January 31, 2023 | Be On Mission
Beware of False Teachers
Scripture: 2 Peter 2 (NIV)
2 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.
Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. 12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.
13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
Devotional
In his first letter, Peter concentrated on the secular forces that were heaping persecution and suffering on the followers of Jesus. In his second epistle, his focus shifts to those causing problems inside the Christian community. These false teachers were introducing “destructive heresies” and “depraved conduct” among the faithful. Peter saw this as a bigger threat to Christianity than the Roman emperor who was putting believers to death!
False teachings and practices are nothing new. Peter highlighted the people in Noah’s day. Genesis 6:5 says about them, “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” He also lifts up the example of the wicked people Sodom and Gomorrah, who were destroyed because they gave in to self-centeredness and sexual sin (Genesis 19). Finally, he mentioned Balaam, who sold out his religion to the highest bidder.
In similar fashion, there were some in the early Christian movement who actively participated in worship and communion, and at the same time promoted self-centered pleasures, sexual sin and greed. Peter pulls no punches, stating that “these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand” (v. 12). This behavior could be expected from the unbelieving, secular world. But for those who have given their lives to Jesus, they should know better.
So, what do we make of this for us today? I believe that a believer in Jesus is someone whose worldview is in alignment with the Word of God, while a follower of Jesus is someone whose lifestyle is in alignment with the Word of God. Peter seems to agree. Christianity should transform both how we think and how we live. Both of these are captured in Romans 12:2, which states, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
What aspects of your worldview need better alignment with the Word of God?
What aspects of your lifestyle need better alignment with the Word of God?
Poem
The True/False Test
2 Peter 2: 1-3
Do you recall
When back in school
The true/false test
With “T / F” rule?
When you, unsure,
Your “T” you marked
With little line--
An “F,” in part--
So just in case
The one unwise
Who graded
Missed the truth disguised
And let it pass
For answer right
These letters fused
To hide your plight
Of knowing not
The answer sure
A passing grade
You could procure?
And still today
This guise goes on
To change the truth
To hide the wrong
A slight change here
A small line there
Until the arrow’s
Course in air
Misses the mark
As falsehood flies
As ears go deaf
And blind go eyes
Until the “T” and “F”
Are blurred
And no one hears
An honest word
A pseudo world
Our God detests
As we cheat on
The “true/false” test
