Beware the false church

Peter wants to warn us about 2 threats to abiding in Christ’s grace.

Big Idea: Beware false discipleship. Our hope is in trusting in God’s grace and being faithful to Him not in freedom and pleasure.

Doesn’t talk about how big they are or how many miracles are done there or what the worship style is like or how successful they appear. Church health is not determined by those things.

Notice too Peter doesn’t give exact doctrinal positions or teachings they will have. He looks at their heart and their fruit.

Trust in God’s power vs. assuming you can do what you want

God’s power over the angels

God’s power in Noah’s situation

God’s power in Lot’s torment

God knows how to rescue the godly and punish the wicked

God’s grace of being in charge and protecting the righteous

If you’re struggling with your own salvation

Trust in God’s redemption vs. boasting you are free

Waterless springs/ Clouds without rain

Boasting in “freedom” - ending up in folly

Actual slavery

God’s grace in redeeming us from sin

Freedom - Excellence/Virtue; Knowledge - Free to bless others; Self-control - not please myself but seek good; Perseverance - this will take a while working through various issues; Godliness - God will judge me if I abuse my freedom and mistreat others for my own good; Brotherly love - I am free to consider the needs of others and meet them, not worrying about God’s judgment or man’s judgment; Love - Doing it out of how God has loved me. I’m on a totally different path through life because of Him)

If you’re struggling with who to listen to

Are you being challenged to sacrificially love others but freely out of grace?

Churches that are

Personality driven

Success focused

Freedom facade

Entertainment-filled

Greed swayed

Word-driven

Grace-focused

Freedom to bless

Growing Connection

Truth Standing

Are you being called to submit to a Savior?

Are you being directed to listen to God’s Word?

Are you being challenged to love others like God has loved you?

Questions for Community Group

Where do you see false teachers in the world? What aspects of 2 Peter 2 are similar? (Peter is dealing more with libertines in this passage than he is with legalists).

Peter emphasizes a key truth that God knows how to rescue the righteous and ultimately punish the wicked. He uses 3 examples of this. What is comforting about this for believers? How does this warn unbelievers?

Wickedness revels in pleasure and delights in deception. Even as believers this is a warning to us to not be deceptive and manipulative with our motives. How does the example of Balaam warn us in regards to deceptive motives? (See the story in Numbers if more context needed).

Fools go back to their folly. How can we encourage one another if we see one another going toward something foolish?

What we are overcome by, we are enslaved to. How can we encourage true freedom in Christ to love others? ( Using the pattern from 1 Peter 1 -

Pray that our church might be a beacon of true righteousness through dependence on Christ.