truly been born again, but who are convinced that they are saved and going to heaven! They have had “an experience,” and perhaps look better (like the pig) and feel better (like the dog), but they have not been made better as “partakers of the divine nature.”

Judas, one of the Twelve, who was a tool of the devil and was never born again. Up to the very end, the other disciples did not know the truth about Judas and thought he was a spiritual man! The apostates appear to have successful ministries, but in the end, they are bound to fail. The important thing is that you and I have the assurance of a true experience with the Lord, and that we have nothing to do with these counterfeit ministries, no matter how popular they may be. Christ is “the truth” and following Him leads to freedom. The apostates are liars and following them leads to bondage. There can be no middle ground!