2 Peter 2:1-10

Illus: Picky eater as a child. Chicken only. Parents would deceive me into eating Long John Silvers fish.

Illus: Picky eater as a child. Chicken only. Parents would deceive me into eating Long John Silvers fish.

Deception can be simplistic. But when it comes to spiritual matters it is simply satanic.

1. False Teachers always want something from their followers, but their judgement is certain. 2:1-3

(Affirmation, glory, money, power, fame.)

Peter urgently responded to a threat to the churches, to false teaching that was inevitably accompanied by an evil lifestyle.

It now becomes evident why the readers needed to be reminded about the importance of a godly life and why they needed to maintain the truth of Jesus' future coming. False teachers had arisen within the church who denied the former and questioned the latter.

If there is no second coming, no new Eden, no New Heavens and New Earth…then there is no need for right living. There is no need for a Christian Ethic.

Schreiner, Thomas R. (2003-09-01). The New American Commentary, Volume 37 - I and II Peter, Jude (p. 325). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

As soon as your heart gives into temptation and denies sin…you slide into the abyss of satanic living.

Schreiner, Thomas R. (2003-09-01). The New American Commentary, Volume 37 - I and II Peter, Jude (p. 325). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

3 Characteristics of false teachers.

(1) they lack divine authority,

(2) they promise the people peace when God threatens judgment, and

(3) they will certainly be judged by God.

The bridge between the first chapter and the second chapter is prophecy.

The bridge between the first chapter and the second chapter is prophecy.

Peter concluded the first chapter by emphasizing that his readers should pay heed to the prophetic word as their source of illumination and teaching. The prophetic Scriptures should be trusted because both the revelation and its interpretation are from God, since the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets. Now in chap. 2 he remarked that not all prophets were from God. As the Old Testament amply demonstrates, false prophets also existed among God's people. Indeed, it was prophesied that false teachers would also arise in the church. The prediction about the arrival of false teachers, according to Peter, had now been fulfilled. Errant teachers were in the midst of God's people, and they were introducing teachings that would lead people to eternal destruction.

“Who bought them” Peter is using phenomenological language. In other words, he described the false teachers as believers because they made a profession of faith and gave every appearance initially of being genuine believers. Peter did not refer to those who had been outside the community of faith but to those who were part of the church and perhaps even leaders among God's people. Their denial of Jesus Christ reveals that they did not truly belong to God, even though they professed faith.

Schreiner, Thomas R. (2003-09-01). The New American Commentary, Volume 37 - I and II Peter, Jude (p. 331). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

In vv. 2–3 the influence of the false teachers is sketched in. Many would be attracted to their antinomian sensual teaching, and their dissolute lifestyle would bring criticism upon the gospel of truth. The false teachers were motivated by covetousness, and they would exploit others with their rhetorical artistry. Nonetheless, though judgment seemed to be far off, it would come. They would not escape forever.

In vv. 2–3 the influence of the false teachers is sketched in. Many would be attracted to their antinomian sensual teaching, and their dissolute lifestyle would bring criticism upon the gospel of truth. The false teachers were motivated by covetousness, and they would exploit others with their rhetorical artistry. Nonetheless, though judgment seemed to be far off, it would come. They would not escape forever.

2. The Lord is patient but also just. 2:4-5

The theme of God's judgment in v. 3b also informs vv. 4–10. God's future judgment of the wicked is certain (v. 3b) because God has consistently judged the wicked throughout history. Three examples of the judgment of the wicked are adduced: (1) the judgment of the angels of , (2) the destruction of the world during the time of the flood, and (3) the razing of Sodom and Gomorrah. We know that the false teachers in 2 Peter were skeptical about the Lord's coming and hence about the future judgment (3:3–7). Three representative and typological examples of God's judgment demonstrate that God's character has not changed. Previous judgments in history point toward and anticipate the final judgment, which is the climax of all other judgments.

Peter’s argument if very similar to Jude so much so that scholars think that one has to be looking at the other’s letter.

However, there are significant differences. It is not uncommon for two people to give similar answers to false teachers.

Peter appeals canonically to Genesis to show how God will act in the future. Specifically to the story of Noah.

Nothing prepared the people of Noah's day for such a calamity. It was unexpected, and Peter suggested that Noah was mocked by his contemporaries for proclaiming its imminence. The completeness of the destruction also prefigures the final judgment. Only Noah and his family were left. The rest of the world was swept away. Recalling the flood is apt indeed in the situation addressed by 2 Peter since the false teachers denied future judgment and ridiculed believers who continued to believe in the future coming of Christ.

3. We can be confident that how God has saved in the past, He will continue to save in the future, even through judgment. 2:6-10

3. We can be confident that how God has saved in the past, He will continue to save in the future, even through judgment. 2:6-10

3. We can be confident that how God has saved in the past, He will continue to save in the future, even through judgment. 2:6-10

3. We can be confident that how God has saved in the past, He will continue to save in the future, even through judgment. 2:6-10

Schreiner, Thomas R. (2003-09-01). The New American Commentary, Volume 37 - I and II Peter, Jude (pp. 325-326). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Schreiner, Thomas R. (2003-09-01). The New American Commentary, Volume 37 - I and II Peter, Jude (p. 326). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.