Read 2 Peter 2:1-16.

Note: In verse three, the phrase, “For a long time, their condemnation has not been idle,” should be understood as an understatement, meaning, "For a long time, their condemnation has been actively being prepared."

Introduction⤒🔗

The good people of the little town on the Mississippi River were glad to see them! They were only sorry that they had come a day late!

Poor Peter Wilks had just died the night before his two “brothers” arrived; it was all so sad. The two of them, Harvey, (he was a preacher), and William, had come all the way from Sheffield, England, to visit their dear “brother,” Peter. The steamboat deposited the two of them at the dock of this little river town, and they inquired, “Can anyone tell us where Mr. Peter Wilks lives?”

“I’m sorry, Sir,” answered one of the townsfolk, “the best we can do is tell you where he did live as recent as yesterday evening.”

Observing the mournful looks on the townsfolks’ faces, the two “brothers” burst out in tears, and Harvey wailed, “Alas, our poor brother; gone, and we never got to see him!”

Pretty soon there were tears being shed all around, and those kind-hearted people offered to escort the two “brothers” to the house where their dearly departed “brother” Peter had lived. They came to the house, paid their respects at the coffin, where there was a lot more shedding of tears, and they met the deceased’s dear daughters.

In no time at all, Mary Jane, the eldest daughter, fetched the letter her dear father wrote on his deathbed and dutifully handed it over to her “Uncle Harvey.” Harvey read it aloud, and broke down crying again. It seems “brother” Peter had bequeathed his house to the girls and just about everything else, (his other houses and property and business and $3000 in gold), to his dear brothers, Harvey and William. It sure was too bad the two “brothers” missed out on seeing Peter while he was still alive; but it sure was a good thing that they came all this way to receive their inheritance!

The only problem is that these two men were not Harvey and William Wilks! They were two frauds who got the information about Peter’s death from a gentleman heading down the river to New Orleans, and they just thought they would stop by the little river town and collect the loot, posing as Peter’s long-lost brothers, and thereby exploit Peter’s family.

That’s the way Mark Twain tells the story in his book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The Apostle Peter issues a similar warning when he writes, “there will be false teachers...they will exploit you with teachings they have invented.” The Word of God instructs us to beware of false teachers, because they will seek to exploit us with their destructive teachings.

Beware of False Teachers, Because They will Come←⤒🔗

Peter reminds us that false prophets arose among the Old Testament people of Israel. Note, for example, Jeremiah 23:25-32,

I have heard what the prophets say, who prophesy lies in my name. They say, I had a dream! I had a dream! ²⁶How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? ²⁷They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their fathers forgot my name through the worship of Baal. ²⁸Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully, for what is the straw in comparison to the grain? declares the LORD. ²⁹Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? ³⁰Therefore, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, [against each one] who steals my words from his neighbor. ³¹Yes, indeed, declares the LORD, I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, 'The LORD says.' ³²Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams, declares the LORD. They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send them or appoint them. They do not benefit these people at all, declares the LORD.

These false prophets are described as men who “prophesy lies in [the LORD’s] name” (vs. 25). They employ the LORD’s name and His divine authority, but they do not bring His message; on the contrary, they bring lying words. What are the lying words that they speak? Jeremiah 23:17 indicates that they pronounce a blessing upon those who continue in their sins and continue to defy God, assuring such people that no judgment shall befall them: “They continually say to those who despise me, ‘The LORD has said, You shall have peace.’ And to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, ‘No evil shall overtake you.’”

These false prophets are said to prophesy from “the delusions of their own minds” (vs. 26). That is to say, they invent their message and convince themselves that it is from God. In this self-delusion they are aided by the deluding spirit of the devil, which spirit is permitted to operate with God’s consent in those who desire falsehood and sin. Consider the testimony of Micaiah, a true prophet of the LORD, as he stood before King Ahab, who was intent on doing evil and whose prophets willingly supported him by prophesying a message he desired to hear, one that encouraged him in his sinful way and assured him of success:

Micaiah continued, Therefore, hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing on his right and on his left. ¹⁹And the LORD said, Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there? One suggested this, and another that. ²⁰Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, I will entice him. By what means [will you do so]? the LORD asked. ²¹He said, I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets. You will succeed in enticing him, said the LORD. Go and do it. ²²So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you. 2 Chron. 18:18-22

When men knowingly and intentionally resist the truth and deny the truth, because of their desire to practice unrighteousness, the judgment of God takes the form of His permitting the devil to deceive them and lead them to their own destruction and to final perdition:

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan, displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, ¹⁰and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, ¹²so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. 2 Thess. 2:9­-12

The design and intent of the false prophets is to make the LORD’s people “forget [His] name” (Jer. 23:27). Their design is to make the people lose sight of the truth of God by presenting and magnifying an abstraction of God; for example, focusing only on His great attributes of love and mercy to the exclusion of such other divine attributes as holiness and justice. Or, they might seek to carry out their evil design by substituting a pagan idol in the place of the true God; in the Old Testament age the false prophets led the people of Israel to forsake the LORD and worship the pagan idol, Baal.

We must beware of those who only proclaim the LORD’s great attribute of love to the exclusion of His attributes of holiness and justice, creating a spiritual atmosphere that is conducive to sin, but that will ultimately lead to the judgment of God. We must also beware of those who would proclaim a substitute “Jesus,” a “New Age Jesus,” in the place of the biblical Jesus:

• First, the New Age esteems Jesus as a spiritually attuned or evolved being who serves as an example for spiritual discovery and evolutionary advancement, [as opposed to Jesus being the eternal Son of God as taught by the Bible].
   
• Second, the New Age separates the historical Jesus from the universal and impersonal Christ consciousness. According to New Agers, the historical Jesus merely tapped into this cosmic power sometimes referred to by them as “Christ consciousness.”
   
• Third, the affirmation that Jesus is the supreme and final revelation of God is denied by the New Agers.
   
• Fourth, Jesus’ crucifixion, if recognized at all, is not deemed as having any atoning significance. Jesus’ suffering on the cross is either rejected as unhistorical or reinterpreted to exclude the idea that he suffered to pay the penalty for sin.
   
• Fifth, Jesus’ resurrection and ascension are routinely denied or spiritualized so as to exclude his unique triumph over sin, death, and Satan.
   
• Sixth, Jesus’ second coming is spiritualized and democratized to include the evolutionary ascent of an awakened humanity.
   
• Seventh, the New Age accepts arcane, extra-biblical documents as sources for authentic information about Jesus. Although the Bible is selectively cited, its function is secondary to texts that reveal a different Jesus.¹

We must also be alert to those who would abandon the gospel (as set forth in 1 Cor. 15:3-4, “I delivered to you as of first importance that which I also received, [namely], that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; ⁴and that he was buried; and that he has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”), in favor of a “social gospel” that urges the church to promote “social justice,” which is contrary to true justice as defined in the Scriptures.

As Scott David Allen writes, “Today, an ideology, (and accompanying movement), described...as ‘social justice,’ has radically redefined the popular understanding of justice.” He goes on to say that, in contrast to justice based on Judeo-Christian revelation, this new understanding of justice, [with its roots in Marxism],

• Views the world as being divided between evil oppressors and innocent victims;
   
• Divides peoples into groups, (based on their race, social class, sex); groups in which the persons belonging to the group have no individual identity nor personal responsibility: their only identity is being a member of the group; their only guilt or innocence depending upon the group to which they belong;
   
• Adheres to the philosophy that “the end justifies the means,” [which includes the overthrow, (by violence if necessary), of governments and systems defined as being inherently evil];
   
• Exhibits hostility towards the Judeo-Christian faith and antipathy towards the societal authority structure ordained by God and as most clearly articulated in the Scriptures of the O. and N. Testaments²

In contrast to the tenets of “social justice,” justice as defined by the Word of God consist of the fundamental tenets of...

• Equal and impartial application of the Law (Lev. 19:15; Deut. 1:16-17; 16:19); and,
   
• Personal, individual accountability to the Law (Ezek. 18, esp. vs. 20)

Once we have responded to the gospel by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are obligated to live our lives by the law of the kingdom of God. But that divine law is articulated in the Scriptures, and its application is derived from the Scriptures, not from the ideology of “social justice,” whose tenets are diametrically opposed to the Scriptures.

Peter warns that just as there arose false prophets in Old Testament Israel, so, too, “there shall be false teachers among you,” (i.e. seeking to infiltrate the N.T. church). Compare Peter’s warning with that of the Apostle Paul:

I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹So be on your guard!Acts 20:28-31a

Let us beware of false teachers, knowing that they will come.

Beware of False Teachers, Because Their Teaching is Destructive←⤒🔗

Peter describes such teachers as bringing into the church “destructive heresies” (vs. 1). We must take note of the fact that doctrine is important: doctrine supplies a basis for our conduct and dictates what conduct is acceptable and pleasing to God. True biblical doctrine roots us into Christ and lays the foundation for a godly Christian life; contrariwise, false doctrine separates us from Christ and leads to ultimate and eternal ruin. With regard to doctrine, the Apostle Paul gives the following exhortation to Timothy: “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you, guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us” (2 Tim. 1:13-14).

Peter informs us, “many will follow [the] licentious conduct” of these false teachers, thereby causing the Way of Truth to be maligned (vs. 2). When the life of godliness is forsaken by those who claim to belong to the Lord and to know Him as their God, their sinful lifestyle causes the Lord’s name to be blasphemed. In Romans 2:23-24, the Apostle Paul rebukes the Jews for the inconsistency of their lives and points out the consequence of such a life: “You who boast about the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? ²⁴As it is written: God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

Peter warns that such teachers bring upon themselves, and their followers, “swift destruction” (vs. 1). This is the inevitable result of their teaching because they are corrupting and perverting the truth of God. These men were turning the gospel of grace into a license to sin; Peter describes them as being followers (disciples) of “the flesh with its corrupting passion,” rather than being followers (disciples) of Christ.

The inevitable result of their teaching brings destruction both to themselves and their followers because God will take vengeance against wrongdoing, as He repeatedly demonstrated in the past:

God did not spare angels when they sinned, but consigned them to hell, putting them in dark pits where they are being kept for [the day of] judgment; ⁵and [if God] did not spare the ancient world, (although he did protect Noah, a preacher of righteousness, along with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly); ⁶and [if God] condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by reducing them to ashes, making them an example of what is going to happen to those who live ungodly lives... vs. 4-6

Peter reminds us that God did not spare the angels when they sinned, this is apparently a reference to the angels who joined Satan in his rebellion against the LORD. God did not spare the ancient world when it had become utterly corrupt in His sight; He visited it with the devastating flood in the days of Noah (Gen. 6-7). God did not spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when their iniquity reached the depths of degradation (Gen. 19).

One such destructive teaching that is infiltrating the church today is the assertion that homosexual conduct and relationships are acceptable to a “loving God.” In the futile defense of such an assertion, the passages of Scripture relating to homosexuality are deceptively re-interpreted to fit the intended purposes of those who would promote such deviant conduct.³

Let us beware of false teachers, because their teaching is destructive. Let us be willing to receive the truth and grow in conformity to it, producing a life that is holy unto God. Let us resist the desire to entertain teaching that will condone the lusts of our old nature and promote the old self-centered self.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

This is the word of warning issued to us by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter: Beware of false teachers who will seek to exploit you with their destructive teaching.

What criterion must we employ to detect false teachers and false teaching? The first question to ask of any and all teaching is, “Does this teaching deny, or at any point go contrary to, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments?” The admonition given by the LORD through Moses to His Old Testament people equally applies to whatever teaching the church encounters today:

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, ²and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, Let us follow other gods, (gods you have not known), and let us worship them, ³you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer... ⁴It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must fear. Keep his commandments and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. Deut. 13:1-4

A second question to ask of any and all teaching is, “Does their teaching urge you to go beyond Christ?” The Apostle John issues this warning to the church: “Anyone who ‘advances’ and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 Jn. 9). Or, “Does their teaching go beyond the Scriptures?” The Apostle Paul warns the Corinthians that they must not “go beyond the things that are written,” a reference to the Scriptures.

The elders of the church must exercise the oversight to detect error and guard the church of Christ against it, as they are exhorted to do by the Apostle Paul:

Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. ²⁹I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:28-30

Every Christian must know the Bible and test all teaching in the light of the Scriptures, imitating the Bereans, of whom it is said: “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. Of what does the Apostle Peter remind the Christians to whom he is writing? See 2 Pet. 2:1. What was the essence and purpose of the false ministry of those false prophets? See Deut. 13:1-3a. Of what does Peter warn the N.T. church? See 2 Pet. 2:1b. What is the basis characteristic of all such teaching? Note 2 Jn. 9. As a Christian, are you careful to avoid teaching that departs from the Scriptures or contradicts the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God? Are you like the Bereans? Note Acts 17:10-11,

​But there also were false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will subtly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them; bringing swift destruction upon themselves.2 Pet. 2:1

If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, ²and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods' —which you have not known—'and let us serve them,' ³you shall not listen to the words of that prophet... Deut. 13:1-3a

Whoever goes beyond, and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God: he that abides in the teaching, that one has both the Father and the Son. 2 Jn. 9

Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.¹¹These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Acts 17:10-11

2. How does Peter describe the methodology of these false teachers? See 2 Pet. 2:1c. Who else is described as being subtle? See Gen. 3:1. How does the Apostle Paul describe the false teachers who sought to infiltrate the Corinthian church? See 2 Cor. 11:13-14. What is the devil’s objective? See Jn. 10:10a. As a Christian, how do you discern such “destructive heresies” and protect yourself from them? See Psl. 119:105; Col. 2:6-7,

But there also were false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will subtly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them; bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Pet. 2:1

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made.Gen. 3:1

...such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. ¹⁴And no wonder! for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.2 Cor. 11:13-14

The thief does not come, except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. Jn. 10:10a

Your word is a lamp for my feet, and a light for my path. Psl. 119:105

As you, therefore, have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ⁷rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Col. 2:6-7

3. What was the particular type of teaching that these false teachers were seeking to introduce into the church? See 2 Pet. 2:2a. Why is anti-nomianism (i.e. the teaching that we can continue to lead a sinful life because we are saved by grace) a destructive heresy? See Rom. 6:1, 15. For what purpose have we been saved by grace? See Tit. 2:13b-14,

Many will follow their licentious conduct, because of whom the way of truth will be maligned.2 Pet. 2:2

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ...¹⁵Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!Rom. 6:1, 15

...our great God and Savior Jesus Christ ¹⁴...gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works. Tit. 2:13-14

4. What is another type of heretical teaching that is the opposite of anti-nomianism? See Acts 15:5. Why is the doctrine of salvation by reliance on the sacraments and the effort to lead a moral life a destructive heresy; can any sinful man live up to the demands of God’s moral law? See Rom. 3:23; also, Psl. 143:2. Could you ever atone for your own sins; what do we need? See 1 Pet. 3:18a,

Then certain men of the sect of the Pharisees stood up, expressing their belief that ''it is necessary to circumcise them [i.e. the Gentile converts] and to charge them to keep the law of Moses.” Acts 15:5

...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God... Rom. 3:23

Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no man living is righteous. Psl. 143:2

Christ indeed died for sins once for all, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones, so that he might bring us to God. 1 Pet. 3:18a

5.  What are some contemporary heresies, which those who are influenced by the secular culture seek to impose upon the church? Is the doctrine of “social justice,” which calls for equity of outcome, instead of equality before the law, biblical? See Lev. 19:15. Is “social justice’s” assignment of all men indiscriminately to either the category of victim or oppressor, simply on the basis of their race or ethnicity, biblical? See, again, Rom. 3:23. Are homosexuality, trans­genderism, or same-sex “marriages” acceptable lifestyles? See Gen. 1:27 and Mk. 10:5, 6-9. Is speaking the truth in love about them a form of “hate speech,” or is such a charge itself a form of perverting the language in an effort to avoid being confronted with unwelcome truth?

You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty; but with righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. Lev. 19:15

...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God... Rom. 3:23

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Gen. 1:27

⁵Jesus said to them... ⁶ ...from the beginning of the creation, He made them male and female; ⁷for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be bound to his wife; ⁸and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate. Mk. 10:5, 6-9