2 Peter 2

Read 2 Peter 2 before getting into the study!

Historical Context: The time of the apostles is fading; it has been over 30 years since the ascension of Christ; false teachers have crept into the church and are gaining momentum; Peter wants to go on record on these issues before he is gone.

What is the central mark of counterfeit Christianity - the acid test? What does this group (or this person) believe about Jesus Christ? The heart of Christianity is a certain belief about Jesus Christ. On that point there can be no compromise. If a person is wrong about Jesus Christ, it matters not whether he is right in a dozen other places. If he’s wrong on the central point, he’s wrong all over. A huge red flag should go up for the true followers of Jesus Christ whenever someone claims Jesus is anything other than what He claims to be.

The general subject of this chapter is stated in the first verse, and it embraces these points:

1. That it might be expected that there would be false teachers among Christians, as there were false prophets in ancient times.
2. That they would introduce destructive errors, leading many astray.
3. That they would be certainly punished.

(1) *But there were also **false prophets in Israel, just as there will be ***false teachers among you. They will ****cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who *****bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.

• *But: The text begins with “but” (de, an adversative particle) which always serves to introduce a comparison or change. Peter had just alluded to men who “spoke from God” and were “moved by the Holy Spirit” (1:20-21). He then described those of a different character, “false teachers,” who would be reflections of certain “false prophets” who were “among” God’s people in the Old Testament era.
  
  • 2 Peter 1:20-21: Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
• **false prophets in Israel: Who were these false prophets in Israel?
  
  • Deuteronomy 18:20-22: But any prophet who falsely claims to speak in my name or who speaks in the name of another god must die.’ “But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.
  • 1 Kings 18:22: Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets.
  • Jeremiah 23:16-17, 23:21, 28:15-17: This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to his people: “Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for the Lord! ... “I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying. ... Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, but the people believe your lies. Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘You must die. Your life will end this very year because you have rebelled against the Lord.’” Two months later the prophet Hananiah died.
  • Ezekiel 13:2-3: “Son of man, prophesy against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies. Say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: What sorrow awaits the false prophets who are following their own imaginations and have seen nothing at all!’
• ***false teachers among you:
  
  
  • Matthew 24:11: And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.
  • Mark 13:22-23: For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. Watch out! I have warned you about this ahead of time!
  • Acts 20:29-30: I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.
  • Romans 16:17-18: And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:4: You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed
  • 2 Corinthians 11:13-14: These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
  • 1 Timothy 6:3-5: Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life. Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.
  • 2 Timothy 3:1-5: You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
  • 2 Timothy 4:3-4: For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.
  • I John 4:1-3: Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.
  • 2 Peter 3:3: Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.
• ****cleverly = Privily - means secretive, but it isn’t that these liars teach in secret, it’s just that their agenda is cloaked in secrecy. Throughout the last 2,000 years, men and women have been tricked and swindled by these heretics.
• *****bought them: Peter is asserting that Christ bought the potential for salvation even for these false teachers, but they were not saved as is clearly indicated by their habitual, continuous (present tense) repudiation of Christ their Master. In other words, their price for redemption had been paid in full (John 19:30) but they had not received the Redeemer (cp John 1:11) by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and therefore were still dead in their trespasses and sins.
• If a false prophet only said false things, no one would be deceived by them. But usually what they say is ninety-five percent true. And thus they entice people and deceive people because most of what they say is true, but then they begin to interject that area of falsehood.
• There are those who claim to be ministers who fill the pulpits in the United States who deny the deity of Jesus Christ, "even denying the Lord who bought them." Willing to put Jesus in the category of a master teacher or of a great prophet or whatever. But they deny the Lord that bought them.
• Feel good sermons
• denial of the virgin birth, deity, bodily resurrection, and second coming of Christ,
• The antidote to false teachers: Ephesians 4:12-14: Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
• These false teachers then were twisting what Jesus and the apostles taught, claming that Jesus couldn't be God or that he couldn't have been a real man.
  
  
  1. Claim that Jesus couldn't be God or that he couldn't have been a real man.
  2. Twist the Scriptures to reflect their own beliefs.
  3. Operate in secret.
  4. Deny him as God come in the flesh.
  5. Deny that Jesus is the only way ('the way, the truth and the life').
  6. Deny the doctrine of redemption by the blood of Christ
  7. Deny the lordship of Christ.
  8. Deny the virgin birth.
  9. Deny the deity of Christ.
  10. Deny the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.
  11. Deny the Bible as the authority for right and wrong.
  12. Deny Christ's bodily resurrection.
  13. Deny the second coming of Christ.

(2) Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.

• People today are no longer steeped in the fundamentals of doctrine; therefore the warning signals don't go off when false doctrine is introduced; people are very susceptible to error.

(3) In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.

• Jude 1:16,18: These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want...They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires.
• Titus 1:10-11: For there are many rebellious people who engage in useless talk and deceive others. This is especially true of those who insist on circumcision for salvation. They must be silenced, because they are turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching. And they do it only for money.
• Compare real Christianity to the made-up doctrines of Joseph Smith and the Mormons, Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Moon's Unification Church, David Koresh, Islam, Romanism, Ron Hubbard's Scientology, Jim Jones' People’s Temple, Unitarian Church, emergent churches,
  "faith healers", and so many
  others.
  
  • United Methodist Church: Polls have shown that at least 30 percent of United Methodist Church ministers do not believe Jesus Christ is God and 82% say they do not believe the Bible is the perfect Word of God. As early as 1968 a widely publicized scientific survey by Jeffrey Hadden which was published by the Washington University showed that about 60% of the Methodist clergy did not believe in the virgin birth and at least 50% did not believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ.
  • 
    Presbyterian Church (USA): In 1980, when in the PCUSA a man was ordained a minister by his presbytery and later was approved by the denomination’s highest court, even though he explicitly denied the deity of Christ. It is not shocking that one man could express such heresy, but a majority of fellow pastors and elders across the denomination officially tolerated it!
  • Jehovah's Witnesses: They teach that Jesus was created by God just prior to creation. Jesus then created everything else. (Colossians 1:16,17 NWT inserts "other" before "things" to make the text read, "By Him all OTHER things were created". The word "other" inserted throughout the text is not in the original Greek.) Jesus is not considered to be equal to God at all but a lesser being. Jesus ceased to exist at His death for 3 days.
  • Mormonism: "As man now is, God once was...As God now is, man can become." is a saying that accurately describes Mormon view of Jesus. Mormons believe that Jesus was created by God and is a "brother" to Satan. They teach divine progression. Jesus was once just a man who lived on another planet. He eventually progressed to be equal to God and came to colonize planet earth with "gods to be" or humans. Unforeseen to Christ, Satan (Jesus' brother) put a kink in this plan when he deceived Adam and Eve. Jesus was then required to die for fallen man, His creation. Jesus therefore is a model for us and one day we will be equal to God and colonize other planets too. There are millions of other planets being colonized right now in the same way in other galaxies. What makes earth's colonizing process unique is Satan's deception of Adam. Jesus is the God of planet earth. The Mormon hope is to marry, through a Mormon Temple ceremony, as many earth women as possible for eternal celestial marriage. In the resurrection all good Mormon men will call from the dead those women they married in a temple ceremony. They will then fly off to some uninhabited planet with their many polygamous wives and populate that planet.
  • Islam: The Koran's teaching on Jesus: And for claiming that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of GOD. In fact, they never killed him, they never crucified him - they were made to think that they did. All factions who are disputing in this matter are full of doubt concerning this issue. They possess no knowledge; they only conjecture. For certain, they never killed him. (Koran 4:157)
  • Unitarianism is a nontrinitarian Christian theology which holds that God is only one Person, in contrast to the doctrine of the Trinity (God as three Persons in the unity of one Godhead).

(4) For God did not spare even the angels who *sinned. He threw them into **hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.

• *sinned: Greek - hamartano = "missed the mark"
  
  • Genesis 6:4: In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.
  • Jude 1:6: And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.
  • Matthew 25:41: “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.
• **hell: Greek Tartarus. Only used here. Homer describes Tartarus as the subterranean prison of the Titans or giants who rebelled against Zeus.
• Interpretation: God judged the angels who sinned, so no one is too high to be judged.

(5) And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a *vast flood.

• Hebrews 11:7: It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.
• *vast flood: Greek - kataklusmos
• Symbolic of the rapture - the righteous removed before God's judgment: God preserved Noah for that 120 year period when he had to endure the mocking and ridicule of his neighbors while he obeyed God in building the ark. Eventually the worldwide flood came. Only Noah and 7 others were safe inside the ark.

(6) Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.

• Romans 1:27: And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

(7) But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him.

• Symbolic of the rapture - the righteous removed before God's judgment.

(8) Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was *tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.

• *tormented (tortured): Many Christians today have been desensitized to the sinful things they see and hear around them. Others try to deal with it by completely withdrawing from the world. It's not easy living in this present world system and its moral standards.
• Lot's soul was tormented, but he failed to follow through with godly actions and separate himself and his family from the ungodliness of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord delivered Lot because of his righteous soul; yet Lot lost everything because of his too-close association with those wicked cities.
• Maybe, Lot thought he could change the people in the city; instead, they changed him and especially changed his wife and daughters.

(9) So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.

• Only when God had begun judging their societies were either of these men (Noah and Lot) removed to safety. In the same way, the Christians in Asia Minor had to live in a corrupt society, being tempted to unfaithfulness, to follow false teachers and to believe the mockers who denied Christ's second coming. However Peter says, God would deliver them from the midst of temptation and personally return in power and glory to deliver them from ungodliness once and for all.

(10) He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at *supernatural beings without so much as trembling.

• *supernatural beings: Greek glorious ones, which are probably evil angels. How many ministers today believe in angels and demons, let alone Satan himself?
• Why does God let so much damage be done? Look at the bad testimony resulting from the prominent downfall of TV preachers like Swaggart and Baker.
• How can people sit in church and be taught error and not question it?
• Jude 1:8-10: In the same way, these people—who claim authority from their dreams—live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings. But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.) But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction.

(11) But the angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from the Lord a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings.

• So these "supernatural beings" in verse 10 are not just ordinary angels. Ephesians 6:12: For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

(12) These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed.

(13) Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your *fellowship meals.

• *fellowship meals: Jude 1:12-13: When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.

(14) They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse.

• How often do we read about priests seducing choir boys or ministers running off with their secretary?

(15) They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of *Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong.

• *Balaam: Numbers 22-24. Balaam persuaded Israel to worship Baal and pursue the women of Moab. This brought God's punishment on them. In being this kind of false teacher, he accepted money from the enemy.

(16) But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.

(17) These people are as useless as dried-up *springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness.

• *springs:
  
  • This is spoken in a culture, time and area where finding an oasis was critical for survival and where a lack of rain would bring ruin.
  • These false teachers promise something valuable but fail to deliver.
  • False teachers may look and even sound the same as teachers who proclaim the truth, but inside they are only dry wells. Water is a metaphor for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. False teachers do not have the Holy Spirit of God, they are led by the enemy of God and therefore they are, as Peter states “dried up springs”. A Holy Spirit filled teacher will not teach falsehoods. False teachers may proclaim a portion of truth in their teachings but they are all intertwined in deceptiveness, they are empty vessels.

(18) They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.

• The special victims of these vicious deceivers are the newly converted. These new converts are just getting away from the old pagan life of their neighbors and associates.

(19) They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.

• How well the recovering alcoholic knows this! If only the voters in this country understood it.

(20) And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.

(21) It would be better if they had never *known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.

• *known: Takes more than knowledge to be saved.

(22) They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”

• Proverbs 26:11: As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.
• Philippians 3:2: Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.
• The sheep, however dirty it has become, always returns to its shepherd; the pig, however clean it is washed, returns to its mud.
• We started off with a pig; scrubbed him up, put him in a seminary, gave him a degree, ordained him a "minister", put him in the pulpit; put a diploma on his wall along with some other impressive credentials; but never changed his nature.
• Clark: "This final verse, part of which comes from Proverbs 26:11, concluding the denunciation of the false teachers, rather clearly indicates that they had never been regenerated. When it speaks of a dog's returning to his own vomit and a sow to the mire, the implication is that these acts are natural to dogs and pigs. They have never been anything else than dogs and pigs, even though for a time they might have been cleaned up externally. Hence the false teachers had never been Christians and the verse does not teach that a regenerated person can become unregenerated."
• Believers, true Christians, are never compared to dogs or swine; they are the sheep of His flock. A sheep cannot be transformed into a dog or a swine, nor will a sheep do what a dog or a swine does. They were therefore never the true children of God.

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NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation.

References and sources are listed at http://epistles-of-peter.blogspot.com/2010/10/2-peter-references.html